I almost missed it

 

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Ship yards of York (4)—I have crossed ocean

Caesar's army crossed scary 'ocean' for the first time in 55 BC to a hitherto unknown land (to them). On Friday, I crossed roads in Midland—already known, but still scary😀—in search of ocean. And I found some!

Some French ships, still in the same state as my previous post, crossing 'ocean'.

Some English ships, with a bit more paint applied than last time (mainly black!), also crossing 'ocean'.

My wife said, "It's not very blue." But that was what I was after.

Heavily influenced by Julian, I was looking for a grey-blue mottled look of the north Atlantic Ocean; on a good day!

For the actions that occurred in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, or even Pacific, it will just have to be an imposing, grey day.

I think it is gonna work. We'll see once I lay it out and move some ships around. On the latter point, it is a nice, flat, slightly slippery surface, so fit for purpose.

If I want to add other splashes of colour, I can always practice my Pro Hart (R.I.P):

Ship yards of York (part 3)

I had completed building the English and Spanish ships a couple of weeks ago, prior to heading to Mt Barker for John's game of Laichling, but it has taken me a while to apply any paint to them. Now that has begun (slowly), it is time for a little update and to respond to previous comments and questions!

English ships, undercoated, with added dry-brushing. I started painting the 100-gun 1st/2nd rate on the right, but stopped as I looked for 'guides' of colour-schemes to use for each ship.

French ships. I had part-painted these years ago, but have now applied the grey and white dry brush—hence they look a real mess at present. I had wondered if I'd prefer the approach of undercoat, apply base coat, dry-brush and then highlight. Fortunately, I do not, so will use the easier and quicker method of undercoat, dry-brush and then colour (which will be the case for the English and Spanish ships).

Spanish ships, undercoated and dry-brushed. The 'mighty' Santisima Trinidad at the front and the strangely 'stumpy' Rayo behind her, then six 74s, frigates, merchant ship and brigs.

Ray, you asked about my intentions with painting the ships**. Apart from not very well(!), I am painting them using a modified 'Mitch method'. This involves my usual undercoat in Payne's grey, now followed by the 'Mitch magic' of a dry-brush with grey and then with white, before adding the appropriate colours as part paint, part highlight. Mitch uses inks (and is considering army painter), but I don't particularly like the brightness of inks and am not into 'new fangled' things like army painter (haha), so am sticking to simple acrylic paint. I'll leave the fancy stuff for the likes of you and Mitch, Ray! 

**Incidentally, I went to check exactly what you had said and asked and could not find your comment on my blog. I had seen it and read it via the email that I receive notifying me of a new comment; but it was not on the blog?! I went looking and, sure enough, there it was in the list of comments but marked as 'spam'. How rude of blogger!! This is the second time that it has happened with one of your comments. I have no idea why! Anyway, rectified now and your comment is posted.

I finished the undercoating and dry-brushing over the weekend and started the 'colouring in' last night. I did not get far though, part of one ship, before I hit a road-block. It's the same one that I get with non-uniform land units. What colours do I want to use? How can I make them all look different?

The ships can all be basically painted the same; most often some sort of brown, light or dark, but sometimes almost yellow, or red which is alternated, generally with black, for the decks/lines of guns and sections in-between. Alternatively they could be painted with the main body of the ship one colour and black (or other colour) for the lower hull and around the deck. Most ships had splashes of colour and often gold around the figure-head and the decorative galley/captain's cabin (rear).

There are quite a few options and I would like a bit of variety. Some way to discern between the look of the ships. So, I put down the brushes and went searching for pictures that showed variations of colour schemes for the first, second and third rate ships, frigates, sloops, brigs and cutters.

This took me several hours last night, and some more today, but I now have pictures of representative vessels for English, French and Spanish ships of each class to act as a painting guide or perhaps a 'library of inspiration'. It will be paints out again this arvo'/evening.

In response to my previous post about the ships, there was a bit of a 'discussion', via comments, about periods that we do not wargame. A few of you mentioned that Napoleonic naval is not one that 'grabs' you sufficiently. I can understand completely. It does not have the same visual appeal as large-scale land battles, there is the messy business of building the ships and the (real or potential) problem of all that rigging. Then, when you get them on the table, the wind messes with where you want your ships to go and you never get to engage with the enemy!

For me, Napoleonic naval follows a familiar wargaming story. I have always had an interest in this aspect of the French Revolutionary-Napoleonic period, but I am now in deeper and deeper, thanks to the process of constructing these fiddly little f#@$%!! ships, looking into colour schemes to use and, most importantly, what to do with them.

I had a bit of an epiphany regarding this last point.

I was looking at various, smaller actions, one here another there. Quick searches and then skimming entries on Wikipedia, was sufficient to produce a list of three or four. It was not a particularly structured and not really what I wanted. I wondered about a listing of all of the actions, so as to choose some to have a go at on the tabletop.

Like any encyclopaedia, Wikipedia is a useful, first pass to get an idea about a topic (battle). Generally, I am after more depth, so go looking elsewhere. If my books are lacking (as they are for naval), then I'll head to JStor, archive.org or look at the references listed under the entry in Wikipedia. In this case, it was the reference list for one of the actions that yielded some real 'gold'! Three tomes that have all the details that I am looking for:

• Batailles Navales de la France vol 1–4, by Troude,

• The naval history of Great Britain vols 1 to 6, by James,

• Biographie Maritime vol 1–3, by Hennequin.

These are all secondary sources, but were written and published soon after the events, so are almost a primary source. I was able to get the complete set of all three from the marvellous archive.org and Gallica BnF.

I now have a new and exciting (to me) 'cunning plan'. I'll do the lot.

All of the naval actions of the French Revolutionary-Napoleonic wars. I have begun to make my list, going through Troude and James. I am making a few notes about each action and page references for when I go back looking for the details. Most of the early encounters were small; ship to ship 'duels' or a few ships against one, or small numbers on each side. Predominantly involving frigates, sometimes even smaller craft.

The first action will be the 'Battle of Tellicherry', 19th November 1791 off the south-west coast of India. It was a peace-time attack by two English frigates on the French frigate Résolue. Perhaps 'phoney war' is a better description for the 'peace' of the time, as the French were escorting goods into Mangalore for the Kingdom of Mysore that was in conflict with the British East India company. Needless to say, the attack on a ship in peace-time caused quite a stir, but the burgeoning British Empire and naissant French Republic were soon at war.

Serendipitously, the fact that the actions were all small ones, prior to May-June 1794, makes them ideal for testing out the rules and developing an approach for handling larger affairs. It also means that, once they are painted, I can add rigging to the ships on an 'as needs' basis.

Fightin', drinkin' and mateship in Mt Barker

"Turn 1 saw the French win the initiative and add 6 ADCs."

(Caption from Steve's notes sent along with the photos)

Unter Laichling table-centre, nearest camera.

Well... a wargame and a few drinks; but the mateship bit is definitely accurate.

John provide venue and troops (aside from Mitch's limbers) and he used the Laichling scenario from Michael Hopper's 1809 scenario book, adapted where necessary for General d'Armée (second edition).

He and Steve (initially) and then Mitch (once he was able to get there) played out the first two turns the previous Thursday afternoon/evening, "...bringing the forces into contact for the proper fun" as Steve put it in an email that he sent along with photos from the first two turns. I have used his photos and notes here.

"Two of these were added to Gilly's 15th léger, in the woods on the French left (forwards tasking). Another was sent to Lorencz's skirmishers, commissioned with the attack on Unterlaichling. Mitch arrived as the French were moving or just before and took over rolling etc. for the Austrians. The French rolled 'snake-eyes' for their additional (forwards tasking) move, but still caused some panic in the Austrian lines"

"The Austrians got 5 ADCs and used a couple of these for artillery assault. Despite a re-roll, the Austrian cavalry brigade and their brigade holding Oberlaichling, hesitated. The French were successful with all of their activations."

"Turn 2 saw the French gain 11 ADCs (out of 9 dice), thanks to rolling 4 sixes. These were used for forward tasking Davout's Immortals, and continuing to rouse the skirmishers at Unterlaichling. The Austrians weren't so fortunate and subsequently suffered another one or two hesitant rolls. The Austrian ADCs were busy at the heavy battery on the hill behind Unterlaichling. Despite an embarrassment of ADCs the Bavarians also hesitated, having been fine the turn before without any interference from the brass hats."

"The Immortals surged forward (this time Gilly's brigade rolled a 3). The Terrible 57th added 18 cm (rolling an 8). The Austrians were checking rules for 'moving back'. Sounds like RETREAT! to me [Note back packs facing the enemy, JF]. Up on the hill the Austrians were trying to move forward but were struggling with congestion."

 

"The French began their fire phase. The only roll of note was the columns facing the Grenzers in the woods which scored two of three possible hits. Mitch shouldn't have worried. With his illegal blue dice in hand (these should be French) he delivered some devastating fire left and right. The French skirmishers at Unterlaichling suffered the brunt, losing a stand. However, with great rolls comes a reckoning. The Grenzers in the wood (near Unterlaichling) panicked and lost their fire discipline. Oooh. Mitch was right to worry."

This was where I joined in.

I left home on Thursday morning, arriving a little after midday. "Good timing," said John, "Steve and Mitch should be here around 1 pm."

That gave me a bit of time to see the table for real, to hear more about what had transpired and so be ready to 'leap in'. Steve arrived first and, realising that Mitch had been delayed, we made a start.

John had a 'wicked' plan for allocating commands. He wrote little cards for Austrian and French right and left and then we drew from those available. I got the French right, Steve the Austrian right, John the Austrian left, which would leave Mitch the French left once he joined us. For the time being, I was the sole French commander.

Steve had set-up an attack on the Grenzers in the small wood beside Unterlaichling, so I duly sent Lorencz's lead troops in under infantry assault (having rolled well for ADC availability).

With their lost 'fire discipline' (indicated by the smoke), the Grenzers inflicted minimal casualties,

... and were easily swept from the field. 

Overview of the centre of the table, from the French side, featuring Unterlaichling in the middle of the photo.

From the (roughly) northern end of the table, the independent brigade of the French 15th léger progressing towards the Austrian right flank, while the bulk of Gilly's men moved towards the Austrian line north of Oberlaichling. The French had also managed to bring on reinforcements—a small brigade of light infantry (top right of photo).

Mitch had arrived, so took over the French left, continuing the advance towards the Austrian defenders (above and below).

I tried to organise Lorencz's men for a feint against Unterlaichling, while the newly arrived reinforcements headed to support the French centre-left.

A successful roll to bring on the Bavarian cavalry bolstered the Franco-Bavarian right, while the Austrian light cavalry floundered in the heavy going (indicated by the areas of lichen) and due to hesitant brigade activation rolls.

Another particularly successful roll for ADCs—not quite matching Steve's record in the first turn, but a 'yield' of 10 was d@mned fine—allowed us to allocate infantry assault and forwards to 'The Terrible' 57e ligne.

Mitch's dice rolling did the rest. His blue dice now legally playing French! This was the beginning of too many poor rolls by Steve.

Clearly David Brown—or the Browns plural, since his son is now a co-author (which must be a huge buzz for David, I reckon)—likes the dice to feature heavily in his/their games. The random factor is given a large weighting in General d'Armée and its impacts are entirely random.

Brigades have a one in three chance of being hesitant. There is a one in six chance that a (non-élite) infantry unit will lose its fire discipline, or receive a fatigue casualty if artillery (increased from one in 12 in the first edition), and a one in 36 chance that an artillery battery will go low on ammunition or a unit will achieve a 'destiny' roll (bonus) when firing or charging.

This emphasis on the random factor has been increased in the second edition, since all combat modifiers are played out by adding or subtracting dice or re-rolling one or more die, rather than adding or subtracting factors.

The 2/57e ligne followed on and attacked the next Austrian battalion, but was not as successful this  time.

 Better rolling from Steve and much poorer by Mitch resulted in a bloody nose and a retreat.

Before Unterlaichling, Lorencz's men had copped a pasting from the Austrian guns on the high ground. John's rolling nearly as good as Mitch's.

Help was at had though as more Bavarians had arrived to bolster the Franco-Bavarian right.

A period of manoeuvre and less effective artillery fire affords these pictures featuring John's beautifully painted troops and Mitch's limbers.

Plenty of low rolls for infantry fire resulted in losses of fire discipline in the two main sectors of action (indicated by the 'smoke' markers).

A real mixed bag over on the French right. The battalion in line nearest camera incurred all nine hits in the one turn; thanks to two double-sixes for the Austrian artillery. In contrast, two of the six hits on the French battery were self-inflicted; rolls of four or less resulting in a 'fatigue casualty'.

We concluded the evening at that stage (end of turn 7).

The second part of John's 'wicked' plan came into effect the next day; our commands were re-allocated. This time John had the French left, Mitch the French right, Steve the Austrian left and me the Austrian right. Like the mercenary commanders of the previous age, or perhaps the emigré or even 'turn coat' commanders of the day, we would put our all into the service of our new 'lords'.

The pressure on the Austrian right had left brigades interpenetrated and unformed. A hesitant activation roll did not help matters.

John formed the 15e léger from the woods into l'ordre mixte ready for a big putsch,

...as did the remaining troops on the French right. 

Around Unterlaichling, Lorencz's weakened legions prepared to attack through the small wood.

The Bavarians advanced in force.

An overview of the battlefield from the (roughly) south.

On came the 15e léger.

Blunted by Austrian defensive fire of the 'helmut' boys.

More success for the French against my hesitant Austrian brigade beside Oberlaichling.

A clear shot for the battery from the recently arrived 'be-helmeted' brigade was wasted with a loss of fire discipline and fatigue casualty. 

The French light cavalry were intended to charge, assisted by a forwards command, but a real command blunder (by the French players) failed to estimate (or to measure*) the distance correctly, so they were unable to charge. The Austrians formed square in readiness for the next attempt.

*Pre-measuring is allowed in General d'Armée. We were slow to come to it as I don't think that any of us particularly like it, but it is in the rules as writ, so we began to do the 'sensible'(?), if 'gamey' thing and to check all distances during and prior to movement, more and more as the game progressed. 

On the French right, Mitch had the French and Bavarians ready for their big putsch.

On the subject of measurement. Steve used the imprimatur to the full to position two regiments of Austrian hussars, in the heavy going, at the appropriate distance to attack the Bavarian cavalry on the right flank of the Franco-Bavarian army.

Steve had to leave us at this point (end of Turn 9), leaving me as the sole Austrian commander. [He probably saw the writing on the wall, so filled his saddle-bags with the Emperor's gold and headed for greener pastures.]

Mitch was available for a bit longer, probably enough for two more turns.  It was time for some 'last turn' specials!

On came the 15e léger,

... into a mêlée,

... driving the 'helmut' heads from the table.

A little further south, their contemporaries proved a bit tougher.

The defenders around Unterlaichling blunted the Bavarian attack!

Perhaps Steve's parting gift of the cavalry poised to charge could tip the scales a bit in the Austrian's favour?

Time for some 'magic'. Two ADCs allocated to provide a C-in-C command of post of honour. Automatic activation of the brigade, recover of a casualty and a charge with glory!

Unfortunately, I had 'wasted' all of my good dice rolls on the infantry. Mitch's famed blue dice came through.
Being a cavalry mêlée, the four to one 'hits' was not completely devastating, resulting in a retreat for the unit in combat. Or should that be for both? We spent some time looking for the answer in the rules and had a long discussion about which made more sense, given the intention of a first round mêlée (or 'combat' as it is termed in the rules) in General d'Armée—which, surprisingly to us all, "... represents the psychological battle in the last stage of the Charge, where one unit would probably break before actual melee."

The rule book for General d'Armée second edition is generally clear and well written (and in a fairly large font size, so the Lardies know the demographic of their current clientele!). Still, improvements are always possible.

Rules for specific aspects are dotted throughout the chapters. There is an index and table of contents, but neither of these is sufficiently detailed to allow one to go to the precise page(s). To check a question such as 'what happens to the support unit(s) in a combat?' required us to check every page indicated in the index and then to go through the rules, chapter by chapter to try to find the answer. Either we missed it or it is not there. Being heavily invested in the rules, John was going to pose the question on the forum.

This long pause and discussion had two effects.

Firstly, I found more typos and grammatical errors. This was pretty frustrating and disappointing, given the length of time that had been taken to check the rules prior to publication (something well advertised by devotees of the system as well as the writers/designers). It's not the first time that I have considered that publishers need to ask an anal proof-reader like me to go through the text! 😀 [I am not meaning to 'blow my own trumpet', although it's good to have (small) skills (hahaha), but I reckon it is reasonable to expect such attention to detail, perhaps minute detail, isn't it?]

Secondly, we decided to call the game at that point (end of Turn 10). That was no matter as the Austrian position was weak to crumbling. More importantly, the intention of the session had been to give the rules a good 'work out' and, hopefully, to bring up so 'tricky' situations for us to work through.

What is more, we had a great time while doing so!

John is firming in his comfort and liking for the rules, so I reckon we'll be having another game at his place in the not too distant. That will be just beaut!

Thanks so much John for the game, for the sensational dinner that you provided us all on Thursday evening and to you and Vanessa for letting me stay chez vous.

A couple of final photos of the field at game's end.

The pressure on the Austrian positions is in clear evidence.

Some details of the game

Rules: General d'Armée second edition

Scenario: largely based on Michael Hopper's "Eagles Over Bavaria"

Figures: 1/72, mixture of Esci/Italeri, Hat and Zvezda, all painted by John (except Mitch's limbers which were Hat Austrian and 3D printed for the French).

Mat: vinyl material painted and flocked by John