In 1814, having been instrumental in the establishment of a popularly elected congress in Argentina, Jose de San Martin began to consider the problem of driving the Spanish royalists from South America. He realised that the first step would be to drive them from Chile, and to this end he set about recruiting and equipping an army. In just under two years he had an army of some 6,000 men with 1,200 horses and 22 guns, and on 17^th January 1817 he set out with this force to cross the Andes and liberate Chile. Careful planning on his part had meant that the Royalist forces in Chile were deployed to meet threats that did not exist, and his crossing went unopposed.

The Army of the Andes (as San Martin's force was called) suffered badly during the crossing, losing one-third of its men and more than half of its horses. The Royalist forces had rushed north to respond to their approach, and a force of about 1,500 under Brigadier Maroto blocked San Martin's advance at a valley called Chacabuco. All he had to do was delay San Martin, as he knew that further Royalist reinforcements were on the way from Santiago.. San Martin knew this as well, and opted to attack whilst he still had the advantage of numbers.

San Martin divided his army into two parts. The first, under General O'Higgins, was to fix the attention of the Royalist force to their front, whilst the second, under General Soler, was to move around their left flank. Unfortunately, the flanking force experienced a series of delays, and as the day wore on O'Higgins found himself confronting the majority of the Royalist army in an indecisive exchange of fire over a deep creek. Taking decisive action, O'Higgins ordered a general advance and attacked the Royalist line. The line buckled under the attack, allowing O'Higgins' cavalry to sweep through; defeated the Royalists retreated towards the farm. San Martin had presonally gone to find the flanking force, and its arrival turned the Royalist retreat into a rout.

San Martin's victory at Chacabuco allowed him to capture Santiago, but the war was to drag on for over a year, until the final Patriot victory at Maipo secured Chile once and for all.

This scenario has been written for use with the 19^th Century 'Principles of War', although it would also be suitable for the Napoleonic/18^th Century sets as well with some conversion.

Click here for the order of battle for both sides.

Both armies have one movement base per officer, and no dummy bases.

The Royalist player should assign troops to Maroto and the Staff Officer as required, creating up to two commands. Maroto may still use initiative points to move units under the command of the Staff Officer, however.

The Army of the Andes is split into two divisions, each with their own commander. Neither commander may use initiative points to command troops in the other division. San Martin may command any troops in the army, and may take direct command of any unit in O'Higgins' division at the start of the game. Such troops are no longer considered part of O'Higgins' division.

This scenario is played along the length of a table 36" by 54". The narrow table reflects the restricyed terrain over which the battle was fought. Click here to view the map.

All first level contours hills are considered Speed 2 for infantry and Speed 3 for others. Second level contours are considered rocky hills, and should be rolled for as if they were broken ground. The streams should be tested for as if they were gullies; the main east-west stream is divided into three sections, with each section being tested separately. The ford allows a unit in column (formed) to ignore the effects of the gully.

The farm is tested as a built up area, and the surrounding farmland as a cultivated area. The Royalist player may test these areas prior to set-up.

The Army of the Andes enters via the north edge on turn 1. The base for Soler enters west of the ridge, the bases for O'Higgins and San Martin enter along the road.

The Royalist bases deploy anywhere south of the stream and east of the road, with the proviso that one base must be deployed within 6" of the farm.

All officers with troops under their direct control should be issued orders as normal.

The game starts with the Army of the Andes initiative phase.

Special Rules

The artillery on both sides is in very small units which play has shown to be far too brittle. To offset this, when testing morale for any reason, all artillery units receive a +1 for each flank in contact with a steady friendly unit.

The Army of the Andes must secure the valley before the anticipated Royalist reinforcements arrive from Santaigo. This is assessed by how many points they have south of the main stream at the end of 12 turns. At the end of 12 turns determine the total strength of all units south of the stream on both sides, testing for untried units if any are present:

• If the Royalist total is more than that of the Army of the Andes then the battle is a Royalist victory.
• If the Army of the Andes has more points than the Royalists, but not more than double, then the battle is a draw.
• If the Army of the Andes has more points than the Royalists, and more than double, then the battle is a Patriot victory.

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