The Battle of Trafalgar 1805 - 2025, Exeter Legionary 2025 with the Devon Wargames Group and Friends

 

My regular weekly post on a weekend has been slightly delayed this week as the focus for this weekend was hosting a game of Far Distant Ships (FDS) at the local wargaming show in Exeter, Legionary 2025, where I ran one of three games hosted by the club at the show, mine focussing on the Battle of Trafalgar in its 220th anniversary year this October 21st.

JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Trafalgar, Plans and Preparations

Last month I put up a post looking at the preparations for this particular game, the materials for the rules and warm up preparations at club to get back up to speed with playing FDS since the last run out with them back in October last year when I ran the Battle of Camperdown at the NWS Meeting at the FAA Museum Yeovilton.

JJ's Wargames - Naval Wargames Society Weekend, 2024

The table plan for our game at Legionary based on Mark Adkins plan of the battle at 11.45am and illustrating the twenty 6' x 2' tables we would need for the game in 1:700

This would be the first time using FDS to play Trafalgar, and a significant test for the rules moving from Camperdown with fifty models on the table to a battle with seventy-three, and I was very much looking forward to the game as well as getting back together with friends to enjoy their company rolling bones and chatting wargames stuff amongst other things.

Our rules for the day, Far Distant Ships, slightly amended to cater for our 'Grand Manner' way of playing, using 1:700 models.

The chaps from the Exmouth club who host Legionary, had sorted our tables out for our forward party of myself, Jack and Steve M. to arrange at about 08.30 in time for our players set to arrive about an hour later, and despite a few issues, entirely of my own creation, the table was arranged and the fleets laid out in good time for everyone's arrival.

The table prepared for battle with the rear of the Combined Fleet line closest to camera and the leading ships of Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood approaching with the British Leeward Column in the centre

The various commands were allocated based on preferences and the help of a few dice, and by about 10.00 following a quick briefing we were ready to play.

The Combined Fleet Order of Sailing with Ship ID Numbers shown, yellow = Spanish, blue = French,  and the numbers carried on the bases for quick identification. Note each commander listed to the left of the Orbat has their command details recorded, their seniority in the fleet in case of casualties and their identity pennants should a signal be required in the game.

As in previous games we were joined by friends from the Penarth Club, Glyn, Andy and Lee and with a few new players from the Devon club recently converted to the joys of age of sail gaming using Far Distant Ships, and new friends were made as we settled down to start the first moves of play as the British fleet closed the Allied line in preparation to break it and bring on Nelson's famous pell-mell battle.

The other British approach tables with the balance of the Leeward Column and Nelson's Windward Column to the left of picture.

Having run a few of these large battle scenarios over the last four years there are methods of play I have quickly learned to facilitate a good game, and a handy order of battle with all the ship stats, commander stats and a ready method of identifying any particular ship as required is a must.

Similar to the Combined Fleet Orbat, the British line up with Rear-admiral Northesk's details at the bottom and his flagship HMS Britannia.

My preferred method is an ID or unique Pennant Number applied to the base of each model that is easily checked against the order of battle for each respective fleet, providing a ready reference for the players and helping me to identify ships and specific parts of the battle when I come to do these AAR's for yours and my pleasure.

HMS Victory flying 'England Expects' leads the weather column with Temeraire close astern on the starboard quarter having been hailed to drop back and assume her proper station, and the frigate Euryalus on the larboard quarter in readiness to receive her commander Captain, The Honourable Henry Blackwood back aboard he having reported aboard the flagship for final orders before departing back to his ship having wished the Admiral good fortune in the coming battle.

Both fleets were operating under Nelson's and Villeneuve's standing orders prior to the battle, so you will not see any fancy wargaming manoeuvres beloved in other replays of this famous battle, but not a very realistic option for the historic commanders involved; particularly Villeneuve, who realising the poor sailing and gunnery abilities of his ships and crews ordered his squadrons to operate in line ahead, shoot at the enemy rigging on the approach assuming they were intent on breaking his line and relying on his larger crews to come out on top of any close fighting and boarding actions.

HMS Royal Sovereign, Vice Admiral of the Blue, Lord Cuthbert Collingwood's flagship leads the Leeward Column destined to break the enemy line seen ahead at about 12.15, seen here flying 'Engage the Enemy more Closely' from her mainmast and Admiral Collingwood's blue flag from her foremast.

Sadly for the allies, Villeneuve's decision to reverse course and head back to Cadiz on first sighting of the British fleet had proven his concerns only too real with his line a complete mess as depicted in the set up, leaving ships from different squadrons intermixed and with large gaps in the attempt at forming a new line seemingly inviting the onrushing British columns to pass through them issuing devasting raking fire as they passed.

Let battle commence as the first salutes are issued along the line of battle

The Combined Fleet commanders were thus duly appraised of Villeneuve's orders to them and with sail settings at 'Easy' they commenced an opening fire aimed at the approaching British columns, festooned with canvas following Nelson's signal to approach the enemy line as quickly as possible under 'Full Sail' thus reducing the time they would have to endure the enemy fire on the approach but of course making shots at their rigging that more effective.

The first British ship to feel the effects of this set-up was Collingwood's Royal Sovereign, greeted by some well aimed fire from the French 74-fun Fougeaux, causing light damage aloft. 

Royal Sovereign getting the worst of the early exchanges of fire as the markers on her bow indicate damage aloft from the incoming enemy shot as she barrels towards the enemy line under full sail, whilst also incurring an unfortunate critical hit on the approach that sees her carrying a 'Confusion on the Quarterdeck' marker as officers were required to go below to have wounds from falling rigging treated by the surgeon.

However the opposed die roll used in FDS used to calculate results of various forms of combat resulted in the dreaded result of a natural 6 and 1, with the British being the lower result and suffering a critical hit that caused confusion on the quarter deck, the least damaging of results, but a warning of not dismissing the threat posed by approaching an enemy line bow on.

As Collingwood's flagship closed to close range fire, the French command team produced their one and only Chance Card for that section of the line that happened to be the Sharpshooters card.

The die clattered down the dice tower and Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood fell to the deck mortally wounded, as the stern gallery of the Spanish 112-gun Santa Ana and the bowsprit of the French 74-gun Fougeaux filled the view from the serried gun ports along either side of Royal Sovereign.

Her command restored to good order, Royal Sovereign breaks the enemy line at 12.15 with the stern gallery of the Spanish Santa Ana and the bow of the French 74-gun Fougeaux hoving into sight of the British gun ports.

The loss of one of the British commanders, slightly different from the historical record but none the less dramatic in the story of our game, seemed to galvanize both sets of fleet commanders as they earnestly set about the first exchanges of broadsides at very close range, with no messing about with shooting at the sticks, but with more deadly intent as hulls, stern galleries and bowsprits filled the view from opposing gun ports.

The French 74-gun Duguay-Trouin straddles the bow of an oncoming British third-rate part of Nelson's Weather Column as the battle grows in intensity.

With the first close range exchanges complete and some serious damage inflicted we left the game in the balance to allow everyone to get some well earned sustenance and to take a look round a very busy show in preparation for a return afternoon session of play.

The 112-gun Spanish first-rate Rayo at quarters and ready for the approaching onslaught set to hit the line on her larboard side.

In addition I got a chance to chat with folks interested in the game together with other friends in the local wargaming community with a few plans made for future gaming opportunities before we were soon back at the table ready to recommence.

Both British columns have contacted the Allied line, with the dogfight between the Allied rear and British Leeward column developing, centre-rear of the picture.

The battle was quickly moving into the up-close and personal stage of the fighting that characterised the battering nature of the historical battle, and to prod the British team of commanders to greater efforts I informed them that the required run-rate of Allied ships taken was one strike per two turns of play if they were to match the result of the 'Immortal Memory' himself.

Matt, right of picture, manoeuvres Victory as she breaks the Allied line, whist nearest to camera the Leeward column lead by Royal Sovereign are in amongst the enemy, as Lee, arms folded, admires their handywork and John to his right, checks his tablet copy of the rules - very flash!

Suitably prompted, the Leeward Column got stuck into the afternoon session of play as Lee and John led the charge as a successive wave of British ships closed with the Allied line, taking their tests to pass through the gaps before them, adjusting their sail set to allow them to administer the first stern and bow rakes as they passed by.

The Redoutable, carrying light damage has just had a gun burst returning shot that has caused a small fire aboard and added to her damage, whilst ahead the French flagship Bucentaure closes up on the stern of the Santissima Trinidad in an attempt to prevent further passages of the Combined fleet line.

Raking is a very effective way of inflicting severe damage on an enemy warship in this period of naval warfare, sometimes leaving the target reeling on a Medium Damage result, but occasionally being so effective as to cause a Heavy Damage outcome forcing the target to take an immediate strike test.

HMS Victory approaches the enemy line swathed in smoke as her 'crack' crew issue broadsides from both larboard and starboard batteries.

The former result somewhat disappointed the British as they sailed on after administering a rake, until they realised that the number of command points available held by opposing admirals, to be used to remedy such damage to a lower 'Light Damage' status were extremely limited, and thus choices had to be made as to which ships took priority for such repair attempts, that would leave others vulnerable to having their Medium Damage battered to a worse result in subsequent rounds of firing.

The 80-gun Tonnant, carrying light damage to her rigging, passes astern of the French 74-gun flagship of Rear Admiral Magon aboard Algeciras, while on Tonnant's starboard quarter HMS Bellerophon follows in close support.

With the oncoming series of British ships arriving before the Allied line in their echelon line abreast attack formation, the Franco-Spanish line had little respite from a succession of attacks, combined with those British ships that had passed through their line, turning onto a bow wind and allowing them to luff up alongside already badly damaged enemy ships, and pour in a close range broadside as well.

The herald of a two turn maelstrom of close in British fire started in the Allied rear as first, the 74-gun Bahama, struck following receiving a Heavy Damage result that saw her fail the following strike test, only for her sister ship ahead, the 74-gun Montanez to similarly succumb, with such heavy damage caused resulting in her striking without a test needed.

The intense British gunfire causes the first colours to be hauled down by Combined Fleet ships, with the Spanish 74-gun Montanez seen here struck, and behind her the 74-gun Bahama, the first Allied Ship to strike after receiving heavy damage for the first time and failing her strike test in the previous turn.

The Allied rear squadron had a starting break-off threshold of seven preservation points meaning that the loss of two of its third rates reduced that threshold to just three points, and once that was passed would cause a test for the remaining ships in the squadron to attempt to leave the battle.

Victory carrying a worn marker, showing her repairs to previous damage recieved, with Temeraire directly aft, alongside the Spanish 74-gun San Francisco de Asis that had just struck to the Temeraire after being stern raked.

With the afternoon session of play moving into the last half hour of the show, the final turn of our game only emphasised the effectiveness of the British fire at close range as ships started to strike along the Allied line, not solely in the rear but in the centre and rear elements of the van.

Royal Sovereign with a dead Admiral Collingwood aboard, he having been struck down by French marksmen aboard the French 74-gun Pluton, is in the thick of it as our game comes to a close, with the French flagship Algeciras on her larboard side already struck, she has passed astern of the Pluton stern raking her as she passed and causing her to haul down her colours. Nearest to camera is Tonnant carrying light damage to her rigging bearing up on the starboard stern quarter of the French frigate Themis.

The British Leeward Column have started to wreak havoc among the Allied rear squadron, as if in revenge for the felling of their commander with six Allied ships striking on the 12.45 turn of our battle.

As a result of this intense combat five more Allied ships hauled down their colours and the British command were finally up with Nelson's run-rate.

Meanwhile the Allied van and centre were starting to feel the effects of Nelson's attack with all three Allied squadrons left reeling at game end and likely being forced to roll break off tests in following turns

With the Combined Fleet teetering on a break off test in a further moves of play and with the show getting ready to close, we called our game.

The story of this Battle of Trafalgar saw the following highlights;

Turn 5 - Game Time 12.25. 

Vice Admiral Collingwood mortally wounded by French sharpshooters aboard the French 74-gun Fougeaux.

The Spanish 74-gun Bahama strikes to HMS Bellerophon after a devastating close range broadside caused her to strike immediately

Turn 6 - Game Time 12.35

Six Allied ships struck in the following ten minutes of battle

The Spanish 74-gun Montanez strikes to HMS Bellerophon which had moved along the allied line after shattering the Bahama.

The Spanish 74-gun San Francisco de Asis strikes to HMS Temeraire after a stern rake.

The French 74-gun Algeciras

The French 74-gun Fougeaux

The French 74-gun Pluton

The Spanish 74-gun Monarca

Those losses left the Allied Rear on 4 Preservation Points (PP), Centre on 2 PP and the Van on 3 PP

The Legionary 2025, Trafalgar Team, left to right, JJ, Jack, Steve M., Lee, Capt. Steve, Glyn, Mark and Andy, not forgetting Matt and John who had to leave early but are seen enjoying the day in the pictures above.

The show seemed very well attended with plenty of activity around the traders and bring and buy stands and we had a marvellous day's gaming with lots of laughs and banter which is the traditional way we like to play, and I have come away much enthused and looking forward to doing a two-day recreation of Trafalgar on the 4th-5th October at the FAA Museum as part of the Naval Warfare Society gathering.

The Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805: End of the Action, by Nicholas Pocock circa 1808 (RMG)

Thank you to Jack, Steve M., Lee, Capt. Steve, Glyn, Mark and Andy, not forgetting Matt and John who created the fun of the day and I look forward to getting together around another large table soon.

More anon

JJ

All at Sea - New French Brigs for Trafalgar

The little 16-gun French brig, Furet can be seen at extreme left of Nicholas Pocock's portrayal of the start of the Battle of Trafalgar.

With preparations for Trafalgar next month at Legionary Exeter front and centre, I realised that I needed to build two new French brigs for the upcoming game as the previous models, based on the generic offering from Warlord Games, as the old models used in previous games were moved to a friends collection at the end of last year.

 

The Abeille class of twenty-one vessels, built between 1801 -1812 included this the Cygne or Swan, and her sister-brig Furet, the subject of my model

So one of the first jobs on my list once the wargames room refit was complete was to get on with building some replacements as soon as time permitted.

My two new brigs will get their first run out at Legionary this year.

My new Henry Turner models of the Abeille class brig arrived just before Xmas from Only Games and had been patiently waiting for some love and attention, and here they are all fitted out ready to take their place in their first battle.

My two new Abeille class brigs from Henry Turner and Only Games, incorporating masts, sails and boats together with other fittings from the Warlord Games model brig. 

Of course the sharp-eyed readers of the blog will immediately spot that the other French brig at Trafalgar, Argus, was one of the Vigilant class of six brigs built between 1800 and 1807 and so until I get around to working on my two Vigilant class brigs from Henry Turner, that arrived in the same order last year, I will be relying on my second Abeille type to act as a stand in until then, no doubt replaced in time for our two-day Trafalgar refight at the FAA Museum at Yeovilton in October for the 220th Anniversary.

The Abeille class was a 16-gun brig-corvette, designed by François Pestel with some units refined by Pierre-Jacques-Nicolas Rolland, and were armed with either 24-pounder carronades, or a mixture of light 6-pounder long guns and lighter carronades, with twenty-one ships of this type built between 1801 and 1812.

Sometimes referred to as the Sylphe class in British sources, after Sylphe, which served as model for subsequent constructions, the four first ships, that included Furet, were ordered in bulk on the 24th December 1800, but two (Mouche and Serin) could not be completed due to shortages of timbers.

Furet was launched in 1801 and commissioned on 25th February 1802 by Lieutenant de vaisseau Demay, who sailed her on a secret mission from Toulon to Mahon on the 23rd June 1802.

1/36th-scale model of the brig-corvette Cygne - Collections of Musée national de la Marine

Furet, with Demay still in command, sailed with Admiral Villeneuve's fleet from Toulon on the 29th March 1805 to Martinique returning to Europe with the fleet and then participating in both the battles of Finisterre and Trafalgar, before ending up at Cadiz, blockaded with the other survivors of the battle becoming part of the division under Lamare de La Meillerie.

On the 23rd October, 1805, in an attempt to retake some of the vessels the British had captured at Trafalgar, Captain Julien Cosmao decided to sortie from Cadiz in company with five ships of-the-line, three French, the 80-gun Indomptable and Neptune, and the 74-gun Pluton, and two Spanish, the 100-gun Rayo and the 74-gun San Francisco de Asis, together with the smaller French ships that had been present at the battle but had not taken part: the frigates Cornélie, Thémis, Hortense, Rhin, and Hermione, and the brigs Furet and Argus.

In preparation for the counter-attack the British cast off several of the prizes and formed a defensive line, allowing the frigates to retake two of the captured prizes, both Spanish ships, the 112-gun Santa Ana and the 80-gun Neptuno.

The losses suffered in the great storm that followed the Battle of Trafalgar
The Trafalgar Companion, Mark Adkin

Of the two recaptured ships, only Santa Ana made it back to Cadiz, when the sortieing ships ran into difficulties in the heavy storm that blew up after the battle, that saw Neptuno run aground and destroyed, while a similar fate befell both Indomptable, after she grounded off Rota, and San Francisco de Asis, in Cadiz Bay, whilst Rayo attempted to anchor off San Lucar and ride out the storm, but rolled out her masts in the heavy seas. HMS Donegal came up, and being unable to resist, Rayo surrendered to her, but was driven on shore on 26th October and wrecked, this disaster leaving just the Neptune which had to be towed back into Cadiz.

The storm after the battle of Trafalgar - Charles Martin Powell

The survivors, including Furet took refuge at Cadiz, where they remained into February 1806.

Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood pulled his ships-of-the-line ten leagues out to sea, leaving only the frigate Hydra, under Captain George Mundy, and the brig-sloop Moselle in close blockade. On the 23rd February a strong easterly wind drove the British off their station, which led the French commander, Captain Lameillerie, to seize the opportunity to escape.

On the evening of the 26th February Hydra and Moselle were three leagues west of the Cadiz lighthouse when they sighted the French squadron, comprising the 40-gun frigates Cornélie, Rhin, Hortense and Hermione, and Furet. Mundy began firing rockets and alarm guns to alert Collingwood, while sailing parallel to the French squadron, and then sent Carden in Moselle to try to locate the British fleet.

Furet and Hydra in action, by George Chambers

On the morning of 27th February Moselle reached Collingwood, who despatched three frigates to try to catch the French, whilst in the meantime, Hydra had managed to isolate Furet from her companions, and after a two-hour chase, captured her. 

The French frigates did not come to their brig's aid, and after firing a pro forma broadside, Furet surrendered, being found to be armed with eighteen 9-pounder guns, and having a crew of 130 men under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Demay. She was provisioned for a cruise of five months.

Under the rules of prize-money, Moselle shared in the proceeds of the capture of Furet.

So if you are planning to come to Legionary, you can get to see my two new French brigs alongside the other seventy-one models we will have on table for our Trafalgar refight.

As always, more anon.

JJ 

The Battle of Trafalgar using Far Distant Ships for the 220th Anniversary Year - Plans and Preparation.

 

This weekend I will be starting my warm-up for a project to run the Battle of Trafalgar using Far Distant Ships, Fleet Action rules in this the 220th anniversary year of the great battle which will see a warm-up game at Exeter Legionary 10th May and culminate later this year in a two day running of the game at the NWS Meeting in Yeovilton on the 4th-5th October, within fifteen days of the day of the actual battle.

Far Distant Ships by David Manley are designed with large fleet actions in mind, principally for use with 1:2400 and 1:1200 models in mind which prompted me to adjust them to incorporate my preferred scale of 1:700, together with a few other tweaks that appeal to my way of playing. That said, I use the rules pretty much as written and really like the way they play. 
https://www.wargamevault.com/product/352181/Far-Distant-Ships

The warm-up process sees me running a smaller scenario at the DWG club meeting this Saturday, very similar to previous run outs with the collection when we used Kiss Me Hardy, and running 'The Leeward Line' game this time using Far Distant Ships (FDS), a rule set purposefully designed for big fleet action games and the set of rules I used at last year's NWS Yeovilton meeting to run Camperdown.

The set-up for 'The Leeward Line' scenario, taking as it does a discreet part of the Battle of Trafalgar as its subject and the initial attack by Vice-Admiral Collingwood's Leeward Column on the centre of the Combined Fleet's line, provides an excellent small scenario to get to grips with the key processes of play using FDS.

The Camperdown game, run last year at the NWS, was my first go using the rules with some fifty models on the table and ten players managing the respective fleets, and the play was very intuitive after just a couple of turns, with many of the players unfamiliar with them, quickly getting into the flow of play, enhanced by the non requirement for book keeping, that sees all damage states of ships indicated with markers placed on the bases of the models as required.

The Battle of Camperdown fought at last year's NWS gathering using Far Distant Ships, which worked very well and definitely had the effect of putting the players more in the role of admirals and division commanders rather than individual captains, without losing the granularity of the narrative of a big battle.
JJ's Wargames Naval Wargames Society Weekend 2024

That said the plan this year is to put the seventy-three models required for the Trafalgar fight on the table and to play the battle over two days in October, close to the actual anniversary of the battle and I thought what better way to prepare for that game that to fly the flag of the Devon Wargames Group at this year's local wargame show in Exeter, 'Legionary 2025' on Saturday May 10th, by putting on a Trafalgar run through with the whole collection on show and to fight as much of the battle there using FDS to prepare for later in the year.

The last time the Trafalgar collection was out on the table was our two day refight in the aptly named village of Nelson, with the Penarth chaps back in 2023, using Kiss Me Hardy (KMH).
JJ's Wargames - The Battle of Trafalgar 2023

Thus with the first run out of the whole Trafalgar collection set up for next month, I thought I would prepare for that game with a smaller effort at the DWG this weekend recreating a very discreet part of the larger battle namely Collingwood's attack on the centre of the Combined Fleet's line some thirty minutes before Nelson's Windward Column joined the action.

Admiral Collingwood's Royal Sovereign delivers a close in broadside against the Spanish flagship Santa Ana of Admiral Alava, in a previous playing of The Leeward Line, using KMH, this game using my LED markers on the broadsides to flash just as the lens shutter caught the picture.

In previous posts from last year journaling the completion of the Camperdown Project I went through my reasons for switching to FDS from KMH for my big multi-model battles, primarily around the fact that FDS very much puts the player in the role of the naval commander rather than ship's captain, without losing the granularity of narrative so gloriously created by KMH that plays very well at the lower end of the model numbers size of game; and with a ten to fifteen minute move/turn scale in FDS as opposed to the two to five minute turn in KMH the ability to fight a three or four hour real time battle over a day or more becomes more of a possibility, for those of us who enjoy a big-game as well as the popular skirmish ones.

 

The Players Record Sheet for the Combined Fleet Ships in The Leeward Line scenario, showing the information for the players regarding the ability of each ship in the command, with Attack Factor (AF), Defence Factor (DF) Boarding Factor (BF) Carronade or Close Range Factor (CF) together with a Preservation Point Value (PPV), the latter used to determine when the force might have to test to break off due to casualties 

As with all endeavours, the 'Five P's' guide the process, namely Proper Preparation Prevents P-ss-Poor Presentation, definitely five not six as 'P-ss-Poor' is hyphenated so counts as just one P.

FDS relies on the use of markers to indicate actions and damage results during play and I have produced my own for these large games.

So as well as the first playthrough of the rules this Saturday, I have ensured adequate markers, see above are prepared for the players to use in the game as well as range sticks, signal flags and chance cards to add yet more seasoning to an already spicy dish of a game.

A set of chance cards are prepared to be dealt out randomly
to player commanders, to add a little more 
narrative and drama without distorting the play.

With the markers I have prepared Order of Battle sheets for respective commanders so that all the various ship stats can be accessed at a glance as required and for the big game at Legionary I aim to have two new French brigs from Turner Miniatures that have replaced the generic versions from Warlord and that better capture the look of the 16-gun Argus and 18-gun Furet together with my new 3D printed ships boats and crews to mark the progress of boarding parties lowered to take possession of struck enemy ships, more anon on those new additions.

Victory leads the Weather Column ever closer with the 98-gun Temeraire close alongside, keeping station, still heading for the allied van at our big-game in 2023 to whet the appetite for fun in 2025.

So I will be posting an AAR of our Leeward Line game on Saturday at the DWG no doubt with access to my re-write of the scenario for used with FDS as a PDF from here at JJ's, and if you would like to come along and see the Trafalgar collection in action you might want to make a note of the dates and venues mentioned to come along and see the collection close up and personal, namely Legionary in Exeter on Saturday 10th May, 

and the Naval Wargame Society Meeting, Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th October.

As always, more anon

 

JJ