Battle of Mengibar 12/07/1808

This game was played at the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers Club. A number of club members have been collecting 28mm Spanish troops for a while now. Recently the club members played Talavera and these are the figures used for that game.

The Battle of Mengibar was a part of the Bailen debacle. The French troops were poor quality but were backed up with some cavalry sent from the rest of the French force.

Here the Spanish troops are advancing across the river to attack the  French lined up on a hill.

One of the cavalry units were these hussars. I believe these are the Hussares Espanoles? I am sure someone will correct me if I am incorrect. In the earlier part of the Peninsular War the Spanish regular forces were very colourful, as you can see here. The rules used were Carnage and Glory, which accounts for the pieces of paper in front of the units as all figures on the table need to be easily identified.

Next up the 7th Numancia Dragoons. I plan to write a tutorial for WSS magazine on painting more difficult colours, such as yellow and white, in the near future.

Here is a few pictures of the same unit. Due to shortage of supplies many troops had no uniforms and units had a mixture of clothing. This situation continued well into the Peninsular War but was especially prevalent at the start.

There was a wide range of units on the table. One club member is building up unit to game the Battle of Medina de Rioseco. 

Further pictures of this game can be found on the New Buckenham Historical Wargamers Facebook page here.