Stripped Down for Parts: 1811: Albuera, Second Edition

 

July and August have seen a deluge of preordered game arrivals at Casa de Juego Rápido, and it seems the flood isn’t yet over. The latest addition to the to-be-played shelf is another Napoleonic game, a revised edition of the first volume of Frederic Delstanches’ Fix Bayonets system from, 1811: Albuera, Second Edition (Tactical Workshop. 2025). The game, as may be surmised from the title, is a treatment of the Battle of Albuera, fought in May of 1811, named for the village in south-western Spain, and historically an important victory for the Anglo- Portuguese and Spanish forces against Marshal Soult. The original release of 1811: Albuera (Tactical Workshop, 2020) was released in 2020, with the second volume in the series, 1810: Busacco (Tactical Workshop, 2021) released the following year. These were print on demand games that would have been exclusively expensive for the likes of your humble correspondent. The second Edition 1811: Albuera is the Tactical Workshop's first run at quantity production, and this has brought the price down to a very reasonable cost, especially as a pre-order. 

As one may draw from the series title (the clue’s also there in the publisher’s name), 1811: Albuera is a tactical game of battalion-level combat. This is my first game from Tactical Workshop, so I can’t compare it to Busacco or the first edition of Albuera (if you’re interested, Eric’s Table – Napoleonic Battles has posted a short video comparing the two editions), but I can say the production is lush, the presentation is well-crafted, and overall, the game holds a lot of promise as a rewarding Napoleonic excursion.

 

The box cover sets the tone for what’s to come. It features the centre detail of The Flag. Albuhera, May 16, 1811, a painting by William Barns Wollen (1857-1936), a noted war artist in his lifetime who was commissioned by the newspaper, The Sphere, to cover the Second Beor War as a correspondent-illustrator for the paper. The Flag now hangs in the National Army Museum, London.

The box itself is of solid construction, and it needs to be. There is a lot of material packed into its three-inch hull.

The back of the box. It hints at the riches inside.

The box back offers a brief historical sketch of the battle, and a briefer account of the parameters of the game. A short box-text features outline the Fix Bayonets system goals, while another offers a precis of the changes in this edition of Albuera from the first. The box-back also presents a goodly portion of the map and some images of sample counters and leader cards.

Along with a manifest of the game’s components, we’re advised that Albuera is recommended for one or two players, that its difficulty should be rated medium-high (I suppose this would put it at about a 7 or 8 out of 10*), and that the game can be expected to run from two to eight or more hours, depending on the scenario chosen. No advice is given as to age suitability for this game; after a superficial look at the rules, I’d be inclined to prohibit anyone under fifteen from trying to tackle the nuances of the Fix Bayonets system.

The series rulebook features Denis Dighton's painting, The Defence of the Chateau
de Hougoumont.by the flank Company, Coldstream Guards, 1815,
which also resides in the National Army Museum in London.

The Fix Bayonets series rulebook is printed in full colour on a generous weight of gloss paper-stock and runs to 56 pages, of which a solid 50 pages are rules (the last four pages consist of a Glossary, a short bibliography, and a graphic explainer of the unit counters on the back cover). The game only having arrived a few days ago, I haven’t spent a lot of time with the rules, but I like what I have seen. I won’t lie; the rules are quite granular, and if you prefer your Napoleonic excursions on the breezier side, this may not be the game for you. But if you enjoy something with a little more weight, there is a lot to like here. There are sensible-reading rules for line extension, various unit states (general order, road column, etc.), infantry line extension, ad-hoc command groups, cavalry screening (line extension), artillery ricochet (for level fire)… I could go on. The controlled movement system is also intriguing, forcing formations to advance toward None of these seem overly complicated at first blush, but should combine to add depth and colour to the play experience.

The system is based on a card-draw activation mechanic, but this isn’t a completely random draw, like the Blind Swords system. The players start with a hand of leader cards and choose one leader from their hand to begin an Activation stack. These are revealed simultaneously. Whichever leader has a higher initiative rating (a process I promise to look at more closely in an AAR), is placed on the top. The other player may attempt to interrupt this card by playing another Leader card from their hand against the top card. In this way, the activation stack is built, and the leaders and their subordinate units ordered in turn. The designer notes that this was inspired by the activation system used in the Tank Leader series (West End Games), while the interruption mechanic has its roots in the Great Battles of History (GMT Games) system.

Exclusive rules and scenarios appear in the Battle Booklet.

The 1811: Albuera Battle Booklet runs to sixteen pages and offers a brief run-down of the historical context of the battle, the forces involved and their respective leadership, about a page of game-specific terrain and special rules, and the all the necessary details of Albuera’s four scenarios. It’s worth noting that two of these scenarios can be played on a single map-board.

The map is impressive and easily navigable. And there is a lot of it.

The play area for 1811: Albuera is comprised of two mounted maps which line up very nicely. These create a 44’ by 29’ map of the battle site. The scale is 120 meters (about 131 yards) to a hex, with elevation denoted by contour lines and changes in colour, shifting from greens into light browns. The hexes are a full inch in diameter.

Counter sheets 1 & 2.

Counter sheets 3 &4.

Counter sheet 5. As always, apologies for the dismal lighting in these shots.

The game comes with five sheets of pre-rounded, easy-punch counters in a hefty weight of brown core cardboard. The back of the box tells us that the set is comprised of the following: 25 arrow-shaped markers, 160 3/8” by 3/4” markers, 205 1/2” by 1/2” markers, [and] 265 3/4” by 3/4” counters and markers.

The counters are one of the areas where the game really shines. The unit cards are both well laid out for readability and quite pleasing to look at. Troops are represented by a figure in the uniform of that unit, while the surrounding values are distinct and clear without being ostentatious. Formal affiliations are indicated by a colour bar at the top of the counter, and nationalities are denoted by the background colour.

Sample Spanish units (from left: Infantry, Artillery, Ammunition Train (Division España),
and two more infantry battalions (Zayas's 4th Division), with Line extension (top left)
and Road Column (top right) markers, and the Melee indicators
(the arrows at the bottom).

Markers are provided to indicate when infantry units moving in Column or extended lines (elongated counters) or readying for a melee assault (the red arrows), cavalry units are committed to a Charge action or providing a skirmish screen, markers for spent units, disordered units, infantry which have formed a defensive square. In short, whatever you may require a marker for, rest assured these have been provided.

Player's Aid Charts (wrap). All your combat tables.

Player's Aid Charts (interior).

Two identical Player’s Aid Cards are included in the set. These are 11” by 17”. These are printed on a nice weight of cardstock and are well laid out. All of the combat-related tables appear on the “outside” of the fold, with the manoeuvre related tables (including weather effects and stacking limits), as well as a Sequence of Play outline, are presented on the interior face of the card.

The layout is eminently readable I find two-panel cards can be a little unruly at the table, but these boards are stiff enough not droop when you’re trying to check modifiers or CRT results on the fly.

The Turn & Tracks display. This is a mini-masterclass in presentation and utility.

The tracking needs for 1811: Albuera have been distilled into one more 11” by 17” card, which incorporates a clock-face turn tracker, separate Cohesion tracks for the French, Spanish and Anglo-Portuguese armies, an overall Fatigue track, a weather roll chart – weather is rolled for each turn, and is influenced by the weather status each prior turn – and spaces for the in play and resolved Activation Cards and Event deck. Again, this is thoughtfully designed with ease of play in mind.

Sample Leader Activation cards. The use portraits of the particular leaders
(where available) is a nice touch.

1811: Albuera comes with a deck of 39 Leader Activation cards. These are mini-cards, and colour-coded to each leaders’ nationality and formation-affiliation. Where available, a portrait of the leader in question has been used to illustrate their card, adding a measure of verisimilitude to play.

Sample Special Event cards. Because everyone needs a little help sometimes.

The game also includes a smaller deck of Special Event cards. These are shuffled at the beginning of the game and are placed face-down in their position on the Track display. When a player rolls a natural 9 (the worst possible result) during the Operations phase of a turn, they draw an Event card for use at an appropriate time (as indicated on the card).

Box and dice.

The Fix Bayonets system is d10 driven; two of these are also provided with the game. They are Free-range dice, unencumbered by any enclosure, so of course they will roll pleasing numbers for the possessor of the game and frustrate their opponent’s ambitions at every juncture. Or at least that is my hope.

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All this, taken together makes for a compelling-looking game experience. As I mentioned at the top, I’ve has a precipitous couple of months in regard to new games, and that, combined with a dearth of gaming opportunities of late, and various other commitments – I’m still barely half-way through my Ten Wargame Challenge list – I don’t think I’ll be able to get to 1811: Albuera in a way that this game truly deserves much before the Christmas season (which, to be fair, isn’t all that far away now, as we’re nearly into September already). I would like to get the game punched, the rules more thoroughly read through and understood, and maybe spend a few hours pushing some counters around, and if I get to do that, I’ll take some photos and write up an AAR of the experience for you, gentle reader. In the meantime, I can tell you that the next game in the Fix Bayonets system will cover the Battle of Talavera, a particular favourite of a lot of fellow Napoleonics gamers, so we all have that in our future. Looking at the results of this revision, I hope that Mr Delstanches will give consideration to presenting us with a revised 1810: Busacco edition as well.

 

* For what it’s worth, the denizens of Boardgamegeek.com place the difficulty at 4.0 out of a possible 5.0.