The French didn’t get to move until the very end of their deck, turning their Brilliant Leader sixth card from last (26 card deck). Costly?

However, in turn two the initiative switched over to the French and soon Windmill Hill was under heavy attack. 

At first the British came out on top, routing two of the attacking French units, but then…..

….The French took the windmill. The Portuguese defenders were thrown out, they rallied, counter attacked, and re-took it.

This was the crucial part of the battlefield at this point and both sides concentrated their initiative spending here, the rest of the field going quiet. 

Finally, the Paris Municiple Guard secured the windmill. 

The cost had been heavy for both sides in both troops and divisional morale points. 

This was when I realised that the British had deployed their reserve badly – they should have deployed directly behind the Windmill – and they had the time to do it! The roughness of the terrain meant they were too far away to make an immediate counter attack. It would cost the British dear,

From the windmill the French began to roll up the British line of 5th division which was now out of divisional morale points.

Meanwhile, the French had advanced into the valley (The Gap) between the two steep rocky hills. 

However, British artillery and volley fire had depleted the French to such an extent that their threat was largely nullified.

Dethley-White’s HA battery had done much to blunt the French attack. Fighting until his battery was silenced by counter battery fire, before being forced to withdraw by French columns. Dethley-White would be mentioned in dispatches.

On Muscle Hill, things had gone even worse for the French. The Scots and artillery had simple mown them down as they ascended the slopes. 

Turn four: The British were about to lose Los Muerte. The French were assaulting it from the north and west. The British infantry were surrounded. The French were bringing up artillery to blast their remnants out of the town. 

However, midway through turn four, time pressure was telling on the French: If they could get most of the initiative, they had a chance to pull off a victory. Night would fall at the end of turn six.

The British ordered their cavalry to attack the French infantry coming down the slopes of Windmill Hill. This was a desperate last throw of the dice for the British at the southern end of the line. This move actually looked quite promising. The French infantry were numerous but largely spent. Most of the ‚prime‘ French units had been destroyed in the continuous French assaults to clear Windmill Hill and Los Muerte and ‚morale points‘ were in very short supply: the three infantry divisions had only 7 between them, mostly with the raw troops of 2nd division.

Unfortunately, for the British, the French C-in-C had also changed his plan and ordered their cavalry forward. At this point the French had a tremendous run of initiative and, before the British cavalry could intervene the French cavalry was upon them. The British fought hard, holding their own, but it gave the French time to secure the town.

It was now turn five. One last push by the remaining French against the northern end of the British position might just succeed. It was still too close to call. 

Alas, the turn ended almost before it had begun. Duplicate initiative dominoes ending the turn abruptly. The French had run out of time. The British on Muscle hill were too strong to be dislodged by the French in its immediate vicinity. 

The French had given the British a very bloody nose. The British had lost Windmill Hill and could not launch a counter attack for fear of losing Muscle Hill too. But, the French, even with superior numbers had failed to totally dislodge the British from their position. I award a marginal victory to the British who have done enough to withdraw under cover of night to fight again.