Sheppussaco Part 2

Well, I have been a busy boy. Work and painting commissions and also a few distractions (as always) have kept me away.

When I was working out the Order of Battle for the game, I agonized over the troop structure on each side. I wanted to keep them reasonably even. The British have a greater fire power, in our rules, than the French, so should I give the French more figures? Should I keep the British Guard or have them mysteriously missing on their way to the battle?

I decided to have the 1st Division which included The Guards and the VIII Corps of the French would be held in Reserve. Unfortunately, the game finished before they could enter.

Undaunted, the players decided to replay the game, with a few modifications.
Each player rolled a die to decide when and where on the board they arrived. I was given a Division by the French players, I was the Umpire in the first game.

I was to come onto the board at the furthest point from Sheppussaco on turn 2.
Andrew S and Van came on at the next closest point, 1st and 2nd turn respectively.
Darren was at the next point on turn 2 and Robin came on at the closest on turn 1.

The British decided to give John R the title of The Duke, and just the Duke as Jim was bogged down with his Division and couldn't see what was going on elsewhere.
Tim came on opposite me on turn 1, Jim came on opposite Andrew and Van on turn 2 and John Q opposite Robin on turn 1.

So Sheppussaco II was up and running

Tim started his division near the forest, instead of going straight for the village he began by moving through the forest with his Portuguese

and his British moved around the forest

My glorious French Division moves on

Andrew S moves over the corner of the rise and onto the plateau

Robin prepares his troops for the hard slog against John Q

The Portuguese are trying to get in behind me, cheeky things

I had to turn to face them

Van moving across to block Jim from assisting John Q

Tim was very serious about preventing me from assisting my Generals

Jim was preparing to shift Andrew of the plateau

John Q's Portuguese have made it into the Village

John Q was determined to stop Robin in his tracks

Wellington, urging his troops on

French Light Cavalry make an appearance

The British are undaunted by the flashy uniforms

They also have some cavalry of their own

A couple of French Battalions of Van's have been made to retreat rather hastily

Robin valiantly marches toward John Q's troops

John Q's lines put up a desperate defence 

The French are coming up on 2 sides of John Q

Robin was copping a lot of casualties from John Q

Meanwhile I had to stretch myself very thinly to counter Tim's viscous manoeuvering 

Van making ready for Jim

Andrew S makes his way to help Robin

Darren starts his assault on John Q

I made a drum out of dowel, paper and thick cotton, made a mold and cast some polyurethane drums. I painted the drums orange for retreat markers and red for breaking markers, unfortunately the French had to use them.

Darren's French pushed the Portuguese out of some Built Up Areas (BUA)

The British were hopping mad about it

Robin reformed and was about to try again, when, due to the fact that it was almost midnight, we called it a night and went to bed

Sunday Morning saw the reserves come on. The First Division for the British

and the VIII Division for the French

Jim makes a renewed assault

John R takes over where Tim left off as Tim took charge of the Reserve

The Scot's Greys had a crack......where did the Artillery Crew go???

First there were 6, then there were 4

Time to move backward

and off they go

Van and Jim are still squaring off

My view of the Village, I was still a long way away

The French are building up near the Village

I managed to get my cavalry into a very nice position and charged John's Portuguese, they made very good use of the forest

The French took another BUA 

The British Guard attempted to get back in, but to no avail

The cut off for the game was 12:00 midday and at that time, the French held 3 out of the 4 BUAs Technically a French win

I would like to thank all of the guys for travelling 2 1/2 hours to come and play the game. I would also like to thank my Wife and Daughter for catering for all these fine men.

Next up will be a Battle Report. I have some other little distractions that I am working on which I will publish very soon.