French Revolutionary Wargames 1789-1802: November 2013

Wargame Rules, Ratios, etc

RAISING MINIATURE ARMIES FOR THE LATE 18TH CENTURY

I am very keen to keep my wargame rules as simple as possible, yet capture the character of the 1790s. Morale dominates the games as the opposing sides are very different. Most of the French troops are 'levee' battalions, which I have chosen to base in column as their ability to change formation on a battlefield must have been limited, nor do I believe their volley fire had any great value. Of better quality, able to change formation, will be white-coated regular and blue-coated volunteer battalions, aided by a fair number of skirmishers. The British, Austrian, Dutch and German armies are often outnumbered, but they maintain the discipline and order of typical 18th century armed forces. Interestingly, French revolutionary cavalry have little in common with their later Napoleonic counterparts, the former are few in number, often poorly mounted, and no match for those in the service of the Allies. All figures are 28mm in scale, using a 1=25 ratio.

Saturday, 16 November 2013

Duke of York's Army and a River Crossing Wargame

Just fought another action at the Honiton club. In this battle a British-Dutch-Emigre force, under Dan's command, took up positions using a river crossing for additional defences. Here they awaited the French horde under Olley's generalship. Dan wisely decided to hold his position, while Olley rushed headlong aware each move could see the morale of his levee troops break with every casualty. Unfortunately for the Allies, their artillery was largely battalion guns and this allowed the French to reach the riverbank. Only at this point did grapeshot and musketry cause some levee formations to break, but not sufficiently to stem the French assault. Regretably the three hour game could have used another 30 minutes to conclude the action. I would have liked to see how long the Dutch light infantry in the watermill continued to melee with the French. But all enjoyed the occasion.

Here is a few photos of the game. MGB