Albuera 1811 - Beresford vs. Soult

“Albuera 1811: Beresford vs. Soult” depicts the fiercest battle of the Peninsular War. Both engaged armies suffered terrible losses. Players can check if success could be achieved with lower cost.

Basic rules concept of "Albuera 1811: Beresford vs. Soult" is similar to the "old classic" "Battle of Raclawice 1794" and first of all to "Maida 1806: Stuart vs. Reynier". These two were rather small battles. "Albuera" is much bigger, but small changes of rules made it very playable.

Rules concentrate on infantry maneuvers on Napoleonic battlefield. It is important to form battalion into proper array in the right time. Intuitively Line gives advantages during musketeer fire and Column is powerful in hand-to-hand fighting. Important is also placing an infantry battalion regarding to neighboring units. Flank-to-flank deployment gives farther bonuses in ranged combat and forms solid order of the whole army. An infantry battalion can detach a company of skirmishers. It is useful for screening battalion's main body and harass enemy units with volleys. The best form of defense against cavalry is Square. In the box are rectangle counters. They represent line with broad front. This simple solution shows British 2-row line historical advantage over French 3-row - rectangle counters occur more often in allied army.

Cavalry aspect is not so detailed, so cavalry is simply deployed in line formation.

Artillery can move or fire. Of course, horse artillery can do both actions during one activation. The biggest advantage is range of fire.

Command and control is simple. Players have certain Activation Chits and select some of them. Activation Chits of both players are placed in one Activation Pool. Blindly drawn Chit indicates formation which can move and initiate close combat. Melee is very bloody - both sides suffer losses, but the risk must be taken, because won clashes give Victory Points.
Other units do not move, but they are allowed to fire. Thanks to that the whole board is used and crucial events can happen everywhere, not only in the activated map sector. The most common effect of fire combat is Morale Check. If unsuccessful, units can withdraw – the decision is up to the opposing player, so both players are involved for the whole gameplay.
Generally, the random factor is big, but players can feel reality of Napoleonic battlefield. The winner is the player who properly deploys his units and uses opportunities given by War Fate.

Contents of the box:

• one rulebook (16 pages);
  
• one board (68 x 98 cm);
  
• 648 die-cut counters (15 x 15 mm);
  
• 25 die-cut counters (15 x 30 mm);
  
• two scenario cards;
  
• one 10-sided die.