This week’s game. Back to the Eighteenth Century.

This week I arranged an 18th century game using Black Powder for the Burrowers. It wasn’t based on anything in particular but I intimated that it was. I also took the opportunity to field some troops that had never yet had their baptism of fire, which turned out to be a mistake given the usual mantra that new units always run away!

The French were one of the belligerents. On the other was a combined allied force of English, Hanoverians, Brunswickers and Hessians. The French had more and slightly better cavalry and heavier guns, while the allies had a couple more battalions of infantry. Most of my French are Ebor WSS figures but there are some Cran Tara, Black Hussar and Foundry in there as well. I went with Ebor as I got an unmissable deal (working out at about 25 quid for a 40 figure battalion as I bought LOTS) and I thought I'd base the army around the French during the War of Polish Succession to account for their slightly out of date appearance. My toys so I do as I wish of course! The Allies are a mixture of (mainly) Cran Tara and  Minden with some Foundry and Warlord.

Paul, John and Nigel were the French while Neil (British and Brunswick), Richard (Hanoverians and English horse) and I ( Hessian and Hanoverian horse) were the allies. We used Black Powder 2 with my house rules, some of which we forgot of course.

Both sides were against the clock as there was a chance that either could be reinforced by a brigade entering in the flank of the enemy. This was decided by me rolling a dice each turn, adjusted depending upon how the battle was playing out, by which I mean that the side nominally loosing had a better chance to get reinforcements. In truth there were NEVER going to be any for either side but nobody else knew that. Tee Hee. Hopefully these photos, some of which were taken by Richard, give an idea of how the game played out.

The Allied line seen from
their right wing.

The stage is set for battle to begin.

The French left wing. Why on earth did I give them a redoubt?

A taste of things to come in terms of extreme dice rolling! Neil's first shot with his cannon scored four sixes! Their target, the Royal Italian were pulverised and forced to retreat. They never recovered.

This was me. I needed anything but a 1! 

Paul's first move on the French right was to launch his cavalry at the Brunswick brigade on our left. 

The Hanoverian cavalry brigade advanced towards the French  left wing.

Wave after wave of French cavalry kept the Brunswickers pinned down almost on the table's edge.

Slowly but surely the Brunswickers were being worn down.

Neil's Brunswickers were also attacked by French infantry. 

Yet more pressure on the poor Brunswickers (First time out on the table too!)

The Hanoverian cavalry brigade was beaten badly by a combination of French artillery, infantry and  some dreadful dice rolling on my part (see above for the 'anything but a 1' result). 

The French cunningly screened their best infantry (the Garde Français and a battalion of Swiss) with a battalion of the Gardes Lorraine, who obligingly soaked up a great deal of damage before being forced to pull back.

French infantry of the Bourgoigne regiment supported by the Irish Rooth battalion attacking the English brigade.

My Hessian cavalry were very slow to get up into action, despite having a '9' commander! They looked on as the Hanoverians were demolished.

The English cavalry were led by a '6' rating brigadier but Richard still got them to move into musket range of the French.

The Hanoverians blundered and assaulted the church. 

The blundering Hanoverian infantry brigade  attacked the Irish in the church. After one turn of melee they routed after a dire break test, taking another battalion with them in the process. That left this battalion rather exposed and the brigade almost spent.

The Hanoverian grenadier battalion had advanced to occupy the farmyard but got no further for a while at least.

The Irish and HM 12th Foot locked in combat.

Meanwhile, having seen the Hanoverian cavalry disposed of, the Hessian  cavalry tried to break the French left by a series of futile charges.  In the background the Hanoverian infantry tried vainly to destroy the French centre. 

And still the French poured more horsemen at the Brunswickers, eventually they would break enough battalions to knock the brigade out of the game.

The centre as seen from behind the French line.

Swiss and Brunswickers locked in combat. It just wasn't the Brunswicker's day!

The Irish Bulkeley battalion in the churchyard were a thorn in the side of the Hanoverian brigade. 

The Hessian horse and dragoons on our right formed up for another attack on the French.

....it failed of course, and the Hessians were bounced back from whence they'd come.

The Brunswickers had defeated the Swiss but were now attacked by the Garde Français.

I love this figure of the the French Cuirassiers du Roi. The Brunswick grenadier battalion didn't.

After seeing of the Cuirassier du Roi the poor Brunswick grenadiers were hit by a squadron of the Royal Carabiniers.

Esme decided she would join the French army. Traitor!

HM 12th Foot had seen off the Irish Rooth battalion but were hit in the flank by Paul's horsemen. despite the flank attack the English held. 

At the end of the game the English brigade was still holding on in the face of  eight squadrons of French horse and the cream of their infantry. 

Well, talk about extremes! The dice just didn't fall right for the allies during this game. When we finished it was a clear French victory, given that half of our brigades were out of action. It was actually closer than the end result suggests. Black Powder being what they are it was a fast and bloody game, but maybe rather dull after the past couple of weeks of playing some rather more dynamic ancient games. Nevertheless it was great fun, and I had at long last  got my 18thC Brunswick, Hessian, Hanoverian and English on the table for the first time, on which basis it was expected that they'd not do terribly well so my expectations were met. The French played well and their horsemen under Paul kept the pressure on the Brunswick brigade throughout the battle.  I don't know what the French plan was but our went t*ts up from turn 1. Those dice scores! If only...........

Another quiet week plugging away in the Burrow but more units off to barracks.

I don’t know where the days go, but on Thursday  I was so absorbed in ‘stuff’ that I was convinced it was Tuesday, and the weekend just teleported into my path rather suddenly. The result is that so far I’ve not actually finished anything I’ve done myself this week. I got some basing completed though.

French 18thC Cuirassier du Roi. These are Foundry figures that my mate Barry painted. I did the basing. I just need a flag now. They will join the other half of the regiment and will see action in the summer if were allowed out to play. One day I shall rebase all my 18thC cavalry with just two figures per 50mm x 50mm base but for now I will stick with the current basing convention. If nothing else it’ll give me bigger or more regiments! (Evil cackling)

Last Saturday I ran a game, which I will post a very late account of in a day or so. Then on Wednesday I played in a game of Warlord’s Victory at Sea rules system using Richard’s ships. The Germans had to sink the Allied convoy without either of their capital ships being crippled. I have to say the rules are easy to pick up, and whilst a little simplistic, do give a good game, so thanks Richard for an entertaining afternoon.

Knuckleduster castings Glengarry Light Infantry for the War of 1812. I’ve already got the Glengarries in close order but needed to be able to show them broken up into skirmish order as well. Again, painted by Barry, based by me.

I should be in a position to finish the basing several units of Late Romans and Goths over the weekend, as well as another War of 1812 Canadian unit, Caldwell’s Rangers, all five figures of them! They get to play with the First Nation’s warriors.

War of the Polish Succession and a disguised wargame scenario

 On Saturday I hosted another remote wargame at The Burrow. The set up can be seen in the previous post Here . Particularly astute readers will have recognised the scenario as a disguised refight of the Battle of Rossbach on 5 November 1757, (so played almost on the anniversary) but shifted 25 years backwards, a few hundred miles south and with a largely whole new cast. In this game the Austrians took the place of Frederick’s Prussians while the Spanish morphed into the Reichsarmee. The French of course stayed French. We had a reduced lineup due to work commitments and the pandemic, but Conrad and Neil played the Austrians while Paul, Richard and Mark were the French/Spanish. I don’t think anyone other than Mark recognised the actual battle before I mentioned it at the start so well done. I’ve refought this battle at least twice I think. Once at the Battleground 2015 show and once at home when we lived up the Dale. On both occasions the Prussians won, but only just in one case, and not decisively in the other. It’s a difficult one to get right and still remain a playable game for the French and Co. I think I created a balanced game. In this refight  the French could react to the Austrian cavalry onslaught if a little luck were to be on their side, while the Austrians would have to be planning several moves in advance if they were to overwhelm the enemy and not allow their cavalry to get ground down too much to remain effective in the later stages of the game.

The Austrians won the initiative, which was vital if their plans were to work. Note that the Austrians were not turned into proto-Prussians but still retained their own national traits as outlined in Honours of War, so only their grenadiers and cavalry were classed as superior. I decided that their artillery should be standard rather than superior because (a) they represented Prussians and (b) superior artillery is very effective in the rules, maybe too much so. The French and Spanish were a mixture of superior, such as the Guards and Swiss/Irish battalions plus the Royal Carabiners. The Spanish were inferior except for their guard and foreign battalions whom I made standard. Spanish horse and French dragoon’s were rated inferior. So, on to battle.

The Austrian grand battery with their infantry deployed behind the ridge.

The allied cavalry, 11 regiments in all, advancing in column towards the previously unseen Austrians.

Austrian cavalry facing the oncoming columns of French and Spanish.

The main body of the Franco-Spanish army, four brigades of infantry, 14 battalions in all.

Although they had the initiative the Austrians failed to get a double move which would have allowed them to charge the French while they were still in march column. This gave the French under Mark the opportunity to shake out from column to meet them next turn. (I allow all cavalry to form top in two ranks without penalty as it is more pleasing on the eye).

The allied second cavalry brigade deploy out of column. 

Two brigades of French horse at the rear of the cavalry formation shake out from column

Next turn the opposing cavalry clash. Losses are heavy and both sides see units break or pull back shattered. This is one of the key danger points for the Austrians (or indeed the Prussians in previous refights) as they risk getting sucked into a series of cavalry melees that gradually deplete their leading regiments to the point of destruction).

Neil marched his leading infantry brigade forwards right through the artillery, preventing them from firing for two turns.

The battlefield from behind the Austrian lines.

Although gaining the upper hand two Austrian cuirassier regiments were destroyed as a result of continuous action against the enemy.

The French and Spanish cavalry had also been thinned out and half of the first and second lines had been driven off or routed.

Neil's infantry cleared the guns just as his second brigade made their appearance.

Turn 4 and the cavalry melee is STILL going on.Add caption

Neil's second line made a left turn, formed column. and began marching around the cannon.

The Austrian cavalry have now broken through to the final line of French horse.

Neil's second brigade on the march.

Richard was in command of two fine brigades of French infantry, five battalions and two batteries in all.

Paul meanwhile had been force marching his infantry out to the flank and Richard formed his brigades into line. Seen here are battalions of the Irish regiments Rooth and Bulkley.

Conrad began pulling his bruised cavalry back to reform. There were only five out of the original ten regiments still capable of fighting, after they'd been able to rally some hits off.

The surviving French and Spanish horse found themselves stuck between the two opposing lines of infantry. The managed to extricate themselves at the cost if holding up their infantry advancing to their rear.

Austrian grenadiers close with the French

In the background the Spanish infantry are pushing towards the left while the Irish brigade deploys to engage the Austrians to their front.

Conrad pulled the remains of his cavalry back to regroup and rally off some hits. 

The main Austrian grand battery recommences firing.

The rather confused French centre, with the remains of the French and Spanish cavalry pulling back to rally.

The Austrians advanced into close range of the French.

The Irish brigade holds the centre but is taking a battering from the Austrian artillery.

The Spanish can be seen deployed into line, supposed by a battery pouring canister into the Austrian line. 

On the Austrian left one of their battalions breaks under the weight of fire from French infantry and canister fire.

The Spanish guard and their supporting artillery break a battalion of Austrians.

The Spanish have now all shaken out into line. 

Spanish artillery pounding the Austrians at point blank range.

A few long shots of the main lines of battle. 

The now silent Austrian battery

Confusion across the battlefield.

So at the end of Turn 14 the game came to an end, with neither side holding a significant advantage. The Austrians did well in holding off the Austrian horse, and in the final turn had broken two battalions of Austrian infantry, one by the Spanish infantry and close range artillery, the other by the French Guards. It is interesting to speculate on what would have happened if we'd been able to finish the game to a definite decision. The Austrians still had four regiments of cuirassiers and one of hussars left, with barely a scratch on any of them. By comparison the Allied cavalry had been reduced to three regiments, two French and one Spanish. The infantry had barely begun to fight so the early loss of two Austrian battalions was a critical one, but if pressure could have been maintained along the line, especially against the somewhat flakey and unsupported Spanish, then perhaps the French on the right would begin to suffer for being so congested if they were forced to retreat. Who knows? I enjoyed setting up and running this game, and am being pulled back into the 18thC, so much so that I've started painting another battalion of French, and finished basing up another two battalions of Frenchmen.

Hindsight being such a wonderful thing, had I been playing on the French side I think I'd have sacrificed the leading cavalry brigade to delay the Austrians and pulled the others back onto the advancing infantry, well outside of the the range of the Austrian artillery. The infantry could then have stood firm or led the way in a slow and limited advance, where superior numbers rather than quality might well have prevailed. On the Austrian side, I've played them (as far better Prussians) twice and fallen into the same trap on both occasions. Easy to say, especially as I've failed to do it myself previously, but the Austrians have got to avoid mutually assured destruction with their cavalry. Their artillery would I feel be better used limbering and advancing with the infantry given that they lost three moves of shooting whilst being marched through by 5000 sweaty blokes from the far corners of the Empire. Whatever. Anyway, it was a great game and everyone enjoyed themselves and yet again the technology (at least as it scooted into the ether from the Burrow) worked well, although I think one or two players suffered occasional buffering problems intermittently through the game.

Another Saturday of gaming over, I was planning on a session with the Virtual Wargames Group but I gave up after about half an hour as I needed to have a lie down.  Next Saturday, another game I hope. Not sure what yet, but plenty of time to decide.