A Couple of English Civil War Titles

 

A bonus, or not, this time as I’m reviewing two books covering different aspects of the English Civil War. I put these on Amazon a while ago but forgot to post them here as well. 

I might have used this metaphor previously but it’s worth repeating; if one considers all the British Civil Wars as an elephant, then Helion’s approach to bettering our (i.e. my) understanding is to enable us to eat said elephant in small bites. It works for me.

The Town Well Fortified. The Fortresses of the Civil Wars in Britain, 1639-1660 by David Flintham is No. 110 in Helion’s ‘Century of the Soldier 1618-1721’ series. It is an examination of the tactical and strategic importance of fortifications and their impact on war efforts of all sides, together with their use and development during the conflict.

The author explores a wide range of topics, including discussion on the importance of geography on fortifications, the art and artists of fortifications, construction and the influences on design, the importance of bastions and ditches and more. Suffice to say that each chapter provides a wealth of information, coming together to provide a well-researched and definitive account of the 1,000+ fortified places in the Three Kingdoms, be they fortified manor houses, reinforced town and city walls or newly-constructed fortresses, of which over half were to come under siege during the wars; a significant number when compared to the number of engagements and pitched battles during the same period.

For me one of the most interesting parts of this book are the two appendices, as they provide summaries of fortified sites, by county, throughout the UK, plus a directory of bastions, ditches and forts taken from the Civil War Fortifications Register.


This book is well written and clearly a labour of love for the author. It is nicely illustrated with a range of contemporary drawings and modern-day photographs of various surviving fortifications.

A very useful book for those with an intimate or passing interest in the British Civil Wars and fortified places in particular.

ISBN 978-804513-48-4. Softback 243 pages


Paul Sutton’s ‘The City Horse, London militia cavalry during the English Civil War 1642-1660’ is an interesting and quite narrow topic for a book, following the various City Horse units throughout the Civil War from their first combat experience at Winchester in 1642 to Worcester in 1651 and ultimately to their involvement in the return of Charles II to the city. 

The bite-sized chunks of English Civil War military history such as this, published by Helion as part of their Century of the Soldier 1618-1721 series (no. 103), are for me the ideal way to learn about the topic (obviously) in much more detail, but also the wars in general; far better in my humble opinion than trawling through the many traditional weighty volumes I remember putting me off the subject 50-odd years ago.

The author begins with a summary of the road to war and the political situation found in London at the time, the efforts to raise and equip the City Horse, with chapters on a selection of the individual regiments and their commanders. There are then chapters covering more politics, the Second and Third Civil Wars, and the Interregnum before the return of Charles II. We also have chapters explaining how the City Horse were equipped and financed, and their unique status within the armies of Parliament.

The book is well written and I found myself effortlessly reading much of it one sitting. It is illustrated by a number really well executed original pen and ink drawings of the troops, several handy maps and a number of original colour plates depicting the various ‘cornets’ born by a variety of the London militia cavalry troops and regiments that were raised during the war.

This is another excellent addition to Helion’s growing catalogue of books covering the many different aspects and theatres of war of the Civil Wars and one I can wholeheartedly recommend if, as I mentioned at the start of this review, you prefer your history in focussed and easily digestible mouthfuls rather than an epic and perhaps rather dry smorgasbord-type of book.

Well worth the read whether you be a serious historian or a layman with a passing interest and perhaps wishing to learn more.

ISBN 978-1-804511-99-2 Softback, 334 pages.

St Petersburg Grenadiers Completed

Finally, the third battalion of this regiment is finished. I probably don’t need all three battalions as while they may have fielded three in 1805 I doubt they’d be able to put them all in the field in 1806-1808. They look ok en masse and if not scrutinised too closely. Each is 32 miniatures strong (31 actually as each battalion has amounted commander).

Anyway, this means that all (?) I have to finish, ie start, now are a couple (4)  of guards battalions in the shape of the Semonevski Regiment and the Guard Jäger Btn, plus another line jäger battalion and a few Cossacks.

The remaining unpainted figures will be put back into ‘reserve’ until such time as my Russian mojo reappears and I require or need any more, unlikely as that may seem. The last of the cavalry are well on their way to being finished, so I am starting to move on to a few more Swedes, some more French and some Spanish artillery and cavalry to add to Romana’s division in Denmark in 1807.

Catching up with Book Reviews

I like to think I am pretty conscientious when I complete these book reviews. Obviously what I might like is not guaranteed to be liked by everyone but I does me objective best.

I doubt anyone reading this review will be unaware of the name Professor Christopher Duffy nor will they be ignorant of his immense impact on our understanding of the conduct of warfare during the latter days of the Old Regime in Europe. The back catalogue of his books, over 20 of them, explores a vast range of subjects covering among others the Seven Years War, siege warfare and more. Many are viewed as the definitive works on their subject matter such as those dealing with the armies of Frederick the Great and Austria during the Seven Years War.

American historian, academic and author Dr Alexander Burns has accomplished a remarkable and frankly quite wonderful feat putting this book together, by combining 16 essays by well-known authors from around the world, focussing largely but not exclusively on eighteenth-century warfare.

This book, part of Helion’s ‘from Reason to Revolution 1721-1815’ series, celebrates the research and writing of Professor Duffy, and is an excellent means of honouring his legacy. The book contains four sections; the first covers ‘background and perspectives’ looking at the eighteenth century from a global point of view and Duffy’s impressive historiographical legacy. Part two examines commanders and their armies, with a wide range of subjects, including a study of the army of Wurttemberg, the crisis facing French cavalry in the Seven Years War to the development of irregular warfare across the eighteenth century. Part three is entitled ‘Voices from the Past’ and includes an analysis of previously unavailable contemporary accounts and letters, while the final part includes chapters on archaeological research among others, this being my favourite.


Every one of the 16 chapters make excellent reading in their own right, being well written, full of detail and, if warfare in eighteenth century is your ‘thing’, invaluable additions to honour Professor Duffy’s legacy.

ISBN 978-1-915070-38-8 Hardback 339 pages

Vapnartak 2024 - requires improvement.

 

The first six pictures are of Mentana by Ken Reilly the Yarkshire Gamer. It looked great even if he was stuck off in a corner.

This and the following pictures are the only others I took. Medieval.

N Africa WW2

Ships. Nicely done 

It was the York show on Sunday. Conrad drove, with me as navigator and Matt as rear gunner.

I didn’t have very high expectations about the show and low as they were they were barely met. There was only ONE decent demonstration game by Ken Reilly, who gave us an excellent looking game depicting the Battle of Mentana between Papal and Garibaldini forces. The French were involved somewhere as well. Lovely figures al wit for a very niche subject. The rest of the games, with the exception of the ones pictured above, were either sci-fi or fantasy or just not very appealing. It was a wargames show ffs so lacking actual wargames in any numbers or of decent quality ought to have been a priority or so I would have thought? The trade was good and the place did appear very busy however.

The main reason for going was to meet up with various mates with whom I had ‘stuff’ to discuss, in this respect the show scored very well as I seemed to be almost tripping over people I knew. 

I bought a few more trees from Last Valley and some bits n bobs from other traders and that was it. Will I go next year? Probably.

The battle of Golymin, 26 December 1806.

As it is the York show on Sunday and there’s Six Nations rugby on today I hosted a smallish game yesterday. Richard and Nigel gamely took the Russians and John and Paul the French in what proved to be a challenging game, set in Poland in 1806. An account of the real battle can be found Here, although I took as my inspiration for the game the venerable Age of Eagles scenario. The Russians were the rearguard for the main Russian army, who had to hold on until nightfall. The numerically superior French, led by Murat, were tasked with destroying the Russians. The French outnumbered the Russians by something approaching 2:1, but a large proportion of the army was cavalry, which in the close terrain would be difficult to manoeuvre effectively and bring numbers to bear.  The French were also without artillery as it was sunk in the mud that passed for roads in this part of Poland in winter. The Russians did have artillery, not in abundance but more than enough. We used Valour and Fortitude again. Paul and John contributed to the French army with some figures of their own as my French are still a work in progress, with some French Revolutionary Wars units standing in for the moment. Game length was to be eight turns or 3:00pm or thereabouts, whichever came latest. Time was not on the side of the French so they’d have to push hard from turn 1 to crush the Russians as quickly as possible. 

The Russians were deployed within the green box, with reinforcements arriving at point C, which was also the road they needed to keep open. Lasalle and the light cavalry division was deployed as shown, with reinforcements arriving  at points A and B. The marshy area was unsuitable for cavalry but the woods, while plentiful, were classed as open, thus permitting cavalry and infantry to enter at a penalty.

The game about to commence. 

The Russians held the central box shown on the map, with jäger dispersed in three woods on the edges of their deployment area. With only French light cavalry on the table on turn 1 Richard pushed his cavalry division forward.

John commanded Lasalle and Klein’s cavalry as they advance towards the Russian positions, jägers in the woods taking a few pot shots and shaking one French regiment.. 

John’s cavalry decided to charge the jäger in the woods. Open woods or not the terrain clearly favoured the Russians who beat off two attacks before being overrun. 

Over at point B Paul brought Aguerau’s corps into action. Again, Russian jäger grimly held on, delaying the French advance for a vital turn.

Russian jäger defeated the first French attempt to evict them from the woods.

Meanwhile, the woods were bypassed as Augerau’s corps advanced towards the village.

The French form up to assault the Russians in and around the village.

The cat always lies down to sleep on the umpire’s rules and notes!

John’s cavalry supported by several infantry battalions begin the make profession the right.

One of my new French units. 24 Chasseurs a cheval.

The Garde de Paris moving up on the right.

More French surging forward, the Tirailleurs Corses included.

Paul launched a furious attack on the village. Richard’s men held on inside the village but the supporting units were driven off.

The Russians had husbanded their cavalry and were waiting for an opportunity to let them loose on the French assault. French cavalry and infantry were by now working their way round the Russian left flank, guarded only by a jäger battalion and a brigade of dragoons.

The French eject the defenders of the village.

Richard ordered a counterattack against the village, retaking it at the point of the bayonet!

Seen from the French rear, their assault on the Russians. 

It was hotting up around the village again.

John’s cavalry on the right are now trickling round the right flank, driving the Russian jäger back through the swampy area.

The Russian counterattack was successful and they recaptured the village.

By now we had completed eight turns and it was 3:30 so night was falling and the battle came to an end. The Russians had suffered heavy losses, with one brigade annihilated holding the village. They had also collected five failed Fortitude test counters. Had they not been carrying these negative points they would have actually achieved a narrow victory as they still held both villages and their line of retreat off the table at point C. As a result a slim victory was awarded to the French, but the Russians would have been able to slip away so they didn’t disgrace themselves.

The French found that having so much cavalry was no great advantage due to the terrain, which was an issue in the real battle. Not having any French artillery was probably an advantage as they were forced to attack without any time wasting while they softened up the enemy.

There were a few issues with interpretation of the rules, mainly around the ability of open order infantry in the woods to hold on and defeat their French cavalry and infantry attackers. Ok, perhaps where the cavalry were concerned but against an assault column? There seems to be no facility for light troops to evade, unless they are just supposed to stand and die if they are caught.  Oh well, we shall make a house rule perhaps. To be honest I’m not sure that these rules are what I am after. They’re quick and give a good game but I’m not totally excited with them. Roll on General d’Armee 2. Hopefully guys enjoyed the game. I did, especially the way the scenario played out.

York tomorrow for Vapnatark. Looking forward to it.

Battle of Lutzen 1813 - Fighting to the Last Prussian and A Grand Day Out!

Last Saturday I was at the Durham Wargames Group for a refight of the battle of Lutzen, organised with meticulous precision by Mr John H.  Paul, Dom, Mike and I were the Allies. Shaun, John the Red and Nick were the French.   An account of the real battle can be found Here.  We were using John's extensive and rather beautiful 15mm collection with his own rules.

This was going to be a pretty enormous game with perhaps ('cos I can't remember) over a dozen corps from both sides involved. We were able to get started just after 10:00. Reinforcements for both sides would be arriving at various (often inconvenient) points throughout the game. I won't attempt to give a blow by blow account of the game as I was too engrossed to take many photographs; hopefully they will give an idea as to how things went.

Me, Nick (a Frenchman), Dom and Paul study the table.

Marshal Marmont (Shaun) pinned in the corner of the table by loads of Russian cavalry.

The Allies preparing to attack.

The Imperial Guard arrives (theirs, not ours)

One of the Allied cores.

A major Allied assault is developing.

Dom's Prussians were tasked with assaulting the villages while also covering our flank in case any French were to arrive. The Prussians assaulted the villages several times but were unable to take them. They did force one garrison to depart when the houses caught fire but in the process the Prussian Guard were lost.

French Imperial Guard getting closer!

My Russians on the hill about to advance.

The Russian grenadier corps about to assault the French.

A massive column of Russian grenadiers about to get stuck in......we hoped.

Our right flank under pressure from French reinforcements.

The Russian centre.

Paul launched his grenadiers at the enemy but they were knocked back at first. They did make a big hole in the enemy line but were forced into square due to the presence of the French Guard cavalry.

The French on our left were unable to advance as we had them pinned by massed artillery and cavalry.

Russian cuirassiers managed to defeat the enemy cavalry facing them but were unable to make any further headway.

Prussian cavalry vs the Chasseurs a Cheval of the Guard.

The Prussians were victorious and the Chasseurs fled!

Essentially, the Allied plan was to send a covering force off to our right, use the Prussians to assault the villages in the enemy centre, reinforced by the main Russian body and lots of artillery. We would use Mike's Russian cavalry to cover our left and prevent Marmont from joining the battle.

Suffice to say, we fought to the last Prussian (including Blucher who fell in the last turn leading an heroic charge), and failed to achieve any significant successes anywhere. Our left was solid and immovable. Our centre was edging forward after an earlier retreat. Our 'big push' in the centre came to nothing apart from destroying a few French divisions, and a significant number of our own, and the Prussians took a hammering after three failed assaults on the villages. Finally, our right was beginning to crumble due to the arrival of more French directly to their front.

This was a clear French victory, but I reckon we did better as the Allies than they did in the real battle. The game was an excellent and spectacular event, and was hugely enjoyable. We played until past 4:00pm so it was also quite a gruelling day but well worth it. Thanks must go to John for organising it all and to the French for not gloating too much in their moment of victory.