Battle of Maida, Dragonflight Convention Aug-06

Beginning of Maida game presented at Dragonflight August 2006. Rules used were General de Brigade. British on the left, French on the right. British place all their light troops at far end of table depriving their main line of skirmisher support. Highlanders are in reserve in center of thier 2nd line. French have deployed their skirmishers in front of their advancing column in foreground. In background, French Legere are advancing thru the rough ground. French Cavalry and artillery are just next to them.

The French continue their advance, Brits hold their position on the hill. I think the French who had slightly more numbers decided to take the offense while the Brits decided to play it cautious. In these rules I have found the more aggressive player seems to have an advantage. On far end of table, Brits have deployed thier convergered light companies in skirmish order while maintaining thier rifles(Corsican Rangers) in Line formation. I think they wanted to take advantage of the rifles longer range, however, being only a 20 man unit their effect was minimal.

In the center the opposing side trade musket fire, and the Poles and Swiss try to attack. I can see one Polsh Battalion and the Swiss with "Unformed" markes on them. The near Polish Battalion has a "Route" marker. I believe most damage was caused by the pre-melee Morale checks to charge home. The Poles due to their lower quality didn't do too well. In the back ground the Corsican Rifles were outshot by the French Legere as they have several casualty caps showing. The French Cavalry have advanced and will charge next turn against the Rangers. In the foreground the French and Brits have already come to grips with one British battalion driven back. The French Brigade was a little larger(4 battalions) so had a definite advantage in numbers against the British. The Highlander Brigade is still in reserve and couldn't help much in the melees. British comander later decided that was a mistake as they were pretty mush useless until it was too late.


In this photo the French Dragioons have already charged and completely destroyed the Corsican Rangers. they took a "Pursuit" taest and received a "Blown Horses" reult which caused them to retire behind their own lines to recover, A fortunate result for them in any event. In the center the Poles and Swiss are keeping the Brits occupied but still can't manage to go in on a charge. Notice the Highlanders still not contributing to the fight. On the left, the French have routed another British unit (the one furthest away in back and facing to the rear) thru the Highlanders who became "Unformed" as a result. French left continue their steady advance and certainly are forcing the Brits to dance to their tune.




French are reorganizing on their right. In the center the Poles and Swiss have been stalled. Also, on the Frech Left, the Brits have some luck and manage to put a halt to the French advance. The French will get things moving again next turn however. As the time period was at an end, we had to call the game. The Brits were in trouble on their right and would be hard pressed to hold their position. One Highlander unit has a "Retreat" marker and the other unit behind it still has a "Rout"marker. Once the French form their troops up, the Brtish Artillery will be outflanked. (Unformed units cannot charge and melee at a disadvantage) The French still had several lightly damaged battalions plus their cavalry to continue with. All players agreed the Brits would leave the field to the French and retire. The result was considered to be a minor French Tactical Victory. Viva La France! We played a good three hours and everyone seemed to enjoy the game. Hope this gives you some fee for the rules. For further discussion see the posts on my "Napskirmish" Yahoo group Site. If any questions, e-mail me at bandrsntch @wavecable.com.