Military History | Liberators | Scenarios
Gavilan Scenario for Liberators QPR

Posted 16 Feb 2012

Setting: Gavilan Hill, Conception, Chile; 5 May 1817

John Fletcher published a scenario for the Battle of Gavilan on the Liberators 1810-1830 Yahoo Discussion Forum (in the files section).

The scenario is nominally for Liberators Quick Play Rules however this variant is for Liberators HOTT.

Map

The published map is at a scale of 1" on table is 10 yards in reality. At that scale the table is 12' x 8', which is quite big by anybody's standards.  I've shrunk it to 3' x 2', which is 1" = 50 paces, i.e. half HOTT scale. 

Order of Battle

I have changed the figure to man ratio to match the ground scale (1" = 15 yards) is:

  • 1 infantry stand = 200 men
  • 1 cavalry stand = 75 men
  • 1 gun stand = 2 guns

So the Liberators HOTT order of battle becomes:

  • Patriots
    • 1 x Cavalry General @ 2
    • 5 x Infantry @ 2
    • 4 x Cavalry @ 2
    • 1 x Hero (Commander of Horse Grenadiers or Lt. Col. Freire) @ 4
    • 2 x Artillery @ 4
    • Reinforcements arrive at 1000 hours on table edge behind Gavilan hill
      • 1 x Infantry @ 2
    • AP = 30; Break Point = 15
  • Royalists
    • Ordonez's Column
      • 1 x Cavalry General @ 2
      • 3 x Infantry @ 2
      • 2 x Cavalry @ 2 or 1 x Infantry @ 2 *
      • 1 x Artillery @ 4
    • Morgado's Column - Reinforcements: roll during initiative phase, arrive on 1-2 on 1d6
      • 2 x Infantry @ 2 **
      • 2 x Mob @ 1 **
      • 3 x Cavalry @ 2
      • 1 x Artillery @ 4
    • Martinez's Column - Reinforcements at 1000 hours from Bio Bio River.
      • 1 x Infantry @ 2
    • AP = 34; Break Point 17

* The Chillan Dragoons skirmished on foot at Maipo so I give the option here. They are either mounted or dismounted for the entire battle.

** The Ad Hoc unit was formed from a mixed bag of survivors from Chacabuco that had spent some weeks at sea attempting to flee to Peru. Their morale has be lowered as a consequence. The number of stands has been increased to aid game balance.

Game start

As per John's scenario... Patriots deploy first. Battle begins at 0700 hours. Royalists deploy second and have initiative on first turn.

Patriot Fort

Although the map has a fort on Gavilan Hill John Fletcher notes that it was little more than a sentry post so I have ignored it for game purposes.

Moving Elements onto the Table

The Patriot reinforcements and all of the Royalists start off table. This is unusual for a HOTT game and HOTT lacks rules to cover the situation of moving troops on-table.  This section is how to handle arrival.

A recap of the arrivals:

  • Column Ordonez arrives on the first bound
  • Column Morgado arrives on a roll of 1-2 on 1d6 at the start of a Royalist bound
  • Column Martinez arrives at 1000 hours
  • The Patriot reinforcements also arrive at 1000 hours

Elements that have "arrived" are placed off-table at the approximate entry point. The exact entry point is only defined when an element actually moves onto the table.

Off-table elements that have "arrived" can be brought on in any friendly bound, whether immediately or in a subsequent bound. This is partly to do with available PIPs and partly about player choice.

Elements move on table with PIPs as per the standard rules. So it takes at least 1 PIP to move an arriving force on-table. If the force arrives piecemeal then it will require more than 1 PIP.

When moving an element, or group of elements, onto the table the player indicates the starting position on the edge of the table (or edge of the river in the case of Column Martinez) and moves normally from there.

Victory Conditions

Normal HOTT victory conditions apply, i.e. destroy half the enemy AP.

[A more realistic victory condition is to hold Gavilan Hill unopposed. This would need a time limit; perhaps 1400 hours. Obviously the Patriots starts in possession of Gavilan Hill so the Royalists have the incentive to attack.]

References

Fletcher, J, (n.d.) The Battle of Gavilan - May 5, 1817. Grenadier Productions. [Available on-line at Liberators 1810-1830 Yahoo Discussion Forum in the Files page.]