State of Play: Commands & Colors: Napoleonics – Vimiero, 21 August 1808

  

The plan was this week to tackle my second Ten Game Challenge game (specifically We Are Coming, Ninevah (Nuts! Publishing, 2023) for my Monday night game with T, but a couple of things happened;  I read through the rules when I first received the game, but I hadn’t gone back to it since, and I’ve been unwell for a couple of weeks now, nothing too serious, but less able to concentrate on digesting the rules every time I picked them up for a refresh, and sickness delayed the game ‘til Thursday.

At the same time, a Facebook friend and content creator commented on another FB friend’s post about a Commands and Colors: Napoleonics (GMT Games, 2010) game; he was interested in the game, he said, but he balked at the overall cost of the seven (soon to be eight) boxes that make up the set, and asked how much gaming goodness he would get out of owning just the base set. I offered my rote answer, but I was still thinking about this when I decided to set up a C&C: Napoleonics game for my Monday night game with T. So, this one’s for you, Cardboard Commander (and everyone should check out CC's channel - he's doing some good work over there).

The Vimiero set-up map.

Vimiero is the third scenario in the C&C: Napoleonics base game, and a battle from the early days of the British military intervention on the Iberian Peninsula, under the temporary command of an already celebrated Lieutenant-General Arthur Wellesley. The first scenario, Rolica (First French position), is the ideal teaching scenario because of the low unit count, representation of all the basic unit types (Line and Light Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery), and a forgivingly short five Victory Banner target. It also encourages the French to try to concentrate on the Allied right, underpinned by the weaker Portuguese troops, and roll up the British line, disrupting their plans. When I’m introducing a new player to C&C: Napoleonics, I always start with this one.

Vimiero is more of a free-for-all. The two town-hexes of Vimiero are worth to Victory Banners for the French player who can take and hold them, but this is a big ask, and they’ll probably earn their sixth banner just clearing the Allied forces attempting to reach the town. The action is somewhat channelled by the Macciro River on the French Left and the patches of rough (impassable) terrain on the French right and Allied Left, inhibiting manoeuvre options. The scenario usually descends into a slugfest, with the winner being the player who can best manage their inevitably difficult hands. This isn’t a criticism; it can be its own kind of fun and makes for a close game and a very gratifying win.

The battle awaits (while the French commander checks his messages). 

T played the French and I took the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance forces. If we have a matching number of cards, I’ll deal off two hands and let T choose his, but in this case, the French begin with a five-card hand (and move first), where the Allies have a slight advantage with six cards. This advantage didn’t help me initially, as I began the game wanting to bring my Reserves off the rear-line the Center but had no Center manoeuvre cards for the first couple of turns.

One of the criticisms of the Commands & Colors series generally is that due to the random distribution of order cards and the limits of hand-size, the player doesn’t have the facility to do whatever they want to do to maximise the effectiveness of their forces. I’ve expressed a few opinions on this take a few different times here, so I’ll just say I think people who think this are missing the point. Constraint of options in a given turn forces you to consider other options. Commands and Colors is a tactical system portraying a dynamic situation, and the use of cards to limit availability of orders is an enforced fog-of-war mechanism. The hand of cards mimics a situation of limited intelligence – it prevents you from responding to everything your opponent does, some of the time.

Ferguson holds Ventosa (Allied Left). I feel a banner coming on.

Being an old hand at C&C: Napoleonics, I didn’t waste time bemoaning what I couldn’t do, but looked at what I could do. So, I started to bring my units up on my Left flank to better position them. One of the toughest things to do in Commands & Colors of any stripe – for me at least – is to exhibit the discipline to get my troops up off the baseline. The rear-most units are often the most versatile, or the hardest-hitting in battle, but if you’re just responding to the action at the front, these units tend to languish. T’s single Grenadier unit never received a single order to advance through the entire game. It’s often a little easier to bring Cavalry forward from the Reserve given their greater movement allowance, provided there’s a gap in the lines for them to pass through.

The action started on the French Right (Allied Left). Three of T’s first four orders were across the whole front; a Forward (two units in each sector), followed by a Probe (two units) Right Flank, then a Coordinated Advance (two ordered Center, one each flank, and a Recon in Force (one unit activated each sector), I could only respond with an Attack left flank (three units activated) on my second round to meet the onslaught, along with An Attack Right Flank for my first move, then Assault Right Flank (activations up to hand size – a bit of a waste as I only had five units in the sector), and a Probe Center (two units ordered) for my fourth play, nudging some infantry forward, including the famous 95^th Rifle Regiment (popularised by the Sharpe novels and movies). I’m always wary bringing these chaps out; in the seven or eight times I’ve played the Allies in Vimiero, I’ve only managed to score a hit maybe twice before the three-bock unit was wiped out. At the end of four rounds, the French sat on two banners, while the Allies had yet to score.

Some low-hanging fruit for the right attack.

T's next gambit was Fire and Hold; any unit capable of ranged fire (Infantry and Artillery) cold be ordered, and each would gain an extra die to their roll. Unlike other Commands & Colors games, strength is adjusted down with loss of blocks in Napoleonics. T’s two cannon units were at full strength but also at full reach (maximum range of four hexes from a target), so they each only rolled two dice, while two of the three infantry units in were reduced to one and two blocks respectively. They nibbled at my Line troops (two hits between them and the cannon) while his full-strength Line (attached to St Clair. On the French Left) managed only to push my cannon off the ridgeline before the town of Vimiero.  

The game see-sawed through the action, which always makes for a more intense experience. Toby took his first banner early in the game. He had scored three banners before I won my first two (off a Recon in Force order), which is always encouraging. The six-banner Victory target comes up quickly after the first units begin to fall. T made a big push (Assault Center, but the action was all focused on the Vimiero front to the French Left), and at just two banners short of victory might have won him the game had it come off, but a combination of poor rolls and a solid defence on my part, managing to push back his advancing troops in the Center.

At round ten, T played an order that, if the game had gone much longer than it did, may have opened up Vimiero for the taking. He played Short Supply on my Foot Artillery battery set up on the ridgeline on the Center/Right sector border. This was a perfect position for Artillery, as it allows the unit to be ordered on a Center or Right sector manoeuvre order, and up to then I have been able to use the cannon to good effect. Short Supply pushes a unit of the player’s choice back to the opponent’s baseline (though the opponent gets to choose the position it ends up at). The best I could do in response was a Recon In Force order to bring some fresh units forward, including the aggrieved Foot Artillery.

Shorted.

By the last round, the scores were 5-4 in my favour. In the past we have both won games by gaining two or even three banners on the final round, so it was still anyone’s game.

Throughout the game, we’d been chipping away at each other’s forces. Knocking a block or two of several Line units especially. When the right card comes along, it can bring a swift conclusion, but it’s not a guarantee. T’s last play was a Forward order (two units in each sector), which lead to four opportunities for ranged fire (not the French side’s strong suit), and some losses on my part but nothing critical. I retorted with an Assault Center order, which cost T his loitering, depleted Heavy Cavalry, and the game. We have a house rule that if the last turn has multiple combats, we play them all out, and if the final losses are even, we declare a minor victory for the triumphant side. That wasn’t the case here, but I think it helps keep a more sportsmanlike view of the game.

In the end, the whole battle took fourteen rounds to reach a conclusion. The game played out in a little over an hour (plus about twenty minutes to set up, and another ten to tear down afterwards), which makes the game perfect for a weeknight. The final result was a 6-4 win for the Allies.

Six banners. 'A close-run thing."

As with nearly every time we’ve played this scenario, the town of Vimiero was never really in danger. The fighting was brutal, and T’s tactics were on the mark. In the end it came down to a couple of lucky rolls on my part; before the last turn it was still anyone’s game. And if it had played to another round the results may have been different, with a closer result a neat certainty. It’s these knife-edge that keep Commands & Colors: Napoleonics fresh and challenging.

Going back to the inspiration for the play, it should be pointed out that GMT is once again out of stock of the core C&C: Napoleonics box, but it is possible to find copies in the stores. It's my understanding that for future releases, the base set will be combined with the into a Peninsula Box, with other national expansions also being combined into dual or larger releases in an effort to reduce the overall costs. Whichever way you tackle it, after going on fifteen years of regular play (and one replacement board), Commands & Colors: Napoleonics is, for my money, definitely worth the price of admission.