Something we’ve not done for a very long time…..part 1

I’ve just been reviewing some of my troops this week and. It struck me that a game set during the French Revolutionary Wars, in Italy was long overdue. The Russian campaign in Italy and Switzerland was what kicked off my French Revolution collections (a small tightly contained campaign), and look where we are now with thousands of the buggers belonging to a wide variety of nationalities. 

The Russians only had these ex-Piedmontese mountain
guns by way of artillery.

Anyway this was to be a fictional but plausible encounter between the Russians and French in the foothills of the Italian Alps. Suvorov, having cleared Italy of the French, has been ordered to withdraw through Switzerland to join up with Korsakov’s army at Zurich. (We know how that ended). 

On Thursday John the Red came over and we played the opening stages of this battle, with the Russian covering force attempting to deal with the French advance guard which was hot on their heels. The outnumbered Russians had to hold for six moves by which time the rest of the army would appear. This would hopefully set the scene for the main battle on Saturday. 

We used Valour and Fortitude for both games, with some appropriately amended army sheets for the Revolutionary French and Russians as well as new sets of fate cards.

So here’s what transpired during our Thursday afternoon engagement. South is at the garden end of the table. The rivers and streams were only crossable for infantry at half speed. Nobody else could cross due to the steep and heavily ‘shrubbed’ banks. Apart from the walls everything else was just window dressing.

From the north, the French can be seen approaching in the distance. I have one Russian brigade on the left,  another, of grenadiers, on the right, supported by by puny cannon and a brigade of Russian cavalry (who should not have been there historically but I couldn’t find my Austrian cavalry. There were also lots of Cossacks well in advance of my brigade on the left.

My mountain guns didn’t fire a shot all game.

The Russian right advancing on the approaching French under heavy artillery fire.

The French left wing. Their right wing across the river was making terribly slow progress against the Cossacks.



French cavalry about to charge and defeat their Russian counterparts.

The best option to delay the French was to launch my grenadier battalions against their left wing, a move that was initially successful but ultimately a failure as all four grenadier battalions were driven back or routed.

The high point of the grenadiers’ assault.

Thankfully we had played the requisite number of turns and the Alpine night fell with a thump. Technically (and in reality) the Russians had taken a beating but had prevented the French from compromising their position and their soon-to-arrive reinforcements. The men of the match award went to the Cossacks who did a fine job slowing down the French advance on the right.  

Now to re-orientate the table through 90 degrees for part two on Saturday.

Another Paraguayan Horror!

Paul offered to run a game using his still-in-development Panoply of War rules. I decided I would like to put the rules to the test in another period by putting on War of the Triple Alliance scenario. I wanted to include the naval element as well ( which went no further than some photo opportunities). I hoped it was going to be an interesting scenario. 

The slightly outnumbered Paraguayan army is partially entrenched but needs to escape an encirclement being attempted by Alliance forces. That means they need to attack from the off; no passive defence. If they can defeat the troops to their front they should be able to escape the net. The Paraguayan army is a difficult one to represent on the tabletop; indeed all the armies are, but to give them a fighting chance the Paraguayans were rated higher then the allied national guard and volunteers, although the Brazilian regulars and the Uruguayans were equally good.

The Alliance have split their forces. The Brazilians and Uruguayans are facing the Paraguayan army while the Argentine contingent conducts a flank march supported by some river gunboats.  How much of it arrives, when and in what condition is unknown, [actually it was never going to turn up as there were more than enough Alliance troops and it was to be enough of a challenge for the Paraguayans]. Conrad and Jon took the Alliance force leaving Jim and I with the Paraguayans. 

The battlefield from the south west. Paraguayans on the left. The Brazilian monitor looks on.

The Alliance centre with the main and very large Brazilian division.

 

The outnumbered Brazilian cavalry.

The Alliance right, held largely by the Uruguayan brigade with support from the Brazilian Aeronautical Corps, who would prove invaluable in directing the bombardment of the emplaced Paraguayan artillery.

The Uruguayans advanced steadfastly towards the Paraguayan entrenchments, which were under heavy fire from several Uruguayan and Brazilian batteries. The allies managed to silence one of the emplaced guns very quickly; the other took a couple more moves. This unexpectedly rapid demise of the Paraguayan heavy artillery left the field clear for the Uruguayan assault.

The Paraguayan entrenchment before it is blown to kingdom come by the allied barrage.

The cavalry of both armies approached each other warily.

The Brazilians launched several charges against the Paraguayans which were beaten off

The Brazilian cavalry are beaten with the Paraguayans in hot’ish pusuit. The Paraguayan cavalry commander was killed in the melee and his Brazilian counterpart was captured and probably never heard of again. Later, the newly-promoted Paraguayan cavalry
leader was shot off his horse and killed. Not a good day to be a Paraguayan general, if such a thing ever existed!

A general view of things about half way through the battle, all the act being on the flanks.. 

A Paraguayan steamer arrives with a chats in tow.

Eight battalions of Brazilians stood around on their side of the river for too long, allowing the enemy to close into musket range. The Paraguayans took fearful losses from the Brazilian artillery but were not halted.

Another view of the centre,

The action on the river hots up.

Jon led the Uruguayan cavalry right at the Paraguayan left. Very quickly the entire left wing of the Paraguayan army was retreating, some very quickly.

Meanwhile my dismounted cavalry charged across the stream and against the odds drove the Brazilian line back, with several battalions breaking.

As the Brazilians crossed the river the Paraguayans in the centre counter attacked and drove off the Brazilian attackers and their supports.

Brazilians in flight.

We had played six turns and had achieved a good result. The Paraguayans had snatched a narrow victory from the hands of the allies, thanks to the success of our cavalry and the infantry in the centre.

It was  very enjoyable game and a good result for the Paraguayans; a fine win for the cause of brutal dictatorships everywhere. The rules worked well and it was good to see the collection on the table again, albeit without the Argentinians. Thanks to Paul for umpiring and Jim, Jon and Conrad for a great game.

The Paraguayan commander.

Jim really needs to change his dice.