Camerone - 157th anniversary solo re-fight using BBB

It's a club tradition that we refight Camerone near the anniversary using the excellent scenario from Tim Tilson's Colonial Campaigns book Maximilian in Mexico. The book used The Sword and the Flame rules but I use Bloody Big Battles instead.

Sous-lieutenant Maudet and his squad of Legionaries defend the south-west corner

Due to the lockdown I decided to refight it solo as it lends itself to solo play due to the Victory Points. To this end I was in charge of the Republicans as they have all the decisions to make.

The compound looking south-east, scratch built by Rodge

The French Force

Captain Danjou
Sous-lieutenants Maudet and Vilain
4 units each of 4 bases of Legionaries - MLR, Elite (never go spent), Aggressive
Incidentally this means that the French figure:man ratio is virtually 1:1

French defenders at game start. 2 base Irregular Cavalry unit on the upper floor of the Hacienda

The Republican Force

3 Commanders
Irregular Cavalry: 4 bases - MLR , Raw, Ragged Volley, Fragile, dismounted
Irregular Infantry: 4 bases - MLR , Raw, Ragged Volley
Regular Infantry: 4 bases - MLR , Trained

Republican Regular Infantry at start of 2nd Assault Phase

The Republicans attack in 3 Assault Phase. Each Phase is either 4, 6, 8 or 10 units of regular or irregular infantry or cavalry chosen by the Republican players. Each regular unit is worth 2 Victory Points (VP) to the French and each irregular unit  is 1 VP. The Republicans get 2 VPs for killing a French base. There are also VP awarded  to each side for other activities but I'm sure Tim would appreciate it if you bought his book to find those out.

The compund looking south-west 

An Assault Phase ends when the Republicans roll equal to or less than the number of units that are Spent.

For Phase 1 the Republicans selected 4 units of Irregular Cavalry giving the French 4 victory points. There is also a 2 base Irregular Cavalry unit, dismounted of course, on the upper floor of the Hacienda.

Dismounted Republican cavalry assault the compound at the south-western and both north entrances. Even through most of the Legion are low on ammo (green smiley faces) they cause 1 Republican  to go Spent (red smiley faces). This leads to the Republicans having to roll for Assault Phase end and not get a 1 on a D4 which they do.

Victory points for Phase 1 are 4 to the Legion  and 2 to the Republicans for killing a base

For Phase 2 the Republicans selected 10 units of Regular Infantry giving the French 20 victory points. I thought that maybe the 10 units would overwhelm the French as the Regulars are Trained and therefore have to lose 2 bases to become Spent.

3 Units of Republican Regular Infantry form up against the south-west breach

6 Units of Republican Regular Infantry form up against the northern breaches

Squads from left to right -  Sous-lieutenant Maudet, Sous-lieutenant Vilain and Captain Danjou.

 The 4th Squad holds the Hacienda against a Republican Regular Infantry approaching from the east

 This Phase was a really meat grinder as the Republicans assaulted time and again 

 The French held firm until slowly they ran low on ammunition

  The south-western breach holds 

Captain Danjou's Squad retires and the Captain is killed.  

 The 4th Squad charges out of the Hacienda to clear the courtyard

Maudet's Squad is pushed back from the south-western breach

Maudet's Squad counter-attacks and retakes the south-western breach

End of Phase 2 with Sous-lieutenant Maudet and 5 bases of Legionnaires left alive. With 4 Spent units it was only a matter of time before I rolled 4 on a D10. I was tempted to pay an extra Victory Point to continue the Phase for an extra turn but I could not guarantee killing everyone. 

Victory points for Phase 2 are 20 to the Legion  and 24 to the Republicans for killing 12 bases giving the French 24 and the Republicans 26.

For the final Phase 3 the Republicans selected 4 units of Regular Infantry giving the French 8 victory points. This was cutting it a bit fine as the Republicans could only get a maximum of 38, 2 for each officer and 2 for each base.

 3 Republican Regular Infantry units against the  north wall

One Republican Regular Infantry unit against the  south-west wall

Sous-lieutenant Maudet and 3 bases of Legionnaires in the stables fend off the first attack killing a Republican base

The 2 bases of Legionnaires in the Hacienda are overrun whist Sous-lieutenant Maudet and 3 bases of Legionnaires in the stables are whittled down to 1 base.

So Phase 3 victory Points are 8 for the French and 12 for the Republicans giving a total of 32 VP for the French and 38 VP for the Republicans. This meant a Marginal Victory for the Republicans. So well done my team!

Camerone works well as a solo game with this scenario as all of the decisions are made by the Republican player whilst the French forces "merely" have to defend the compound.

In my humble opinion Bloody Big Battles works well at this scale with minor tweaks. 

These were

• units can not combine fire power
• commanders only count when attached to a unit 
• in assault when a unit is required to retire and can not then it loses an additional 1 base and fights a new Assault

I can't recommend Tim Tilson's Colonial Campaigns book Maximilian in Mexico highly enough

99% of the figures are QRF / Freikorps 15mm with 1% being Peter Pig or Minifigs

The Hacienda was lovingly handcrafted by Rodge

Five Kilometres from Leipzig - solo rules for black powder skirmish actions

Five Kilometers From Leipzig (FKFL) is a set of solo miniatures rules for black powder skirmish actions roughly covering the period  1700 to 1870. It is written by Ivan Sorensen of Nordic Weasel Games and available as a pdf from Wargame Vault.

You have a squad of 6 men that skirmish against  military forces, guerrillas, outlaws or native warbands. The starting Stats are Speed 4", Shoot +0, Toughness 3 but this can  increase through campaigning. 

When a figure is active they may take a Movement Action and a Combat Action.

Movement Actions can be Move or Reload. Combat Actions can be Dash, Reload, Brawl, Bandage or Shoot. 

The opposition depends  on which campaign you are fighting. For example if you were fighting the Peninsular War (1807–1814)  as the French then you could be facing either a military force and/or guerrillas. For the French and Indian Wars then you could be facing either a military force,  guerrillas or native warbands. Finally as the French for the Franco-Prussian War then you would face just a military force.

Enemy type, number and deployment are all table generated as is the Mission

The Enemy can basically either shoot, reload or move towards near opponent in that order. In all cases they should keep to cover.

Each Mission earns several Victory Points per turn. At the end of each game turn roll 2D6. If the roll is equal or below the number of Victory Points earned so far, the Enemy withdraws and you win the mission.

You might notice that I use multi-based troops for the 1st game - just imagine each base is 1 figure. I also use 15mm figures because I don't have any 25mm figures

For the first game set during the Peninsular War I commanded a French squad. 

My opponents were 7 British infantry (Speed 4", Shoot +0, Toughness 3)

The mission was to capture and hold the centre of the table for 2 VPs per turn

The British deployed in 2 ranks. 

Both sides are armed with Smoothbore Muskets

The French advance

 The British advance

 The French advance

 The British open fire 

 The French reach the centre so can start collecting 2 VPs per turn

All of the British open fire 

 Everyone is firing!

  A firefight ensues killing 2 British and 3 French

This forces the British to take a morale check

Although I was down  to 3 men the British had 3 men Scared so they could not advance. The VP stood at 4 and I rolled a Double 1 so victory to me   

All the figures are by Campaign Game Miniatures.

For the second game I commanded an Abenaki warband during the French and Indian Wars.

Their opponents were 4 veteran settlers (Guerrillas) (Speed 5", Shoot +1, Toughness 4). 

The mission was Drive Off where 2 VPs are earnt every time an Enemy Flees or is Knocked Out.

As the enemy were outnumbered I set them up in a cabin. Both sides are armed with Smoothbore Muskets

 Basically the Abenaki snook up on the settlers

Both sides open fire

After 1 round of firing 1 settler was dead, 1 has fled as a result of that and another was Stunned

 After another round of firing the  same settler was Stunned

 One Abenaki goes for the outflank

Before he can get to the cabin one Abenaki gets shot, one settler gets shot and the other one flees as a result of the death. Game over

All of the figures are by Peter Pig

This isn't a bad set of rules. Very simple but they get the toys on the table. The Decision Tree could possibly do with expanding to include Close Combat but it works well enough. I certainly enjoyed both games and not just because I won both of them! 

This is Rangers of Shadow Deep without the fantasy. In fact I imagine it is possible to play RoSD scenarios with these rules.

The Deserter, Mexico 1864 - a 15mm solo game using Bloody Big Battles

My Christmas solo game this year is set during the French Intervention in Mexico and concerns the arrest of a deserter from the French Foreign Legion who has "gone native".

José Curbelo

The deserter is a Spaniard called José Curbelo who has fought for the Legion in Algeria, the Crimea where he lost an eye at Sevastopol, Italy and, until recently, Mexico.

Rumour has it that he currently resides in a tiny hamlet called Boanas that lies in a seldom used pass from the coastal plains up to the Mexican plateau.

The French column on route to Boanas, auxiliaries at the head followed by Captain Rocher and the mounted Zouaves

The French forces

The French authorities have dispatched 2 platoons of mounted Zouaves and a handful of auxiliaries under the command of Captain Ferrero Rocher to Boanas to capture Curbelo.

Captain Ferrero Rocher
1st squad, Mounted Zouave company 3 Bases Skirmish,Aggressive Veteran MLR
2nd squad, Mounted Zouave company 3 Bases Skirmish,Aggressive Veteran MLR
Auxiliaries 3 Bases Aggressive Trained MLR

Rocher can act as a normal commander or attach himself to a unit as an extra base

The French are controlled by the player

Curbelo takes Sunday morning drill. 

In the background a nun leaves the village with her two donkeys after making another arms delivery.

The Mexican Forces

These are the locals from Boanas organised by Curbelo into a militia. When a French unit searches a building there is a chance that between 0 and 4 units will appear in the building. This is determined by using a pack of cards and dealing out 4 cards for each search. On a 2 to 9 of Clubs a militia squad appears in the building, on the Ace of Clubs then Curbelo and a militia squad appear in the building. Every other card is ignored.

José Curbelo
Upto 10 squads of Militia 3 Bases Fragile Raw MLR

Curbelo can act as a normal commander or attach himself to a unit as an extra base

The Mexican squads use a D6 to see whether  they assault (6), stay put and shoot (2-5) or retire to the next building (1)

The Game

The French deployed Captain Rocher with 1st squad Zouaves and the Auxiliaries at the east end of the village with 2nd squad sneaking through to the west end under cover of night.

 The Auxiliaries search the first building and find nothing

1st Squad encounters a Militia squad and gets a base killed!

The Auxiliaries move up to give them fire support

1st Squad storms the building

The Auxiliaries move down the street 

 They encounter another Militia squad 

 And a to and fro encounter for control on the building ensues... 

... that sees the building ...

... change hands several times

In the meantime 1st Squad have cleared another building and advance on the church 

 The Church holds another Militia squad who repulse Captain Rocher and 1st Squad

At the west end of the village 2nd Squad advance to support the attack on the church. 

However 3 Militia squads are waiting for them!

All 3 Militia squads assault 2nd Squad who halt one with fire but ...

 ... get a good kicking from the others,lose a base, and fall back on their horse line

 The victorious Militia follow up 

2nd Squad advances again and half the Militia retire Spent

They rolled Double 1 on the Disrupted table and being Fragile dropped them to 1

2nd squad advance back into the buildings with only spent Militia in front of them 

The Militia unit in the church fall back to the last remaining building where José Curbelo and 2 Militia squads are determined to make their stand 

Curbelo takes a last look around Boanas

Although the French are outnumbered they feel confident of storming the building and taking Curbelo prisoner

 However 2 Militia squads take it into their heads to assault the Auxiliaries

 The Auxiliaries fall back before the onslaught

Seizing the opportunity Captain Rocher assaults Curbelo's squad who flee taking Curbelo with them

 Forgetting his objective Captain Rocher charges to support the Auxiliaries destroying first one squad

 and then the other squad leaving the village in his hands

 But giving José Curbelo and a few followers time to flee down the pass 

"Mount up" - a frustrated Captain Rocher  head out on the trail of José Curbelo

I'm not sure if I saw that ending coming but there is the distinct possibility of a sequel.

In a previous test game the Captain and a single squad ended up surrounded and making a last stand

It is quite a random game. With 7 buildings and a 4 card deal per building there is a chance that no one at all is in the village or as in the case of 2nd squad they run into 3 or 4 times their own number in one building.

I thought that Bloody Big Battles handled this instance very nicely with 2nd Squad retiring, some of the Mexicans madly charging after them, exploitation, and then deciding it was a bad idea, failed Movement rolls, when 2nd squad came back for more.

The Mexican squads use a D6 to see whether  they assault (6), stay put and shoot (2-5) or retire to the next building (1) which gives some surprising results such as 2 of Curbelo's squads deciding not to do a last stand and charging out instead.

An excellent solo Christmas game if I say myself - my opponent was a pleasure to play with

99% of the figures are Freikorps with a smattering of Peter Pig figures

The buildings are by Musket Miniatures

Finally thanks to Shaun for finishing off my Mounted, and dismounted, Zouave company that have been sitting half-painted o my work bench for nearly 2 years.