Two battles for Bellevue

 Having witnessed an Illyrian victory in the last post, attention now is turned to their Army (3) that has crossed the border into North East Messaline.

"The General sat, and the lines on the Map,
moved from side to side"

 On Campaign Turn 2, Illyrian Army 3 sought to occupy the village of Bellevue as a potential staging post on their way to Doclea. Messaline Army 2 marched to thwart this move. 

The First Battle for Bellevue

General Valentine led Illyrian Army 3, compring 4 Line Infantry units and 2 cavalry. He was opposed by a Messaline force of 3 Line Infantry, 1 Light Infantry and 2 cavalry under General Fabian.

Illyria quickly took control of the village however the Messaline force fought back with no lack of aggression.

Soon enough it was the defenders' turn to hold Bellevue. Illyrian cavalry finally sprung into action (as those of Messaline withdrew from their attack on the hill)...

but to no avail. 

Seeing casualties mounting, and knowing that the main objective of the invasion was further South, General Valentine resolved to withdraw and reinforce, leaving General Fabian in control of the village.

 On Campaign Turn 3, Illyrian Army 2, which had been transported by their fleet, landed to the West of the Scampa Coal Deposit, the invader's main objective.

The landing was unopposed. Messaline Army 1 was now marching North, as news filtered through, but had been late in starting.

 During Turn 3, General Valentine's subordinates had rounded up the dispersed, rearmed the walking wounded and brought up the reserve. Army 3 was ready for another go at Bellevue. Of course General Fabian had been doing the same...

The Second Battle of Bellevue

Messaline Infantry were well dug in amid the ruins of Bellevue, with cavalry support on their left and the reserve coming up to join them.

The Illyrian cavalry was joined by General Valentine himself in a bid to quickly remove their opponents and allow a flank attack.

In the meantime half the Line Infantry were engaged in a bloody assault on the village, whilst the remainder occupied the hill, looking to take advantage of the elevation.

Heavy casualties were witnessed on both sides, but the defenders held the line.

With both sides now exhausted and largely depleted, General Valentine was once more forced to retire. Neither Army would be a usable fighting force for some time. The North East sector had ground to a halt.

In terms of Campaign mechanics, Turn 4 saw both sides roll for their mobilization of a fourth Army - Messaline's will appear at Turn 6, Illyria's at Turn 7.

With troop movements in the South West bringing four armies into the Scampa locale, Turn 5 looks likely to involve two, possibly decisive, battles.

End of Turn 4 situation

Opening Gambit

 

The opening moves of the Illyrian invasion of Messaline have been made (and incidentally, no-one has yet tried to pretend that it was the latter's fault that they were invaded).

Following is the Campaign map before the invasion showing the positions of each side's armies (1-3) and fleets. Sadly for Messaline, their fleet has started (die roll dictated) on the Eastern side of the peninsula at Doclea, many moves away from the enemy.

Illyria won the initiative throw for Map move 1, and their Armies 1 and 3 pushed into Messaline. Messaline responded by moving their Armies 2 and 3, the latter coming into contact with the invader  just North of the town of Scampa.

The Battle of Scampa (PW 3x3)

Armies have been pre-generated (see Campaign Rules below) and the two forces that met in the first battle were identical in composition, both being made up of 4 Line Infantry units and 1 each of Cavalry and Artillery. General Belch, an old campaigner, led the Illyrians, while the Messaline force was under the command of the less experienced General Cesario.

Apologies for the poor picture quality! I hope to play the next game in daylight...

The map shows the battlefield to be used for each large square, so the Illyrians (Blue), arriving from the North found a dense forest on their right flank.

The Illyrian artillery, expertly directed by General Belch, took its toll early in the battle.

Later in the day the Messaline Army began to push back against the aggressor.

By midday it seemed that the battle could go either way...

but a sudden collapse in Messaline morale led to General Cesario's defeat and ultimate withdrawal from the battlefield.

 At the end of the first battle (and Map move) the position is as follows:

Following are the Campaign rules (as they currently stand, right click, copy and paste to read easily). Next time, Move 2... (unsurprisingly).

Background (or what you will)

 Back in October last I experimented with the Hare & Hounds mini-campaign set-up that Bob Cordery had posted. At the time I suggested that I'd like to do something similar but using a campaign board that more resembled a map. I'm now in a position to start just such a project and this post is an introduction to the setting.

The subject of this mini-campaign is the Illyrian invasion of Messaline and takes place in the mid Nineteenth Century. It's inspiration is the Trevor Nunn film adaptation of Twelfth Night which is set in an imaginary late Nineteenth Century Illyria, which is at war with a country named Messaline. The Campaign Map and notes on the setting follow as jpeg files - click to open and enlarge.

The next post will expand the notes with the Campaign rules and first map moves (and any resulting action).

The Campaign Board 

Notes on the Campaign Setting

Illyria's objective (hold all land inside the red oval at the end of hostilities)

Paper Sails in the Sunset

I was going to buy some 18-19th century ship models for the next mini-campaign (hopefully to be played later this month), but fiscal austerity had other ideas. Instead some impressions of vessels have been made from materials that were ready to hand.

The Warship Juno escorts troop transports Castor and Pollux

Foam board, cocktail sticks and hearts of oak.