Limits of Glory: Santa Maura & Capri (2024)

The third and forth campaigns in our Limits of Glory series are two games in one box. Each game is designed to be a stand-alone shorter game, playable in approximately one hour. The games use the same unique Limits of Glory system, with the same Event clock and Combat system but on a smaller scale. One game covers the campaign in 1808 by the Neapolitans and French to recover the island of Capri from the British, while the other game recreates the British invasion of the island of Santa Maura just off the Greek mainland to capture it from the French in 1810.

Campaign III in the Limits of Glory series looks at the attempt by the French and Neapolitans under their new King, Joachim Murat, to re-capture the island of Capri just off the Bay of Naples in 1808.

During the 1806 Maida campaign Sir Sydney Smith, the British admiral supporting the Allies attempt to invade mainland Italy, landed his Marines on Capri and quickly captured it from the unsuspecting and surprised French garrison.

For two years, Capri remained in British hands and became a hotspot for Sicilian resistance and espionage. The island was governed by Colonel Hudson Lowe and garrisoned by 700 men of his regiment, the Corsican Rangers. Having heard numerous rumours of Murat's intended invasion, Lowe asked General Stuart on Sicily for reinforcements and received another 700 men of the newly raised Malta regiment just weeks before the invasion started. These Maltese recruits were sent in an attempt to stop them deserting, which had been all too easy on Sicily itself.

King Murat assigned 3000 troops under General La Marque to take Capri. He put at their disposal numerous oar powered gunboats, which were ideal for the calm waters around the Bay of Naples. The British Navys' frigates were extremely vulnerable to these gunboats when the wind dropped, forcing them to retire to the Sicilian island of Ponza for safety. However, it was October and several storms occurred, influencing events during the coming campaign.

This game represents the two week period that covers Murat's invasion of Capri. The game introduces weather effects for the first time in Limits of Glory, as weather was crucial to the outcome of the campaign. The French player must get their troops across the bay, land on Capri and take back the island by capturing Capri Town and Ana Capri. The British must hold on, making the French task as difficult as possible while trying to negotiate favourable surrender terms, hoping for windy weather to bring help from the Royal Navy and perhaps reinforcements.

Campaign IV in the Limits of Glory series looks at the British attempt to capture the Ionian island of Santa Maura, modern day Lefkada.

As part of the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, the French were ceded seven Ionian islands from Russia. The largest, Corfu, remained in French hands with a large French garrison until the abdication of Napoleon in 1814; the other islands however were slowly captured by the British during 1809 and 1810. The last and second largest, after Corfu, of these islands to be captured was Santa Maura.

The defenders of Santa Maura consisted of approximately 1000 French troops supported by 800 Albanians. The main island was largely uninhabited with all the French forces concentrated around the circumference of the inland bay formed by the town of Amaxichi and the fortress of Santa Maura itself. The French garrison commander was General Camus who had served as a brigade commander in the Maida campaign of 1806.

The British expedition of 1810 to capture the island was commanded by General Oswald, another veteran of the Maida campaign, having fought in the battle of Maida itself. Oswald commanded a mixed group of around 3000 men made up of British regulars, Marines, Corsican Rangers, De Roll's regiment, Greek Light infantry and Calabrian free corps. These were all the troops the British could spare from the defence of Sicily, which was now again under constant threat of invasion from King Murat and his Neapolitan forces across the straits of Messina.

The game represents the four week campaign, starting on 21st March, by the British to capture the significant fortification of Santa Maura fortress and consequently, the entire island. Greek patriotism and the desire for independence played a major role in persuading the Albanians to desert the French and the game reflects this with the ability of the Greek commander Kolokotronis to entice Albanian units from neighbouring spaces to desert. Also, for the first time in Limits of Glory, the morale of Camus, the most senior French commander, plays a key role in the game. Once the British are adjacent to the fortress of Santa Maura, Camus must take a morale test following each assault or round of siege. This reflects his nerve breaking and him surrendering the fortress, even though the French forces were still able to resist. The French player must therefore do everything they can to keep the Allies away from the fortress by clever use of secret causeways for manoeuver and the considered positioning of shore batteries.

The games use the same single mechanic used in Bonaparte's Eastern Empire and Maida 1806, with the only difference being that each player has three dice rather than four. There are less events, the games are shorter, the maps are smaller but players face all the same difficulties in strategic decisions and balancing when to push and when to wait.

—description from the designer

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