SDS Campaign - Vimiero!

Well, it was a busy wargaming weekend indeed…which is good, there are a couple of things I need to focus on that are not wargaming related. Until the next game at Brent’s in March I may not get any more gaming in…

But, Dan started his SDS campaign at this past Sunday’s club meeting. The campaign is set in Spain during the Napoleonic war.

I fielded a force of French Dragoons – good soldiers, but expensive, so I have only 5 men in my force. The first action in the campaign is set at Vimiero. Each player played in two games, with each game on one of the 4 battlefields Dan prepared. I fought on “The Fields” and “The Church”. Not exactly great terrain for a cavalry force, so I fought both fights dismounted.

 

In the first fight, “the Fields”, my carbines were my disadvantage. Robert ran a force of Highlanders against me. Well, Robert’s muskets out-ranged my carbines. So I had a choice to make – hide in the building and play a dull game, or, close the distance in the open field and take your chances. Obviously, I chose the latter. Hell, I might get lucky and drop a few redcoats before they set up at the fence line!

So, sure enough, I was able to get 4 of my men in line and loosed a volley at the redcoats – no effects. Uh-oh, that could be trouble, and it was. The Brits got to the fence with 6 men and began a back and forth volley – the difference was that I never inflicted any losses on the Highlanders but took losses myself. The firefight lasted a few turns and I got high marks for bravery, but in the end, my boys had to retreat. Game One: Loss.

In game two, I challenged Rick and his Highlanders at “the Church”. Again dismounted, I ran for the Church, but Rick beat me to it. Nevertheless my men bravely went right up to the windows and battled hand-to-hand through the openings and fired at close ranges. Neither Rick nor I could make any headway and the game ended at the expiration of time. Game Two: Tie.

Here is my force:

Name	Quality	Combat	Equipment	Special Rules
Capitaine Andre Broussard	3	3	2 Pistols, Carbine, Sword	Mounted, Leader
Sergent-chef Bruno Gaudet	3	3	Carbine, Sword	Mounted, NCO
Dragon Guillaume Neville	3	3	Carbine, Sword	Mounted
Dragon Jerome Prideux	3	3	Carbine, Sword	Mounted
Dragon Remy Leveque	3	3	Carbine, Sword	Mounted

And…here is my campaign report, in character…

At Vimiero, we fought in two actions, one near a farmhouse and another at a church. The terrain in the area of our unit was ill suited to mounted action, so I ordered my men forward on foot. Near the farmhouse, we came upon a group of British infantry and set up a line at a rail fence and awaited them. I realized then that this position, owing to the short range on our carbines, would be at a disadvantage. So I ordered my men to advance and volley on the enemy before they could reach cover.

Having advanced about halfway through a barren field, we engaged the enemy in a firefight lasting many minutes. The bravery of my men was on full display as, outnumbered, they calmly loaded and fired from the middle of that open field – without so much as a rock to shelter behind.

After seeing several of my men receive wounds, I ordered my command to fall back to our lines. I am sure that we convinced the British that we are a tough enemy.

After reaching the safety of our lines, we assessed our condition. Sergeant Gaudet was seriously wounded in his arm; I fear that he will lose the limb. We sent him towards the surgeon and expect to never see him in the ranks again. Dragoon Prideux received a minor wound to his arm and Dragoon Leveque a minor wound to his leg, both men stayed with the company.

After filling our canteens and ammunition pouches, an order arrived asking us to again advance but to shift our movement towards a small church. I ordered Sergeant Simon, newly arrived from the depot battalion, to take Sergeant Gaudet’s place, and we headed off – again on foot.

Having advanced to the church itself, we found that some British troops had occupied it. Noticing that the structure had low and smallish windows, I ordered each of my men to assault a window. I myself approaching a window and discharging both pistols into the interior of the church.

We battled for what seemed like one half of an hour, but I have no real recollection of an accurate passage of time. Prideux and Leveque fought well, in spite of their earlier wounds limiting them. Neither side would relent. Finally, with the sun fading, the fighting died down and we moved away. We did not go back to our lines, but stayed in a place to watch the church and ensure that no Englishman should move about freely. During the fight, Sergeant Simon was grazed on the head by a bayonet, but is otherwise unhurt and will remain with the company.

Captain Andre Broussard