Last week was a Fescennia week - my Napoleonics "imagi-nation" project, so I returned to the on-going campaign in which the Kingdom of Arcadia invaded the Duchy of Hesperides and has seen the Kingdom of Erymanthia marching to the latter's aid. The action is a follow on to the last one at Vanaselo, on the river Istok (see April 21, 2024 entry). The Arcadian Foreign Legion had been worsted by the combined Hesperidean and Erymanthian force and compelled to retreat. The Arcadians brought up fresh troops and decided to attack across the river and force their opponents to retire.

The game is on a wide board than the last one, 6 feet by 4 feet, but with it still centred on Vanaselo and its bridge over the river Istok. The two sides are roughly equal in numbers, though the Arcadians had more cavalry and artillery, the Hesperidean-Erymanthean force had more infantry. The attackers have to beat their opponents and force them to withdraw, whereas the defenders merely have to hold their position. As I was playing solo, this made things easy: I played the Arcadians and the Hesperidian-Erymanthian side was the non-player, acting entirely defensively, holding the river line.

In the event, I lost, the defence was too strong really for the forces at my disposal, especially with the river in the way. The latter was fordable along its length, but was enough of a barrier to mean a unit was disordered crossing it and had to halt to rally before advancing further. This meant the defence had plenty of time to blast the attackers with canister and musketry. I had tried softening up the defence with long range artillery, but that did not work owing to bad dice rolling and ammunition limitations (ten turns of shot, two of canister). As a result, when I sent in the infantry, they barely crossed the stream before they were coming back! Moreover, it is a campaign, so I was mindful of casualties; only a third of losses come back for the next battle. So it ended with a second victory for the Hesperidean-Erymanthian side and this will probably stir up the local populace to start getting involved in attacks on supply lines perhaps.

The terrain all set out.

The opposing armies in position. Arcadia to the left, Hesperides and Erymanthia to the right. Arcadians wear white or yellow uniforms mostly, Hesperides are green, Erymanthia dark blue.

The Arcadian cavalry brigade, which saw no action at all during the game.

Cuirassiers, mounted rifles and dragoons, with their commander, Brigadier Menées, out front, along with his ADC.

Arcadian infantry, line in front, guard to the rear; foot artillery on the hill and light infantry screen further forward.

The Arcadian Guard Grenadier Regiment. These are, I think, my oldest figures - 25mm Hinchliffe from the mid-1970s.

The Arcadian right wing, more line infantry, riflemen out front, foot artillery and grenadiers on the outermost flank, with guard cavalry and artillery behind.

The Hesperideans - line infantry, guard infantry, cuirassiers and foot artillery all deployed.

The Erymanthian wing - musketeer regiments, militia and grenadiers, as well as foot artillery. Fusiliers (light infantry) can be seen in the wood.

The Erymanthian cavalry brigade - dragoons and hussars, along with their commander, Brigadier Baron de Mala Fe.

A view along the defenders' line.

Action begins: the 1st Grenadier Regiment moves to anchor the Arcadian right, along with the 1st Foot Artillery Battery and the 1st Rifles Company.

The Guard artillery moves up: further forward the Guard Horse Artillery in their dragoon-style helmets, the Guard Foot Artillery in bearskins behind. Hinchliffe figures with new heads! I will eventually provide all my batteries with teams and limbers, but it is slow going!

The 1st Light Infantry push forward.

The Hesperidean Foot Battery in their red tricorn hats open the proceedings. The Duke is a bit of a traditionalist, so his troops tend to wear later 18th Century uniforms.

The Erymanthian No. 3 Foot Artillery Battery (howitzer) joins in.

As does No. 2 Foot Artillery Battery with its 6 pounder.

No. 1 Fusilier Regiment crosses the river to engage the enemy's light troops.

The Arcadian riflemen start firing on the defending artillery.

The opposing light units face off, the Erymanthians at the edge of the wood. In the end, the latter held out long enough to repulse the Arcadians.

The Hesperidean line infantry move up to drive off the annoying Arcadian riflemen.

The Arcadian Guard artillery open fire.

The 1st Grenadier Regiment approaching the river on the far right of the Arcadian front.

The 1st Foot Artillery Battery comes into action. The team and limber are Old Glory, the gun and crew are 25mm Hinchliffe.

The 2nd Line Regiment ready to advance. All 25mm Hinchliffe figures.

The Arcadian 4th Cavalry Regiment (Mounted Rifles).

The Hesperidean Lifeguard Infantry Regiment.

The No. 1 Line Infantry Regiment starts volley firing at the Arcadian rifles. They did not hit anything, but the riflemen failed their morale test anyway and ran off, to rally behind the grenadiers in the far distance.

The Cavalry Regiment No.1 of the Duke of Hesperides. Old-style cuirassiers in their pot helms.

Arcadian line infantry moving forward.

The riflemen just before they broke and ran.

Plenty of artillery in action, but still no close fighting.

The Arcadian Guard Cuirassier Regiment.

The 1st Light Infantry retiring. Under the rules, any unit with 50% losses has to form up and retire to their army's baseline, where they remain for the rest of the game. Units with 33% losses are not allowed to advance, only defend.

The Arcadian 4th Cavalry Regiment (Cuirassiers).

The Arcadian 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Dragoons).

On the other side of the table, the Erymanthian No.1 Dragoon Regiment in front, the No. Hussar Regiment behind.

The Erymanthian No. 2 Grenadier Infantry Regiment, with the No. 1 Militia Regiment, resplendent in their bearskins, beyond.

The commander of the Arcadian 2nd Brigade, Brigadier Gribuoillis, leads forward the 3rd and 4th Line Regiments in column.

Matters are now moving towards a climax.

The Hesperidean No. 1 Line Infantry Regiment retires in column, having been battered by artillery fire. Units cannot voluntarily pass through others under the rules, so it is important to leave gaps for potential withdrawals.

The Erymanthian No. 1 Musketeer Regiment moves up ready to meet the advancing Arcadians.

Brigadier Bribouillis' ADC returns to the 3rd Foot Artillery Battery to order it to open fire once more, it being outside command radius of the brigadier himself.

Having played their part successfully, the 1st Fusilier Regiment's remnants fell back behind the river.

The Guard Grenadiers move forward.

Having changed into attack columns, the Arcadians begin to cross the river. 3rd Line nearest the camera is much reduced in figures already!

The right wing attack approaches the river.

The Arcadians cross all along the river, but now have to halt and reform before they can advance further.

On the left, the 3rd Line Regiment staggers out of the river, but its losses mean it cannot go any further. The 4th Line Regiment is hesitating at the river bank.

The Hesperidean Foot Artillery, with only half its crew left, manages to halt the 2nd Line Regiment on the slopes of the hill with canister fire.

More canister puts the losses of the 4th Line Regiment over 50%, so it will have to retreat.

The 1st Grenadier Regiment and the 1st Rifles Company begin to move forward, but the Lifeguard Infantry Regiment has already advanced to support the gunners on the hill.

Musketry repulses the 1st Line Regiment. The Arcadian Guard Horse Battery can be seen, silent from having run out of ammunition.

Back go the Arcadians, nothing was to be gained by attacking further except heavy losses.

The Arcadians are retiring all along the line.

Except the grenadiers and rifles, who held on briefly before retiring as well.

Game end.