Portobello Lockdown

For some time now I have been planning various solo campaigns; the sort of stuff that I can't easily explore at the club. Well, social distancing has changed the way everyone games and its an opportune time to finally put some of my plans into operation.

First off is pirates. A bit of a surprise this one as it was unplanned for and came out of the blue with a surprise birthday present of a box of Firelock Games' Pirates and Privateers. I really, really like these models and I expanded the collection pretty much straight away. So over the last 6 months I have painted up about 100 pirate figures with the intention of playing a solo campaign.

For the campaign I am going to follow (loosely) the format of Firelock's recent 'Organised Play' event. This is something they set up last year as a series of linked scenarios based on an historical campaign. I don't know how it went, as I'm not on Facebook, but the background material and scenarios are free to download on the Firelock website.

The setting is apparently one of the best documented pirate voyages, with several first hand accounts available. It begins in January 1680 when a pirate called John Coxon led a small buccaneer flotilla to Portobello, on the Isthmus of Darien.  This was an illegal enterprise, as England and Spain were not at war, but Coxon had purchased a 3 month commission , which he then, by forgery, turned into a 3 year commission to make reprisals.

At the time, Portobello was an important Spanish town that had been previously sacked, in 1668, by Henry Morgan and was the third largest and strongest town on the Spanish Main.

Portobello circa 1740

The Historical Action

As Morgan had done a decade earlier, the buccaneers decided to attack from the land and put ashore 60 miles up the coast. After a three-day trek, they reached the town unopposed and a party led by Captain Robert Allison entered the town. The local population had fled to the Gloria fort and watched helplessly as the buccaneers sacked the town.

On the following day Spanish regulars and militia sortied from the fort but were repulsed by the buccaneers.

The Scenario

The first scenario in the 'Organised Play' event is actually no more than the 'Plunder' scenario from the 'No Peace Beyond the Line' supplement. Whilst this gives a good game, in itself, I personally felt it didn't really have the right feel. It essentially consists of two buildings on the table centre line, one of which contains plunder. Now a mere two buildings, to me,  don't conjure up images of an important town such as Portobello.

Hence, I decided to create my own scenario or in actual fact two scenarios. Scenario one would be the flight to the Gloria fort and scenario two the Spanish sortie. The action would be centred around the western sector of the town and the approach to the Gloria fort.

This did mean, of course, I would need some appropriate terrain and after a couple of weeks of furious scratchbuilding, I had enough buildings, including a church and customs house, to represent the western plaza.

Portobello

For the opposing forces I used the Firelock lists but modified to suit my figure collection.

Attacker

English Buccaneers

201 points

27 models (Strike point at 6/12/18)

Lucky Jack Quilp                                         25pts

6 Veteran Freebooters                                48pts

8 Forlorn Hope                                             56pts

6 Freebooters                                               36pts

6 Flibustiers                                                  36pts

Lucky Jack Quilp is a Seasoned Buccaneer Commander

Defender

Spanish Militia

199 points

53 models (Strike point at 13/26/39)

Don Lardo                                         15pts

8 Milicianos                                       24pts

8 Milicianos                                       24pts

8 Milicianos                                       24pts

8 Milicianos                                       24pts

8 Lanceros                                        40pts

12 Marineros                                     48pts

Don Lardo is an Experienced Militia Commander

The scenario would call for a  dozen civilians and the Spanish objective would be to escort them off table to the safety of the Gloria. I had hoped to purchase a pack of the Firelock civilians but, when I came to order, my preferred supplier was out of stock. Fortunately, I was able to find enough civilians in my Sharp Practice collection that didn't look too out of place.

The Spanish plan was for the Marineros and Lanceros to escort the civilians whilst Don Lardo would command the Milicianos in a rearguard action.

Turn one saw the Lanceros make a dash through the plaza whilst the Marineros fled along the dockside and the Milicianos followed on through the market area.

Turn one - the Spanish flight

For their part the buccaneers planned to move quickly around the back of the church and cut off the Spanish retreat. This flanking move would be made by the Forlorn Hope supported by the Veteran Freebooters led by LuckyJack Quilp himself. The remaining Freebooters and Flibustiers would contest the plaza as a diversion.

The buccaneers attack

I had given the Spanish a headstart and for the first few moves it looked like I had overdone this but just as they cleared the town and entered the trees the Forlorn raced around the church and opened fire with their buccaneer guns. This was enough to force the Lanceros back into cover behind the houses.

The Forlorn open fire

I had ruled that there was a limit to how many civilians could attach to a group and with the Lanceros suffering casualties the fair Consuela panicked and made a dash for the church. 

Consuela runs for safety

Luckily she  ran into the arms of Don Lardo himself

Don Lardo to the rescue

Although he had rescued the maiden, Don Lardo was in trouble as the Milicino were being fired upon by Flibustiers and Freebooters.

Sitting Ducks

Whilst the Lanceros and Miliciano were struggling, the Marineros made a dash for the trees. However, they then came under heavy fire from both the Forlorn and Lucky Jack's Veteran Freebooters and were forced prone.

Escorts under fire

Whereupon, the Forlorn charged into combat against the unfortunate Marineros.

Charge!

The result was inevitable really with the Marineros massacred and the civilians taken prisoner.

To the victor the spoils

It was now turn six and I gave the victory to the buccaneers. Not only had they cut off Don Lardos retreat to the fort but were now in possession of more civilians.

All in all a great game that I had a most enjoyable time playing, even as a solo game.