All at Sea - French Frigates and a Brig, 3D Prints from Turner Miniatures and Only Games.

Whilst all the planning and preparations for Camperdown have been going on, work has continued in JJ's shipyard with two French frigates and a brig from Turner Miniatures and Only Games being rigged and fitted out in readiness for some of my single-ship/small squadron encounters.

From left to right, the 16-gun Vigilant Class brig, and the two frigates, 32-gun Magicienne and Unité Class (frigate/corvette).

The models in question are the 32-gun Magicienne and Unité Class (corvette) French frigate together with a 16-gun Vigilant Class Brig, the two frigates available in their British fit out as repurposed captured models, but here depicted in their French fit out specifically to work as  smaller French frigate options typical of the earlier encounters in the French Revolutionary War before the larger 38/40 gunners began to dominate.

Magicienne 32/36-gun Fifth-Rate.

The Magicienne class was a class of twelve fifth rate 32-gun frigates of the French Navy, each with a main battery of 26×12-pounder long guns, and with 6×6-pounder guns on the quarterdeck and forecastle, and were designed by Joseph-Marie-Blaise Coulomb.

1:48 Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration and name in a cartouche, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Magicienne (1781), a captured French Frigate, as taken off prior to fitting as a 32-gun Fifth Rate Frigate at Chatham Dockyard - RMG

Magicienne, the lead ship of her class was captured in 1781 and served with the Royal Navy until her crew burned her in 1810 to prevent her capture after she grounded at Isle de France (now Mauritius). During her service with the Royal Navy she captured several privateers and participated in the Battle of San Domingo.

Her general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 578 73/94 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 143 feet, 9 inches

Beam 39 feet, 3 inches

Draught 12 feet, 5 inches

The Battle of Grand Port, 23rd August 1810, and the scuttling of HMS Magicienne - Pierre-Julien Gilbert.

Her armament consisted of:

Upper Gundeck: 26 x 12-pounder long guns.

Quarterdeck and Forecastle, (QD) 4 x 6-pounder long guns and (Fc) 2 x 6-pounder long guns.

A classic frigate action that featured a Magicienne Class frigate was that fought on the 20th October 1793 near Cherbourg in the English Channel, between the British 36-gun Flora class frigate Crescent commanded by Captain James Saumarez with several men aboard from my home town of Exmouth and La Réunion of 36-guns.

La Réunion in action with HMS Crescent, 20th October 1793 - Derek Gardner.

La Réunion was built at Toulon between February 1785 and January 1787, and launched on the 23rd February 1786.

France declared war on Britain on the 1st of February 1793 and began to focus heavily on the disruption of British commerce through the deployment of frigates on raiding operations against British commercial shipping in the English Channel.

La Réunion versus HMS Crescent, 20th October 1793.

Two of the most successful raiders were the frigates Réunion and Sémillante, both then based in Cherbourg on the Cotentin Peninsula, with these frigates making short cruises, leaving Cherbourg in the early evening and returning in the morning with any prizes they had encountered during the night.

The British response to the French raids was to attempt a blockade of the French coast, and to that end, despatched a number of vessels including the 36-gun frigate HMS Crescent, under Captain James Saumarez. 

On the morning of 20th October, Réunion, under the command of Captain François Dénian, and a 14-gun cutter, the Espérance, were returning from a cruise when they were spotted by Crescent. A second British frigate, the 28-gun HMS Circe, was becalmed some nine nautical miles away and Espérance fled towards Cherbourg, leaving Réunion to engage Crescent alone. Although Réunion was bigger, 951 long tons compared to 888 long tons, and carried a larger crew, Crescent had a slight advantage in weight of shot, 315 pounds to 310 pounds and was marginally faster.

William James recounts the action;

'Just as the day dawned the Crescent, standing on the larboard tack, with the wind off shore, descried a ship and a large cutter coming in from the seaward: she immediately edged away for the two strangers, and, in a little while, ranged up on the larboard and weather side of the ship, which was the French 36-gun frigate Réunion, Captain François A. Dénian.

A close and spirited action now ensued, in the early part of which the Crescent lost her foretopsail yard, and soon afterwards her fore topmast; but, putting her helm hard a-starboard, she came suddenly round on the opposite tack, and brought her larboard guns to bear. The Réunion, by this time, had lost her fore yard and mizen topmast, and became exposed, in consequence, to several raking fires from the Crescent. 

Capture of French frigate La Reunion by Royal Navy Flora-class frigate HMS Crescent off the Normandy Cotentin Peninsula (Cherbourg Peninsula), in 1793, painted by Charles Edward Dixon.

After a brave resistance of two hours and ten minutes, by which time she was utterly defenceless, the Réunion struck her colours; a measure the more imperative, as the British 28-gun frigate Circe, Captain Joseph Sydney Yorke, which, during the greater part of the action, had laid becalmed about three leagues off, striving her utmost to get up, was now approaching. The cutter, which was believed to be the Espérance, mounting 12 or 14 guns, had made off as soon as the firing commenced, and escaped into Cherbourg.

The capture of the French frigate Reunion by HMS Crescent, Captain J. Sumarez, 20 October 1793 - Robert Dodd.

Both ships were a good deal damaged in their sails and rigging; and the Réunion, besides losing her fore yard, mizen topmast, and main topgallantmast, had several shots in her lower masts, and a still greater number in her hull. Almost the only shot that entered the Crescent's hull struck the apron, and set fire to the priming, of the forecastle 9-pounder on the opposite, or unengaged side; which, going off, discharged its contents in the direction of some gun-boats coming out of Cherbourg.

The Crescent's maindeck armament was that of her class, and her quarterdeck and forecastle guns were not, as we formerly stated, 14, but eight, carronades, 18-pounders, and two long 9-pounders, total 36 guns. Out of her 257 men and boys in crew, the Crescent had not a man hurt by the enemy's shot; but, in the very, first broadside, one of her seamen had his leg broken by the recoil of the gun he was fighting.

The Réunion, in her long guns, was armed the same as the Embuscade,* except in having eight instead of ten 6-pounders: she also had six brass 36-pounder carronades; making the total of her guns 40. The complement of the Réunion, according to the British official account, amounted to 320 men; but the number deposed to by the French officers, to entitle the captors to head-money, was 300. * Of these the French frigate, according to the letter of Captain Saumarez, lost 120 in killed and wounded; but, by another account, the loss on board the Réunion consisted of 33 officers, seamen, and marines killed, and 48 severely wounded.

Neither the Réunion's six heavy carronades, nor the Crescent's eight light ones, were very efficient pieces: hence the difference in the maindeck guns of the two frigates gave a decided advantage to the Crescent. Under all the circumstances, therefore, it must be owned that, if the officers and men of the Réunion lacked skill, they were by no means deficient in courage. Many persons on the French shore witnessed the combat; and the Réunion's concert in Cherbourg, believed to have been the Sémillante, made an attempt to go out to her assistance; but a contrary tide and the failure of wind, aided perhaps by the knowledge that a second enemy's frigate was in the offing, detained her in port.

As a reward for his services on this occasion, Captain Saumarez, soon after his arrival at Portsmouth, received the honour of knighthood; and, as a further proof how highly, the Crescent's performance was rated, Sir James was presented by the city of London with a handsome piece of plate. In addition to the reward bestowed upon Captain Saumarez, the Crescent's first lieutenant, George Parker, as he justly merited, was promoted to the rank of commander. The second and third lieutenants present in the action were Charles Otter and Peter Rye. The Réunion was purchased by the British government, and added to the navy, under the same name as a cruising 12-pounder 36-gun frigate.'

Unité 32-gun Fifth/Sixth-Rate.

Unité was the name ship for a class of corvette designed by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, and although the French initially rated Unité as a corvette, the ships of her class bridged a gap between smaller warships and frigates, and at various times were rated as frigates.

Pierre-Alexandre Forfait - musée du Louvre département des Arts graphiques.

Unité was built and later launched on the 16th January 1794 in Le Harvre and on the 20th March 1794, lieutenant de vaisseau Jean le Drézénec, who was 41 years old and had entered the naval service soon after the revolution from a career in the merchant service, arrived to take command of her. 

Her general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 578 73/94 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 126 feet

Beam 31 feet, 8 inches

Draught 10 feet 

Unité - 1:48. Plan showing the body plan with sternboard decoration and name in a cartouche on stern counter, sheer lines with inboard detail and figurehead, and longitudinal half-breadth for Unite (1796), a captured French Frigate, as taken off at Plymouth Dockyard prior to fitting as a 32-gun, Fifth Rate Frigate - (RMG)

Her armament consisted of:

Upper Gundeck: 24 x 8-pounder long guns.

Quarterdeck and Forecastle, 8 x 4-pounder long guns.

He supervised the fitting out of the ship, and found the long guns were too large to be easily reloaded, and the lower sails were also too large, notifying the authorities, who urged him to finish fitting out the ship because a major naval operation was imminent. 

The Glorious First of June - Derek Gardner
Unité was part of the French fleet that sortied into the Atlantic in May-June 1794.

Soon afterwards, Unité took part in the battle of the Glorious First of June by escorting the dismasted Révolutionnaire as she was towed by the Audacieux.

In June 1794 Unité completed repairs in Saint-Malo and Brest to damage she had sustained in the battle, and in the following months she escorted merchant vessels along the coasts of France. 

On the 28th September, with the corvette Bergere and under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau Gouley, the two ships left Brest to sail northwest in between Ireland and the islands of the Hebrides and St Kilda to intercept enemy merchant ships. On the 17th October, the ships captured a 200-ton merchant ship Dianne, however the next day the weather turned foul and the two ships were separated. Unwilling or unable to continue the mission alone, Unité searched for Bergere fruitlessly for sixteen days before finally returning to Brest on the 1st of November.

Unité was ordered to join the Mediterranean fleet at Toulon, and arrived there in March 1795, spending the remainder of the year either blockaded in port or serving as a courier. In April 1796, she was ordered on one such courier mission to North Africa to deliver personnel and messages to the port of Bône. At the time, Le Drézénec, who had been recently promoted to capitaine de frégate, was suffering from smallpox and was incapacitated, consequently, her first lieutenant, Lieutenant Le Breton, commanded Unité.

The engagement between H.M.S. Phoenix and the French Frigate Didon, 10 August 1805, by Thomas Luny - Ashmolean Museum.

Phoenix was a 36-gun Perseverance class frigate and a sister ship to the Inconstant that captured Unité.

Captain Thomas Fremantle in command of the frigate HMS Inconstant had heard there was a French frigate in Bône, and sailed to intercept her. When Unité arrived in the afternoon of 20th April 1796, the watch aboard Unité identified Inconstant as a neutral vessel and Le Breton did not clear the ship for action, which meant that about an hour later, Inconstant was able to sail alongside, board and capture Unité intact.

Captain Thomas Fremantle.

Fremantle made the following report about the capture

Admiralty-Office, May 28, 1796.

Copy of a letter from Captain Thomas Fremantle, of His Majesty's Ship Inconstant, to Evan Nepean, Esq; dated off Bastia, April 27, 1796
SIR, I have the honour of inclosing, for the information of their Lordships, the copy of a letter from me to Sir John Jervis, Knight of the Bath.

I am, &c. &c. THO. F. FREMANTLE.
lnconstant, at Sea, April 23, 1796.

SIR, I Have the honour to inform you, that on the 19th, cruizing near Tunis, 1 received an account that a French Frigate had been seen off Cape Mabera, near Bon; I therefore made sail for that place and on the evening of the 20th, perceived a ship under French Colours at anchor on the coast, which I came to, by, and directed to strike; this was prudently compiled with: She is called L'Unite, a Corvette of 34 gun and 218 men. The crew had made an attempt to set her on fire, but by the exertions of Lieutenant Hutchinson it was soon extinguished: Had the ship been of equal Force with the Inconstant, I have every Reason to believe it would have afforded me a further proof of the spirit and steadiness of every officer and person on board the ship 1 command,

I am, &C. Sec.
THO. FRA. FREMANTLE

About a year after capture, Unité was renamed HMS Surprise because another French ship also named Unité a 32-gun Charmante class frigate had already been taken into the navy after its capture by HMS Revolutionnaire on the 13th April 1796. 

Surprise was re-classed by the British as a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate, though she carried twenty-four 32 pound carronades on her main deck, eight 32-pounders on her quarter and foredecks and two (or four) long 6-pounders as chasers. 

As in the French Navy, this led to difficulty in her rating, considered a fifth rate from 1797-98 but a sixth rate the rest of her commission. Also, she bore the main-mast of a 36 gun ship, just as unusual as her large armament.

Under Captain Edward Hamilton, the Surprise sailed in the Caribbean for several years, capturing several privateers. HMS Surprise gained fame for the cutting-out expedition in 1799 of HMS Hermione. Hermione's crew had mutinied, and had sailed her into the Spanish possession of Puerto Cabello. Captain Edward Hamilton of Surprise led a boarding party to retake Hermione and, after an exceptionally bloody action, sailed her out of danger under Spanish gunfire. The Spanish casualties included 119 dead; 231 were taken prisoner, while another 15 jumped or fell overboard. Hamilton had 11 injured, four seriously, but none killed.

Although her career was most notable in itself, HMS Surprise was made legendary as the favourite ship of Captain Jack Aubrey in the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey–Maturin series of novels.

Vigilant Class 16-gun Brig.

The Vigilant class 16-gun brig was another design by Pierre-Alexandre Forfait, all built by Entreprise Thibaudier at Le Havre, for whom the Le Havre shipbuilder Jean Fouache acted as constructor until his death on the 25th May 1800.

The British Brig-Sloop Suffisante chasing down the French Brig-Corvette Revanche 27th May 1796 - Derek Gardner.

My new Vigilant class French brig will come in handy for refighting Suffisante versus the French privateer brig Revanche of 14-guns and of a similar size.

Including the Vigilant, launched 20th July 1800, that gave her name to the class, there were an additional five vessels, Surveillant, launched 4th August 1800, Argus, launched 20th July 1800, Observateur,  launched 20th July 1800, Bélier, launched 22nd July 1800 and Diligent, launched 25th June 1800.

Vigilant's general characteristics were:

Tons burthen 373 tons (bm)

Length of gundeck 86 feet

Beam 26 feet

Draught 10 feet, 2 inches

Her armament consisted of:

Gundeck: 16 x 4-pounder long guns as designed.*

*Some of the class were later adapted to 16 x 6 pounder long guns (Observateur & Bélier 1803), 6-pdrs plus an additional 2 x36pdr Obusiers (French carronade) (Surveillant 1805), 14 x 8-pounder long guns (Argus 1805), 14 x 4-pdrs and 4 x 12-pdr British carronades (Observateur 1805).

Argus was designated No. 3 in 1799, of the six-vessel class, and though launched in 1800 was not commissioned until 1802.

She was at the battle of Trafalgar, but did not engage in combat, and on the 23rd of October 1805, French Captain Julien Cosmao made a sortie from Cadiz with some of the more seaworthy ships that had escaped the battle, in an attempt to retake some of the captured prizes. Argus was among the sortieing vessels, however the storm that came up wrecked many vessels and forced the remains of the French fleet back to Cadiz, where the Spanish seized a number of them after Spain entered the war against France in 1808. However, Argus was not among the seized vessels.

The Battle of Trafalgar, 21st October 1805 - Nicholas Pocock.
In this view of the opening stage of the battle as Nelson's HMS Victory breaks the Allied line and Collingwood's HMS Royal Sovereign is already in action in the background, the frigate Cornelie leads the Allied light ships, extreme left, followed by brig Furet, frigate Hortense and further back, extreme left frigate Rhin and the brig Argus.

Argus left Cayenne, French Guiana on the 15th March 1806, provisioned for a cruise of four months and in company with her sister, French brig Observateur. Argus was eager to escape the British blockade and abandoned Observateur, which, however, was able to hold off her attacker, but was later captured by the British on the 9th June 1806, off Bermuda by the 32-gun frigate Tartar.

The 1799 Clement-Cruttwell Map of South America showing Cayenne where Argus and Observateur based themselves in 1806 to raid British merchant trade.

In late 1806, Argus, of sixteen 9-pounder guns and 120 men, and a schooner of two 18-pounder guns and 30 men, encountered HMS Express a schooner rigged advice-boat armed with four 18-pounder and six 12-pounder carronades together with two 4-pounder long guns. The encounter was inconclusive as the French broke off the action and sailed away. Express had three men wounded, and she had exhausted all her 18-pounder shot. The governor of Martinique, Admiral Villaret Joyeuse, reportedly cashiered Argus's captain for his failure to capture Express.

Argus fought off Cayenne on the 27th January 1807 at the side of Favourite. The British report from the engagement states that Argus was armed with fourteen brass 8-pounder guns, which were the equivalent of English 9-pounders, and had a crew of 120 men.

William James had this to say about the action;

On the 27th of January, at daylight, Soramine river on the coast of Guayana bearing south by east distant 26 miles, the British 12-pounder 32-gun frigate Jason, Captain Thomas Cochrane, descried and chased a ship and brig, evidently cruisers, about six miles upon her weather beam. 

At 1.0 h. 15 m. A.M. the Jason brought the ship to action, and presently compelled her to haul down her colours. The prize proved to be the late British sloop of war Favourite, mounting 16 long 6-pounders and two 12-pounder carronades on the main deck, and eleven 12-pounder carronades on the quarterdeck and forecastle; total, 29 guns, all English caliber, with a complement of 150 men, commanded by Lieutenant de vaisseau Gabriel-Etienne-Louis Le Marant-Kerdaniel. The brig in her company, when first chased, was a corvette of 14 brass 8-pounders and 120 men.'

With this small model brig, I opted to use the smallest 3D print anchors from Turner Miniatures, seen here in the close up and fitting perfectly for this little brig.

Argus was condemned and ordered broken up at Cayenne on 31st March 1807, and was decommissioned on the 21st April and broken up.

The Models.

These 3D hull prints work really well with the Warlord masts, boats and other items, whilst really capturing the unique look of the vessels they represent, and the small actions outlined here in the post show how they will really bring those little fights to life on the table, with similarly turned out opponents.

A view of the action on 18th June 1793 off Start Point, Devon in which the British frigate Nymphe, Captain Edward Pellew (1793-8), took the French frigate Cléopâtre. French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802): War of the First Coalition (1792-8). Robert Dodd.
A close up of the Cléopâtre with the republican colours just visible at the stern taken from a larger view depicting the scene just before action was joined, for which my early war Magicienne will make an ideal stand in.

Needless to say, although representing specific types and classes these models will also stand in nicely for other similar French types, hence my interpretation of Magicienne with her early model French naval ensign coming to the rescue when I need a French 32-gun frigate of the period, such as Captain Jean Mullon's Venus Class 32-gun frigate, Cléopâtre at the Action off Start Point 18th June 1793.

In addition I will in time do other versions of these same models for multiple French 32-gun frigate options and 16-gun brigs needed for other actions from the period and I'm really pleased with the variety of look they offer with for example the Magicienne modelled in three options, standard French model, the refurbished British model and the Topaze option of sister ships ordered and built as a second group of additional ships, plus available with open and closed gunports.

Similarly, the Unité model is available as standard but also depicted as the refurbished version fitted out for HMS Surprise as mentioned above and looking quite different from her French origins.

In the next series of 3D prints I intend to turn my attention to the War of 1812 and the British large frigates together with two of the American super-frigates, before focussing on the smaller British types and some Spanish options, so lots to get stuck into in the next few months whilst playing with the Camperdown collection and prior to turning towards my next big project from the period.

As I say, more anon.

JJ

All at Sea - Battle of Camperdown, Game Planning.

 

As I sat down to compose this post it struck me that I have been wargaming for fifty years this year, and I should add that my interest and enjoyment of the hobby has been consistent in that fifty years in that I have never been in and out of it as I have observed with others who have had time away, only to find the itch reassert itself and themselves completely diverted by a particular theme that suddenly grabbed the enthusiasm causing them to restart all over again; no my love affair has never waned, but I can say it has matured and evolved in those five decades and aspects that originally enthralled me in my salad-days are less compelling now, replaced in part by other aspects that have grown in preference. 

The drama unfolds in the Kiss Me, Hardy, Trafalgar game from 2023.

One of those aspects is the pleasure to be had in planning and running games, which has certainly taken a preference in my own hobby enjoyment to say playing. 

Don't get me wrong when I say that I can still thoroughly enjoy immersing myself in a role as a player within a game and the pleasure of taking part in an unfolding narrative; but rather like certain actors that have developed in their careers to become directors, the move from on-stage to back-stage and the pleasure derived from creating the structure of the drama and seeing how the actors take on their parts to create the drama within the structure, for me, far exceeds that of actually playing; with another aspect that has grown in my passion for the hobby, namely to be able to record and relate that drama back to others after the event, just like the historical greats such as Oman and James have done with the historical record.

Game preparation and planning for the 225th anniversary of Cape St Vincent 1797
JJ's Wargames - The Planning and Preparation for the 225th Anniversary Game of Cape St Vincent (Part II)

When an historical game is able to capture the drama of the theme it seeks to replicate with the struggle that faced its real-life actors posed to the players representing them in the game, then I feel we gain something extra from it, namely an insight into that event that eludes the historical record of written down reported events.

Of course to work at developing the skills of 'a director' is a bit of trial and error, but made far easier with a long record of experience being a player/actor to draw on, that hopefully having some knowledge from that experience of what tends to work and what definitely doesn't, helps to reduce the learning curve, and in that vein I offer some thoughts on my way of going about things.

Game preparation and planning for the 225th anniversary of Cape St Vincent 1797
JJ's Wargames - The Planning and Preparation for the 225th Anniversary Game of Cape St Vincent (Part II)

A key component to game planning in my experience is to have some basic concepts in mind throughout the process, such as the 'KISS Principle' or (Keep It Simple Stupid), and that failure to plan is planning to fail, or as I had it drummed into me in a previous professional lifetime, 'The Five P's', 'Proper Preparation Prevents P-ss-Poor Presentation', the hyphenated word counting as a single 'P', and thank-you Geoff!

Of course as a director you have your success and not so successful outcomes, but it is important to review both results to gain further learning as you go and definitely the latter in the spirit of having discovered how not to do that in future.

My Cape St Vincent game is a game that springs to mind, where the constraints on the players to those of their historical counterparts was not sufficiently built into the scenario and the setup plan, needed to allow all players to get involved in the game within the playing time constraints of it, but was not sufficiently allowed for - sorry John! But I now know how not to play Cape St Vincent and what I would plan to do differently, and can take pleasure in the aspects of the game that really worked well.

The drama of our KMH, Cape St Vincent game unfolding at our 225th Anniversary replay of the battle at the Devon Wargames Group in 2022
JJ's Wargames - Battle of Cape St Vincent 14th February 1794 - 225th Anniversary Game at the DWG

Size as they often say is important as well, and the bigger the battle, the bigger are the likely issues and challenges that the game will present in its management and design, with rules suitability to allow for a smooth and relatively fast turnover of play possible, that are intuitive enough for players of varying familiarity to quickly get attuned to, but ideally without too great a compromise on the simulation properties of that all important rule test formula 'simulation/game' and 'fun/not fun' play balance, where I'm looking for that 'Goldilocks' optimum of simulation/fun combination.

I won't make any claims for my abilities at game/scenario designing, but it is a skill that I am getting better at with each and every game and so it is always with much anticipation that I look forward to planning a new project once a collection is completed and ready to take the table, and so Camperdown has been on the planning table this week with thoughts turning to the NWS at Yeovilton in September.

The revised battle map for Camperdown at 1:700 scale with the fleets positioned at about 12.00 midday on the 11th October 1797, using Far Distant Ships.

Begin with the end in mind is another key principle, or in the case of an historical battle, begin with the situation that caused the end in mind in reality, with the structure of the game and the rules being used there to facilitate the differences in outcome that might happen once players get involved, which I guess leads me to my disclaimer.

I come at historical battle wargames, be it on land, sea or in the air from the standpoint of putting the players in the situation their historical counterparts found themselves presented with, and for them to work within those constraints to compare and contrast their results with the historical outcome, rather than as some games I have seen, that have the set up and then leave the players free of any historical constraints to make it up as they go along, even if they have started from a similar start point of the battle portrayed, but leaving me somewhat unsatisfied with a game that bear's little resemblance to the facts.

I will be using Far Distant Ships, at the NWS, Yeovilton, written by David Manley, and adjusted by me for 1:700, together with a few additions. The rules are designed for big-battle games, having a ten-minute move sequence, no book keeping requirements and a signalling command and control process to better facilitate lots of ships fighting over several hours. We found they played well in our playtest game and I'm looking forward to a reacquaintance next month.

JJ's Wargames - Battle of Camperdown - The Leeward Division Attacks, Far Distant Ships

I have, and occasionally do, play historical scenarios that have been arranged to create a game around the history, with one, The Battle of Salamanca, in 28mm, played at a holiday centre many years ago, with glorious terrain and figures but with a set up that ignored the surprise effect for the French as they were attacked from the flank and front simultaneously whilst on the march. Without that element and constraint, it is obvious that any French commander is going to ignore the fact that he has been ordered to march and get strung out and immediately form a firm defence line with a plan to counterattack at the first opportunity, which is how our game evolved. It was a game with bones getting rolled and plenty of banter, but it certainly wasn't Salamanca and as I say somewhat unsatisfying.

The constraints that faced Admiral Villeneuve at Trafalgar and those that faced De Winter at Camperdown were similar in that their fleets lacked sailing experience and they were facing an enemy likely better at the ability to manoeuvre and fire to a lesser or greater extent and therefore organised their respective fleets to attempt to play to its strengths; that is no fancy manoeuvres, to allow their captains and crews to shoot as straight and as quickly as they could, and to so damage their opponents before they could come back with a response.

The Dutch line set up to help visualise the plan above.

In Villeneuve's situation, there was hope that his superior crew sizes would win any boarding actions and that his firing plan aimed at British rigging would allow the bulk of his fleet to escape to fight another day. In De Winter's, a similar hope that he could badly damage the British in their hulls, and kill their crews, and draw any British pursuit into the Dutch coastal shallows where their grounding would seal their fate to capture or destruction. Both fleets adopted the classical leeward set up, allowing them the opportunity to wear with the wind to simplify breaking off and escape.

Thus with Camperdown, the situational set up for the battle has already been decided by Admirals de Winter and Duncan and therefore I find my structure starts with that foundation, namely a clear idea of where my two fleets are starting from, at what time-stage of the battle, and the scope of the battle site required to enable the fleets involved to have sufficient room to manoeuvre.

The raking fire of breaking the line precedes the pell-mell as depicted in our playtest game.

Thus the option for either the Combined Franco-Spanish or the Batavian Dutch fleet to simply leave the line and mix it with the enemy in a general confused melee, avoiding being raked in their line but leaving each ship vulnerable and unsupported, was not even countenanced, not until it was forced on them by the pell-mell created by the British attack and the raking fire they suffered in the breaking of their lines; but I have certainly seen the former played that way, and whatever floats-your-boat is fine by me, but that seems to ignore the constraints that made these famous battles what they were, and fails to offer the players the opportunity to try and outperform their historical counterparts, irrespective of the winning or losing.

If the simulation is thought through the player representing Admiral Villeneuve can still win even if the Combined Fleet loose, a concept some find very hard to understand, but one well illustrated in our refight of Trafalgar in 2023 with the Combined Fleet, fighting the battle to Villeneuve's plan, clearly loosing the battle at the close, but seeing them cause one British ship to strike, though likely to rehoist her colours, and the Royal Sovereign engulfed in flames later to explode, after taking a severe battering in her fight with three enemy ships a much improved performance than that achieved on the day.

The set up of the Dutch van confirmed the length of the Dutch line and the table space required for our game.

Naval battles in the age of sail often involve lines of battle which tend to determine the amount of real-estate or seascape needed and so with Camperdown and the Dutch fleet organised into line of battle, I start with them to give an idea of the table size requirement and based on the relative positions of the British columns of echelon where they will be at at any given start time, knowing that in reality the first British ship to pass through the line was Monarch, at about 12.45, and thus with ten minute moves it is easy to work back from that to see where Monarch would be at 12.00 midday as in the plan above

For me, I find there is no substitute to planning a big game, other than getting the toys out on the table to help me visualise the set up and thus you see the Dutch line so arranged with battle line spacing between vessels and the required distance between the line of battle and the light ships based on the historical account, with the few exceptions that saw a distinct gap between Haarlem and Jupiter at the rear that facilitated Onslow’s breaking of the line.

This set up will also be tested at the start of play to see if other vessels have not quite positioned themselves appropriately with a die roll against the 'Tactical Cohesion table', on each to confirm the situation. As can be seen, the Dutch inexperience at manoeuvring at sea because of being blockaded is revealed by the intermixed blue and red squadron set ups and the rear white squadron not being as tightly drawn up as they should have been.

A large ruler comes in handy for setting up a line of battle appropriately spaced. Note, the light ships take their position from the recorded accounts and relative to the forward battle line.

Wargamers knowing one side is capable and intent on cutting their line would tend to position their fleet in such a way as to prevent any such manoeuvre, but unfortunately such tactics were  not practical for historic admirals and captains, which is replicated in Far Distant Ships (FDS) by having fleets able to be in 'Tight', 'Fighting' or 'Open' spacing, and then testing for being out of position.

Mark Adkin in his Trafalgar Companion suggests;

'A common distance between ships was one to two cables (200 - 400 yards). A fleet of thirteen ships would cover a distance of 2,750 to 5,500 yards.' 

That's about 1.5 to 3 miles. These sorts of distances would equate to an Open formation designed to avoid collisions and enable easier station keeping. The Fighting formation depicted above envisages a separation of just 70 to 150 yards or about a half to one cable, with the Dutch fleet of fifteen ships of the line occupying about 2,800 yards in their line of battle, with this formation still offering a determined enemy an opportunity to force their way through, but only after testing for success in the attempt, replicating the fact that only about half the British ships successfully managed to break the line, and situations such as Staaten Generaal frustrating Venerable's attempt to pass and rake the Vrijheid, forcing the British flagship to veer away only to later get raked herself, as Venerable went astern of the Dutch 74- gunner in response.

The Leeward Division Attacks scenario run back in February gives an impression of the approach of Vice-Admiral Onslow's division, showing here Monarch out ahead.
JJ's Wargames - Battle of Camperdown - The Leeward Division Attacks, Far Distant Ships

With the Dutch fleet sailing on a bow wind from the NNW, relative to their heading NE, their progress will be relatively slow, enhancing their firing but slowing their progress towards their base in the Texel.

The British on the other hand with a heading of ESE are filling their tail coats as they barrel on towards the Dutch line, rapidly covering the setup position in about four moves or forty minutes of battle time.

No record keeping in FDS, with all information recorded on markers placed on the ship bases, and thus speeding play management, these being my own design for the game.

The battle lasted about three hours, which equates to eighteen turns plus four turns added for the approach to battle, hopefully eleven turns before lunch and eleven after. FDS is designed to encourage commanders to manage a battle through their fleet and squadrons rather than individual ships, and turns roll through much quicker than a ship/captain focussed set with no book keeping required having all combat and morale results indicated by markers placed on the ship bases and with the opposing admirals focussed on damage control, signalling before and after battle, and then managing the dogfight action as ships close. 

Battle Management Displays for each commander, this for the Blue Centre Squadron, allows them to keep tabs on how many command and preservation points they have in hand, indicated by dice, with the former used to spend on signalling and damage repairs and the latter for squadron and fleet morale.

As well as a simplified battle management, the ship stats for each squadron and the fleet as a whole are kept by the respective commanders as an aide memoire when resolving firing, melee and morale with individual ships and their relevant details easily referred to in one squadron or fleet display card.

The squadron or divisional display for Onslow's command detailing his ships, their pennant number, command quality modifier (CQM), base speed in centimetres subject to modification by wind aspect and sail setting, Attack Factor (0-6), higher being better, Defence Factor (0-5), similar to the AF, Boarding Factor (-2 to +2) BF usually 0 but flexible if circumstances require, such as extra marines or infantry aboard, Carronade Factor (1-2) if so equipped and Preservation Point Value PPV, or the value of the vessel to the overall morale of the squadron or fleet.

FDS is very much about command and control with signalling designed to enable commanders to set their commands up prior to and after battle and to a lesser extent during it. I have slightly modified the signalling process by identifying certain signals that will bring ships into close combat range, during which individual ships manoeuvre under direction from their captains in compliance with the last signal received until countermanded or they themselves have struck or been sunk.

A section of one of the signal books - Note General order signals are special in that they authorise captains with the term 'Engage', to bring their ships to close range and act as required when fighting their ships. Captains will otherwise come no closer than medium range unless signalled otherwise.

Signalling is not a complex matter with commanders simply noting the combination of flags they wish to fly in their respective log with the time it was sent. The flags can be positioned next to the flagship in the command segment of a turn when the test is made for receipt, which if successful compels the ships affected to operate to those new instructions, be that a new course heading, combat orders or other required actions which remain in force until annulled or a new signal is made in another turn. The signal flag combination can be used as a signal number with its attached meaning or simply as that number for use when signalling an individual ship. 

Vice Admiral Onslow's flagship Monarch, flying signal number (#4) during our play test game earlier this year. if the signal was for ship No.4 the counter is simply turned about showing (4) without the # and followed by the signal for the action required.

A nice touch is that if a signal would result in a captain causing risk to his ship without a logical reason, for example a course ordered would result in him going aground, as with close-combat situations where the risk to the ship would be likely very great, he would be at liberty to take avoiding action as he saw fit, up to medium range from the point of likely disaster, it being assumed he would signal for new orders after doing so.

Special rules and other additional mechanics will also be included in an endeavour to introduce an element of friction or circumstances that relate to the history of this battle.

The use of chance cards is not a new idea but one that can reduce a level of certainty and increase the drama, without being overly game changing, for example with the one illustrated above which might bring a bit of a surprise in a close range gunnery contest.

Similarly game and scenario specific rules can bring the flavour of a given battle to the table with  performance of Captain John Williamson of HMS Agincourt which suffered no casualties in the battle, after which he was brought to court-martial at Sheerness lasting from the 4th December until the 1st January 1798, charged with cowardice, negligence and disaffection, being subsequently cleared of the former and latter charges but found guilty of disobeying signals and not getting into action.

He was sentenced to being placed at the bottom of the captains list and rendered incapable of ever serving onboard a ship of the Royal Navy, effectively ending his naval career and appearing to have broken him, with his death later that year, on the 27th October 1798 at his lodgings in London following a short illness and death put down to 'an inflammation of the liver and bowels' suggesting he might have drunk himself to death. 

HMS Agincourt exchanging broadsides at medium range whilst her compatriots get stuck in in the background, during our test game from February.

Thus Agincourt is not allowed to voluntarily close within close range of any enemy ship of the line, apart from those that have struck.

Finally with the end very much in mind, I'm very much hoping that FDS will present an opportunity to test the rules around one fleet breaking off the action and any attempt by the opposition to turn a retreat into a rout, with the interesting aspect about Camperdown being its close proximity to the Dutch shoaling coastline, represented in the game by having such waters start just 30cms or a foot from the table edge nearest to the Dutch light ship line at which British third-rate vessels would start to test for grounding.

Of course any such action to pursue an enemy breaking off due to morale failure which is automatic and does not require any signalling would require any pursuit to be organised via signals which might add another element to our game.

In addition to Far Distant Ships, I have also turned my attention to Kiss Me, Hardy with our annual club organised 'Clotted Lard' running next month and for which I have offered to run 'Nailing the Colours - Battle of Vanguards recreating the fighting at the head of the Dutch line and in particular the battle between the two opposing flagships, Venerable and Vrijheid.

The scenario has gone through a similar planning process that has enabled a table plan to be drawn up as illustrated, which I would intend playing on my usual 10' x 5' table.

KMH takes a little more preparation in that I needed to sort out all the Ship Record Cards for the fleets as a whole.

So over my playing KMH quite a bit in the last three years I have developed my own format for the ship record system that aims to bring everything the player commanding a ship will need together in one place to resolve, morale, gunnery, boarding actions and damage without constant reference to the crib sheets, with factors relating to any given circumstance shown on the cards before referencing the appropriate table to determine the result of the required die rolls.

HMS Venerable 74-guns, Admiral Adam Duncan's flagship commanding the North Sea Squadron

In addition all my ship cards are laminated so as to make use of wipe clean pens that leave the cards marked up at the end of a battle, after which I can photograph them and wipe clean ready for the next time, whilst also providing the detail to the narrative in the following game AAR, better able to illustrate the consequences for any given ship during the action reported.

Each card has a backing side to enable a level of secrecy as to how badly affected a given ship is at any time by simply turning the details face down and if required easily kept out of sight in games where both sides are attempting to spot the other and determine exactly what they are up against.

Batavian-Dutch 74-gun Vrijheid, flagship of Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter commanding the Dutch fleet at Camperdown.

One aspect from the standard KMH rules is to rate the Batavian Dutch as Average Sans Culottes, similar to their French allies, which in my humble opinion doesn't quite reflect Dutch gunnery abilities and their preference in waiting to open fire at the hull at close range rather that blazing away at enemy rigging at extreme or long range as reflected in the added benefits to doing this with the Sans Culottes rating.

Thus I have modified my Dutch Sans Culottes by removing the long range rigging fire effects and compensating my Dutch by raising their firing benefits one grade, thus seeing the bulk of the fleet who are average, firing as veterans and encouraging the holding of their fire till the whites of British eyes are prevalent. Of course this doesn't add to Vryheid's firing capabilities as she is rated veteran anyway, but she of course is more likely to keep on dishing it out for longer given her advantages in morale (-30%) overall against failing a test, as a flagship with De Winter aboard, egging everyone on.

So I hope this insight into the preparation for my upcoming Camperdown games proves useful for those looking to do a similar project and I look forward to posting the AAR of the games generated here on the blog and perhaps with a bit of YouTube coverage following which I will look to make the scenario  briefs and materials produced available here on JJ's as a download.

More anon

JJ