La Bataille de Corunna-Espagnol

About this board game

La Bataille de Corunna-Espagnol is a two- to three-player historical battle game with an approximately 180-minute playing time, focused on the January 16, 1809, confrontation between Sir John Moore and Marshal Soult.

A British expedition sent to support Spanish rebels has been forced into a desperate retreat. Moore has abandoned baggage, horses, and wounded in an attempt to reach the coast, but the harbor at Corunna is empty of ships. His immediate challenge is to buy enough time for the fleet to arrive.

One player can take the role of Soult, the Duke of Dalmatia, whose corps approaches the British position. Behind him marches the corps of Marshal Ney, creating an urgent question: will the French reinforcements arrive before the ships, or can Moore complete his strategic withdrawal?

• Historical setting: Corunna, Spain, during the Peninsular War
• Battle date: January 16, 1809
• Scale: 100 meters per hex
• Time scale: 20 minutes per game turn
• Strength scale: 50–100 men per strength point, at regimental or brigade size

The opposing sides face sharply different pressures. The British must preserve their forces and delay the French long enough to escape, while Soult seeks to shatter the English army and end the British position in Iberia. The approaching forces and absent fleet make timing central to the situation.

With its detailed battlefield scale and dramatic historical predicament, La Bataille de Corunna-Espagnol places players in command of a famous clash between a determined retreat and an aggressive pursuit. Glory awaits the victor, while defeat carries the grim prospect of prison hulks.