Meanwhile in Spain...

A Christmas armistice has been declared so there is no update coming out of the campaign in Germany this week.  However, some players who have their priorities right and do not put family ahead of wargames, have been whisked down to Spain to fight the battle of Vitoria to see in the new year (well almost - being fought on the 30th).

Everything is ready to and bayonets & swords are being sharpened and muskets cleaned.  As an appetiser, here is a photo of the battlefield taken with the troops in their starting positions.  Most of the British and Portuguese are still to arrive, but Hill's column is just arriving through the Puebla defile.

The view from Stewart's Division as it enters the Vitoria plain.  The Zadorra river is on the left.  The French are spread out back to Vitoria in the far distance.



A birds eye view of the battlefield with Stewarts division entering bottom right.  The Zadora river flows along the bottom of the picture and then does a 90 degree turn up the left.  It is uncrossable except at the bridges. The French are deployed in successive lines, but are unclear where the British and Allies will be arriving from.



The look on Marshal Jourdan's face when he hears the Allies will be arriving from 3 directions.  General D'erlon pats his men goodbye.  General Gazan is trying to remember if he renewed his life insurance...



Stewart's men crucially grab the village of Subijana.  This will be the linchpin to unlocking the French defence on their right.  But until reinforcements arrive they have to contend with a lot of French fire.  The French, however, do not attempt to eject them from the village.



Stewart's attack develops, with 2 brigades preparing to storm a French brigade on higher ground and a brigade of Portuguese in the background advancing out onto the plain.  They are starting to look around anxiously for reinforcements as there seem to be a lot of French around.



The view from the other side of the battlefield.  Stewarts attack is top right.  On the right of the picture the French are advancing up to the river hoping to catch the Allies as they try to cross the bridges.  In the centre foreground, a French brigade has crucially occupied the village near the bridge.  This will prove crucial in stopping the British flank attack breaking into the French rear and cutting off their line of retreat.

The 3rd Division and part of the light division arrive on the opposite flanks from Stewart (who can be seen top right).  The French are unable to stop the new arrivals crossing the bridge and establishing a beach head.

Another "Oh Merde!" moment for the French as still more British pour onto the field.  Just behind the woods the 4th Division arrives and rushes across the river.  The French have now decided not to contest the crossings and are desperately pulling back to establish a new defensive line on the hills.  This turns out to be a wise move and means they may be able to extricate their army.

The Light Division pushes forward.  A brigade of impetous British Hussars on the right come into range and prepare to launch a charge up hill against a disordered square but over broken ground.  You would think this to be a foolhardy move - wouldn't you?



Well, the light brigade charged impetuously, they didn't break the square, but flowed around it (a "pass through" move in FOG N terms) and then charged into the French column behind.  This column didn't have time to form square and was routed, precipitating two other French infantry brigades to rout as well (they were wavering, having taken a punding from British skirmish fire).  The light brigade was effectively spent, but they had succeeded in routing an entire French division.  This picture shows them on the hill, too exhausted to move (centre right), but with a huge whole in the French line, held only by artilery.  The routing infantry can be seen top left, heading for the Pyrenees.



The view from the French rear where 2 divisions of Dragoons are waiting in reserve.  The infantry in front of them on the hill are about to be routed by the charge of the Light Brigade and coming streaming back past them.



The French infantry in the aptly named village of Margarita look on as their comrades are routed by the Light Brigade.  Crucially they hold the flank intact and prevent the allies breaking into the rear of the army and cutting off their retreat.  (Don't you hate people who can paint like this!? - AB Miniatures figures)

The 3rd Division, supported by the Light Division, prepare to move forward now thatthe cavalry have cleared the infantry division in front of them.  They are going to take a heavy pounding though from the French artillery on the hill. (these figures are also AB Miniatures)

The rout of the French infantry convinces King Joesph to summon up his Royal Guard from Vitoria.  Here they can be seen marching up the road from the rear.  However, they appear to be too little, too late as the French army is slowly being ground back by the ever-swelling Allied force.

The only thing saving the French at the moment is the relatively slow rate of movement of the British and Portuguese.  A long discussion ensues amongst the British players about the injustice of the FOG N classification of British as unreformed for movement.  The umpire expresses sympathy for their point of view.  The French players drink more champagne from their supplies (trying to get down as much as they can before the British get it...) and are heard sniggering for the first time all day.

A view of the final positions as the Allied forces pour onto the battlefield, preparing to push through the French right where the Light Brigade caused such mayhem.  On th efar side, the French have been fighting a brave rearguard action across the heights but have finally broken under sustained British pressure.  They are at risk now of a Cannae type envelopment and decide to break off the action.  Their line of retreat is open, but the road is narrow and we anticipate a pretty panicked flight once the French troops realise this.  The British pursuit will likely only be held up once they reach Vitoria and King Joseph's treaure chests.  All in all, it felt like a pretty historical outcome.

Playing the game
We ran the game as a bit of a learning game.  We had 3 players on each side and I umpired.  FOG N stood up to this bigger scale of game (about 2,200 points a side).  We took a full day to play it, but this would have been quicker if we had all been experienced.
For the scenario I relied extensively on Rafael Pardo's excellent website which has loads of Napoleonic scenarios for wargamers. http://www.rafaelpardoalmudi.com/index.html
It was very easy to convert this to FOG N (see our orders of battle below).  For a map of the battlefield, see Rafael's website.

The terrain around Vitoria was scrubby and not suited to cavalry.  We treated cavalry as disordered at all times while all higher ground was rough terrrain.  The Zadorra River is uncrossable except at the bridges.

Arrival times for the British were unknown to either side.  I created a schedule in advance but didn't tell either side when they would be coming (or from where).  The schedule was as follows (with each turn representing 1 hour of real life - slightly telescoped intentionally):
Through the Puebla defile:
Turn 1 (10h00)- 2nd Division
Turn 2 - A brigade of light cavalry and battery of RHA from Hill's reserve
Turn 6 - The rest of Hill's cavalry and the Portuguese Division
Over the Tres Puentes Bridge
Turn 2 The Light Division, excluding one brigade of infantry, and the famous Light Brigade from Wellington's reserve
Mendoza Bridges
Turn 4 - 3rd Division and the 1st Brigade from the 7th Division
Turn 9 - The balance of the 7th Division
Nanclares Bridge
Turn 5 - 5th Division
Turn 6 - The balance of Wellington's cavalry reserve
Villodas
Turn 5 - The final brigade from the Light Division

Orders of Battle
Anyone interested in seeing how I interpeted these for FOG N let me know, and I'll email them to you.