Battle of the Nive - Move 6

Table at start of move 6

Left top – skirmish fighting for the woods

Left centre – French cavalry rout British hussars

Right top – Skirmish fighting at Villafranque

Right bottom – Clinton is approaching the hill to the left of Villafranque

British left

Wellington has taken command of Howard’s cavalry

Shaken British hussars withdraw behind them

Alten’s riflemen continue to hold the woods

The remainder of Howard’s division is moving to the right of Arcanques

British right

Colville is holding his own at Villafranque.

His artillery on the hill is causing a lot of French casualties

French dragoons have routed British dragoons

Clinton is approaching the hill behind a screen of hussars

French right

Villate is unable to take the woods

Despite this Maransin continues his advance towards Arcanques

French left

On the left Abbe is unable to make any progress against Villafranque

To his right Darricau is pushing on between the hill and the river

Abbe’s chasseurs have rallied and are available to rejoin his division

Arcanques Woods

One brigade of British riflemen hold the woods against four French brigades

The French are now under orders to attack the woods, but have been beaten back

British reinforcements are arriving at the top left of the woods

Game Notes

The British reinforcements are starting to arrive.

Archanques woods has delayed the French advance west of the river

Villafranque has done the same east of the river

Wellington has taken personal command of the heavy dragoons to allow the shaken hussars to withdraw.

Rule 2 allows the CinC to take command of any brigade

Engage orders only allow attackers to skirmish for control of woods or towns

Attack orders allow them to make a more determined attack

However the consequences of losing an attack are greater than a skirmish

Rule 11 covers skirmish

Rule 9 covers fighting at the edge of woods or towns

The rules used can be found at

http://napoleonicwargamerules.blogspot.com/

Battle of the Nive - Move 5

Table at start of move 5

Left top – skirmish fighting for the woods

Left centre – Alten is moving his reserves to the right to support the woods

Right top – Darricau and Abbe are nearing Villafranque

Right centre – skirmish fighting at Villafranque

Right bottom – Clinton is approaching the hill to the left of Villafranque

British left

The arrival of the heavy dragoons from Howard’s division allow the shaken hussars to retire and join Alten to the right of Arcanques

British right

Colville is holding his own at Villafranque.

French cavalry attempting to charge the artillery have been routed

Colville is moving his division to the right of the hill to make room for Clinton

Clinton is approaching the hill behind a screen of heavy dragoons and hussars

French right

Soult has ordered Villate to attack the woods held by the British riflemen

The first attack is a draw, both suffer casualties and both are disordered

Maransin has missed his turn due to the Poor Card

French left

French infantry are skirmishing at Villafranque

French cavalry routed by the artillery on the hill have rallied bottom right

Maransin has halted to the right of the hill to hold Clinton

Game Notes

At present the French artillery outnumber the British two to one

All guns are within range, but the French are proving ineffective

The British artillery near Villafranque is causing a lot of casualties

In these rules casualties are reasonably difficult to inflict.

But all casualties can be critical if a unit fails to make their morale

Rule 7 covers artillery fire

Rule 18 covers morale

The rules used can be found at

http://napoleonicwargamerules.blogspot.com/

Battle of the Nive - Move 4

Table at start of move 4

Left top – two French divisions, Villatte and Maransin, approaching Arcanques

Left centre – Alten holds the town and the woods

Left bottom – Clinton is crossing the river towards Villafranque

Right top – two French divisions, Abbe and Darricau, approaching Villafranque

Right centre – Colville has deployed in and around Villafranque

British left

Top – British hussars have lost melee and retire shaken

Bottom - Howard has missed his turn due to Poor Card

British right

Wellington has joined Colville on the hill

French cavalry charged the guns on the hill

Gunners passed their reaction test and fired on cavalry

Rolled 2xdD6, inflicted two casualties and routed cavalry

At the bottom Clinton is crossing the bridge and moving to join Colville

French right

On the left Villate is still skirmishing with the rifles in the woods

His cavalry have received an artillery casualty and withdraw out of range

On the right Maransin is advancing to the right of Arcanques

French left

On the left Abbe is moving towards Villafranque

His cavalry have been routed by the British gunners on the hill

On the right Darricau is advancing between the hill and the river

His cavalry have forced the British hussars to retire shaken

Game Notes

Cavalry v cavalry melee can be found in Rule 14

Cavalry v artillery are covered by Rule 16

Gunners must pass reaction test to fire or evade

In this case the gunners passed and opted to fire

They roll 2xD6 and require 6 for a hit – they rolled 2x6 for two hits

There is a card for each commander, and a Poor Card.

Cards are drawn to determine the move sequence

The next Poor commander to draw a card after the Poor Card must miss his turn

This time it was Howard, who had to miss his turn

The rules used can be found at

http://napoleonicwargamerules.blogspot.com/

Battle of the Nive - Move 3

Table at start of move 3

Left top – two French corps, Villatte and Maransin, approaching Arcanques

Left centre – Alten holds the town and the woods

Left bottom – Clinton is moving towards the river

Right top – two French divisions, Abbe and Darricau, approaching Villafranque

Right centre – Colville has deployed in and around Villafranque

British left

Top - Alten holds Arcanques and the woods on the right

Bottom left - Howard is marching towards Arcanques

Bottom right – Clinton is heading for Villafranque

British right

Colville has concentrated around Villafranque and the hill to the left

The cavalry are holding the left and the reserve infantry moving towards the town

Enemy cavalry have advanced to charge the artillery on the hill

French right

On the left Villatte is skirmishing with the rifles in the woods

On the right Maransin has advanced his cavalry to engage the British hussars

French left

On the left Abbe is moving towards Villafranque

His leading infantry have received casualties from artillery on the hill

He has sent his cavalry forward to charge the gunners

On the right Darricau is advancing between the hill and the river

Game Notes

The French are now in artillery range, and the leading brigade has taken casualties

Artillery fire is covered in Rule 7

The rules used can be found at

http://napoleonicwargamerules.blogspot.com/

Battle of the Nive - Move 2

Table at start of move 2

Centre left - Alten has concentrated at Arcanques

Centre right – Colville has concentrated at Villafranque

Top left – Villatte is approaching Arcanques

Top right – Abbe is approaching Villafranque

British left

Alten holds Arcanques and the woods on the right

The hussar brigade is deployed to the left of the town

Clinton is moving towards the river Nive

British right

Colville has concentrated around Villafranque and the hill to the left

His cavalry, supported by an infantry square, continue the line to the river Nive

French Right

Villate is moving towards the woods to the left of Arcanques

Maransin has arrived and is moving towards the town

French left

Abbe is moving towards Villafranque

Darricau has arrived and is moving towards the hill

Game Notes

The French are approaching the British positions, and being within 16” can only take one normal move.

Movement rates are covered in Rule 5

The rules used can be found at

http://napoleonicwargamerules.blogspot.com/

Battle of the Nive - Move 1

Table at start of move 1

Left of the river Alten is deployed in and behind Arcanques

Right of the river Colville is deployed between Villafranque and Ustaritz

Villatte, also left of the river, is approaching the woods north of Arcanques

Abbe, on the right of the river, is moving towards Villafranque

British left

Alten holds Arcanques and the woods on the right

The hussar brigade is deployed to the left of the town

The remainder of his division is approaching the town

British right

Colville holds Villafranque and the hill to the left

His cavalry are to the left, to slow down the French approach

The remainder of his division are approaching the town

French right

Villate is moving towards the woods to the left of Arcanques

His cavalry have moved to the right of the town to counter the British hussars

French left

Abbe is moving towards Villafranque

His cavalry are well to the right to counter the enemy cavalry

Game Notes

One command point is normally required to move each brigade or commander. However in certain circumstances the whole command can move for just two points

Command points are covered in Rule 3

When more than 16” from the enemy brigades can take multiple moves, providing that they have sufficient command points.

Multiple moves are covered in Rule 5

The rules used can be found at

http://napoleonicwargamerules.blogspot.com/

Battle of the Nive - Set Up

Map of battle

Historical Orbat

Wellington's Army

33,000 British

30,000 Portuguese

25,000 Spanish

Soult's Army

86,000 French

Wargame Orbat

Wellington - 128 Infantry - 16 cavalry - 4 guns

Soult - 128 infantry - 16 cavalry - 4 guns

British commanders

Colville - 32 infantry - 4 cavalry - 1 gun

Alten - 32 infantry - 4 cavalry - 1 gun

Howard - 32 infantry - 4 cavalry - 1 gun

Clinton - 32 infantry - 4 cavalry - 1 gun

French commanders

Abbe - 32 infantry - 4 cavalry - 1 gun

Darricau - 32 infantry - 4 cavalry - 1 gun

Villatte - 32 infantry - 4 cavalry - 1 gun

Maransin - 32 infantry - 4 cavalry - 1 gun

Table at start of battle

Alcanques is at the top, left of the river.

Villafranque is at the top, right of the river

Ustaritz is at the bottom, right of the river

Alten is deployed in and around Alcanques

Colville is deployed in and around Villafranque

Clinton will arrive bottom left at the start of move 2

Howard will arrive bottom left at the start of move 3

Villate is approaching Alcanques

Maransin will arrive behind him at the start of move 2

Abbe is approaching Villafranque

Darricau will arrive behind him at the start of move 2

Rules

This battle is inspired by Nive, it is not meant to be a refight of it.

We use our own rules to fight all of these battles.

Link to wargame rules

http://napoleonicwargamerules.blogspot.com/