Krakow – Niepolomice Wargames show

 A few weeks ago the club (Prague Historical Wargames Club) made it’s annual trip up to Krakow (well Niepolomice actually, which is about 10km further down the Vistula). We usually stage a large Napoleonic refight in 15mm. this year the Battle of Albuera was the scene. This one is a natural favourite in Poland, given the key role of the Vistula lancers in nearly destroying the British line.

We followed the original tactical dispositions, though this time the French succeeded in turning the British flank, breaking the two Spanish brigades which fell back in confusion, preventing the British from re-forming line in time before being hit first by the French cavalry, and then the massed French columns of attack.

 

 

By 5pm the British had conceded defeat. I estimate that we have about 2,500 figures on the table, and probably covered about 60% of the original OOB (we excluded the majority of the Portuguese brigades, which historically had almost no participation in the battle being stationed away on the Allied left flank). We used the Deluxe Edition of General de Brigade rules, which actually worked very smoothly considering the size of the battle.

All the terrain was made by the club in Prague, and to my mind, surprisingly accurate compared to what I saw when I visited Albuera in August (see my earlier Albuera post for pictures of the terrain). 

 The rest of the show was excellent, and is becoming probably the biggest wargaming and historical re-enactment event in Poland. I didn't manage to get any pictures of the re-enactments in the castle grounds, but if you follow this link you will get an idea about the size of the event, cavalry, tanks and armoured cars and all: http://community.webshots.com/user/xnifar/tags/niepolomice/photos?start=28

The list of traders is growing as well. To top it all, the event is held in a beautiful Renaissance castle (the original royal hunting castle of the Polish kings), which also contains and excellent hotel. The town is easily reached from Krakow, being about a 15 minute drive. A taxi from the airport to the event would take you about 30 minutes. The next show will be held in mid-September 2012.

Albuera

From Elvas to Albuera, (La Albuera), through Badajoz, it is mostly flat or low rolling countryside.
 The village of Albuera itself is a small affair, with a solitary square and renaissance church, and a single road leading down to the original bridge. A new highway and ring road has just opened which bypasses the centre. Thankfully this new road hasn’t altered the battlefield, but it is quite close…

The village appears much as it probably did in 1811 (minus the asphalt and eletric wires of course)

The church in the main square, unchanged since 1811

The main square looking down towards the old bridge. This is where the KGL Light battalions defended the village

Memorial to General Blake

The main bridge at Albuera, as it was in 1811

To get to the battlefield you have to follow the main road (N435) south out of Albuera (making sure not to cross the river), in the direction of Almendral. After about a kilometr, you see a small house on the left and then a small unpaved track leading away from the road to the right. Turning on to this I was able to drive up to the middle of the main battle, about a kilometre in from the main road on a low ridge.

Looking back down eastwards towards modern main road from ridge

Now after about 200 years of farming, it’s hard to tell how much erosion there has been, but to my eye it seemd that the battlefield was largely intact, and I could easily make out the main features compared to contemporary maps.

Looking towards the allied front facing the French attack

 What immediately strikes one is the small area upon which so much of the bloody fighting took place. Indeed, from the front of the allied army’s position on one low rise on top of the main ridge, to the starting point of the French attack atop the second hillock, is only about 300 metres. Again the fronts of the two forces could been at most about 500 metres wide. Considering the thousands of men involved, the ground must have been packed.

The short ground between the start of the French attack and the Allied army line (in the distance)

 The second thing that struck me was the amount of dead ground stretching away from the original right flank of the allies before they turned at the last minute to meet the French onslaught. Even from the top of the ridge where Coles brigade stood, you can only see the top of the hill over which Werle’s brigade appeared. Behind that, the ground over which the French approach is hidden from view. Easy to see the logic of the French, and also to understand the immense task of the allies to turn, face and defend against them after the initial surprise.

Looking along the line of Beresford’s original deployment, the logic seems clear; expecting an attack, he deployed his troops on the reverse slope of a low ridge to avoid unnecessary casualties. I suspect this reduced further the armies’ ability to perceive and react to the flank attack.

Looking north along the Allied armies' first position on the reverse slope of the main ridge. Albuera village in the background.

 The problem of dead ground and blocked sight continued all the way to the line of Colbourne’s approach to the right, affording the Vistula Lancers their chance to get into a position unseen to launch their devastating flank attack; the sudden rainstorm only compounding the blocked line of sight.

Looking east along the Allied armies' liine as it received the French attack from the right (coming down from higher ground, into a dip, before hitting the line)

The line of advance of the French. Taken from the cusp of the small hill facing the Allied army, the land drops away concealing all activity

View of the main French attack from the allied flank. This is where Colbourne's Division was destroyed, and retaken by Myers' and Harvey's brigades

Once Cole’s division and Harvey’s Portuguese brigade came on, the battle played out from these final positions. The land is still sparse, and the soil quite red.

The position of the "Die Hards"