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Picton (and his umbrella) at Vitoria
vitoria. the main battle (june 21,1813)
The scenario for napoleon's battles
INTRODUCTION
Wellington and his Allied armies (British, German,
Portuguese and Spanish) advanced from the Portuguese border into the
North East of Spain, forcing the King Joseph towards the French border.
At 21st June 1813, the French Armies of Portugal, South (Midi) and
Centre were concentrated around Vitoria. Wellington planned a three
pincers attack. This Scenario covers the main southern battle in which
the right, right-center and left-center Allied columns (commanded
respectively by Hill, Wellington and Delhousie) crossed the Zadorra
river and fought against the French Armies of South and Centre (commanded
respectively by Gazan and d’Erlon).
The Scenario is based upon Oman and Sarramon books:
- Sarramon, J. ‘La
bataille de Vitoria. La fin de l’aventure napoléonienne en
Espagne’.
J.C. Bailly Editeur, 1985
- Oman, ‘A History of the Peninsular
War. Vol. VI', Greenhill Books, 2005
HOUSE RULES
The second edition of Napoleon's Battles edited by Five Forks has been used (including all the
optional rules) with some slight modifications fully explained in the
Vitoria pdf file and in the House-Rules
section:
1) The cavalry scale
is also 1/120. To avoid distortions, 2 figures were removed for each 3
casualties.
2) Units of cavalry from 480 men upwards are
allowed and units of infantry with less than four elements are also
allowed to display under-strength infantry units.
3) Routed
units can try to rally or avoid rout or dispersal without an attached general with an additional
'-3' modifier.
4) Divisional batteries are used (with a -1
modifier). The infantry fire is carried out as usual, but the resulting losses are not
marked on the target unit, but are only used to cause disorder.
5) C-i-C ratings. Do not use
“10” as Response number of the C-i-C’s but use the values assigned to them
as Corps Commanders.
TABLE-TOP ADAPTATION
Vitoria
Main pdf file
Old map
Yahoo map
view
Iso-heights
map
Game map
The
battlefield
INITIAL DEPLOYMENT
 |
 |
 |
| French deployment |
(SOME) SPECIFIC RULES OF THE SCENARIO
Historical deployment
The map shows the situation around noon 8.00 h of June 21 when Morillo’s
men (the only Allied unit in the table) found the first French pickets
in the Puebla heights. All the French forces, except the Spanish Royal
Garde (see 3.3) are on the table. The Allied reinforcement timetable is
provided in the
Scenario file:
The Jourdan deployment
The Marshall Jourdan was ill the day before the battle and the French
dispositions were made without his knowledge. The morning of the battle,
after a reconnaissance, Jourdan ordered a retreat to the more easily
defensible line Crispijana – Zuazo - Gomecha – Esquivel, but the battle
started before these orders could be carried out. In this variant
Jourdan was not ill and the French armies could be deployed in this new
position with l’Armee du Midi in first line and l’Armee du centre in
reserve.
The Allied units follow the same timetable than above.
Joseph/Jourdan dual command
King Joseph was the nominal French C-i-C with Jourdan acting as his
advisor but actually carrying out most of the work. In Vitoria, the
Joseph’s interference was minimal, so at the start of every French
Command step roll one die. If “3-10” is rolled Jourdan is in command and
his rating is 18”A(6/10)+0. If “1-2” is rolled, Joseph is in the middle
and the rating drops to 9”P(4/10)+0.
Joseph’s Garde Royal
The Garde Royal of King Joseph was maintained as a last reserve around
Vitoria. In spite of Joseph’s reluctance to use them during the battle,
the Royal Guard units could be used at request of Gazan or D’Erlon by
using the following procedure:
(1) Gazan or D’Eelon send a messenger.
(2) After read the message, Joseph/Jourdan pass a command test using the
Response Number of Jourdan or Joseph as appropriate.
(3) One turn after Joseph/Jourdan passes the test, the Optional rule for
Varying Time Arrivals can be start to be separately applied to both
Royal Garde brigades. They enter deployed at B5
Cavalry and the terrain (Optional)
The Vitoria terrain was, in general, unsuitable for cavalry action so
cavalry combat is always carried out with a ‘-2’ modifier in all the
modes.
Statistics of some units
A new French cavalry category is defined for Dragoons (FrDC) used as
heavy cavalry in Spain. Moreover, the statistics for French infantry and
light cavalry units are taken from years 1808-1812 (and nor for
1813-14), the Rheinbund infantry (RBLN) from Nassau and the Spanish
Joseph’s Royal Guard cavalry (SpGC) from Spanish ‘Afrancesados’ light
cavalry.
Allied (and French) cavalry brigade commanders
During the Vitoria campaign there was no overall Allied cavalry
commander. The brigades were assigned to the different Army wings and
their commanders acted in a semi-independent tactical way. To simulate
that, the Allied cavalry brigades are not automatically marked with a
half-move marker when beyond the command radius from Wellington or Hill.
Instead, the brigades are considered to be commanded by a ‘3”A(6)+0’
independent general and they carry out a command control test like
ordinary direct commanders.
This same rule is applied to all French cavalry brigades when beyond the
command radius of their respective division generals.
VICTORY POINTS
The total of victory points for geographical objectives is 376 (NB1) or 150 (NB2) and the multiplier
for the weaker side (French) is 1.4. The objectives are Ariņez
heights (10%), Ariņez (10%), Zumelzu (10%),
Lermanda heights (10%), Gomecha heights (15%), Gomecha
(10%), Berosteguieta (10%) and the Vitoria road end (25%).