The Helder 1799. Another 'Soldiers without Napoleon game'

It’s a long time since we had a game using my French Revolutionary Wars British and Russian armies for the Helder campaign in 1799. Ill conceived, poorly resourced, badly executed. What’s not to like? I’ve been to the area and explored the sites of the battles, a long time ago now, well before lockdown, and researched the campaign enough to realise that for all its shortcomings as a military enterprise there are some great battles to fight over some unique terrain, such as the polders, canals, hundreds of feet high sand dunes (I’ve seen them and even today they are big and dwarf the houses next to them).

The Grand Old Duke of York on his hill.

So, a change this week, with our game on a Friday. My old friend Chris Gregg of Not Just Old School Wargaming was in the NE on holiday and had negotiated a visit to the Burrow, so it was only good manners to put a game on. Conrad, Shaun, Richard and Nigel were able to come along as well.

The scenario was a kind of hybrid representation of a ‘typical’ battle from the campaign, e.g Alkmar,  Bergen, with the allies (Britain and Russia) trying to force their way south towards Amsterdam through a determined French and Batavian defender. 

The allied right lay on the coast, with swathes of open ground and some very high sand dunes. Their left was anchored on a wide impassable canal/dyke. The roads and settlements were all raised up above the level of the polders, which blocked line of sight unless you were right up against the embankment. Allied objective? Capture the town and the signal towers and the three roads exiting the southern (French/Batavian) table edge. 

Conrad was General Brune, Shaun was Daendels while Richard was the Duke of York, Nigel was von Essen and Chris was General Herman, who would not arrive until lunch and Chris’ expected ETA. We were giving Soldier of Napoleon another run out. My own opinion, such as its worth, is that the rules are ok, I like the card driven order and everything else system, BUT they really are not suited to multi-player (three a side) games on a big 14' x 6' table. 

On to battle, in time honoured fashion with lots of photographs in more or less the correct order which I hope will give an indication of how the game went.

The battle field from the west at the start of the game.

......and from the other end.

The French left wing.

.....and their right wing, complete with telegraph tower.

The French centre, with a little encouragement thrown in!

Possession of the central town was the key to victory.

The British on the left wing.

The Allied right, lots of Russians. General Fudgikov provided  Nigel with some sage advice, and then ate the instructions and buried the scraps in the garden.

The French reserves were slow to appear but this brigade of dragoons finally arrived, and they would have been followed by more cavalry and infantry if we'd had the time.

The Allied centre.

Russian grenadiers taking a pasting from French artillery and skirmishers. No surprise that they broke.

The Guards will advance!

The Guards still advancing into the teeth of the French fire.

Chris in command of the allied reserves as they arrived on the extreme right.

British infantry advancing on the left.

The Guards are steadily advancing, cutting through the enemy like a knife through butter.

Russian hussars took a chance and charged a French battalion still in  line. They made it into contact but bounced thanks to some rubbish/excellent dice rolling depending on  which side you were on.

Cossacks of the reserve. One unit was badly hit by a volley when trying to drive off French skirmishers, but the other captured the coastal telegraph tower.

The Royal Navy offshore. Had it not been for the very high (300’ and more) sand dunes they might have even been able to support the attack, and the Cossacks beat them to the telegraph tower!

The last of the Allied reserves who never made it into the game.

I enjoyed the game. The Allies had in reality made little progress and most of the French arm was pretty intact while some of the Russians were floundering. I suspect the Guards would have seen off some more French before having to retreat due to losses sustained in the attack. A brave showing however!

In the end I called it a small French victory (they had also collected more victory points as per the rules) which was thought to be a fair outcome.

Hopefully everyone had a good time and it was good to see Chris for the first time since before the pandemic. I am still of the view that SoN are not really going to be made go to set of rules but they do make for a challenging game. Now, where is m copy of General d'Armée?

Encounter in Northern Italy 1795, using Soldiers of Napoleon

This post is appallingly late but much activity surrounding the Burrow last week that got in the way of hobby time. This game actually had a young General Buonaparte in command of the French army in this fictional encounter set in the ‘imagination’ Republic of Waldensia, up in the Italian Alps, landlocked between France, Piedmont and Switzerland, all of which is irrelevant to this game and geographically somewhat far fetched, but I’ve had armies fighting over this part of Italy from the Italian Wars onwards so like to maintain the back story if only for my own amusement.

It was a straightforward encounter battle with beating the enemy being the only victory condition, although I suppose NOT loosing would be another equally-ranked objective. The rules generate Victory Points for one side or another, usually for gaining some minor goal or killing an enemy unit, as  game unfolds which is quite a nice touch.

Conrad was the child Napoleon, supported by John and Shaun. I played GL Melas the Austrian CinC, with Dave and Paul as my subordinates. Both armies were of roughly similar in size, but the Austrians had  a slight advantage in numbers and to a certain extent troop quality. Except for the Piedmontese division, which I mainly classed as militia, if only as this was to be their first appearance on my tabletop. The terrain was deliberately quite congested, to try and reflect the Italian practice of surrounding fields with ditches and said ditches and other streams were thick with vegetation, slowing movement and impeding visibility. It looked quite nice anyway. 

The French deployed all their infantry on the battlefield and left both brigades of cavalry off table as the designated reserve. Conrad commanded the Polish brigade as well as being CinC. Shaun was in the centre with two brigades of French infantry and John was on their right with another French brigade and the gorgeous chocolate-box uniformed Lombard Legion. We held the Piedmontese division in reserve, due to join the game from turn 3 on our right, which was held initially by a single cavalry brigade, with two Austrian infantry brigades in the centre and another on the left, supported by two regiments of hussars.

                      

Initiative went to the French to start with (and for most turns in fact). The cards were dealt and the CinCs issued them to their subordinates as they saw fit. I like this aspect of the rules as it forces the commanders to make some important decisions under pressure as they attempt to organise their battle plan using whatever cards they’d been dealt.  Their army began a general advance to try and capture the town, the monastery and the high ground in the centre. The Austrians, being experts at lumbering, lumbered forward slowly but smartly. I will let the pictures tell the story of the battle, so buckle in, tray tables put away and seats upright and we shall begin.

The Austrian right was lightly held by a brigade of cavalry.

The French left safely anchored behind the stream.

The Piedmontese cavalry brigade appeared on the Austrian right.

The Lombard Legion moving against the monastery.  They were to eject the Austrians from the building and take over occupancy.

Austrian right.

The Piedmontese arrive. 

Dave's left wing making slow progress thanks to the difficult terrain.

More of the Piedmontese. They’re relatively new. The  infantry, artillery and  cavalry are Eureka and Irregular miniatures.

The Poles advanced quickly and took possession of the town.

Poles occupying the village until it became too dangerous due to fire from enemy artillery and riflemen.

French horse artillery advance in the centre.

Poles on the French left. They had withdrawn from the town as they were attracting too much attention from Austrian and Piedmontese artillery and Austrian jäger.

John's French brigade on the French right.

An heroic pose from the Young Napoleon.

The centre of the battlefield where my troops were making little progress against the French.

Piedmontese on the move.

Piedmontese cavalry regiment.

The Austrian right seen from the French perspective towards the end of the battle. The Piedmontese  are advancing on the Poles formed into square behind the stream. 

We had been playing pretty solidly for about four hours (plus lunch) and called it a day. The Austrians had made no real progress with their attack and as French had acquired many more VPs than the Austrians they were declared the clear victors. I think we've got the hang of the rule mechanics now, and I for one am happy with the way the game developed. We all played the period rather than the rules which certainly helped. (Then again, the penalties for playing the rules and not the period here at the Burrow can be severe). 

For those interested here are the OoB for the game.

FRENCH ARMÉE DES ALPES - GENERAL BUONOPARTE (38 MV)



Division: General de Division Lannes (8)

Gen de Bde Watrin(5)

Demi Bde Legere [3] Seasoned, D3+, Musket 4+, Melee 4+ (Skirmishers 2) (1MV)

Horse Artillery (4-pdr) Professional, D3, Shot D5+, Melee 5+ (2MV)

Gen de Bde Gency(3)

Demi Bde [3] Seasoned, D4+, Musket 4+, Melee 4+ (Skirmish 2) (1MV)



Gen de Division Gardanne (10)

Gen de Bde Mouton (7)

Grenadiers [1] Elite, D3+, Musket 3+, Melee 3+ (Skirmish 2) (2MV)

Demi Bde [3] Trained, D4+, Musket 4+, Melee 4+ (Skirmish 2) (1MV)

Artillery (12pdr) Seasoned, D3+, Shot 5+, Melee 5+ (2MV)

General de Bde Mazzini (3)

Lombard Legion [2] Trained, D4+, Musket 4+, Melee 4+ (Skirmish 2) (1MV)

Artillery (6-pdr) Trained, D4+, Shot 5+, Melee 5+ (1MV)



Gen de Div Thomas Jennings de Kilmain (10)

Gen de Bde Champeaux (6)

Hussars Trained, D5+, Shot 5+, Melee 4+ (2MV ea)

Ch a Cheval Trained, D5+, Shot 5+, Melee 4+ (2MV)

Horse Arty (6-pdr) Professional, D3, Shot 5+, Melee 5+ (2MV)



Gen de Bde Kellerman (4)

Dragoons x2 Trained, D4+, Melee 4+, (Shock 2) (2MV ea)



Gen de Division Dombrowski (10)

Polish Legion x 3 Elite, D3+, Shot 4+, Melee 4+ (2 MV ea)

Legion Cavalry Seasoned, D4+, Melee 4+ (Shock 1 lance) (2 MV)

Artillery (6-pdr) Seasoned, D4+, Shot 5+, Melee 5+ (2MV)


AUSTRIAN ARMY - FML VON MELAS (49 MV)

GM Prince Hohenlohe (6)

Hussars x 2 Professional, D3+, Carbine 5+, Melee 3+ (2MV)

Horse artillery (6pdr) Professional, D3, Shot 5+, Melee 5+ (2MV)

GM Wallace (6)

Ch-Legere Professional, D3+, Shot 5+, Melee 3+ (2MV)

Dragoons HC Seasoned, D4+, Carbine 5+, Melee 3+ (Shock 2) (2 MV)

Uhlans Trained, D4+, Melee 2+/3+ (Shock 1) (2MV)

GM Kossuth (6)

Grenz Militia, D5+, Shot 4+, Melee 5+ (Lt Inf/Skirmisher 2) (1MV)

Line btns x 3 Trained, D4+, Shot 4+, Melee 4+ (1MV)

Artillery (3pdr) Professional, D4+, Shot 5+, Melee 5+ (2MV)

GM Jordis (7)

Feldjager detachment Seasoned, D3+, Rifle 3+, Melee 5+ (Lt Infantry/Skirmish 3) (2MV)

Line x 3 btns Trained, D4+, Shot 4+, Melee 4+ (1MV)

Artillery (6-pdr) Professional, D3+, Shot 5+, Melee 5+ (2MV)

GM Kavenagh (12)

Feldjager detachment Seasoned, D3+, Rifle 3+, Melee 5+ (Lt Infantry/Skirmish 3) (2MV)

Grenadier btns x 4 Seasoned, D3+, Shot 4+, Melee 3+ (2MV)

Foot Artillery (12-pdr) Professional, D3+, Shot 5+, Melee 5+ (2MV)

General Conti – Piedmontese (8MV)

Grenadiers Elite, D3+, Musket 3+, Melee 4+ (2MV)

Infantry x 4 btns Militia, D5+, Shot 4+, Melee 5+ (1MV)

Artillery (6pdr) Trained, D5+, Shot 5+, Melee 5+ (2MV)

General Gelato – Piedmontese (4MV)

Cavalry HC Trained, D4+, Melee 4+ (Shock 2) (2MV)

Dragoons HC Trained, D5+, Melee 4+ (Shock 1) (2MV)



CinC to allocate brigades to the ‘divisional’ commanders, also deciding which brigade(s) will form the reserve. Piedmonte bdes must be brigaded together.

Austrian cavalry bdes CANNOT be brigaded together.

French Revolutionary Wars game using Soldiers of Napoleon Rules

It must be well over a year since I had any of my French Revolutionary Wars collection on the table so last Saturday men were recalled to barracks and mobilised to have another game using the new Soldiers of Napoleon rules. Richard, Paul and Conrad have played a couple of times since I put on the War of 1812 game a couple of weeks ago so between us we had a much better idea of how to use them. 

For this game set in 1794’ish, the French Army of the Moselle under Lazare Hoche facing the Austrian Army of the Rhine under Gen de Kavellerie Wurmser. Still no sight of Napoleon anywhere. The orders of battle were adapted from a game we played three or maybe four years ago when we did Wissembourg (not the 1870 version). The French, commanded by Conrad and supported by John and Nigel were a hodgepodge of former royalist regular battalions and lots of volunteer and levy battalions of dubious quality that I classed as militia under the rules. The Austrian force included a brigade of Bavarians (‘cos I have some) and another of French Emigres. Both the latter two brigades were militia quality bar one tenuously better Emigre units. The Austrians were commanded by Paul, ably supported by Richard and myself (my second game, actually playing, in a row; what is the world coming to?). We had a plan which involved demonstrating on the right and in the centre while attacking on the left with the grenadiers supported by two batteries of heavy cannon. I don't know about the French plan, although I'm sure they had one.

Anyway, it was a simple encounter battle to further test the rules. Each side had seven brigades in three divisions. One brigade each had to be held back as a reserve to hopefully appear from turn 3 onwards. For those not familiar with these rules, they are card driven and so far I’d say they were quite innovative and challenging, especially for the CinCs as they must allocate cards to their subordinates who have to take what they are given. We’re still working on the best way to handle proper-sized multi-player games (the rules are aimed at one-on-one games really but there is limited provision for my-sized battles, ie big). So, in time honoured fashion here are some photos and a brief commentary on the game. 

The French hoards ready to sweep forward.                      

The Bavarian brigade resplendent in their silly Rumford uniforms. I love them.

Dipping their collective Bavarian toes in the river......

Conrad’s French horse artillery on the crossroads.

Richard on the left was leading an impressive assault force of four grenadiers battalions supported by two 12-pdr batteries.

Meanwhile Paul was on our right with a brigade of cavalry covering the extreme flank.

More of Paul's command in the centre.

I made an error loosely resembling the one made by Ambrose Burnside at Antietam 60-odd years in the future  when I didn't bother with the bridge but pledged very slowly across the river.

The French left.

More French under Nigel.

One of my brigade commanders.

The French quickly took control of the high ground at the crossroads.

French cavalry on their extreme left. The volunteer Hussars du Mort in black  supporting dragoons.

The Emigré Mirabeau Legion and Regiment de Bourbon (in green) fording the river.

The Emigrés about to assault the French-held village.

The rest de Bourbon failed to stop the former French regular battalion's counter attack and were pushed back.

 

The Austrian reserve cavalry smashed into the enemy dragoons, pushing them back in disarray.

The French centre.

More Austrian heavy cavalry on the right.

Richards attack was stalled and by the presence of enemy cavalry but his artillery made short work of the enemy guns.

Even Esme pretended to be shot!

My command figure dickering about in the river.

Looking along the Austrian line from the right.

Lots and lots of Austrians on horses.

The French reserve, three regiments of cavalry (Carabiniers and heavy cavalry)

Despite taking a hammering the French centre was holding and was probably too strong to tackle head on.

We called it a day when the Austrians were clearly romping ahead in terms of VPs. Although a victory for the Kaiserlichs the French were still in a strong position all along the line except for their left flank where the superior numbers and better quality Austrian cavalry were likely to roll up in time. But who knows….? The Emigrés did a good job on the left but the brigade was shattered after failing to take the town; the grenadiers had been stopped by the presence of cavalry on their flank but were still inching forward. My 'demonstration' in the centre had been slow and pretty pointless although the enemy had rushed their reserves into the centre, and my Bavarian brigade was still stuck in the river. 

As we'd run out of time and although there was no clear tactical advantage the Austrians were deemed the victors due to their far greater number of VPs. They were also likely to roll up the French left with five regiments of cavalry!

Another great game and a good run out for the rules. It was easy enough to fit the armies into the troop types and qualities dictated by the rules and we shall have another game this coming Saturday.