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| Victory breaks the enemy line at Trafalgar, 21st October 1805 - Geoff Hunt A 220th Anniversary refight of the Battle of Trafalgar, 21st October 1805 - Using Far Distant Ships, 4th & 5th October 2025 at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton. |
It was just over two weeks ago that I met up with friends at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton for the annual Naval Wargames Society meeting, and to run a game of Far Distant Ships using the 1:700 scale Trafalgar collection of models, in commemoration of the victory achieved by Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson and the British fleet over the Combined Fleet of France and Spain under the command of Vice-Admiral Villeneuve off Cape Trafalgar two-hundred and twenty years ago today.
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| JJ's Wargames - Trafalgar 220, Naval Wargames Society Weekend (Preparations) |
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| JJ's Wargames - Trafalgar 220, Naval Wargames Society Weekend, Part One |
In this second post, and appropriately published on the day of Lord Nelson's victory, I will recount the action from our game run over the Saturday and Sunday, 4th and 5th of October, marrying the events in the game with the historical facts from the actual battle together with pictures of all the fun.
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| Setting up the two fleets preparatory to us getting down to play |
This is the fourth time the collection has been used to refight Trafalgar and although the rules have changed in the four years of running this game, the set up and table space requirements have remained the same, and based largely on the maps of the battle contained in Mark Adkin's 'The Trafalgar Companion' published for the bicentenary of the battle back in 2005 and a goldmine of information for anyone wanting to wargame this battle.
Far Distant Ships places the player commanders very much in the role of the respective admirals in each fleet and facilitates the command that these men would have relied upon in the days before modern techniques in ship-to-ship communication, and thus I have included the respective small ships of frigates, brigs, schooner and cutter that made up the British and French Light Squadrons, and were there to provide signal repeaters and/or to take stranded damaged vessels under tow or to even send over the occasional boarding party to a struck enemy prize.
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| British order of battle, and ship statistics |
The respective orders of battle include all the usual stuff for the players to refer to when resolving combat, including Attack/Defence Factors, (AF/DF) Close Range and Carronade Factors (CF), Boarding Factor, (BF) used to include the increased capability in boarding that ships carrying extra marines or soldiers over and above what might be expected, Preservation Point Value (PPV) used to keep a tally of the cost to the fleet/squadron of a ship lost in the battle, Notes identifying commanders aboard the ship, with flag officers identified specifically, together with their seniority in the fleet should they need to replace a fallen colleague.
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| The Combined Fleet order of battle, and ship statistics |
The identifying flag and pennant next to each flag officer is used for signal communication to identify the officer a signal is intended for and his squadron, with signals to individual ships taken care of by starting the signal with the ship's unique pennant number, '21' for example, in the case of the Combined Fleet, identifying the Spanish 74-gun ship Bahama.
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| The rear van of the Allied line, with the first-rate 112-gun flagship, Principe de Asturias of Admiral Gravina third in line from the rear. Note Gravina was second-in-command of the Combined fleet and was in the van before Villeneuve turned the fleet at 8 a.m. |
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| Royal Sovereign flying her last signal raised by Vice Admiral Collingwood prior to breaking the enemy line 'Engage the Enemy More Closely' seen at the top of the mainmast barrels towards the Combined Fleet with 'Full Sail' set as indicated by the counter on the front of her base. |
As outlined in my 'Preparations' post, one of the key decision points in this battle is the response by Rear-Admiral Dumanoir to the signals sent to him by Vice Admiral Villeneuve and the French frigate Hortense to turn the Allied van squadron and come to the aid of the hard pressed centre. Adkin's details the timings for these signals and the length of time it took for Dumanoir to respond, as detailed in his later court-martial hearing, and these notes were used to come up with a simple dice test to determine when Dumanoir would respond, and in what manner.
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| The Combined Fleet struggling to form a line having been turned by Villeneuve back towards Cadiz at 8 a.m., nearly four hours previously, when the British fleet was observed to windward. Note HMS Africa under Captain Henry Digby, on the right table edge nearest to camera, working along the windward side of the Allied van, attempting to re-join Nelson's windward column having missed the turn south made by the British fleet the previous night. |
Even when the Allied van did turn with the signal given 'wear together' several ships tacked instead, and not very well, needing boats to complete the manoeuvre to pull the bows round, and again I resolved this decision point with a simple die roll to determine how the ten ships in the van would respond.
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| HMS Africa, well north of HMS Victory and sailing to re-join, prepares to open fire on the Combined Fleet. According to the log Africa 64-guns opened fire at 11.45 a.m. on Formidable 80-guns and Mont Blanc 74-guns inflicting negligible damage but suffering light damage to her rigging in return, which saw her open the range to her antagonists while she completed repairs. |
As well as the Allied van, I was keen to include a little more historical flavour to our battle, with each of the respective flag officers issued a number of chance cards they could play during the game, with that element of surprise hanging over the little battles that developed within the larger battle.
This log also sets up the starting parameters for the game in that I informed the respective commands that for example, Admiral Villeneuve has already signalled the fleet at 11.35 to 'open fire when ready' and that Victory hoisted studding sails at 11.30, followed by Royal Sovereign at 11.40, allowing the British columns to put on extra sail and increase their speed towards the enemy line.
The briefing for the players set the scene for our two day game:
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| A selection of our chance cards in the game. The player briefing is outlined below and explains in more detail how we used them. |
The chance cards played a small part in the larger battle and were randomly dished out at the start of the game with better officers having more to hand than less able ones, with enough for the odd card to be tossed in to the occasional battle situation to keep things less predictable.
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| Vice Admiral Alava's flagship (right) Santa Ana ahead of the French 74-gun Fougueux, Captain Baudoin, open fire on the Royal Sovereign and Belleisle, leading Vice Admiral Collingwood's Leeward column. Captain Harvey of the Belleisle would be killed on the approach by some well aimed firing from the Fougueux just prior to breaking the Allied line. |
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| HMS Royal Sovereign seen here bearing down on the Combined Fleet Line under full canvass and about to receive fire from the French 74-gun Fougueux. |
Finally, to see how our battle was progressing against its historical predecessor I kept a note of the turn and noted it against the log that I had prepared outlining the 34 turns of battle with each turn equating to five minutes of battle from Turn 1 (11.45 a.m.)
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| According to the log it is 12.15 p.m. and Royal Sovereign (16) prepares to break the Allied line ahead. She is carrying a 'light damage to the hull' marker on her bow, damage taken on the approach run, whilst Belleisle (18) on her starboard quarter is carrying 'medium damage' after some well directed Allied fire that also saw Captain Hargood killed on his quarter deck, as indicated by the 'officer down' counter on her larboard quarter. |
The briefing for the players set the scene for our two day game:
Introduction
The quintessential battle of the age of sail, Trafalgar saw the defeat of a larger, but less experienced Franco-Spanish fleet by the smaller but better trained fleet of Horatio Nelson. Trafalgar was the culmination of a campaign that had begun several months previously and which included a vigorous chase from Europe to the Caribbean and back again.
The defeat of the allies marked the last of the great naval battles of the Napoleonic Wars and, with his death at the moment of triumph, cemented Nelson’s reputation as one of Britain’s greatest heroes.
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| Admirals, Dumanoir, Villeneuve and Gravina observe the approach of Collingwood's Leeward Column and the damage they have inflicted on the British ships with their fire, and corresponding markers placed on the bows of those ships, recording the damage level inflicted. |
Environment
Wind from the West Northwest, Light Breeze.
Visibility good
British Setup
Weather Column
Leading Division: Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson, Flagship HMS Victory
Trailing Division: Rear-Admiral the Earl of Northesk, Flagship HMS Britannia
Lee Column
Leading Division: Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, Flagship HMS Royal Sovereign
HMS Africa – deploys as shown near the head of the Allied line at long range.
The British lines deploy sailing West to East as shown on the deployment map.
British “inshore” ships deploy as shown. Inshore ships are Independent and may be dispensed with if signalling rules are not in play (Our Inshore Squadron was in play) .
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| A view of Collingwood's Leeward column about to break the Allied line from the Allied rear squadron. |
Allied Setup
Van – Rear-Admiral Dumanoir, flagship Formidable
Centre –Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, flagship Bucentaure
Rear –Admiral Federico Gravina, flagship Principe de Asturias
The Allied line deploys first, heading South to North.
French “supporting” ships deploy to the East of the French fleet. Supporting ships are Independent and may be dispensed with if signalling rules are not in play (Likewise to the British, our Supporting Squadron was in play).
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| The British rigging suffered under the fire from the Combined Fleet as it made its run in towards the line, before dropping sail. Repairs were made to keep the damage in hand, but as the range closed and the British ships made ready to open fire, the repairs just had to wait. |
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| So as to keep tabs on which ships had performed running repairs, I made these 'repaired' counters that remind players that the affected ship may not fire in the next turn of play. |
Special Rules
The table may be “scrolled” as required.
Although normally treated as an ‘Average’ admiral, Villeneuve’s fatalistic attitude on the day of the battle means he is rated as ‘Dull’ here.
Where a squadron has additional admirals listed in its order of battle that admiral assumes command if the squadron’s admiral is killed or captured. If there are more than one additional admiral in a squadron then work from the top of the list of ships in the squadron to determine who takes over.
Northesk is treated as Average, as are any British captains who have to assume command.
Command quality of all French and Spanish admirals is Dull unless noted.
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| Admiral's Log - 12.25 p.m. The Royal Sovereign breaks the Allied line, stern raking the Santa Ana causing medium damage and bow raking the Fougueux, causing light damage. Vice Admiral Collingwood is wounded by musketry from the tops of the Santa Ana. |
The Allied Van Squadron
One of the most controversial aspects of the battle is the performance of the Allied van-squadron and Rear-admiral Dumanoir in particular.
Villeneuve’s instructions to his fleet could not have been clearer.
‘Any captain commanding that is not under fire will not be at his post, and any whose next ahead or next astern is closer than he to the enemy will not be doing his duty and a signal recalling him will be a reflection on his honour.’
The sequence of events was detailed at Dumanoir’s court-martial.
12.30 Villeneuve signals ‘all ships not closely engaging an enemy to do so immediately’.
13.30 The frigate Hortense signals the flagship, having seen the ten ships of the van not engaged and sailing ahead.
13.45 Villeneuve signals Dumanoir and the van ‘wear together’.
14.00 Dumanoir begins to come about, followed by four of the ships under his command, that sees several of them tack instead of wearing, as ordered and the squadron breaking into three distinct groups.
To replicate the potential for Dumanoir and the van-squadron to intervene, from game turn 11(13.25) roll 1d6 requiring a 6 to allow Dumanoir to signal his squadron to wear together, changing course to come to the support of the centre the following turn.
This die roll being repeated with a 5,6 required on turn 12, 4,5 or 6 on turn 13, 3,4,5 or 6 on turn 14 and automatic success on turn 15.
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| Logged at 12.25 p.m., Collingwood's attack is underway at the rear of the Allied line, seen from the Allied van. Nelson's column is also closing in preparation to make his attack. |
Combined Fleet Structure at Trafalgar
At 08.30 when the Combined Fleet wore round to head for Cadiz, the order of sailing was reversed, and the squadrons lost formation with command made more difficult with squadrons of unequal size. The respective commanders for individual ships are revealed in this order of sailing and should be referred to when deciding which Allied admiral to select to spend Command Points for repairs.
1st Squadron
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| HMS Victory flying 'England Expects . . ' leads the Weather Column into the attack with Captain Freemantle's Neptune 98-guns nearest camera and Captain Harvey's Temeraire 98-guns in close attendance on either quarter. In the actual battle, Nelson had to hail Temeraire to take station astern, as Harvey forgot his place and began to use his faster ship to race Victory towards the Combined Fleet line, as beautifully portrayed by Geoff Hunt. |
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| HMS Temeraire races HMS Victory towards the Combined Fleet's line - Geoff Hunt |
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| Admiral Cisneros' flagship Santisima Trinidad 130-guns, ahead of Vice Admiral Villeneuve's flagship Bucentaure 80-guns and the Spanish 74-gun San Augustin, Captain Cagigal in the centre of the Allied line prepare to meet Nelson's attack. |
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| The Victory, Neptune and Temeraire as seen from the Bucentaure and Santisima Trinidad - logged at 12.25 p.m. |
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| The Allied rear is under severe pressure as more British ships of Collingwood's Leeward column press their attack in line abreast. Nearest to camera are the French 74-gun Swiftsure (left) and Aigle (right). |
Chance Cards
(Acknowledgement to Mr Alan Butler, author of Grand Fleet Actions in the Age of Sail, who came up with this idea for his own Trafalgar refight and shamelessly borrowed and adapted for my own game).
There are ten different types of cards, three of which effect whole squadrons, the rest normally effect one ship only. The pack from which the draw is made will have a total of thirty cards, so there are three of each flavour.
The cards are dealt face down to each formation with 1 for each level of command rating for the respective squadron:
Inspirational – 4
Intrepid – 3
Average – 2
Dull – 1
Plus one extra card for each squadron commanded by the fleet admiral or commander in chief. If using allied forces from several nations, each national C in C (Villeneuve and Gravina) gets an extra card.
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| The allied line is pushed aside as the leading ships in Collingwood's column close in to support their flagship. Nearest to camera from left to right are Algeciras 74-guns, Rear Admiral Magon, Pluton 74-guns, carrying light damage and an unidentified Spanish third-rate, possibly Monarca 74-guns. |
Using the cards
- These can be played at various times during the game, as players think fit and as the opportunity arises.
- You cannot play several of the same card simultaneously, but you can play several cards at the same time and stack the results.
- You may also have no opportunity to use some of the cards at all.
- When a card is played it should be placed face up next to the ship or flagship to which it applies.
- When its effect has been resolved, remove the card.
Some cards are effective until the end of a game turn, so these should be left beside the ship(s) concerned until the end of the turn.
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| The nature of the British rolling attack is well seen from this angle as the Allied line is assaulted by successive waves of British ships arriving in echelon. |
Victory Conditions
(Acknowledgement to Mr Albert C. E. Parker, author of Admirals and Commodores: Hypothetical Scenarios for “Close Action”: Squadron Actions, 1793–1815, who came up with this idea and shamelessly borrowed and adapted for my own game).
Fleets never fought to the last ship, just as armies never fought to the last battalion. After a number of ships had been lost, one side would try to break off the action and retreat to the nearest friendly port. At that point, the victors would usually be too tired, too badly damaged, or too disorganized to pursue (common phenomena among land armies also). The battle would end with the victors in possession of “the field” and some of the enemy’s ships.
Battle Fleets Preservation Point Values (P.P.V.):
Each ship in a fleet or squadron has a preservation point value as follows:
Three-deckers - 3
Flagships, regardless of ship size - 3
Two-deckers, including 50s and razees - 2
Frigates or corvettes - 1
Smaller vessels - ½
The game ends immediately once one side’s fleet morale breaks, a Tactical Victory going to the side that first causes its opponent’ fleet morale to break. Fleet morale breaks when >50% of squadrons engaged have failed a morale test.
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| The British 74-gun Achille, Captain King, the seventh ship in line of Collingwood's column, bears down on the Spanish 74-gun Montanez, Captain Bustamante. Montanez in carrying damage from a gun exploding on the lower deck. |
Allied Squadron Preservation Level – 25%
Van Squadron: Rear-Admiral Dumanoir, flagship Formidable – 5 Points
Centre Squadron: Vice-Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, flagship Bucentaure – 9 Points
Rear Squadron: Admiral Federico Gravina, flagship Principe de Asturias – 7 Points
Independent Squadron – 1½ Points
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| Captain's Log- 13.25, The Montanez 74-guns strikes after receiving a crushing stern rake attack from HMS Achille, 74-guns, with the 74-gun Revenge, Captain Moorsom, in close attendance. Achille would later get herself in a bit of trouble, unsupported and overwhelmed, leading to her striking later in the battle. |
British Squadron Preservation Level - 50%
Windward Column: Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson, Flagship HMS Victory – 14 Points
Leeward Column: Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, Flagship HMS Royal Sovereign – 24 Points
Inshore Squadron: - 6 Points
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| Admiral's Log - 13.25, Somewhat surprisingly, Dumanoir responded to Villeneuve's signal at the first time of checking, with John rolling a '6' and with the ten ships in the van testing to see if they would wear or tack in response, with all but one, Mont-Blanc 74-guns, tacking. Scipion 74-guns and Intrepide 74-guns managed to collide and foul themselves during the tack, seen here, centre-left. |
The Reckoning
Nelson had the battle he craved and lived just long enough to know that he had achieved a splendid victory. His plan had worked, he had his pell-mell battle, his captains and crews had done their jobs magnificently and British seamanship and gunnery had, as he knew they would, proved greatly superior to both Spanish and French. However as far as gallantry and courageous leadership was concerned there was nothing to choose between the two fleets; and it is possible to argue that, with some notable exceptions, the Combined Fleet put up a much stiffer fight than had been expected. The battle was far from being a walkover and had Dumanoir’s squadron turned back much sooner than it did, the outcome would have been less certain.
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| Confusion in the Allied van as the Spanish 100-gun Rayo, and Duguay-Trouin 74-guns have turned into wind in preparation to tack, whilst the Mont-Blanc 74-guns can be seen, having weared-round, and is crossing the bow of the Spanish 74-gun San Augustin |
So how did our players do in comparison to Villeneuve and Nelson?
The following is the actual battle statistics compiled from Adkins and with which I intended to use as a guide to our player's performance, with allowances made for how long we played, better known in our game as the 'Duckworth-Lewis' FDS analysis (Cricket fans will know what I'm on about!)
Villeneuve lost 18 ships, or slightly over 54% of his line of battle fleet at Trafalgar, of which nine were French and nine were Spanish. This was a big haul in battered prizes for the British. The fate of the Combined Fleet’s 33 line-of-battle ships at the battle was:
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| Rear-Admiral Dumanoir's flagship Formidable 80-guns, seen here into wind and 'in irons' as the third-rate prepares to tack to come to the aid of the Allied centre - but is it a case of too-little, too-late? |
While no British ships struck, a considerable number were in no fit condition to fight or sail at the end of the battle. No fewer than seven ships were so damaged that they had to be towed, and another four were severely damaged. This represents 41% of the fleet - testimony to the fact that many of their French and Spanish adversaries had fought hard. Nevertheless, 14 ships were only lightly damaged and remained, with running repairs, fully effective warships.
FDS does not require any notes made about damage and casualties, with all events marked up on the model bases with counters, examples of some of the ones I made are seen here. This greatly speeds up play, essential for these large fleet battle games.
The table below lists Nelson’s ships under three categories of damage, with those with (T) after their name required a tow.
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| Admiral's Log 13.35 p.m. Victory breaks the Allied line stern raking the Santisima Trinidad and bow raking the Bucentaure as she passes through. |
- In percentage terms 41% were severely damaged, 7% moderately and 52% lightly. However only three of the severely damaged ships (Victory, Téméraire and Africa) were in Nelson’s column. This is largely attributable to the fact that none of Dumanoir’s van squadron got into action until around 14.30 and even then, a mere three out of ten joined the central mêlée. Collingwood’s column of 14 ships had to engage up to 16 enemy ships.
- Inevitably the ships that reached the enemy line first had to fight hardest and longest and suffered accordingly. As Dumonoir sailed away from the battle in the centre, Villeneuve had no support. Nelson, although initially outnumbered, was steadily reinforced until by one o’clock he outnumbered his enemies in the centre.
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| Nelson has his pell-mell as Neptune 98-guns, Temeraire 98-guns and Leviathan 74-guns support the Victory, breaking through the Allied line in the attack on Villeneuve's centre. |
So how did our anniversary recreation of the battle resolve itself?
Turn 1 - 11.45
HMS Africa opens fire on the Mont Blanc and Formidable, but gets the worse of the exchange, suffering light rigging damage and opening the range to facilitate repairs
Turn 4 - 12.15
The Allied line has been firing for ten minutes at the British leeward column under Vice Admiral Collingwood, and been causing ringing damage to the leading British ships, under full sail as they make a rapid approach under fire. One particularly effective fire exchange (opposed die rolls of a 6 and a 1) results in a critical hit on HMS Belleisle, that sees Captain William Hargood mortally wounded.
Turn 5 - 12.25
HMS Royal Sovereign breaks the Combined Fleet line, stern raking the Santa Ana causing medium damage and bow raking the Fougueux, causing light damage. Vice Admiral Collingwood is wounded by musketry from the tops of the Santa Ana.
HMS Victory takes accurate fire from Santisima Trinidad that damages the bowsprit which is quickly repaired as the range closes.
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| HMS Leviathan 74-guns, Captain Baynton, salutes the Spanish 74-gun San Justo, Captain de Iriarte with a close-range broadside. |
Turn 11 - 13.25
Rear Admiral Dumanoir observes Vice Admiral Villeneuve's signal, relayed by the frigate Hortense to turn the Allied van and support the flagship, acknowledging receipt and signalling the van to wear round - eight of his squadron of ten ships tack in response.
HMS Achille 74-guns is stern raked by the Spanish 74-gun Bahama and strikes.
The French 74-gun Pluton, assailed by HMS Tonnant 80-guns and Bellerophon 74-guns strikes.
The Spanish 74-gun Montanez whilst firing at approaching British ships has a gun burst below decks, badly damaging the third-rate in the process.
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| The battle is in full sway in the centre and rear of the Combined Fleet Line, as the Allied van can be seen here preparing to tack back and attempt to intervene. |
Turn 12 - 13.25
HMS Victory breaks the Combined Fleet line stern raking the Santisima Trinidad and bow raking the Bucentaure as she passes through.
The Santa Ana 112-guns flagship of Vice-Admiral Alava still reeling from the damage inflicted by Royal Sovereign, is stern raked by the Belleisle 74-guns and strikes.
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| HMS Royal Sovereign, with a now wounded Collingwood aboard breaks free of a gaggle of Allied ships with Belleisle in close support and other British third-rates coming up in support of the flagship. Royal Sovereign has taken a battering with a 'Heavy Damage' marker at the bow, and desperately needs time out of the action to make repairs. |
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| Neil has assumed the role of Dumanoir and can be seen completing the tacking manoeuvre of the Allied van |
Turn 14 - 13.55
The Combined Fleet flagship Bucentaure is stern raked by the British 74-gun Ajax and strikes
The Spanish 74-gun Monarca is stern raked by the 80-gun Tonnant and is left heavily damaged and struck.
The Santisima Trinidad, exchanges broadsides with HMS Neptune 98-guns and is heavily damaged and strikes her colours.
The Victory is assailed by small arms fire from Santisima Trinidad before the latter strikes to HMS Neptune but as a consequence Vice Admiral Nelson falls mortally wounded in the exchange of fire.
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| As the Allied van approaches the battle between Nelson and Villeneuve, the battle has reached a conclusion with Villeneuve now surrendered to the British and Nelson shot dead, but with the resultant losses suffered by the Allies, seeing Villeneuve's centre fail its break off test forcing the remaining ships of the squadron to attempt to leave the table. |
The centre squadron of the Combined Fleet had lost three flagships (Bucentaure - Villeneuve, Santisima Trinidad - Cisneros and Santa Anna - Alava) in the space of twenty minutes following the breaking of the Combined Fleet line by HMS Victory, as well as the French 74-gun Pluton.
These losses amounted to a total of 11 PPV (Preservation Points Value) lost to the squadron, with their breakoff threshold being 9 PPV, and with a resulting test of 5+ required on a 1d6 roll with -1 on the die because of Villeneuve's dull rating due to his rather fatalistic outlook facing Nelson.
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| Game end and the Allied van is approaching the battle in the centre which has turned in favour of the British with the Allied centre now broken and looking to escape the battle. In the the Allied rear, the fight is still very heavily contested but with several Allied ships very close to striking but having inflicted considerable damage on the leading British ships. |
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| Rear Admiral Dumanoir has responded much more adroitly than his historical predecessor and looks set to bring on another fight with Nelson's weather column, but faces a stiff task with many of the British ships relatively unscathed in their demolition of the Allied centre. |
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| Fresh British ships of the weather column about to enter the fight in the centre can be seen moving in and will now have to prepare to meet Dumanoir's oncoming van, somewhat disorganised themselves after their tacking manoeuvre. |
The final tally of struck ships only tells part of the story of our battle, as with the Allied centre now forced to attempt to break contact, and the majority of Nelson's fleet still full of fight, the tally of Allied losses seemed set to increase rapidly, despite Dumanoir's valiant efforts. In addition, the Allied rear squadron with the losses of Montanez and Bahama had now lost 4PPV from its threshold of 7PPV, only a flagship or two more third rates away from being itself forced to test to break off from the battle.
Allied Losses were Bucentaure 80-guns (Villeneuve), Santisima Trinidad 130-guns (Cisneros) and Santa Anna 112-guns (Alava), Pluton 74-guns, Bahama 74-guns and Monarca 74-guns, which with 6 ships accounts for 18% of the battle fleet at 41% time gone, so plenty of time to gather in the other 36% or 12 ships to match Nelson's achievement, now more likely with the Allied centre forced to try and break contact and with their rear teetering on following suit.
British Losses were Achille 74-guns, Nelson killed, Collingwood wounded and Captain Hargood of the Belleisle killed.
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| The battle with the Allied rear as more British ships come up in support of Collingwood's leeward column, with the three decker, Prince 98-guns visible among the three British ships, bottom right. |
The Allies could congratulate themselves for putting up a hard fight, with several key British ships, including Royal Sovereign carrying heavy damage markers, and Victory with medium damage, plus the strike inflicted on HMS Achille, and the casualty bill that left Nelson dead and Collingwood wounded, matching the historical fight.
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| The absolute rear of the Allied line with the French 74-gun Achille turned towards camera, her helm shot up, carrying 'Medium Damage' and 'Wheel Shot Away' markers on her bow, immediately astern is the now new Combined Fleet flagship, the Spanish Principe de Asturias 112-guns with Admiral Gravina in command, followed by the French 74-gun Berwick and Spanish 74-gun San Juan Nepomuceno. |
Our game, played over the two days, produced lots of drama and action, and the rules played a significant part in that outcome, being very intuitive to use, with all the players happily totting up various factors and resolving combats along the line with little involvement by 'Yours Truly'; as I was able to adjudicate occasional play situations, whilst chatting to visitors enjoying the vista and spectacle of our game.
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| A view north along the Combined Fleet line, showing how Collingwood has driven hard into the Allied rear, and his follow up echelons of ships, now engaging, and with Nelson's column similarly hotly engaged in the far distance. |
I hope the look of the game shows how our hobby can pay tribute to these great moments in history in our own very unique way, as well as marrying the effect with what wargamers do best, namely enjoying the company and socialising of friends who share a similar fascination with our daft hobby.
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| The battle between the British Leeward Column and the Allied rear/centre can be seen here with, to the right of this nearest group, the heavily damaged Royal Sovereign 100-guns, and wounded Admiral Collingwood, exchanging point-blank broadsides with a heavily damaged Fougeaux 74-guns. Closest to camera with the French frigate Themis ahead, is the badly damaged and struck Spanish 74-gun Monarca. The centre group of three ships shows the British 74-gun Mars on the bows of the struck Spanish flagship Santa Ana, and with smoke drifting away from the 74-gun Belleisle that forced the Spaniard to strike. |
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| The Victory 100-guns can be seen alongside the now struck Santisima Trinidad 130-guns, and astern the similarly struck Bucentaure 80-guns, having just been stern raked by Ajax 74-guns, and beyond can be seen Captain Lucas's Redoutable 74-guns looking set to be bow raked by an oncoming Agamemnon 64-guns. This action has effectively broken the Allied centre. The first Allied ship, the 74-gun Duguay-Trouin, of the van is looking set to intervene, bottom right |
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| The French 40-gun frigate Cornélie can be seen closest to camera as the Allied van turns to join the battle. |
As always, for me and I suspect most of us who wargame for pleasure, the best part of the best games we have been a part of is the people we spent time with, having loads of laughs and banter along the way, and that also includes the friends from the NWS, and other visitors who came to the show as part of their museum visit and who joined us for chat over the weekend.
If you would like to see the aftermath of our game, I've included a birds eye sweep of the table on video, link below.
Thank you to Simon Stokes from the NWS for organising our event and to our team of players that produced all the fun shown here over two days of play.
Finally, I will conclude this post with a few remarks from Mark Adkins and the Royal Museums Greenwich about the significance of Trafalgar, perhaps the most famous naval action in human history, and for the British, the best-remembered battle of them all, taking precedence above even Waterloo in the national consciousness.
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| The Heavyweight Punch - Geoff Hunt In the misty calm of the morning of 21st October 1805, three of Britain’s most powerful ships - Victory (100 guns), Temeraire (98), and Neptune (98) are seen in full sail, majestically bearing down on the enemy line off Cape Trafalgar... This picture hangs in my wargames room and has been a major inspiration for the collection I produced for this game. |
Trafalgar was a struggle between giants in terms of firepower, with 33 French and Spanish ships-of-the-line (the Combined Fleet) facing 27 British. These 60 ships, all massive floating gun platforms, could produce a huge theoretical weight of shot. The Combined Fleet's 2,636 long guns could fire a combined broadside of 27.5 tons of iron, and the British ships carried 2,026 guns that could deliver 19.5 tons.
There were some 4,662 guns (mostly heavy) at Trafalgar, in comparison to 537 (mostly light) at Waterloo. Although not all ships participated to the same extent at Trafalgar, it was a close-quarter fight with ships often slugging it out at less than fifty yards, sometimes with their sides grinding together so that guns could not be run out before firing.
After four hours of battle many ships were dismasted and crippled, numerous holds flooded and hundreds of dead bodies thrown over the side. Hundreds more men lay in agony on bloodstained decks. Dozens of casks full of amputated limbs were emptied overboard. A French ship exploded and at the end of the battle eight French and nine Spanish ships had been captured. A huge haul and an extraordinary achievement.
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Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, 1758-1805, circa 1799 by Lemuel Francis Abbott, (National Maritime Museum, London) |
On the 21st October each year, Trafalgar Day, the Royal Navy hold a special service of remembrance aboard HMS Victory, in tribute to Nelson and those who fought and died with him, with the day ending in a formal dinner in his cabin at which the toast to 'The Immortal Memory' is drunk.
The word ‘immortal’ was often applied to Nelson when he was alive, but it became associated with him after his death, and the first known record of the toast was in 1811 when Trafalgar Day was celebrated in The Green Man public house in Blackheath, near Greenwich.
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Emma Lady Hamilton 1761-1815 by Johann Heinrich Schmidt (National Maritime Museum, London) |
In 1813, Nelson’s mistress Emma Hamilton wrote to her friend Thomas Lewis inviting him to come to dinner on the anniversary of the Battle of the Nile:
‘If you come,’ she promised, ‘we will drink to his Immortal Memory.’
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| Our Trafalgar 220 Team, 4th-5th October 2025 Left to Right - John, Andy, Glyn, Andy, Neil, Peter and JJ. |
So with Emma Lady Hamilton having the last word, I wish everyone a Happy Trafalgar Day.
As always, more anon.
JJ
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