The Battle of Foz d'Arouce, Preview.

Newstead Abby May 2011

The French under Ney, are being forced out of Portugal by Wellington's combined Anglo-Portuguese army. Late in the afternoon Wellington caught up with Ney as he was trying to get his army over the Rio Ceira at a small town of Foz d'Arouce. Normally this could be done via the bridge and the ford but due to the heavy rain the use of the ford is only possible by the Cavalry.

The French are drawn up ready to fight it out but are outnumbered and several regiments are already disorganised and have taken a pounding in the retreat so their combat effectiveness has been reduced. I as Nay will have to try and balance force preservation with the ability to hold the west bank of the river. Night is not far off but I am not sure this will be much help once battle is joined. Wellington (Barry) will try and drive my troops into the river smashing my force as I try to have one foot on either side of the river. Already outnumbered this really does no seem the smart thing to do but I am told this was not Nay's brightest day.

Rather than the normal fight till you destroy your opponents army, this battle can be won by the side taking the hardest pounding if they play it right and go after Victory Points.

These are:-

Each side gets

2 VP's for an enemy unit routed off board

2VP for control of the farm of Poisao,

2VP for control of the town of Foz d'Arouce

2VP for controlling the ford

2VP for controlling the bridge

The French

1VP for each unit on the at start side of the river.

Allied

5VP no French on the at start side of the river

5VP for each Allied unit on the opposite back of the river.

A nice set of conflicting VP's that rather force the French players hand and make him at least stand and fight for part of the battle. The scenario idea is lifted from the board game Fuentes De Onoro 1811 and is the first scenario from the game. It comes with 3 battles (about 6-7 scenarios) over three maps. I choose this one as it's the smallest and seems easy to port across. The boardgame is produced by the French Company VaeVictis in both English and French and the company have a solid reputation. The game is next week so you won't have to wait too long for the result. Polemos rules will be used for the game itself so these get another airing.