Lockdown Project Inaugural Game: 28mm Italian Wars in the Burrow

 This week’s game was the first tabletop outing for my lockdown project, the Italian Wars. I used modified  Pike and Shotte rules (with most of the stats and some of the house rules kindly shared by James Roach) and the break tests from Hail Caesar (so a 6 didn’t cause disorder but did cause a break test using the HC results).

The game was a simple scenario whereby the French had to attack the combined Spanish/Papal/Venetian alliance, the League of Lambrate Ghisa, and capture control of the road, the village and the bridge. I showed some restraint in not using all of my collection, only about 95% of it. Capturing the camp would give the French an immediate victory as it contained not only the war chest but also certain famous personages from the telly.

As is now 'normal', the game was played remotely using Skype and YouTube, with a couple of players actually present to help me move the troops around, because as one might imagine doing it for both sides myself is knackering, and provide the eyes and ears on the ground for their respective sides. Also, it is a bit of company and the chance for a proper chat. Neil, aided by Richard were French, while Paul and Nigel, assisted by Conrad were their opponents.

I would (in time honoured fashion) have let the photos tell the story, but I seem to have misfiled some taken by Richard and the ones I do have have deliberately put themselves in a totally random order which I may not have fully rectified.

The battlefield, French to the left. Their opponents have Papal troops on the left, Spanish in the centre and Venetians on the right. 

The Papal contingent holding the Italian left. On the extreme left of the line are Landsneckts in the service of the Papacy, paid by Paypal no doubt.

Facing the Papal troops were several thousand angry Swiss!

Venetian Stadiots move towards the enemy.

The Venetians advanced slowly towards the French centre.

Seen from the other side, the Swiss advanced very un-Swisslike ie slowly.

The town of Villa Limoncellos, put together from a load of Hovels Mediterranean-type buildings. 

The Italian camp.

 

 Three enormous units of Swiss

Venetians

Venetians again...

French crossbows at the bottom of the picture ranging in on the Venetians.

Eventually the Venetians charged, with a pike block and a unit of swordsmen hitting two units of French crossbowmen.

While in the centre a Spanish colonella catches a huge unit of Swiss.

The well supported Spanish slugging it out with the Swiss and holding, for a while at least!

The Swiss are getting closer to the Papal line.

Two further Swiss units and the Papal pike blocks hit each other in a brutal fight.

Over on the other flank the French Landsnechts charged the Venetians.

Meanwhile the Venetian gendarmes charged and overran a pair of French light guns. It was a bit like wiping a fly off your car windscreen.

Neil launched his French super-dooper Gendarmes at the Spanish skulking in the olive groves.

While all this had been going on  the Stradiots had driven off most of the French light cavalry on the flank.

French Gendarmes and Spaniards locked in combat.

The French crossbowmen were eventually broken but as can be seen here were selling themselves dearly.

This is where we get out of sync with the photos, but here's a general shot of the battle in the centre. I do like the town.

The Swiss and Papal troops on the French right.  The Swiss made heavy going of it but eventually broke both units facing them, having already broken a Spanish one closer to the centre.

Ultimately the French centre was crumbling as their crossbows and French pike struggled to hold the Venetians. The French gendarmes were overpowering the Spanish but it was going to be a slow job and the battle would be decided elsewhere. The French were winning decisively on their right against the Papal troops (thanks to the Swiss) and on their left were taking the ascendency against the Venetians despite their flanks being open to the ravages of Stradiots now their own light cavalry had been destroyed. Ignoring the light cavalry and skirmishers the Italians also had more broken and shaken units than the French.

I decided that as the French had yet to capture their objectives fully the outcome was a 'winning draw' to them. A couple of turns might have clinched it (either way actually) but who knows.....

I have to say that it was a hugely enjoyable game and that I am really very pleased the way the collection looks en masse. Thanks for everyone for taking part and for my wife for ensuring the technology didn't let us down. Maybe 30% of these figures were painted for me or bought painted and tarted up, but I completed the rest and based everything up. This project has been almost my sole painting focus for the entire period of lockdown, and amazingly as I said at the start I didn't put all the troops on the table!

The amended Pike and Shotte rules worked really well, as did the various house rules. I'm sure we forgot a few bits of the rules and maybe even slipped into Black Powder on occasion but it was a fun game, with a few ideas taken away to refine the rules. If anyone is in a truly masochistic mood then you might, if its not been deleted,  find the video of the game here.

‘Rebellious Scots to Crush’ from Helion

 

I fear I might be starting to sound like a stuck record player (younger readers can google what a record player I s) but Helion have done it again. “Rebellious Scots to Crush, the military response to the Jacobite ‘45” is the latest in their ‘From Reason to Revolution’ series’. This book is a collection of fascinating and informative essays by a number of well known authors on the Jacobite risings, covering many different aspects of the Government’s response to the uprising. Each of the contributors’ chapters are worthy pieces of research in their own right, so having them all brought together under the same cover is a real bonus. The various chapters contain detailed examinations of the regular regiments of foot and dragoons, how and where they were employed and how well (or badly) they performed during the campaign. A similar approach is taken to the ‘noblemen’s regiments’, the pro-Hanoverian Scots militia raised to fight the Jacobites, and the English volunteer regiments raised in response to the Jacobite invasion of England. In tackling the subject this way this book offers something different to the normal worthy narratives we may have read about the ‘45 campaign. I particularly liked the section on the ‘noblemen’s regiments’ as this was a subject about which I knew nothing. The overarching focus throughout is very much on the men and the regiments they belonged to and offers an insight into why, for example, the conduct of some English regiments was not up to expectations. 

The book is well illustrated, with several colour plates including, as one has come to expect from Helion, some showing representations of the uniforms worn. As well as a range of handy maps you also get a large amount of fascinating data contained within a range of useful charts and tables, for example previous employment of the men, their wounds, ages and so forth. The organisation of the regiments well as a good number of orders of battle for the different stages of the campaign, a list of colonels and an index of regiments round off an excellent publication.

This book is well written and the editor has done a grand job in pulling it all together. In short, for me this is an excellent publication, with a whole raft of new information and insights into the campaign. For anyone interested in the ‘45 Rebellion this is a volume that really should find a place in your book case.

Can you ever have too many Swiss? I don’t think so.....

 

Clearly more of a rhetorical question. I don’t think I do have enough, hence the appearance of another large pike block with supporting skirmishers. The block is 56 strong, including a rear rank of halbardiers, then I have eight crossbows and another eight handgunners. I had enough spare figures for two command bases as well.

Almost all the figures are Foundry, with the odd Perry (the bear), TAG and even a Bicorne figure is in there somewhere.

Not an original idea and one that in practice might have proven to be just as hazardous for the pike block as the enemy, I put a bear and its handler in the front rank. 

I managed to paint and base the unit in about nine days which is pretty good. I tried out the contrast paints again but am not especially enamoured with them. Some of the colours do give a good effect when painted over the right base coat, and the various brown colours are good on horses, as is the Templar Black. Too expensive for me I think and I’ll stick to what I know best as the result is pretty much the same when I’m in the mood for painting.

This unit and the rest of the collection will be getting their first outing on Saturday, which I’m really looking forward to. Right, I have another Swiss unit to finish basing that my mate Barry did for me last week. I’m possibly going to have enough Swiss, but maybe not.....

French Revolutionary Wars Campaign: Battle of Turcoing, Rearguard Action

 We gathered, via the wonders of technology, for the final phase in what had turned out to be a monumental campaign battle around the fortress city of Turcoing. Readers will be aware of the result of the main action (click  here  if you missed it) and of the narrative behind this phase of the battle as outlined  here.

I won’t repeat anything here (well, much) that’s already been written. Suffice to say that a mixed force of Prussians, Austrians and Bavarians was detached from the commands of FML Von Knobelsdorf and FZM von Kaunitz to hold a larger French corps under Generals Pichegru and Jourdan at bay while an attack by the French General Marceau-Desgraviers on their rear was dealt with. 

Numerically the infantry and artillery in both armies were pretty evenly matched, but somehow General Pichegru and Jourdan had collected between them the vast majority of the cavalry available to General Houchard’s Army of the North, which incidentally was marching to join them from Courtrai as fast as their weary legs could carry them, having withdrawn to the right bank of the Lys and removed their pontoon bridges. “First the Austrians, now the Prussians, and only then the English” to quote Houchard. This was a strategically sound plan. The French controlled all the crossing points over the River Lys south of Ghent, this preventing the English from interfering in operations on the right bank. The main Austrian army had been captured when Courtrai fell, so Knobelsdorf was now firmly in Houchard’s sights.

Anyway, I digress. The Coalition rearguard was under the command of the Prussian FML Prinz zu Baden, deployed in a thin line along a low ridge facing roughly North. By some quirk of fate the rearguard had been assigned the entire reserve artillery remaining to the Austrians in the campaign. The attacking French lost some time by deploying fully before attacking, but that didn't seem a critical issue at the start of the battle. The Coalition were given two turns of pre-game bombardment to allow for the fact that the French were deploying within range of their heavier artillery, but this proved to be pretty ineffective. Here are some photos of the game which will hopefully explain how the battle unfolded. Battle commenced at 2pm campaign time.

The French right wing cavalry moved in an arc to try and outflank the Coalition line.

Facing the French was a single regiment of Austrian Grenz Hussars.

The hussars charged the French heavy cavalry but predictably were beaten in the melee and forced to retreat. The French regiment did however take heavy casualties. A second regiment of French heavy cavalry then drove the Grenz from the field leaving the Coalition left flank open.

A close up of the Grenz Hussars specially at the request of one of my readers. Hinchliffe figures.

On the right the Prussian cavalry face the advancing French. The odds were pretty even so I don't know why the Prussians didn't dig their heels in and charge. Of course, what the Prussians didn't know was that several of the French cavalry were already carrying three, four or even five hits from earlier in the campaign.

On the Coalition right the Prussian cavalry brigade failed to move for the first two turns and then decided to pull back behind the infantry to avoid being swamped by the French cavalry. I wouldn't have done that but sadly I wasn't playing. The French 'Polish Legion d'Acronistique lancers' charged the Prussian 8th Hussars and broke them. 

The routing Prussian 8th Hussars, causing their brigade to falter and retreat away from the enemy.

In the centre the French were advancing en masse so the Prussian infantry brigade obliged by advancing to meet them. Meanwhile the French artillery had spent much of the game so far engaged in counter battery fire rather than taking aim at Prussian infantry arrayed before them in three lines! The counter battery fire was effective insofar that the Saxon 12pdr battery was left with only one strength point remaining (7 lost out of 8).

Meanwhile the Coalition artillery was sending ball and canister into the face of the advancing French, causing grievous losses and breaking one battalion. The Prussian artillery as usual caused more damage to itself than the enemy and also went low on ammo at a critical point of the game.

Back to the Coalition right their cavalry had retreated after their 'faltering' test. That left the Bavarians (lovely flags, nice uniforms, silly hat, not very good) facing a company of French horse guns and four regiments of French cavalry on their flank while a brigade of French infantry advanced on their front.  They hastily formed square.

The much battered Saxon artillery with a plethora of targets in the centre.

Another shot of the Bavarians facing a brigade of French infantry.

A long shot of the table, at approx 4pm campaign time.

The French left massing to attack the Bavarians. 

The French cavalry facing the Bavarians planned to launch a charge, aiming to hit the Coalition main battery in the flank. This would entail riding across the front of the Bavarian infantry. Meanwhile their horse artillery started causing casualties on the squares.

The Bavarian 'bloody angle'

The Prussians in the centre waiting for the inevitable French assault.

The French cavalry charged the Bavarians, forcing another battalion into square but they failed to roll up the Coalition artillery, and the 3rd Hussars were broken in the process.

The main French assault as seen from the redoubt.

The French charged, with several battalions in support which ought to have helped. Sadly it didn't and the column was repulsed, as was a second attempt the following turn. The lesson here is that a steady fresh line ought to beat of even a well supported attack in columns with relative ease, which they did. This French brigade had by now lost four battalions in the attempted assault, but had each time passed its 'faltering' test with flying colours.

On the Coalition left the French were unable to make much progress with their infantry, due in part to becoming hesitant rather too often and also the effectiveness of the Austrian artillery facing them. They did however drive the Austrians out of the wood on the left and the hamlet in the centre of the table. At the edge of the photo is a Freikorps battalions (Wurmser), holding the village is the Carnville Legion, in line to the right of the guns is I/IR51 Graf Gabriel Splenyi while in the foreground are Grenz IR No 8.

The Austrian artillery.

Towards 5pm campaign time, after seven turns, the French centre had been shattered, with four battalions destroyed out of seven in one  brigade, which was demoralised after its failure to shift the Prussians. It was only on both flanks that the French had made any headway, not surprising given their unusual superiority in cavalry. The Coalition right was just holding, as was the centre,  but there were French cavalry, lots of it, ready to pounce on the Coalition left flank. However, Pichegru decided, probably wisely, that nothing was to be gained by continuing the attack as the Coalition rearguard had clearly done its job. Added to that the fact that most of the Armee du Nord’s cavalry were attached to Pichegru and Jourdan, they were both mindful that their mounted troops, which had already suffered heavy losses throughout the campaign, could not be squandered in further attacks. 

Pichegru ordered his division to pull back, covered by his cavalry, while Jourdan’s battered infantry did likewise. The latter’s cavalry did however harass the Austrian brigade on the left of the Coalition line as it withdrew, and even managed to cut off and capture two entire battalions of Freikorps, netting almost 1000 prisoners in the process. The remainder of the coalition forces, did not pursue and withdrew to rejoin the main army to their rear, covered by the splendid Prussian infantry that had almost single handedly stopped the French attack in its tracks. The Man of the Match Award went to II/IR 15 Garde for their ass-kicking performance in the last quarter of the engagement.

Losses were heavy for the French, in strength points they lost almost 25% of their total, and the Coalition were not far behind when their prisoners were added to the total. A very sanguine battle but a critical one for the Coalition to win. Had the French broken through, which was on the cards and certainly expected by the Coalition commanders, they would have arrived in the rear of the main Coalition force outside Turcoing whilst they were dispersed across the battlefield engaged in mopping up after their earlier crushing victory over the French. Also, if the French hadn't waited to deploy but launched themselves straight at the enemy they could have prevailed as their superiority in cavalry would have pinned the Coalition down while the infantry prepared to assault from the march. I reckon it would have been a risk worth taking but then I obviously see both sides of the campaign.

The Coalition and French armies will no doubt need time to recover from the battle on 18 September. I know I do!

Thanks to everyone for taking part, and to my wife Katherine for sorting out techie issues at the start. I do still like Gen d'Armee but am always open to trying new sets. Not for the duration of this campaign though as most players are comfortable with them and getting used to the nuances they contain.