Franco-Dutch and Nine Years Wars

What is the measure of a good set of wargames rules? Ask 100 'gamers and you'll likely get 100 different answers, although I suspect 'fun' might feature highly on their lists. For me, it's a set of rules that gives largely historical results from historical scenarios, is adaptable to my interests, is playable in an evening without cognitive overload (remember those '80's rules sets with 93 pages of tables?).

In my wargaming universe. that's Volley and Bayonet. A regular conversation to be heard amongst my 'gaming friends is the incredible ease with which VnB adapts to a wide range of sub-periods with the smallest of rules tweaks. For example, the transition from linear to massed bases, and the change away from early firelock drill, completely changes the game dynamic, and effectively models the transitions in warfare, without overloading the player with a whole new set of rules. In doing so the rules allow players to fight battles anywhere from 1700-1900 with ease (and we have).

So it is no surprise that Jon Harding and Adrian Powell should follow up their first VnB scenario book with this their latest offering covering the Franco-Dutch and Nine Years Wars from 1672-1697.

The book follows the pattern set with their first volume, offering a brief historical overview of the period, including comment on the technological transitions that are such a mark of warfare in this period when infantry, for example, transition from pike to bayonet. They offer some suggestions for scenario and period  specific modifications (for example, allowing an army commander to be replaced if killed in action), and a comprehensive guide to their layout and nomenclature in each scenario.

The body of the book offers 18 well researched scenarios across the period, each with a copyable roster sheet for each army, a beautiful scenario map, and any specific instructions for each player that ought to be kept secret from their opponent. The authors do acknowledge that often sources are vague, contradictory, and even misleading, and that they have therefore in some cases made their 'best guesses' as to how things unfolded. In one case in particular, (Killiecrankie 1689) they go so far as to offer maps for an 'alternative narrative' based up their own interpretations of the available sources. What matters most here is that they do not set themselves up as 'the experts', but rather as contributors to a possible debate in which they are open and honest about where they have attempted to make evidence based deductions. I value this honesty.

The scenarios begin with the battle of Sinsheim in 1674 and conclude with Torrorella in 1694, and range from small affairs that players could fight in an hour and a half through to others that would more likely take four players the best part of a day to fight to a conclusion.

As the saying goes, fact is often stranger than fiction. So it is that one of the many other attractions of these scenarios is their adaptability to other periods, if you don't happen to have suitable miniature armies, simply because the specifics of the battle are so bizarre that it would take quite the creative brain to conceive of such tactical challenges. One of the other beauties of these books is that the detail on offer is such that, if on the off chance Volley and Bayonet is not your thing, then the scenarios could most probably be adapted to other rules sets.

One thing I can say for certain is that every scenario has been playtested, and almost all of them at least twice. I know because I was privileged to participate in many of those games. This means that as one-sided as many of them seem, victory conditions have been constructed so that both players 'have a chance'. In my experience with other periods and rules systems, neither of these two things is necessarily the case.

The book is well illustrated with 'creative commons' images of paintings and drawings from the period, as well as photographs of their own beautifully painted miniatures.

For Volley and Bayonet players, the book is a 'must', and for players of Horse and Musket games more generally it is a very valuable reference. The book can be purchased from Lulu here. I highly recommend it.

Invasion!!!!

With the three 20mm British paratroop battalions based it seemed appropriate to try a 1944 Spearhead game using at least some of these troops. I devised a scenario that saw two para battalions holding a bridge and a couple of town sectors, and a couple of battalions landing on a nearby beach and attempting to advance to the bridge and the waiting paratroopers. Of course there needed to be a German unit defending the beach, and some other German troops responding from off table.

The German forces were designed to reflect the disrupted nature of the defence. The beach defenders were under strength, there was an infantry battalion responding to the invasion, and a tank company and an armoured infantry company also available to try and repel the invaders. These troops also included a mobile flak element. I deliberately did not provide a German regimental command stand, so the defenders were not able to change orders once the game commenced. I wanted to try and represent some disruption in the German command and control resulting from the efforts of allied forces and partisans to disrupt these prior to the invasion. 

The allied forces attacking up the beach included a British infantry battalion, and a commando battalion. The infantry battalion had one squadron of Churchill tanks (3 x troops/stands) 'in support', allocated from an independent tank brigade. Both the beach landing forces, and the paras, had a Forward Air Controller attached, but the scenario allowed only two typhoon airstrikes during the game (more than enough in terms of game play balance). The beach landing forces were also accompanied by a Naval Gunfire Officer/FAO able to call in heavy support from RN cruisers offshore.

I have posted some thoughts at the end of this post on the forces and the scenario.

The table with the beach on the foreground, and the river, bridge, and two town sectors at the top of the photo.

The allied beach landing plan, an advance to relieve the paratroop battalions

The German attack plan. One manoeuvre unit had to come onto the table on the far side of the river (player's choice). There are several aborted arrows on the map as Andy rethought his plan prior to commencement of play.

On the beach

The infantry battalion lands right in the face of a heavily defended beach front village

The commando battalion crests the dunes

German defenders behind the beach on the British left, opposing the commandos

Paras dispersed in defence

An MG42 section opens fire on the commandos and causes casualties

Fierce action erupts on the right of the British landing

The German infantry battalion arrives to try and retake the town and bridge from the paras

Andy cross attached between the tank company and the armoured infantry company. The infantry heavy unit attacked on the far side of the river, and the tank platoon is immediately suppressed by a 6pdr battery

That airborne 6pdr battery

The Beach Master.. Brittania Miniatures 'homage' to Sir Kenneth More and his wonderful character playing actual beach master Colin Maud, complete with bulldog, from 'The Longest Day'

The British infantry take heavy casualties

It's all on for the commandos too

That PzIV company is still suppressed

And then the tank heavy Pz company enters the table

Two commando platoons and their MMG have worked their way around to the woods on the right to bring flank fire down on the defenders blocking the commando battalion

The infantry battalion move to bypass the defenders of the beach front village and push on towards the river and the paratroops

And that Pz IV platoon is STILL suppressed. The armoured infantry are taking casualties as they try to put pressure on the paratroops

The paratroop defenders with one of their 6pdr AT batteries

La Maire of the town cycles out to greet the invaders.. another of those characterful Brittania 1990s releases

The Pz forces arrive to the front of the commando battalion

The British infantry push on

Yup.. STILL suppressed

Para defenders await the inevitable assault of the German infantry

On its second attempt the commando battalion FAC successfully calls in a Typhoon flight to tackle the German armour to their front. The tank platoons survive but the armoured infantry platoon is destroyed

Still the action continues across the river.. STILL that PzIV platoon is suppressed

The second (and last) Typhoon strike is successfully called in and destroys one of the PzIV platoons, and the AA section. The remaining PzIV section has advanced to within AT range of the two commando platoons in the woods. 

They attack it with the AT weapons

And eliminate the last PzIV platoon (it required a die roll of '6' so was exceptionally lucky)

However the German infantry assault on the first town sector is completely successful as they sweep the paratroops from within in a close assault on the town sector. Just as the die rolling had gone the way of the invaders against the German armour, so the die rolls went in the German attackers' favour in the close assaults on the town sector, quite spectacularly.

STILL suppressed.. it remained so the entire game, Andy failing every attempt to lift the suppression (as the armour was classified as 'Regular' it required a die roll of 4-6)

At this stage we ran out of time... there was a lot of fighting to happen around the bridge, but with the German armoured threat eliminated the forces advancing from the beach would reach the town. However both the commandos and the infantry had taken casualties getting off the beach, so their resilience in the face of further action was questionable.

The British were completely unsuccessful in calling in naval gunfire support (they failed every die roll). In addition the Germans had a battalion of 105mm guns on call, but they also never fired a shot in anger. Both of these situations are rare in these late war games.

The aim of the scenario was NOT to try and refight D-Day, or any other invasion,. It was to try and create a fun game that might reflect some of the challenges that both sides might have faced during a beach landing. Some thoughts:

1. The paratroop force was too large. The scenario might have had more 'tension' if there had only been one paratroop battalion there. This might have better created the 'beleaguered airborne' drama we so often imagine.
2. Arguably the scenario might also have been better with a third battalion landing across the beaches.
3. The German defenders were also possibly a little too light. Another battalion defending from the seaborne invasion would have allowed the Germans to defend in more depth, making for more action leading towards the bridge.
4. The lack of a German regimental command stand worked well in limiting the German flexibility. caused by such things as aerial interdiction, partisan attacks, and the espionage activity employed in convincing the defenders that the attack was happening elsewhere.
5. I've talked before about the disadvantage of using 20mm figures with an unaltered ground scale, resulting in vehicles taking up too much 'table real estate' to accurately reflect troop densities. That said, we probably optimised the number of vehicles you'd want on a table this size (6x4). We felt you wouldn't really want any more.

British paratroops in 20mm

My interest in gaming world war 2 in 20mm (with my fave Spearhead rules by Arty Conliffe, of course) has been rekindled after I gave Murray a game to show the difference between gaming in 6mm vs 20mm. He enjoyed the game, and bein g of th4e same age as me we share a 'heritage', a tradition if you like, of gaming in 20mm. Now, don't get me wrong, in my opinion 6mm is still the best scale in which to game using the WW2 Spearhead rules, and will continue to be my preferred 'go to' rules set. It's just that a bit of me still hankers for that 20mm aesthetic that takes me back to my teens when I first began in this hobby (although I would never willing return to the sorts of rules we used at that time.. we remain scarred for life by that experience).

In the '90's I painted a large number of 20mm British Paras and Commandos for use with the WRG 2nd Edition WW2 rules, and then for the Rapid Fire rules. The latter were widely used in the group of which I was a part at the time, until being overtaken by other period interests (especially Ancients with the DBM rules etc).

I did rebase enough paras for a SH battalion, or a Crossfire company, 12 ish years ago, but they have been largely unused, and there were still many more figures, all painted with the Denison smock, sitting in a box untouched.

Righto.. I have now based almost all of them, giving a para regiment. I also had quite a few of the support elements for the regiment. So, here is the lot!! There are some elements missing, the m/c SMG element for example. I already have a typical para scenario in mind for a game next week. Watch this space.

The assembled partroop force

These were Britannia miniatures released for the Arnhem anniversary, as I recall. I based them complete with ruined brick wall, because of course every paratrooper goes in to battle with his own bespoke ruined brick wall (ahem)

Recon squadron in jeeps

Regimental command stand

Two Tetrarch tanks, scratch built by an old school mate 50+ years ago, and gifted to me when he abandoned the hobby. Phil was a gifted modeller.

Two batteries of air dropped 75mm pack howitzers, with jeep tows. The jeeps were gifted by friend Gerard (who sadly passed away several years ago, one of the world's wonderful humans who we still we miss)

Two batteries of the airborne 6pdr AT guns

While these won't get a massive amount of use compared with my 6mm collections, expect to see them fighting it out in the future. I look forward to it.