Battle of La Coruna (Battle Report)

I've played the Battle of La Coruna scenario I've recently modified (see here). It was a fun battle, and helped me test my modified fast Grande Armee rules (more on this later). I have a heavy green cloth to cover the table and books under it as hills. The weight of the cloth allows it to give the whole battlefield a very natural look of hills and valleys, with hillsides gradually degrading from the top. I didn't have anything to make the river on the French right / British left, but I had a turn record sheet there, so anyway there was no chance of units inadvertently moving there.

View of the battlefield, showing elevations (and the turn record sheet)

Another view from above

The battle started in a mostly historical way. Mermet's division on the French left started its attack towards Elvina and Baird's division on the heights, while the rest of Soult's troops advanced more slowly and less coordinately towards Hope's troops.

View from the French (Soult's) positions

View from the British (Sir John Moore's) position

British Artillery alone routed one French brigade but the rest of Mermet's troops pressed on. A furious skirmish battle erupted along the line. Still, the British forces were progressively suffering losses too and despite heavy casualties the French ultimately gained the top of the hill. It was brief however, as they were then routed by a counterattack by Werde's British Guards.

Start of French attack

The other side

Overall view of the French advance

French right flank slow, while action unfolds on the left

Around Elvina

The French have stormed the top of the hill...

...but get repulsed by the Guards' counterattack

Things went mostly likewise on the British left/French right. Delaborde however moved more slowly (Soult was concentrating on the fight on the left) and the skirmishing was more protracted.

Another view of the struggle on the hill

Once the French managed to organize a full assault, it was fierce. Faced with a strong British defence from the top of the hill, Delaborde led his troops personally with great valour but was shot and killed just as one of his brigades managed to open a hole in the British line, threatening to rout the entire enemy position. Hope quickly intervened to stabilize the line and repulsed one other French brigade, but he too was severely wounded and had to leave the field, leaving this part of the battlefield involved in a confused struggle. Ultimately the French managed to briefly storm the top of the hill, but they too were repulsed, this time by Crawfurd's reserve brigade.

Delaborde killed

As dusk neared, the French attack had been defeated along the whole line despite heavy British casualties. On the French far left / British far right the French cavalry and Paget's reserve division effectively nullified each other, but in the end this helped the British by avoiding a French flank attack on Baird's battered troops.

Technically the French routed, but the British had no cavalry to pursue and anyway were more interested in covering the embarking troops. The British could then embark without further French interference. Both sides suffered more than historically, thanks to the fact that this time Soult managed to attack on almost all front, even if a certain lack of coordination made his attacks less effective, and his lack of reserves proved vital, but the game had a mostly historical flavor.

It was a fun game, with a great Napoleonic feel that I hadn't felt in a long time. I'm very pleased with how the Grande Armee rules worked, especially with my modifications making them faster. I'm wondering if using the unit quality/rally rules would add much more time, because - contrary to my previous judgement - I now feel they could be useful to give a bit more flavor. At least, I'd like to try them once. I'll probably play a test game including them, to see how they work. If not, I will leave them aside.