I started my project after reading about the Battle of Fuentes d'Onoro and how the 71st Light Infantry fought over the village in a bitter struggle, including an account of how after the battle two bodies were found, one Scot and one Frenchman, impaled on each others' bayonets! I thought then I had to paint this regiment, then found they were brigaded with the 92nd Gordon Highlanders and the 50th Foot and decided to paint them, too. I read some more and found the brigade was part of Rowland Hill's force that was detached from the main army to secure the southern flank against Soult's forces while the rest of the army chased Marmont to Salamanca in 1812. I had some idea of creating a scenario on the raid on the bridge at Almaraz, but it hasn't got very far! I started by painting elements of Ashworth's Portuguese brigade, but haven't progressed further than that.
Since then, and since my Spanish project is coming to a halt (I only need to give them some cavalry and I'm done), I've checked the brigade's history and found that from Vitoria onwards, this brigade shared 2nd Division with another two famous regiments: namely the 3rd Foot (The Buffs) and the 57th Foot (The Die-Hards). I can't pass up the opportunity to paint these two regiments! These regiments were brigaded with another battered victim of Albuera; the 1st Provisional Battalion, consisting of the remains of the 31st Foot and the 66th Foot which had been given the signal honour of remaining in the Peninsula, rather than being dispatched to Britain to recoup and refit.
I've already got a start on O'Callaghan's brigade as I have 2 generic battalions. As I already have a green facing-clad generic regiment, it will stand in for the 39th Foot. The other yellow-faced can be the 28th Foot or 34th Foot, requiring another yellow faced regiment to be painted to complete the brigade.
I'm painting the 6th Cacadores at the moment, in order to round off Ashworth's Portuguese brigade, but looking at the OB for Vitoria means I'll have to paint the 2nd battalions of the Portuguese 6th and 18th Line.
This division, once completed, should provide the added oomph! that it is lacking at the moment.
 |
| 6th Cacadores |
2nd Division: Lieutenant-General R. Hill
Brigade: Cadogan (2,777)
1/50th Foot Regiment - Painted
1/71st (Highland Light) Foot Regiment - Painted
1/92nd (Highland) Foot Regiment - Painted
5/60th Foot Regiment (1 coy) - Painted
Brigade: Major-General Byng (2,465)
1/3rd Foot Regiment (Buffs)
1/57th Foot Regiment
1st Provisional Battalion (2/31st & 2/66th)
5/60th Foot Regiment (1 coy) - Painted
Brigade: O'Callaghan (2,530)
1/28th Foot Regiment
2/34th Foot Regiment - Painted
1/39th Foot Regiment - Painted
5/60th Foot Regiment (1 coy) - Painted
Brigade: Colonel Ashworth (3,602)
1/,2/6th Portuguese Regiment - 1st btn painted
1/,2/18th Portuguese Regiment - 1st btn painted
6th Portuguese Cacadores - Painting now
Orbat from Nafziger's Orders of Battle
SOunds like an interesting army list Rosbif.
ReplyDeleteI have thought the same myself about allies of the major combatants.
Cheers
Paul
Hi
ReplyDeleteReally your project is well on way. The British are habitually supermen in the almost all rulesets. In Lasalle that is not the case. How good are them in your ruleset?
Regards
Rafa
We've had several tinkering with the rules concerning the British. Some people think that the British are rated too high and that the historical quality of Wellington's generalship was the factor that made them near unbeatable.
ReplyDeleteThere is an element of that, but even when he wasn't there, ie. Albuera or Maida, they fought well against the French due to their training and discipline. We've done away with a seperate 2-rank firing chart for the British and settled on a compromise where they fire at 1 class above their morale rating, which still makes their fire in line fairly devastating. Of course this is not proof against massed columns, or attack from the flank, so it just means that the French players have to adjust their tactics to play against the British!