GUNS OF MONTE MATTEO
After Action Report

Scenario Background

October 1810. The French and British have been squaring off against one another for four months at the lines of Torres Vedras. Wellington, while satisfied with his defences, is impatient for the French to quit Portugal and is contemplating sallying out of his positions.

General O'Brien thinks that he sees a way through, with a push through the pass below Monte Matteo. A battery of French artillery dug in at the San Paolo Monastery currently dominates the pass. The General though has learned from a local guide that should a party of determined men follow a certain dry river bed by night, they could sneak around the flanks of the guns, storm the Monastery, and capture the battery. The army could then follow up to Glory!


Major McGonagall, Colonel Clinton, and Captain Hawkesworthe are summoned to the General's tent to discuss how they might propose achieving the objective. The plan that is concocted is for one company of Highlanders and one company of riflemen to sneak into the French positions and destroy the batteries. If necessary, they will release signal flares that will have the three battalions of infantry to rush forward in support.

Of course, General O'Brien mentions, any treasure that the Monks might own is forfeit to the British if was determined that the priests are aiding the French.

Game Notes: The Game was played at Gottacon '09 in Victoria, BC Canada. The rules were 'Sharp Practice' by TooFatLardies. The scale is 28mm and the figures used are primarily Perry, Front Rank, and Victrix. Some of the Rifles are Albans and some of the Highlanders are Foundry. There were five players and one Game Master.

 The Sneak Attack Begins

It is midnight when the first companies of British soldiers begin their two pronged sneak attack against the strong position of Monte Matteo.

The plateau of Monte Matteo. Sgt Corgi will be leading the first company of riflemen up the riverbed and Captain Conner 'Con' McConnell leads the group of disguised Highlanders up the cart track. The French battery is unmanned and all of the gunners sleep peacefully in the Monastery. The Infantry battalion though has sentries out around their bivouacs spread about the hilltop.

Rules Insert: Other than moving Lt Marat, the French player could not act other than to attempt spot checks. They could not attempt to see through the disguises of the Scots until they got within 9" and then the likelihood of doing so was modified by accent that the Highland player used.

The disguises are about to be tested. Captain McConnell has elected to bring along a barrel of gunpowder. Just in case. On the hill, young Lieutenant Marat hurries to challenge the incoming column.

Sgt Corgi and his band encounter a stray sheepdog but they figure out easily how to bypass this potential danger. Corgi always was a dog man.

The disguises appear to be working perfectly and McConnell manages to satisfy several challenges from young Lt Marat. They reach the unlocked gate of the Monastery well ahead of schedule. All they need do now is get to the powder magazine, begin to lay out a fuse, and set the whole thing alight. Mission accomplished.

Success seems assured as the Highlanders reach the gates of the Monastery without their ruse de guerre being discovered.

Rules Insert: The French infantry commander, if within 6" of the disguised soldiers, could issue challenges by asking Napoleonic trivia questions of his opponent. Twice so far the player of the Scots had failed to give a correct answer but he'd been saved by lucky follow up die rolls.

At this point, everything seemed to be going so well for the British that we were wondering aloud if we'd have time to play twice.

Unfortunately for the British, an alert sentry spies the riflemen creeping ever closer to the side of the Monastery. he instantly raises the alarm.

The Alarm is sounded

The French soldiers scramble out of their bivouacs to react to the danger. Sentries begin returning to their companies and the drums are beating the order to form up. Officers hurry to yank on their boots and get to their men. In the midst of all of this, the disguised Highlanders whistle innocently and try not to attract attention to themselves.

As the alarm is sounded, Captain McConnell's situation (and prospects) suddenly changes.

Rules Insert: The French are deployed unformed and with 1D3 initial shock on each group. 

The Brigade is Called Upon

Sgt Corgi naturally assumes that it was the Highlanders that were discovered and so ruined the secrecy. There is nothing for it then but to drag his small Congreve rocket out of his pack and light the thing. A flare is sent high into the sky and the Commanders of the three British battalions see their signal. They all start forward with no thought to stealth.

Captain Hawkesworthe orders the waiting riflemen to rush forward.

Once the flare is lit, bagpipes stir the Regiment into action.

The 3rd (East Kent) Regiment hurries forward with tall ladders.

Rules Insert: Reinforcements using the cart track or dry riverbed will move on the Tiffin card if they have not already moved that turn. The unit assaulting the front of the cliffs will not get this advantage and it will cost them dearly.

A French Gunner, meanwhile, opens the gate from the Monastery courtyard and prepares to hurry forward. He is surprised to see a group of large red-headed fellows with mutton chops and ill fitting uniforms barring his way. He gives a challenge and is not at all satisfied with the answer. The ruse is discovered and the Scotsmen quickly toss off their disguises.

Dire indeed.

McConnell is not a man to accept defeat without first giving it his all. Before McConnell though can give the order to charge, French voltigeurs fire upon his little column from behind. The situation is entirely untenable. His muskets shoot down the man in the gateway and then the Highlanders charges. There is a brief fight between the Scotsmen and the startled French artillerymen but surprisingly, through blind luck, it is the Black Watch that is sent reeling back.

Perhaps McConnell's men are brighter than he for they now beat a hasty retreat toward safety. He follows but he is not silent and his loud accent is now decidedly Scottish.

McConnell's men are scrambling back down the path with the Captain berating them all the way.

With their interior lines now secure, the French can turn to their attention to trying to put up a solid defense. To their left, bagpipes are screaming to announce a rapidly approaching column of Highlanders. To their front, the Buffs are racing to get up the cliffs before the artillery can be turned on them and on the right, three companies of elite riflemen are massing.

Major Laclos is riding madly around the garrison trying to get the men orderly and combat ready.

Artillerymen are sprinting for their guns. The Buffs are advancing on the Bluffs.

One energetic band, the same ones that had overthrown McConnell's company, arrive at their artillery pieces and are no doubt shocked to see the size of the forces arrayed against them. The take up two of the 12 pounders and begin to load.

The Buffs make good progress with the leading element about to get under the guns even as French crews reach their pieces and scramble to load them.

Rules Insert: We allowed only a 6" 'under the guns' distance which was unrealistic but provided just the right level of tension.

The riflemen are not quick to advance and Sgt Corgi's men are settled in to do what the rifles do best: shoot Frenchmen from range. Indeed, the company pauses at one point to watch Rifleman Plunkett take out a French Officer (Captain Montfort) with a single well-aimed bullet. It becomes quite the sporting event.

Sgt Corgi and his men get caught up in a firefight in their position and await reinforcements.

Engaged!

With the opening salvo from the guns, the battle is now fully engaged on all three sides. Things heat up rapidly.

First shots are fired from the battery!

There is a withering blast of canister rained down upon the East Kent men and though their Colonel is bloodied and they are shaken, none are slain.

One company of infantry would be shattered and sent routing by the guns atop the cliffs but all others would manage to get under the guns and into safety at the base of the cliff. Meanwhile the Highlanders are pouring deadly amounts of mass firepower into the French Voltigeur company. It cannot stand long and soon disperses to save themselves. The Grenadiers have a whiff of the gunpowder though and begin to fall back out of the range of the Highland muskets.

The firing line of the Black Watch destroys a company of French skirmishers and then turns its muskets on the Grenadiers.

On the left of the Buffs' line, ladders are raised against the cliffs. There are no ladders yet in the center as the shattered company was bearing one. The rightmost companies will choose instead to exchange musketry with the troops above them rather than risk sending individuals up and into melee.

The first ladders go up against the cliffs.

French infantry get the worst of a firefight with the British infantry below but they do prevent them from raising a ladder. When his company bolted, Captain Maude took up the ladder that they dropped and drags it alone toward the cliffs where his Colonel waits.

Denied their targets, the Black Watch changes its plan and its formation.

Highlanders form into a column of companies and move forward in pursuit of the French and Glory.

Desperate Defence!

As the mass of Scotsmen climb the track and gain the plateau, the French Grenadiers are ordered to charge the head of the approaching column. At first the fight hangs in the balance and troops on both sides fall. Eventually though the weight of numbers tells and the Grenadiers are driven back, badly blooded. The battle on all sides is tense but the British continue to creep closer and closer, relentlessly.

The Grenadiers charge the Highlander column.

The 95th creep ever closer, sweeping the plateau with deadly fire as they come.

By now, two full companies of of East Kent men have reached the top of the cliffs and overrun two of the guns. Lieutenant Smyth reaches the top and gets the troops formed into ad hoc formations, ready to assault the artillery to their front. The French though have dragged their guns back and begun to pivot them about to face this threat. Their fire would be telling on the infantrymen. On their second cannonade, Lieutenant Smythe is thrown off the cliff by canister fire, dead. Another volley would be fired and that would destroy the last organized hold on the cliff top. The Buffs Regiment had been repulsed.

The British circle is closing about the defenders.

Guns are spinning and shots are still being fired as the French Gunners threaten to salvage the situation for the defenders.

The foothold at the top of the cliffs is swept clear by desperate artillery fire.

 

Rules Insert: The though models represent a variety, each gun is assumed to be a French 12 pounder cannon. At this range and under the direction of Neuville, the guns were getting 15 dice and hitting on 2s.

 

Crisis!

The grenadiers, scrambling to find cover in the Monastery, have unmasked their guns and now the Highland infantry prepares to charge to the battery. Only one gun had been able to be brought to bear to face them but that shot could prove devastating, even fatal to the Scotsmen. Could they close the range before taking a blast of canister full in the face? Major McGonagall looked at his men, saw the fear in their eyes, and made a decision: They would charge. With a roar, the Highlanders broke into a sprint, bayonets thrust forward. They ran, and ran, and still the gunners could not get a shot off and finally it was too late! The Highlanders were among them, stabbing and swinging muskets violently. In seconds, the surviving crew of two guns had surrendered. They had suffered enough this night.

Tension as the Black Watch tries to charge the batteries. The guns have sufficient time to load.

 

Rules Insert: The charge of the Highlanders came down to some tense decisions. The first card that came up was Major McGonagall's. Elements of his column had 3 shock so he'd need to roll an 11 to make it to the guns. Instead, he could use his initiatives to reduce stress on some of the men and hope that either of his other officers could order the charge when it would not require such a high roll. But would they come up before the artillery? Risking everything, he ordered the charge. He did roll an 11 and made contact with the guns. The next card to come up was the commander of the artillery.

Note that there were two other officers that could have ordered the four group formation to go: Campbell had a drummer with him so he could send all Highlanders forward and Captain McConnell was a level 2 commander. We allow formations that have a colour party attached to be commanded by a commander of at least half the level of the number of groups in the formation.

The crews of the remaining artillery abandoned their pieces and fled for the Monastery where they would join the grenadiers in a last ditch defense. Quietly clambering over the walls of the courtyard, taking full advantage of the chaos, was Sgt Corgi though. He had left his men in Hawkesworthe's capable hands and was even now working on fuses at the powder magazine.

Through it all, behind the Monastery, the lone leaderless French Company has only watched the disaster unfold.

Rules Insert: This was actually the first unit that the French Major rallied before he rode off to deal with other crisis points. When Captain Montfort was shot by a sniper from the rifles, they were never again in range of a French officer to receive an order. At least, not until the last moments when Major Laclos was rallying grenadiers inside the monastery walls.

Sgt Corgi prepares his fuse.

Just as Major Laclos managed to rally the remnants of the Grenadiers, ordering them to stand fast, he saw the rifleman atop the powder magazine, laying out his fuses. He had to act quickly and did so. The grenadiers charged and surely they'd have captured the lone rifleman but no! Suddenly there was a violent blast that lit the night sky and shook the world. The Monastery was blown  heavenward in a rain of stone. Large portions of the British forces were destroyed by the force of the blast. All that Colonel Clinton and the Buffs saw was a flash and a shock wave that rolled over their heads. When the thunderous noise of that great explosion had passed, the guns were silent and the battle was won.

Rules Insert: Corgi had the fuses prepared when the Grenadiers charged him, getting a 4:1 dice ratio and so a capture. Because Sgt Corgi was lionhearted, he was given one dice roll to set the blast off before he was brought down but then the Grenadiers were given one dice roll to stop it. With the explosion of the magazine, the battery would be unable to hold off Wellington's scheduled advance through the pass and the game was ended with a British victory.