This past weekend, Kelly hosted a game of General d'Armee (first edition) at his home.
We were refighting Osma, which I have played before with Ted and the others in the New Jersey group (using the second edition of the rules).
The scenario was the same as before; three French brigades attempting to hold back a combined force of four British and one Portuguese brigades. The British had 10 turns to break the French.
Kelly GM'd, Larry and I commanded the British, and Scott and Jeff commanded the French.
The game started with the British pushing forward as quickly as possible, with the Portuguese using a Forward! order to move up their flank.
The French elected to have one brigade defend the wood-covered hill that extended across half of the table, while the other brigade was split between defending a line of hedges and the small town.
On the other British flank the King's German Legion light brigade moved in skirmish lines towards the French brigade that was quickly taking position on the hilltop.
The French garrison, on seeing the waves of British uniforms approaching, realized it was likely better to move up from their position to halt the enemy advance.
Both sides exchanged skirmish fire as battalions moved into position.
In an incredible feat of dice-rolling, Larry managed to secure a Retire from an opposing French brigade through the Destiny table! This gave the British a chance on their right flank to keep advancing.
Meanwhile, I was making a hash of things on the left. A failed infantry assault saw the KGL light brigade pushed back and out of firing position, while a battalion of KGL line infantry was being battered by two French battalions.
Unfortunately, the Portuguese brigade hesitated, giving their French opponents time to recover and shake back out into formation. The third French brigade advanced up the center.
The battle for the hill continued. The KGL cleared the French skirmishers, but the formed enemy battalions held strong.
The British center advanced towards a strong French presence.
And the Portuguese were having trouble following up on their earlier success, as they exchanged fire with French skirmishers.
While the British had gained an extra two turns from the Retire result the French had rolled earlier, the scenario wasn't looking good for them overall. The French still held the hill, keeping two British brigades checked. And none of the French brigades were likely to end up Faltering without some very lucky dice.
And I definitely didn't have that luck! My hope of a successful infantry assault from the KGL line brigade went up in smoke, despite attacking a pair of French battalions that had lost fire discipline.
The British decided to call off the attack at the top of turn 12, as there wasn't a likely avenue to cause another French Retire or Sauve Qui Peut result.
My impression of this scenario from the last time I played it holds; this is a tough scenario to get a historical result with. Though I've seen other online reports with the British succeeding. I wonder what they're doing differently? I may have had more success had I been more aggressive with the KGL light brigade and fed them Skirmisher taskings for the game. They can really throw out hits, especially against formed battalions.
Maybe we'll return to Spain at some point and try it again.