Barrosa/Chiclana 1811: final remarks

Lasalle has provided again a funny game with many alternatives, but with a final similar to the real world: the rout of the French at the hands of the Allied forces. The main difference, as it was pointed out in the previous post, was the determinant role played by the Spanish forces. The aggressive behaviour of the Spanish commander, the brigadier Cruz Murgeon, resulted in the outflanking of the Ruffin's left and ended with the breaking of two French battalions.
The British and French fought according the book, i.e. the British deployed in line side to side and the French in a line of battalion columns. The fire fights were frequent and two French units were broken by firing alone, without the need of a charge home.
The home-rule devised for the Barnard Flankers worked well, giving the Flankers a flexible although non-orthodox defensive performance.
(1) The extended front of the unit (50% higher than the official) allowed it to choose more easily its firing target.
(2) Having only four bases in that formation, the unit was not a machine-gun.
(3) With a SK3 level, the Flankers effectively screened the deployment of the rest of the brigade.
(4) Being irregular, it interpenetrated without penalization the regular British battalions ando so, it retired easily from the front line, when the French battalions approached at charge distance.
All in all, the Flankers behaved almost like the historical unit!
The Spanish reinforcements arrived late so they do not participated in the fight. The 'Wavering Lapeña' home-rule resulted in the delay of Begines until the last movements of the battle that, incidentally, lasted for 20 movements.
The AAR and pictures have been uploaded to the main web-site

The next install will be likely another obscure Spanish-French Peninsular affaire: the combat of Castillejos (january 25, 1811) fought between Ballesteros and Gazan in Villanueva de los Castillejos (Badajoz, Extremadura).. Historically, the battle resulted in the repulse of the Spanish force, but maybe in the table game the final result will be another!

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