General de Brigade

[ceara]

Hi All

just back from fighting Tamames (1809) and I have a couple of questions.

(1) The French made the Spanish 'retreat' out of Tamames village (three units) as a result of 'melee'. The subsequent 'brigade morale test' turned the retreat into a rout and the entire brigade routed. The question I have is 'is there any mechanism in the rules that state that other brigades within 12" also have to do a brigade morale test; or as we did is it simply a unit moral for 'routing friends within 12"?

(2) Is there any size a gap must be between units? The routing brigade in my opinion could not squeeze through a 5cm gap in the Spanish line and I would argue that they interpenetrated the line.

(3) Do 'grande Bande' troops fire as skirmishers or as line?

By the way I was trashed (French); simply could not get up the hill (difficult ground); my cavalry stood all day doing nothing!

Ceara

[captain chook]

Hi,
more data needed.
1.Did the Spanish retreat or rout? A retreat should not trigger a morale for nearby units, nor should it trigger a brigade morale unless all units are retreating (p 43, 45).

2.How far away from the retreating/routing units was the 5cm gap and what scale are you using? If the units to the rear are greater than half the retreat movement behind this cowardly lot they will not be interpenetrated (p44). If the retreating units are closer but have a frontage of <5cm (column of companies perhaps) and that gap is directly to their rear there is no problem either.

As to 3, grande bande fire as line, and in many ways manoeuvre as if in line. Essentially they are loose order but still formed (p35).

Ants

[captain chook]

By the way.
I hadn't heard of this battle. Could you give a battle report?
From what I have now read, your fate was the same as the actual French army in that encounter, and it would seem that the cavalry had little room to be deployed effectively.

Ants

[baxterj]

Ants, its in Scenario book 1

john