Yesterday (Friday) was the Anniversary of the 1683 Relief of Vienna 1683, so…..

However………I’ve replayed the above at least twice and have no desire to do it again just yet, or at least until I get the remaining Ottoman infantry finished (or started) to give them a chance next time.

But first the obligatory cat photo.

So instead of that we are transporting you the reader to the plains of Northern Italy in 1676’ish as yet again the French army of warmonger Louis XIV fights to wrestle the key County of Waldensia from its protector Victor Emanuel of Savoy. Before anyone heads off to google this, it is all made up. There was a large community of Waldensian Protestants living in Piedmont, somewhat precariously. For the purposes of this ongoing series of battles (the last one was three years ago) the people were ruled by a Protestant count, approved by Savoy, but he fell off the battlements of his castle under mysterious circumstances. His horse, wife and heir also died with him sadly. The French are now demanding that as they have the rightful ‘heir’ under their wing, they will fight to win him his rightful place and thus gain them the leverage they desire in Northern Italy.

The French are on the left.
 Spanish and Savoyards facing them.

Geographically the county is on a vital route, south from the Alps and east-west between Turin and the rest of Italy. Luckily for the Waldensians, the last thing the Savoyards want is a pro French count as head of state, a sentiment shared by the Spanish and their allies in Italy and Southern Europe. Consequently the Waldensians can field a small army of mercenary regiments hired en bloc from the likes of Saxony, Brandenburg and even Celle, together with ‘volunteer’ contingents from elsewhere such as Venice and the Papacy. Add to these the forces of Spain and a formidable (on paper at least) army to face the legions of Louis XIV exists. Ok, they’re mostly newly raised but the Spanish are all veterans to balance things out. The French are also an army of extremes with a couple of brigades of Maison du Roi (horse and foot) but the other infantry with the exception of some Swiss are decidedly average at best. Their line cavalry brigade and dragoons are pretty good though. 

The French objectives were to capture the town, the sleezy bordello (of which more later) and the bridge on the Savoyard baseline. The Savoy/Spanish alliance had to deny these to the enemy and drive them back over the border.

Six regiments of Savoyard infantry on the right flank. 

Nick commanded the Spanish on the allied left, facing all that French horse.

In turn one Richard fired his artillery and managed a double 1. Boom! Actually, not, as we remembered that ‘boom’ doesn’t happen at long range according to the rules…..why not I ask?

Nigel commanded a large body of French dragoons and the infantry of the Maison du Roi, namely two battalions of Gardes Francais and one of Gardes Suisse.

The French centre

The pride of France in Conrad’s capable hands.

This supposedly burnt out villa is actually where Madame Ghislane has her bordello, a hotbed (indeed several hot beds) of intrigue and a crossroads for the agents of both the French and the Savoyards. Madame has a secret book which if released to the French would seriously embarrass the Duke of Savoy and maybe even the Kings of Spain and France.

Meanwhile life goes on in the town.

Savoyard cavalry and dragoons on their right wing, under the command of Paul.

The French gave Conrad all their cavalry, deployed on their right flank. In all there were 11 squadrons of Maisonette du Roi and other good quality horse.

 Custom seems slow just now……

Conrad threw his horse against the Spanish. They kept bouncing.

Getting ready for another charge.

And here is another charge. It bounced again. What I did t understand was why Nick stuck his Spanish cavalry behind his infantry where they could do nothing rather than taking them round the right of the convent into the centre of the battlefield.

A General if at times slow advance by the French centre.

The Savoyards occupied the bordello but were attacked by countless dragoons and the Gardes Suisse.

Paul’s cavalry was not making much progress on the allied right.

The French dragoons holding the line of the stream.

Repeated attacks by the French cavalry did little other than pin the veteran Spanish infantry where they could they could not intervene in the main battle.

Cuirassiers du Roi in blue and to the right a squadron of Gendarmes.

Back in the centre the French suddenly lurched forward. The royal Rousillon regiment survived the closing fire from the Savoyard guns ( they all missed) and overran them.

The rest of the Savoyards centre began to crumble under the pressure.  This mercenary regiment from Brandenburg held on grimly.

The Swiss brigade before they assaulted the town.

Dumbarton’s regiment saw off the Savoyards to their front.

While all this was going on Richard had managed to occupy the town but was under attack from three sides. We got the rules wrong and he managed to hand on to the town despite being shaken.

Then in the centre the Spanish cavalry finally changed direction and appeared in the centre, attacking the French in the flank, sadly too late to influence the outcome. On the Savoyard right Paul’s cavalry was unable to get into action due to the terrain and poor command rolls.

So there we have it. I had to request we halted the game a little early as my back was excruciating. It was hard to call who had won. The Savoyards held all three of the objectives but their centre was about to collapse and they were about to be kicked out of the town. Nevertheless at the time we called a halt it was a Savoyards and Spanish victory.

These figures are my favourite collection by far. It was good to see them on the table after a long break.  Pike and Shot, even with my house rules didn’t seem to be adequate for the task. I might bite the bullet and try Impetus Baroque next time.

Thanks to everyone for playing in what at times was a tense game. I enjoyed it up to the point my back went ‘ping!’ 

Saturday will see another game……but what?

 I’m running a game here on Saturday for six of the Burrowers. Can’t make my mind up what to do.

The easy option is something from the Helder Campaign of 1799 as the French and Russians are on the table already; just need to remove the Alps! Add some English and away we go.

Alternatively I could do a 1672 game, but that will require a bit more tidying up. Not my strong point at the moment as it usually does my back in…… what I REALLY fancy is a 1940 Rapid Fire game. We shall see. Never played the rules so a bit risky…..

Nothing much has left the painting table this week. A battalion of Paraguayans and a regiment of Brazilian cavalry. The remainder of the Paraguayan fortress artillery is also done so things are ticking along nicely. I should finish my Paraguayan secret weapons this week as well . Can’t say what as they’re secret.

I’m also pissed off that I was not well enough to take part in the Like a Stone Walls Waterloo game this weekend. It looked fantastic. Never mind….. Common sense prevailed this time. 

Back to the Revolution, part 2

Continuing on from the skirmish on Thursday, Saturday saw the table re-orientated, terrain reset and more troops added. Those with losses from the earlier game started off carrying one or two hit markers depending on their losses. The Russian cavalry was too battered and useless and was sent off to escort the baggage as the army had been joined by a brigade of Austrian cavalry and another brigade of Russian infantry.

 

The French carried fewer losses over and received another brigade of cavalry and another strong brigade of infantry. The Polish Legion were also joined by their third battalion and two battalions of the Lombard Legion. The armies were numerically more or less balanced, except the French had four batteries of artillery against two of Russian mountain guns, and they had a slight advantage in squadrons and battalions, but not by much. Where the French were at an advantage was in their troops’ and generals’ quality, together with complete domination in the area of skirmishers.

What follows are the usual series of photos showing how the game progressed. John the Red, Nick and Shaun were the French while Neil, Nigel and Jon were the Russians.

The Polish Legion

The Lombard Legion

I've not annotated all the photos as I think they tell the story well enough. On the Russian right the French made very slow progress but did eventually drive the Cossacks out of the town. Their main line and the Russians barely fired a shot at each other, which given the poor quality of this French brigade may have been a blessing. (They were rated as newly raised with more enthusiasm than skill and experience).

On the right the Austrian cavalry got the better of the French horsemen but were unable to exploit their success. The French infantry on this flank advanced on the Russian positions. The Russians attempted several bayonet charges but to no avail and eventually only two of the six Russian units in the brigade were left, the rest having fled. While they could the Austrian cavalry survivors beat a hasty retreat.

In the centre the main attack was led by the Polish and Lombard Legions. They were facing four battalions of combined grenadiers (somewhat battered from their previous engagement but no less dangerous). The French were unable to break the Russian centre, even with their superiority in artillery and skirmishing capability.

The game had been set to last eight turns, by which time it was deemed the Russian baggage train had safely slipped away. The French had failed to prevent this so despite their success on the battlefield it was not enough to prevent the enemy escaping with a minor victory.

Valour and Fortitude are very much like marmite, with the added complication that some days I like marmite and others I don't.  I was less enamoured of them this time than I had been when playing the Paraguayan War.  But they work on big multi-player games like this and are imho infinitely preferable to Black Powder. Not everyone had used the rules but everyone was soon pretty much up to speed. With fewer players, and players who were familiar with the rules, I would probably have used General d'Armée II. 

Thanks to everyone for the game which hopefully was an enjoyable one. I now have the bug for another French Revolutionary Wars game next time. We shall see........