Vimeiro Part Two - Scenario Tweaks

This Sunday will see the second play through of Vimeiro with a different set of commanders and a change of objectives and set ups based on the playing of the first game.

The Vimeiro table with Vimeiro town and Ventosa farm identified as objectives and the British (to the left and behind the red line) and French (Between points A and B at start or arriving on roads C and D) set up positions marked.

It is interesting how the old maxim of "the plan changes on first contact with the enemy" can apply to wargame scenario construction, in that you only really get to see what works and doesn't when you see the game in play and how the commanders react to the situation the scenario presents them with.

As a confirmed player of historical scenarios, the thing that really interests me about playing out battles from the past is the test of asset management that comes with the constraints of the terrain and forces that were imposed on the historical commanders. In other words, can you do a better job than General A or B given the same circumstances.

With Rolica, the game parameters meant that the French had to withdraw from the table. The questions that the scenario presented was, could they stay on the table as long as General DeLaborde managed on the day and could they cause more damage before forced to leave? Likewise for the British, could they frustrate this French game plan and get a better result than Wellesley? The game was time limited based on how long DeLaborde managed historically.

With Vimeiro, the situation facing the French is about as difficult as they come. A smaller force is tasked with attacking an enemy on ground of their choosing with a quality force in defence that is more than capable of counterattack. The situation calls for circumspect and careful reconnaissance, all the qualities that General Junot lacked during this battle. Those sword blows the general took to the head probably didn't help.

If, based on the historical outcome and the situation, we conclude that it is very unlikely that the French force will be able to break the Anglo Portuguese army, then we need other parameters to compare the results to and that will challenge both commanders to match. Thus my original thinking had the best outcome seeing the French gaining control of the Eastern Ridge (the high ground between Vimeiro and Ventosa). Given the force disparity, this is an extremely tough ask for the French.

So, back to the drawing board.
1. The Battle is naturally time limited to about midday due to the arrival of Sir Harry Burrard, who on hearing the cannonade arrived to see the beating of the French attacks and to put a halt on any plans that Wellesley had of counterattacking. Thus we can build this end point into our scenario. In addition, with the arrival of Sir Huw Dalrymple, much later, the French get their "get out of jail card" as he set about agreeing to letting them leave Portugal with all their loot. Obviously the terms of this agreement will be heavily influenced by how well the French have done. Given that Junot plumbed new depths in how to get well and truly drubbed a long way from home without any hope of relief, the deal he got was a mark of the level of idiocy displayed by Sir Huw, and the level of negotiation displayed by General Kellermann, the architect of the Convention of Sintra.

2. In the actual battle, the French attempted to take control of Vimiero and Ventosa, managing to contest the former and give the 43rd Light infantry a tough fight. It would seem reasonable to see if our tabletop French commander can go one better and take and hold either or both of the objectives, within the time frame of the scenario. These two objectives would seem more practicable that asking the French to have more units than the British in occupation of the Eastern Ridge and the terrain benefits to a defender offered by the objectives make them defendable once taken by a smaller force.
The uncertainty of where the French attack will fall and with what strength will keep the British commander on his guard and force him to defend against either or both attempts. In addition any French attack on Ventosa would benefit from having a force arrive on road D, turning the Anglo Portuguese defence and reducing the impact of their reverse slope position. This should encourage a French commander to keep open the option of going for the flank attack, whilst pinning units to their front. Time is limited though.

3. Sir Arthur was concerned to protect his flank when he observed the French flanking manoeuvre and to reflect this in the game the British commander is forced to detach a brigade to support the Portuguese under Colonel Trant. I think it likely that Sir Arthur didn't detail the force he chose based on the precise strength and combat factors of the brigades under his command. He would have had an idea of which were his best brigades and then the rest that made up the majority, part of which he selected to move out. In an attempt to stop the wargamer in all of us selecting the brigade they can most afford to lose, we will randomise the choice of brigade to be ordered off excluding the obviously key brigades such as Anstruther's who would have formed the core of Sir Arthur's defence of the Eastern Ridge. This then provides a level of uncertainty for the British command.

These three points will be play tested on Sunday and just as in the first game will stand or fall based on "contact with the enemy".

If you have any thoughts on these ideas or the scenario as a whole please share them on the blog and add to the discussion for the weekend. A full AAR will follow the game on Sunday together with an updated scenario briefing and all the labels for Carnage & Glory II available in my downloads.

Maurice at the Devon Wargames Group

Yesterday was spent, as I usually spend the second Saturday of each month, in the company of my wargames club, the Devon Wargames Group.

I was looking forward to playing my first game of "Chain of Command", the rules for which I have had since their launch a couple of months ago. Several of our club members were involved in the play testing of these rules, and I was looking forward to them gently leading me through what looks like the most exciting set of rules, let alone WWII rules, to be released in recent times.

Sadly due to illness our game was postponed at short notice and I needed to arrange a second game for the day. I thus turned to a rule set that never fails to entertain and a collection of figures that is starting to show its age and really needs re-painting but I enjoy playing the occasional game, namely Maurice and my AWI collection.

My old AWI collection in desperate need of repainting and rebasing

Given the time I had to organise this game, literally yesterday morning, I needed a scenario that required the minimum of preparation but that would provide an afternoon of fun. I have posted a full report of our game on  the Devon Wargames Group blog.

The scenario was taken from a collection designed for the board game "Hold the Line" and I think illustrates the cross over between board and table top games that has become evident with games like "Command and Colours" and going back to "Squad Leader".

My WWII collection in action on my hex terrain

I speak as a gamer who, for the previous ten to fifteen years, based a lot of my games on hex terrain and hex mats and used rules that worked with them. Thus you will see a link on the Devon Wargames Group page showing the original playing of this scenario using the same figures but on a hex mat. Likewise many of my WWII games used my hex tile terrain system, using a set of rules that I constructed from a combination of "IABSM", "PBI II" and "Flames of War".

With my return to conventional table top games, I still think board game scenarios are a useful resource when it comes to thinking about scenarios, even if, as illustrated by yesterday's game, a little time is required to adapt, adopt and improve, as the old motto goes.

As always, "Maurice" came up with the goods and both Ian and I had a lot of laughs generated by the clever card play mechanics of the game. If you have been toying with the idea of playing this rule set, then I would unreservedly say get in there and have a go, they are great. I would probably say the same for "Longstreet", except the American Civil War has never really excited me as a period to play, but I would play a game of "Longstreet" based on the pleasure I have had with "Maurice".

If you have any thoughts on this post or others, especially of scenarios you have developed from board games the let me know.

Battle of Alexandria Scenario - James R Arnold

I love reading and playing historical scenarios. I even enjoy writing and putting them together myself. Part of the fun for me is reading what others have done, comparing that with my own understanding of the events portrayed and then writing up my version emphasising and bringing in the aspects I want to portray. My objective is looking to create a game situation, based on the historical events and situation, that will give a challenge each time it's played and that encourages you to want to give it another go.

I have always been interested in the smaller earlier battles of the British Army in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars that range from India, North Africa, Northern Europe, Italy to South America and the Caribbean. Theses campaigns were very much about the British Army finding its confidence in its abilities and, just as in the French Army of the time, developing its battlefield tactics. In the process of many victories mixed with occasional defeat a tactical doctrine and command system was developed that culminated in the army seen in the later campaigns of the Napoleonic period.

The earlier part of the revolutionary wars, particularly looking at British involvement on the land, is not spoilt for scenarios and therefore it is interesting to look at them when they come along. One such offering is from James R Arnold a name I was familiar with after looking at his range of books covering the campaigns of Napoleon and indeed he has co-written a collection of scenarios covering the campaigns of 1805-07. It's great to have an historian interested in writing scenarios for the war-gamer.
Alexandria Scenario - James R Arnold

So as a first time purchaser of Mr Arnold's products I thought I'd share my impression.

The scenario is laid out in a very logical format over eight pages with an historical/game overview, pre-battle briefings for each C-in-C, table-top dimensions with map of the key terrain features, terrain description and effects, game time/duration of game, special rules, orders of battle, set ups and victory conditions. The information contained is very precise and together with the maps easy to follow with a clear description of why the author has made certain choices about the terrain or troop classifications.

The author states his methodology based on his own preferred wargaming rule set, but the troop morale ratings based on a score for experience and elan are generic enough for a simple conversion to most rule sets others may wish to use. The "Experience" levels range from Militia, Regular, Veteran to Elite and the "Elan" ratings being numerical based on a ten point scale, but usually running from 6(worst) through to 9(best).

The orders of battle strengths are explained in the text as to how they were arrived at and being in numbers of men present, should again allow easy conversion to other rules.

The special rules cover off the peculiar events that affected this particular battle and the suggestions as to how to model them, all of which seemed very reasonable and thought through.

The set ups allow for the French to follow the historical attack just before dawn or to be more conservative and go for a daylight set up with suggested effects from either choice.

The victory conditions allow for French/British decisive/tactical/marginal victory with clear definitions.

The "Additional Scenario" section puts forward ideas for "what if "alternatives to the historical game adding to the re-play potential.

So all in all good stuff and I am pleased with my $2, £1.29 purchase.

My only small criticism would be the omission of a list of the reference sources used in the research.

This was particularly noticeable with a point stating that British Light Companies had yet to master skirmish combat, which justified giving a French advantage in skirmish capability. As there are no references to check this assertion with, I was not convinced. General Abercromby spent time in Turkey training up his forces for this campaign before landing, and British Light Company drills were well established by 1801, with several exponents of the art, commanding in Abercromby's force, General John Moore, who would set up and train the British Light Infantry, General Eyre Coote later of the Rifles. In addition the British force had several foreign corps armed (rifles) and trained especially for light duties. These together with the combined light company men had the potential to acquit themselves more than adequately. I am not aware of any references to the British being unsettled by French skirmishing.

I thought it might also be useful to list other sources available if you are interested in the Egyptian Campaign. There is a useful article from Wargames Illustrated that looks at The British Army under Abercromby.
http://www.wargamesillustrated.net/Default.aspx?tabid=297&art_id=3227

and also the French Army
http://www.wargamesillustrated.net/Default.aspx?tabid=297&art_id=3226

The Osprey title on the subject is getting on a bit now but is full of great information and the excellent artwork of Gerry Embleton
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/store/Napoleons-Egyptian-Campaigns-1798%E2%80%931801_9780850451269

In addition there are the two titles covering French and British forces from Caliver Books. I haven't seen these but do own one of the Peninsular War titles and was very pleased with it.
http://www.caliverbooks.com/Partizan%20Press/1798-1820.shtml

The only thing needed now is a great range of figures in 18mm specific to the theatre. I'd love to do some camels and Mamelukes. If there are any manufacturers toying with the idea let me know please.

Vimeiro Scenarios for Napoleon at War

So you're sat on a beautiful palm clad island in the Indian Ocean sipping your "Pinacolada, well actually a "Virgincolada" since I packed in the alcohol, with no access to a painting table and some figures. Well what does any self respecting war gamer do. Get the computer out and start designing campaigns and scenarios ready to be tried out when back from paradise.

So now I'm back I can post a variation on a theme by adapting my previous Vimeiro Lite scenarios for use with Napoleon at War. The set ups and order of battles are the same but with victory conditions, timings and objectives set up for NaW. The two  scenarios are for Vimeiro Hill and Ventosa.

French attack en masses Vimiero Hill

The scenario design is based on historical positions and orders of battle so unlike a throw together Napoleon at War scenario the forces are not balanced with points, just what Junot and Wellesley had to deal with. So you will just have to see if you can do any better than them!

British defence at Ventosa Farm

The scenarios can be downloaded from "My Scenarios" section. As always constructive feedback welcome.

Napoleon at War in Devon and Scenarios

The Napoleonic collection was in action yesterday at the club with my Frenchies taking on Chas's Austro-Prussian collection in a Napoleon at War summer scrum. There is a full report of the game at
Devon Wargames Group

The French cavalry en masse in Exeter yesterday

This was a "What shall we play next month" game that required a scenario for the day and found me yet again turning to Charles Grant for inspiration. If you are a follower of my blog you will know that I like to play scenarios, that give a background as to why the forces are where they are and what on earth has decided the commanders to fight on this particular ground. If there is an historical story behind the game, even better, because then we can savour comparing what the game produced as to the actual historical events.

In this case I chose the "Reinforcements in Defence Scenario No 15" from CG's book "Scenarios for Wargames".

I have played this scenario several times before and always enjoyed the sometimes nail biting too and fro game it has often produced. The Devon report gives an overview of the scenario, so refer to that for the information about it.

Having chosen the set up, I then wanted to give the players an historical reason for this battle and given that the Austro Prussians really only came together in late 1813 I rummaged through my Napoleonic library for a setting for the game. This led to me reading up the events following Napoleon's victory outside the walls of Dresden.

Following their defeat, the Allies fell back towards the sanctuary of the Bohemian Mountains pursued by General Vandammes Corps sent by Napoleon in pursuit as he turned his attention back to the North and Berlin. The pursuit was not like the good old days of 1806 and the Allies were able to regroup and destroy Vandamme's Corp at the Battle of Kulm three days later.

Our game had the Allied forces attempting to hold a town at the entrance to one of the few passes into Bohemia to allow their main force to fall back and regroup. The French were obviously seeking to prevent this. One could imagine several meetings like this between the two forces during those days in 1813 and so our scenario took its place in the historical canvass.

If you don't own a copy of "Scenarios for Wargames", I would sincerely recommend getting one as it offers game setups for players right through the many periods we play from Ancients to Moderns and everything in between.

I often find the generic scenario set ups contained in most modern rule sets today a bit bland and lacking in period flavour. Not being a lover of points in army creation I prefer to build my forces like Grant and the Generals, selecting units by type to deal with the suspected enemy formations and the terrain and assessing forces on troop strength versus that of the enemy in ratios rather than points. I might change that approach when I find a reference to Napoleon or Wellington referring to the points value of the force they were up against.

Thus ending on that controversial bomb shell, I invite your comments.

Next up, "French Dragoons, fousands of em"! I have three regiments of lovely AB Dragoons to paint to get ready for my big Vimiero game in the Autumn. I will be away in Sri Lanka and the Maldives for three weeks in August celebrating 25 years married to Carolyn my lovely and very patient wife so am planning to break the back of these before I go.

Vimeiro Light - Carnage & Glory Files

As promised I have posted the updated files for Carnage & Glory II to play the two scenarios posted,Vimeiro  Hill and Action at Ventosa. They can be downloaded as a RAR file from My Scenarios labelled Vimeiro Light Scenario - Carnage & Glory.

I have made the changes as mentioned in my posts, and as with the Rolica file included the Officer and Unit labels for each game.

Peninsular War Scenario Files

I'm always thinking of ways to improve the blog and make changes.

This post is to let you know that I thought it would be helpful to those that want to use the Carnage & Glory scenarios if I put up a file containing every thing you need to play it using the system.

So starting with Rolica which I have play tested, I have made these changes. So if you follow the link it will take you to a file containing the Scenario PDF, the AAR PDF, plus the Army List and Order of Battle files, and the XL ID tags for the units.

As I complete the other scenarios I will take down the Scenario PDFs and post the full file as above.

I hope you C&GII players find that useful.

Yesterday at the Club - Thoughts on Rules and Scenarios

This week has been taken up with putting together one of the games for this month's meeting of the Devon Wargames Group. I have posted a full report on the game at  Battle of Grant's Hill 1776.

 

I was slightly out of the "comfort zone" in that having discussed with a friend at the club, Jack, that it would be cool to get his AWI 28mm collection out, I suggested we play them using "Maurice", forgetting of course, that they are really designed as a two player set of rules. At the Devon Group we are regularly getting about 10 -12 players turning up and so we plan to offer at least two and at yesterdays meet three games to get everyone involved.

 

I then emailed Jack over the intervening month and suggested that we could try out Carnage & Glory II - SYW/AWI set of computer rules.

 

I then had to start thinking about the logistics that went with that proposal as I usually plan a game around my own collections of figures, terrain etc and have all the kit ready to go on the day.

 

War in the Colonies, yesterday at the Devon Wargames Group

First thing, As I don't wargame in 28mm, I needed to get some new range sticks, at 1" to 25 paces produced. These range sticks are an additional aid to the usual tape measure as the system works on paces (a pace being 27 inches in real life) not inches, and the range sticks marked in paces really speed up the information players give to the computer operator, namely me. The markers for these sticks have been pre-produced and are freely available on the Carnage & Glory Yahoo Group .

Then not knowing how Jack's figures were based or the size of the units, I needed a detailed list of figures to work with. Other stuff like terrain, we have plenty of in the club.

With the list of figures I then sat down and thought about a suitable scenario based on the size of Jack's collection. I chose a quick solution by turning to Charles Grant's book "Scenarios for Wargames" about which I will discuss. The scenario chosen was No.7 Rear Slope, which I changed to "Grant's Hill" in honour of the great man.

Thus with the scenario in mind it was then a case of changing the order of battle suggested in the book to better match an AWI battle, the results of which you can see below.



The process described above really all came together last week, and given that we hadn't played this particular rule set before, the rules stood up to a "throw together scenario" typical of a lot of club games. Now to be fair, as readers of this blog will know, I have been using the Napoleonic set for my own games, but different period rule modules have their own quirks to be contended with, so at times it felt like a leap of faith pulling yesterdays game together.

 

If you've read the game report then you will see that things went off great and we had a really fun and interesting game. The American command team was Tom and Ollie, who being under 25 years of age definitely rank as two of our younger club players, faced with Jack and myself who as part of the majority of our club membership are well over the other side of that threshold. This clash of generations, and contrast in wargaming experience, probably mirrored quite well the difference in experience and capability between the American and British commanders in the early part of the AWI. Needless to say, one or two errors crept in to some of the command decisions made by our younger opponents, which were ruthlessly exploited (no they weren't, just joking). More like, it was a case of, "are you sure you want to do that because if you do!!"

 

Yesterdays experience has really reinforced my confidence in using this computer driven set of rules. When I think about how easy it was to prepare the scenario, turning up at club with the game prepared ready to go on the lap top, the fun of announcing a particular reaction or response by a given unit, and then the "wash up" at the end when a clear victory report is given with a post battle update of returning stragglers and walking wounded, I think this is ticking a lot of boxes that I want ticked when I play.

 

So from the rules to the scenario. In the week I noticed a post on one of the blogs I follow, sorry it escapes me which one it was, about getting hold of a copy of Scenarios for Wargames on Ebay for £20 and what a pleasing addition to the library this was.

 

 

I've had this book in my collection for many years and dip into it now and then but had come to view it as a bit dated and too formulaic. Since getting back into my Napoleonics, I have upped my reading around the period and with a view towards the Peninsular War in particular, have been keen to develop ideas about scenarios in general.

 

I sat down in the week and started to go through this book with yesterdays game in mind, discarding certain scenarios as I read because they were designed around bigger forces, different periods or would be more complex than I wanted for a simple game to be played at club. After I had found what I wanted, I then started to go back to the ones I had rejected and read them back thinking about any historical comparisons I could make. Indeed Charles Grant points some of them out in the book. His Rear Guard (2) is based on Corunna.

 

I was rather pleased how often I could think of comparison historical battles where these scenarios mirrored the historical event. Indeed as well as the Corunna example, I found myself thinking about my Oporto scenario as I read "Assault River Crossing". This also provided ideas for a later game I have in mind to recreate Wellington's crossing of the Bidasoa. The "Reinforcing a Town" scenario has given me ideas about a mini game to recreate the fighting in Fuentes de Orno. This battle spread over three days has, I have thought, always been a bit of a challenge to capture in a scenario format.

 

Where I think the work comes in when using this book is looking at the orbats. Obviously when Charles Grant wrote this book in 1981, he was making it as generic as possible so it would work with as wider options of rules and periods as possible. I, as other wargamers, will want to tailor these scenarios to our particular needs and adjusting the order of battle to better mirror the historical armies we are trying to model. 

 

What I think I might try is to re-write these scenarios to a Peninsular War/AWI theme, with pre-prepared orbats based initially on my own collection. It would be quite fun to have these pre-prepared so as to be able to put together a game at short notice with everything ready to go.

 

This week has made me take another look at an old resource. At some stage I would like to do a little bit of campaigning, and I think these old scenarios could have a role to play in that idea as well. More anon.



 

Spring Plans

Well with April finally here I'm starting to take stock of the first three months of 2013, where did that go! I'm starting to look forward to the next four months in terms of figures to get painted and games to play but I also know then that given family commitments, holidays, going out to enjoy the weather!! etc, the middle months of the year tend to be limited in time to focus on the metal warriors.

As you can see my plan has very much of a Peninsular War Napoleonic theme to it interspersed with other periods to play as I go. I have laid out a framework in previous posts of aiming to play a series of British battles from the war in a linear time format developing scenarios along the way and painting new figures to add to the collection as I go.

With Rolica done and dusted and the new table completed, its full speed ahead to Vimeiro, the themes of which I laid out in my post last month. I find it helps me to focus on what is needed now if I have a scenario plan in mind with the precise figure and terrain requirements to make it happen.

I decided that Vimeiro offered an opportunity to put together a core collection that would form the foundation of both my British and French forces, allowing me to add allied contingents as I progressed my scenarios into the war. My thinking is to be painting contingents for the next scenario whilst playing the current. Then to release my ideas to the wider world after play testing.

So how is the plan standing up to first contact with the enemy, General Time?

Well I have completed all the forces required to play my Vimeiro Light scenario, which based on Dave Brown's Wellington's Victories Scenarios Vimeiro Hill and Ventosa, breaks the battle down into the two actions that characterised the battle. I will be playing Vimeiro Hill at Legionary in Exeter next month as a demonstration game from the Devon Wargames Group. Between now and then I am aiming to play Ventosa at home on the new table, with a few mates.

Vimeiro -Full Fat version

In addition to that I have almost everything together to play my Vimeiro full fat scenario with everything in except Trant and his Portuguese who played a very supporting role in the actual clash. With the 91st Highlanders waiting to be done and three British Gun crews to be picked up at Salute, I just need to put a few extra river sections together and I can get the "big one" played hopefully in early June.

Speaking of Salute, I have sent off pre-order emails to War Modelling UK, Old Glory, Magister Militum, who I have asked to bring me one of these.

This little delight is going to be a centre piece on my Battle of Oporto assault river crossing scenario with the wine barges. You can see something similar in the picture below which comes from a very interesting Portuguese blog Port and not only

PASSAGE OF THE DOURO, by the division under the Command of Lt Gen.l the Hon.ble Edward Paget.

PASSAGE OF THE DOURO, by the Division under the Command of Lt Gen.l Sir John Murray:

Also Fighting 15s, TSS and Plastic Soldier, the last of which will be bringing up my copy of Kamfgruppe Normandy and the extra copy of the rules. I played the Kursk set in January KG Kursk AAR - Devon Wargames Group at the Devon Wargames club meeting and am keen to have a go with my Normandy collection, so watch this space for a report.

I am also looking forward to checking out the Xan figure range from Empress Miniatures, this range of Napoleonic figures look very nice in the pictures, I just want to see them in the flesh.

With regard to planning and building for the next game whist playing the last, I have already put the Corunna scenario together focusing on the fight for the village of Elvina. This will require at least two British line units faced and laced Blue and Gold to cater for the 1st Royal Scots and the 4th King's Own. There were no such faced and laced units in the Vimiero campaign, Yellow being the popular colour that season! and so as I also need KGL units later for Oporto and Talavera, the KGL will be standing in for these two illustrious regiments for my Corunna re-fight.

Now to a slight change in the plan. I thought it might be fun to post my scenarios before I play them, then you can tell me what you think (keep it constructive please) and I can tap in to the JJs Wargames Brain Trust for any gems. So I have put up the links for Vimiero Light, Vimiero Full Fat and Corunna. Please note, that I have posted the Vimiero and Corunna scenarios before play testing myself. In addition I have taken ideas from other scenarios and rearranged them accordingly. In so doing I have recognised those sources when known. There may be errors that will need correcting that I would probably pick up during a game, so play with them on that basis, and let me know your thoughts.

One thing I will point out is that I have put them together, initially, around Carnage & Glory as I really like this rule set and, following last months Rolica game,intend to play more games using them this year. I have even managed to commandeer Tom's old school laptop to become my official wargames playing computer. However if you are interested in playing these scenarios with other rule sets, don't be put off as the battalion strengths are based on historical sources and should easily translate to other sets.

Please check out the Carnage & Glory Yahoo Group as I intend to post all the game files in the files section there. If you do use the rules or are thinking of doing so, all the stuff you need will be there.

World War II Naval Scenarios Part 3

And finally, the last sets in the collection.

 

Four Against Japan - The ABDA Campaign of 1942, includes a scenario of my own "Java Sea , The afternoon Action".

 

The Lance's Point - US and Japanese units in action off Guadalcanal

Closing Rabaul - The Mid-Late War actions in the Pacific

 

I can't claim to have played all these scenarios and there are bound to be typos and the odd mistake, which I take full responsibility for. If you have played them and/or spot any errors please let me know and check out the originals on Len Heinz's Naval Games Site.

World War II Naval Scenarios Part 2

With the kind permission of Len Heinz I am offering the next set of naval scenarios.

Magnetic North - covering the action in the Arctic Circle

Mare Nostrum - action in the Mediterranean

Wilfred & Weserubung - The fight for Norway

Just follow the links opposite

World War II Naval Scenarios

One thing I  was very keen on, when starting this project, was to share ideas that could add value to visits to my blog for other gamers. I am very happy to make available scenarios and other aids that I have put together for my own use.

As regular followers will know, I have a broad taste in historical wargaming, and one period I am particularly keen on is WWII Naval for which I have a large collection of British, German, US and Japanese ships, mainly GHQ models which have superb detail.



HMS Exeter under fire and taking hits

I ran a couple of games last October and November at the Devon Wargames Group using scenarios I had adapted from a marvellous collection provided on Len's Naval Page as part of his Fire on the Water Rules.



HMS Jupiter having turned after launching her torpedoes is spotted by Karl Galster and is badly hit

I prefer to use my computer when it comes to WWII naval and turn to my old copy of Shipbase III a DOS based set of rules that always give a good game, and when I want a scenario to run I always refer to the massive collection that Len has kindly provided.

As part of my wanting to save myself time in setting up, I sat down a few years ago and rearranged Len's scenarios to give me a visual representation of the initial headings and positions of the ships with simple table top maps using 4"/1000yards as used in General Quarters rules and what I tend to set my Shipbase games to. I placed the initial headings in compass bearings ahead of the map markers so I could see at a glance where my models should be heading.

The scenarios are easily adaptable for any rule set and so I am posting pdf collections of each set based on a particular period and place in WWII. I hope you find them useful.

I haven't converted them all to pdf yet so will add to the collection over time, but to start the ball rolling I have put a link to the first two collections, "Red Flag and White Ensign" and the Narrow Seas", which contain the scenarios we played at the Devon Wargames Group, last year.



Rolica, August 17th 1808

In line with starting to wargame classic Peninsular War scenarios, I am thinking about the first battle that involved the future Duke of Wellington, Rolica, which in the panoply of Napoleonic battles is better described as a rearguard skirmish, but never the less gave the French their first contact with the Allied forces (British and Portuguese) under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley.

Interestingly, this is a battle where Wellesley, a commander strongly associated with the classic defence, showed, as he would often do, that he was also a very capable offencive commander and set about giving the veterans of Austerlitz, Jena and Auerstadt a lesson in what well led troops using "outdated" linear tactics could do to the new French system. The battle of Rolica, on a small scale, was a warning to later French commanders such as Marmont and Joseph that Wellesley was a very capable opponent on the attack, and in deed it is interesting looking at Salamanca and Vittoria with Rolica in mind.




Sir Arthur Wellesley in 1804 age 35

An interesting quote that helps illustrate Wellesley's thinking at this time comes from a conversation he had with a friend just prior to taking up his new command. When asked about his thoughts, he replied

 "Why, to say the truth, I am thinking of the French that I am going to fight. I have not seen them since the campaign in Flanders, when they were capital soldiers, and a dozen years under Bonaparte must have made them better still..... My die is cast; they may overwhelm me, but I don't think they will out-manoeuvre me. First, because I am not afraid of them, as everybody else seems to be; and secondly because if what I hear of their system of manoeuvre is true, I think it is a false one against steady troops. I suspect all the continental armies were more than half-beaten before the battle was begun. I, at least, will not be frightened before-hand."

So to the battle:
Sir Arthur Wellesley and his army of about 10,000 men landed in Portugal in Mondego Bay close to the fortress of Figueira on the 1st of August 1808, and was fully assembled on shore by the 5th. In the following three days he was joined by a further 5,000 men under Major General Sir Brent Spencer from Cadiz. The total force was on the road to Lisbon by the 10th of August staying close to the coast to remain in contact with the Navy.


General Henri François Delaborde

When the French commander General Junot heard of the landing he sent one of his best commanders General DeLaborde, to delay him until reinforcements could arrive from Abrantes. The two forces made contact on the 15th August with a brief skirmish at Alcobaca. On the 16th August Wellesley's troops occupied Obidos and the next morning he observed that DeLaborde had occupied a defencive position just to the north of Rolica, some four miles beyond Obidos, with a small force of about 4,500 men.

General Delaborde was a very capable commander who would continue to enjoy the Emperor's favour in the years to come, eventually commanding elements of the Young Guard. The Rolica valley offered terrain advantages to offset his lack of numbers, he had been ordered to cover both Generals Loison and Junot's approach march and expected reinforcements. Assuming they were near, any further withdrawal might imperil his commanders strategy, and so a delaying action would allow him to fulfil his orders and test the determination of this British commander. Perhaps if he could cause sufficient casualties these British might scuttle back to their boats.

Sir Arthur also had his mission in mind. He was aware that DeLaborde had potential reinforcements in the area but was unclear as to where they might be. He also new that a further reinforcement of two brigades were set to land and reinforce his command and that he needed to move south and close with the coast to cover that landing as quickly as possible. He was thus set on a plan of manoeuvre to force the French from their defences and potentially destroy them in an envelopment battle. He decided to attack without delay and dividing his command into three columns, tried to outflank the French.
General DeLaborde saw through this manoeuvre and skillfully withdrew to a much stronger position on a steep ridge about a mile south of Rolica.

Wellesley repeated the manoeuvre, but his plan went awry when one battalion the 29th attacked the enemy centre prematurely and he was forced to launch a full attack to support them.The French resistance collapsed under the pressure and by the late afternoon they were in full retreat southwards having lost 600 men and three guns. British losses were about 480 men.

So how to capture these events in a scenario that challenges both the attacker and defender. When you first consider an action like Rolica, the very one sided nature of the battle might cause many wargamers to turn away. However given the challenges and objectives that both Wellesley and DeLaborde faced with the time constraints imposed upon them, we have the basis of a scenario that forces the wargamers to think about similar issues that faced their historical counterparts whilst they attempt to replicate or improve upon the results achieved on the day.

My thoughts have the British on table force in three columns. They outnumber the French rearguard by about 2:1. Given that the ratio was more like 3:1 this would allow for the off table flank marches that were happening. The British objective is to break the French with a force morale failure within a time limit. The French simply need to stay on the table in good order for that given time. The time set could have some variability to allow for the effectiveness or not of the off table flank marches. I have already written this up with the force orbats which I am planning to play test next month.

Aspects I have considered but not decided upon are:

• Include a level of casualties suffered and/or inflicted (DeLaborde trying to give the British a bloody nose).
• A random event mechanism which might cause the "Colonel Lake and the 29th premature attack scenario" to happen.

In the meantime I would welcome your thoughts and comments.