Gateway demo game AAR

Gateway 2011 was a lot of fun.  The turnout was solid, especially considering SoCal Smackdown was going on in nearby Orange County during the same time.  Mostly in the large ballroom where the open board gaming was going on.  The miniatures area was a bit dingy, suffering from a distinct lack of lighting, but there was plenty of gaming going on.  

I ran the Laguna Salada scenario from the new "Adventures of the British & Irish Legions" book.  This is the same scenario Chris Herschel ran at Cold Wars, using Chris' unpublished "Huzzah and to the Bayonet" rules.  We had 2 father and son teams, all new to both the period and the rules.  After a very brief explanation of the rules we got to the gaming. 

The Laguna Salada scenario features the Irish Legion, in the form of the Irish Lancers and Cundinamarca Light Infantry battalions, leading a small Patriot expedition under the command of veteran Venezuelan commander Mariano Montilla.  The Irish are supported by a small unit composed of survivors of General English's British Legion, some Venezuelan Marines and several companies of hastily recruited and trained local troops.  Although the Patriots have no cavalry they are supported a well handled section of 2 4lbrs, crewed by English and Irish gunners.

The Royalist army is a motley collection of militia troops led by the experienced Spanish Colonel Vicente Sanchez Lima.  A small unit of Cazadores, augmented by recently arrived Maracaibo Militia, provide the backbone of the force.  Various regional militia, collected into a battalion, along with garrison troops, make up the balance of the infantry.  The Royalists have 2 cavalry units, one of dragoons the other of lancers, both inexperienced and poorly trained.  The Royalists also have a band of Guajiro Indians that provide a strong skirmish force.


Historically, the Irish and English troops were on the verge of mutiny after a difficult 2 month campaign that had seen very little success.  The Patriots had been hounded by the Indian guerrillas and were simultaneously hungry for revenge and ready to quit.  In the game the Patriots need to win a quick, solid victory to bring the Irish back into the ranks while the Royalists want to keep their army in the field and inflict enough casualties to cause the despondent Irish to abandon the ranks altogether. 

The battle started with a strong Patriot push in the center, lead by the Irish Lancers and the Cundinamarca Light Infantry.  The Venezuelan Marines and the British Legion Tiradores formed a 2nd line supporting the right while the Peasant conscripts and artillery protected the left.  The Royalists placed Gomez' Indians and the Riohacha Cazadores in ambush in the woods on the Patriot left while the various militia held their ground, drawing the Patriots into the trap.

The Lancers and Cundinamarca closed to musket range and the superior training and fire discipline of the mercenary forces quickly made themselves felt.  The Royalist garrison troops, as well as the various militia companies, formed into a composite battalion, found themselves locked into a cycle of losses and morale failure that dogged them for the rest of the game.  Despite their precarious position, however, neither unit broke and skillful generalship by the Royalists kept them in the field.  Of the main Royalist battle line only the Milicia Blancos de Maracaibo retained their effectiveness.

All was not well for the Patriots, however, as the Royalists sprang their ambush.  While the Indians focused on the peasants the Cazadores teamed up with the Maracaibo Militia to put the Cundinamarca under a withering crossfire.  The Maracaibo traded frontal volleys while the Cazadores poured fire into the flank.  The Patriot artillery were admirably handled and tried desperately to assist the Cundinamarca by training their fire on the Cazadores but the Royalists, deployed in skirmish order and protected by the heavy woods, proved too elusive a target for the two Patriot 4lbrs.  

In the middle the Royalists shrewdly, if cynically, sacrificed their cavalry in repeated frontal charges against the Irish Lancers.  While this cost them heavy losses neither unit broke and their alternating charges kept the Patriots from concentrating fire and finishing off either of the pinned and helpless Royalist infantry units.  On the Patriot side the Tiradores and Marines, after extricating themselves from the woods on the banks of Laguna Salada, found themselves poorly positioned and unable to deploy effectively.  Eventually the Tiradores worked themselves into the line to the right of the Irish Lancers but displayed incredibly poor musketry, failing repeatedly to score hits against any target and serving as the butt of many Royalist taunts.

The Patriots, preoccupied with the relentlessly feinting Royalists and fearing losses to the Irish Lancers, stopped advancing and tried to break the Royalists with firepower alone.  This played into the Royalists hands as they patiently focused on breaking the Cundinamarca.  The Patriots belatedly recognized the threat and shifted the Venezuelan Marines across the line to try and replace the battered battalion but before they could reach them the Cundinamarca broke completely and were taken from the field.  

As dusk fell across the battlefield (we reached the time limit for the table and had to clear for the next event), the Patriots found themselves almost completely encircled.  According to the victory conditions Chris had written they had achieved a tactical victory: the battered Patriots withdrew to the town and the disgruntled Irish, already on the verge of mutiny, abandoned the cause.  The Royalists, panicked across almost their entire front and having suffered heavy losses among their lancers and dragoons, did not pursue but contented themselves with knowing that they had thwarted the Patriot threat....for now.

Thanks to Zander, John and their dads for the enjoyable game.  I enjoyed their enthusiasm and it was cool to introduce some young players to the period.  They got into the storyline of the game and were fascinated by the history of the Irish Legion.  There was also a good deal of walk by traffic and folks stopping to look at the figures.  The poor lighting was regrettable (hence the lack of pictures in this AAR) but people were still drawn to the table, especially the new Llanero/Peasant figures.  As at Cold Wars, Chris' rules were well received and quickly adopted by the participants.  After the game I handed out a few cards so maybe it'll lead to a new recruit or two to our period.