The Battle of Rolica 1808

 In which Sir Arthur Wellesley lands in Portugal and on the way to Lisbon tilts at Windmills.

Having landed North of Lisbon, the British marched along the Coast, collecting some Portuguese troops along the way. At the village of Rolica they encountered the vastly outnumbered French rearguard. (In the game the points attributed to the superior British make it appear that there are more French who were in fact at a 4:1 disadvantage.) This really ought to be a walk in the park...

 

Trying out the flashy new Budget Wargames backdrop - nice.

In the scenario description provided by Steve Parker in Dominion of Napoleon Bonaparte, the British attack is initially slow; this proved to be the case in the game too. In fact, both sides from the off (pre-battle bombardment) threw some appalling dice. I have to confess that I lost count of the Turn number early on...

Eventually the British Centre (Infantry in column) broke. The Infantry on the British flanks, elite and in defensive posture, were going to prove to be stubborn at the very least, and the Imperial Army started to take casualties.

At this stage it looked like the British were going to push through the French rearguard and be historically correct. Unfortunately, my troublesome dice, a pair of scamps, thought otherwise.

The French win again!!!

We're really down the rabbit hole now.