Let the games begin: Historicon 2008 War Of Portugal AAR

From Richard Wareing posted to the Wars of Portugal Yahoo Group: An After Action Report

Thanks again to all of you for making Wars of Portugal a success. Pat Condray asked me to do a re-cap which he might use in his insurgant HMGS South unofficial newsletter, so here goes:

This year at Historicon five GMs ran seven different games organized around the banner of "Wars of Portugal." The games explored some of the major themes in Portuguese history and was organized by Rich Wareing, an HMGS East member who is half Portuguese. The games were played a single table in the Distlefink ballroom.

On Thursday afternoon, Phil Viverito, the creator of the Hack series of ancient and medieval rules ran one of the first games of Historicon - One more Castro: el Coremeria - a battle between the emerging Roman Republic and the fierecely independent Celtiberians of Lusitania (as Portugal was then known). In a highly competative and visually impressive game, the Celtiberians battled the Romans to a bloody draw.

Later that evening Pat Condray of Editions Brokaw repised the Battle of Almanza, a 1707 clash from the War of Spanish Succession. Although the Portuguese and their Anglo-Dutch allies were soundly defeated (as they were in real life) by their Franco-Spanish enemies, the Portuguese performed much better than they did in real life, with their cavalry (under the command of Rich Wareing) routing a royal regiment of French horse and a regiment of Lisbon foot driving back a royal regiment of French foot before being overwhelmed.

On Friday morning, Mark Fastoso of Colonial Campaigns ran the Battle of Wayna Daga, a 1537 clash between Portuguese explorers and the Eithiopian allies against the forces of the Sultan of Adal and his Ottoman mercenaries. This was a closely fought affair that saw the Islamic forces triumph on the last die roll of the game, as the Ethiopians were unable to dislodge them from a vital strongpoint in bloody hand-to-hand fighting.

Later that day, Rich Wareing ran the Battle of Ourique, a clash which lead to the formation of Portugal in1139. As in real life, Alfonso Henriques, the self-proclaimed "Pince of the Portuguese" swept the Almoravids and Andulusians from the field in bloody battle.

That evening, Peter Landry ran the first of his two Napolean's Battles games, the Battle of Albuera. This battle involed an Anglo-Portuguese army attempting to link up with a force of allied Spaniards before Marshall Soult could get between them. Sadly, the Portuguese found themselves on the losing end of this contest.

On Saturday afternoon, Rich Wareing ran the Battle of Aljubarrota, a 1385 clash between a small army commanded by Portuguese nationalist John of Avis and a massive Franco-Castillian army (with over 6,000 armored knights) commanded by John, King of Castile, for the vacant throne of Portugal. In a reversal of historical fortune, the Castillians and their French allies were able to successfully storm the Portuguese position atop a hill.

Later that evening, Peter Landry closed the series with his second Napoleonic game, the 1811 Battle of Fuentes de Orono. Despite an inspired performance from the Portuguese forces, however, the French were ultimately victorious.

All-in-all the series was a rousing success, with all seven games being fully subscribed, and in several cases, oversubscribed. Indeed, several players enjoyed multiple games in the series. A Wars of Portugal 2 is in the works for 2010.