Background
The Battle of Maipú (Spanish: Batalla de Maipú) was fought near Santiago, Chile on 5 April 1818, between South American rebels and Spanish royalists, during the Chilean War of Independence. The Patriot rebels led by Argentine general José de San Martín effectively destroyed the Spanish forces commanded by General Mariano Osorio, and completed the independence of the core area of Chile from Spanish domination.
The battle began when the Patriot artillery opened fire about 11:30 AM, being immediately contested by its Royalist counterpart, although inflicting no casualties upon each other. After a half-hour of useless shelling, San Martín ordered Las Heras and Alvarado to move forward. The infantry advanced in columns without retaliating fire, until Las Heras threw his troops against Primo de Rivera with the support of Blanco Encalada’s artillery, while Alvarado did the same against Ordóñez being covered by Borgoño’s batteries. The grenadiers under Zapiola were assailed by part of the Royalist cavalry, but managed to counterattack and chase the attackers to a little slope where they were decimated by a dense infantry and artillery fire. Obliged to retreat, Zapiola was reinforced and attacked again, successfully dispersing the enemy’s cavalry and securing the Patriot right flank. During the fray, suddenly the Patriot reserve emerged from behind Las Heras and Alvarado’s lines and engaged Morla and Ordóñez divisions. Right after, the Cazadores squadrons led by Col. Ramón Freire dispersed the Spanish cavalry on the eastern flank. On this charge died Chilean Colonel Santiago Bueras.
On the centre, both infantries attacked each other with intensity. Ordóñez division, reinforced with another two units – the Burgos and Arequipa battalions – charged the Patriot line, forcing it to cede a little. However, San Martín sent three battalions to the sector – The 1st and 3rd infantry battalions plus the 7th Battalion of Los Andes -, and these assaulted and split the Burgos Battalion, while the Arequipa Battalion was completely disbanded. The rest of the Royalist units formed in squares endured up to ten cavalry melees, but retreated after the centre and right wing withdrew to Lo Espejo. At this point Osorio deserted the field, leaving the Royalists under the command of Ordóñez.
The latter gathered six companies of Primo de Rivera’s division and the rest of the Royalist infantry and made a final stand on the farm, decimating the Coquimbo Battalion which recklessly made a frontal charge. Then, San Martín ordered Blanco Encalada and Borgoño to hammer the position with their cannons. Pushed by the Patriot infantry, Ordóñez’ men garrisoned on the houses of Lo Espejo were forced to surrender, while the militias brought by O’Higgins captured the dispersed soldiers.
The battle left about 1,500 Spaniards dead and 2,289 captured; the patriots suffered 800 killed and 1,000 wounded. The victory had large consequences; it brought to an end to major Spanish operations in Chile, and allowed the combined Chilean and Argentine force to launch a series of attacks against Spanish positions along South America’s Pacific coast, culminating in the liberation of large parts of Peru from Spanish rule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Maipú
The Game
It was my buddy’s turn to set up a game and he did not disappoint with the obscure! His choice was to do a battle between the Spanish crown troops versus the Chilean and Argentine rebels. Then again, who has not always wanted to play a game in the Chilean War of Independence?
He brought all his stuff and I supplied the play mat. We set up the ridges by using some hills at out FLGS. They were a bit on the high side, but would do the trick. Everything else was laid out based on the map.
The troops were deployed on each side and we were ready to go. We would be suing Valour and Fortitude rules, using some army sheets he found on the Facebook user group.
We had a bit of a light showing in players, but it was a small game, so manageable for each player. The terrain was pretty open, so it would be a straight on slugfest! The stream would slow down movement, but everything else was counted as open. The woods cops were very open, so they were more there for aesthetic reasons only.
There were no objectives, so the game would come down to Brigade waiver failures. We sued the basic rules, so movement was quite flexible. The rebels had more units, but the royalists were of slightly better quality on average.
The game started with the four rebel brigades moving forward to attack the royalists. They brought their reserve forward on their left and spread out the artillery across the front. The attack came quick, with the royalists doing well with their skirmish fire. This caused the rebel center to fall back and reorganize itself.
While the center fell back, the royalist left did the same, to keep distance from the larger rebel right flank attacking force. With no cavalry in support, it was important not to get flanked. Skirmish fire continued with both sides taking hits here and there. This was supported by cannonades that did the same.
With the rebel center now reorganized, they decided to redirect their attack to the right and support where they were doing well. In the face of this, the royalists continued to drop back their flank, while now getting hit by concentrated artillery.
With the transfer to the right, the rebels left their left flank a little weak. Once the last center cavalry was pulled out, the royalists took their chance and launched an all out attack against the infantry holding the line. This drove back the rebels, clearing a few units and turning the flank!
Well, we hit the end of the game and neither side had managed to fail a single Fortitude roll! So, the game ended in a perfect tie, with both sides turning the flank and the battle turning ninety degrees when night fell!
The royalists would survive to fight another day and Chile would have to wait a little longer for its independence!
- Manteuffel