Following their landings at Calamita Bay the Allied army was marching towards the fortress city of Sebastapol. Positioned on the heights behind the Alma river they found the Russian army deployed to block their advance. The British took the right of the Allied line, while the French took the left and the small Turkish contingent was posted on the extreme left. The rest of the story is well know and widely available to the interested, so I will not go into details of what happened next. In this scenario I will not, as in my other efforts, attempt to provide a as much as possible historical scenario. The forces listed are accurate, but I have not attempted to further handicap the commanders with some of the rules that would be needed to attempt a 'historical' refight. Instead this scenario gives the French and the Russians greater freedom of action than on the day. For the French were only lightly engaged in the real battle and the Russians were almost totally static. It is therefore a 'what if' scenario based on the real battle. Probably it is best played by three player / teams, the British, the French and the Russians. The British and the French are on the same side, but gain there own individual victory points.

Scale And Notes: The scale used for this scenario is 1:300. The Allies go first in each turn. The game starts with the 13:30 turn and finishes at the end of the 18:30 turn.

Orders of Battle

I = Impetuous, A = Assault Tactics, B = Russian Assault Tactics, L = Skirmish Tactics, RA = Rifled Artillery, SA = Smoothbore Artillery, SA short = Smoothbore artillery with range restrictions, * = MLR armed, ? = Possibly MLR armed, All other units are SM armed.

The British Army

Commander in Chief: 1 'Poor' Leader (Raglan).

Army Artillery Reserve: 1 Foot Battery.

Roll a D6 per unit, if it is a 5 or 6 the unit has an 'exceptional' commander.

The French Army:

Commander in Chief: 1 'Poor' Leader S (St. Arnaud).

Roll a D10 per unit, if a 10 is rolled the unit has an 'exceptional' commander.

The Russian Army

Commander in Chief: 1 'Poor' Leader (Prince Menshikov)

Roll a D20 per unit, if a 20 is rolled the unit has an 'exceptional' commander.

Deployment and Reinforcements

The British

• The Commander in Chief and the Army Artillery Reserve are deployed at point B, the artillery is limbered.

• The 1st Division is deployed between points B1, artillery is limbered and all infantry are lying down. Light infantry in skirmish formation, all others in column of march.

• The Light and 2nd Divisions are deployed between points B2, artillery is unlimbered and the infantry is in line or skirmish. The infantry brigades should attempt to form one line across the deployment area.

• The other British units are available as reinforcements, but use of these forces losses the British victory points. None may be used until the 14:30 Allied phase. All artillery arrives limbered and light infantry are skirmishing. All others are in column of march.

• The 3rd Division arrives within 6" of point B3 and costs 5 v.p's if used.

• The 4th Division and the Light Brigade arrive within 6" of point B4.

• The 4th Division costs 10 v.p's if used and allows the free use of the Russian 6th Cavalry Division.

• The Light Brigade costs 5 v.p's unless the Russian 6th Cavalry Division has been used, in which case it is free.

• Note the Russians must have paid points to activate the cavalry to get this unit for free. The use of this unit also enables the use of the 6th Cavalry Division for free.

The Russians

• Unless noted artillery is unlimbered, infantry are in column of attack or skirmish formation.

• The 16th Division is deployed anywhere on the 2nd and 3rd levels of Kourgane hill.

• The 17th Division is deployed within 8" of point R1, except for the Sailor Regt, which is at point RS.

• The 13th / 14th Division is deployed within 6" of point R2.

• The Commander in Chief may be deployed anywhere north of the River Alma.

• The 6th Cavalry Division is available as a reinforcement, but may cost the Russians victory points if used. They may arrive within 12" of point RC in column of march on any Russian phase. They may arrive for free if the British player uses the 4th Division or the Light Brigade, otherwise their use cost 5 v.p's. In addition if this unit is used first the British may use the Light Brigade at no cost.

Terrain

• The Alma is a 2" wide river that may be crossed normally by infantry and cavalry. Artillery may only cross at the bridge and fords. Units may cross the Alma over the bridge and ford in column of attack or march. Artillery counts the ford as a 2" wide river.

• The villages and vineyards count as rough going and give a -1 defensive bonus to fire and melee.

• The Redoubts give a -2 defensive bonus to fire and melee. In addition units lose 3" of their movement when crossing them.

• Units in the Alma river east of the bridge receive a -2 from fire some or all of which comes from Kourgane hill. In addition the south bank of the river, east of the bridge, costs half a turn to cross.

• Kourgane and the slopes of Telegraph hill count as rough going for movement.

• The cliffs to the west of Telegraph hill are impassable to all units, except those in skirmish formation which count it as rough going. The paths up the cliffs may only be used in column of attack and march. They do not count as roads and are rough going.

Special Rules

The village of Bourliuk may at any time, including before the game starts, set fire to this village. They may not do this once an Allied unit has entered the village. once set alight no unit may go within 2" of the village for the rest of the game.

The French commander, St. Arnaud, was at the time very ill and indeed died within days of the battle. Therefore his command radius and movement is all at 1 / 3 the normal rate.

I recommend that the more liberal versions of French and Russian tactical doctrines are used.

Victory Points

The normal victory point schedule applies, but remember that skirmishing units and cavalry cost half the normal victory points. In addition the following schedules apply.

For the British:

• 10 v.p's: For control of the Great Redoubt at the end of the game.

• 10 v.p's: For being the first Allied player to reach point X.

• -5 v.p's: For the use of the 3rd Division.

• -5 v.p's: For the use of the Light Brigade, unless the Russians have used their cavalry division.

• -10 v.p's: For the use of the British 4th Division.

For the French:

• 5 v.p's: For control of the Telegraph station at the end of the game.

• 10 v.p's: For being the first Allied player to reach point X.

• -10 v.p's: For the use of the French 2nd Division.

For the Russians:

• 20 v.p's: For control of point X at the end of the game.

• 1 v.p. per turn that the Russians have a non spent infantry unit on the 3rd level of Kourgane hill or in control of the Great redoubt.

• 1 v.p. per turn that the Russians have a non spent infantry unit in control of the Telegraph station.