VectisExample

campaign play

through

Vectis is a Napoleonic hex-and-counter wargame from Draken Games that simulates a fictional invasion of England’s Isle of Wight by the French. The following slides show the progress of an actual Vectis playtest. The fictional vignettes used in the Vectis rules are all based on what happened to various units during this playtest.Please note that the graphics are much simplified from the actual game!

Dawn of the First Day – position after the initial invasion. Three battalions of French light infantry surround Sandown Fort: the rest of the invasion force press inland. The British are yet to react.

Noon of the First Day – position at the start of Turn 2. The British forces have started to deploy in response

Late afternoon of the first day - position at the start of Turn 3. Sandown Fort has fallen. The British cavalry is counter-attacking along the Eastern Downs and further south, while a defensive line has formed before Barton Wood. French cavalry and artillery is about to enter the fray.

Dawn of the second day – position at the start of Turn 4. The Bembridge garrison has held off a first attack. The British cavalry charge has been repelled, and French light infantry moves into position on the eastern bank of Blackbridge Brook. To the west the British deployment continues, with Royal Marine reinforcements moving forward. The second wave of French infantry landed before nightfall and is now ready to enter action.

Noon of the second day – position at the start of Turn 5. Bembridge has fallen and the French are now in advance across the east of the island. The British cavalry forms a defensive screen east of the Medina, while advance units of French cavalry in the south attempt to outflank the still-deploying British infantry. In the north battle is joined along the line of Blackbridge Brook. All French forces are now ashore.

Late afternoon of the second day – position at the start of Turn 6. The British cavalry pulls back west of the Medina. French infantry take the river’s east bank, with one guard battalion forcing a crossing. To the south the French cavalry continues a flanking move, occupying Shorwell. Both sides suffer losses in the fighting around Blackbridge Brook, where the French succeed in forcing a crossing.

Dawn of the third day – position at the start of Turn 7. French infantry succeed in pushing another battalion across the Medina while the cavalry swings north to contest the Western Downs and threaten Yarmouth. Intense fighting still around Blackbridge Brook and Barton Wood.

Noon of the third day – position at the start of Turn 8. British counter-attacks regain the west bank of the Medina and the Yarmouth Castle garrison has repelled an attack by cavalry. The French flanking manoeuvre continues, with cavalry engaging the British reserves in Parkhurst Forest. The French continue to make ground around Barton Wood.

Late afternoon of the third day – position at the start of Turn 9. British cavalry still holds the line of the Medina but the French now occupy the Western Downs unopposed. The attack on Yarmouth is abandoned and all French efforts in the west concentrate on clearing the British reserve blocking the advance on Newtown and West Cowes, with French infantry also converging on Newport. Continued French gains in Barton Wood.

Dawn of the fourth day – position at the start of Turn 10. The British position west of the Medina is outflanked and crumbles, with French light infantry moving off the downs to attack the Newport/Carisbrooke defences from the south. The French assault on Barton Wood continues to overwhelm the defences. The British reserve in Parkhurst Forest holds and has repelled the first wave of attacks.

Noon of the fourth day – position at the start of Turn 11. The last British unit in the south – heavy cavalry isolated for a day and a half – finally falls. The Newport/Carisbrooke defences hold despite pressure from the south and east. Only one British unit now remains active east of the Medina, a beleaguered artillery battery in Barton Wood. The Parkhurst Forest reserve continues to repel French attacks.

Late afternoon of the fourth day – position at the start of Turn 12. Carisbrooke Castle and the last unit in Barton Wood both fall, driving the British to a last line of defence around Newport and the southern edge of Parkhurst Forest.

Nightfall of the fourth day – position at the end of Turn 12. A late British counter-attack retakes Carisbrooke Castle. French infantry makes progress towards Newport but fails to take the town. The British positions in Parkhurst Forest hold. However French forces take East Cowes and its blockhouse unopposed.

Epilogue: the fifth day. The French pull back to the line of the Western Downs, with a concentration of artillery and infantry in the centre, near Newport. The surviving cavalry is positioned on the left flank. Broken units will reform in occupied towns and garrison them in the short-term. The British establish a weak line holding the north west of the island. Reinforcements will be routed through Yarmouth and Newtown, with the aim of strengthening the line and possibly threatening the French left flank. Survivors from broken units will reform in West Cowes with a view to being reconstituted as a reserve force.

Vectis is available for purchase from a variety of sources.

A PDF version can be downloaded from the following locations:

http://www.wargamevault.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=2773http://www.wargamedownloads.com/cat.php?ItemSubcategory=56&pics=

http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?contributorId=264402

The game can also be bought in book format from :

http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?contributorId=264402

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