Bergen II - by popular demand

OK, popular is an exageration but my good e-friend James Fisher of https://avonnapoleonicfellowship.blogspot.com said he wanted more pictures so...
Lets consider it a recap:

This is the fourth battle of the Helder campaign in 1799. Led by General Herman, The Russians set off too early, overwhelm Groote and crash on towards Schoorl. The figures are old Esci Prussians, Italeri Russian Grenadiers and HaT 7YW Prussians with bicorns made out of Milliput - what pain that was!

The French hadn't played a large part in the campaign up till this point. They had been sending reinforcements of dubious quality as fast as they good to boost their Batavian 'allies'.

The Russians crash through them anyway and rush on to Bergen without guarding their flanks. US General George Patton didn't think commanders needed to worry about their flanks - he was wrong of course. 

Just as in the historic battle, the French drew the Russians into Bergen whilst working round their flanks causing a panicked retreat in which Herman was captured.

The Russians fell back to a new position

.

Whilst the French tried to outflank them again.

There is much skirmishing in the dunes but with little result.

But on the left the British have appeared! 20mm Irregular Miniatures AWI range.

Same again...

The French launch an attack on the Russians. Hoping to defeat them before the British can make their presence felt.

The British on their part are struggling with the terrain (which has led to random movement) but get stuck in when they can. (Irregular, Accurate & Strelets Light Dragoons)

Ok- so that is pretty much where we had got to last time. At the end of the game in scenario terms it wasn't looking good for the allies. Nothing much had actually happened so I played on the next day...

The French moved out of Bergen in large numbers,

'En Avant Mes Braves!'

On the other side of the battlefield the Batavians and the British clash (more Esci Prussians).

The battle wasn't much more interesting than the opening stages so here are some gratuitous shots of my Batavian cavalry - More Irregular Miniatures - this time from the Early Napoleonics range.

More fighting on the Russian side as the French advance

British Light Dragoons do what cavalry is supposed to do and take advantage of a wavering enemy and override them.

The Batavians retake an artillery position and move onto the flank of the 2nd Guards

But that was it - the Anglo-Russian force lacked the strength to continue- I called it a day.

Dutch Artillery 1790s

Someone on The Miniatures Page was asking and I have no idea how to post photos to a forum so have put them here:

These are from the Belgian Army Museum in Brussels - they are Dutch and were cast in the 1790's annoyingly the flash has obscured the date of manufacture...

Bergen 1799

So I finally got to have a bit of a game- I am supposed to be on leave but couldn't go to Copenhagen as planned so...

Actually a bit of a disappointment - The game didn't really deliver. I had a few moments when I felt the  rules were a bit arbitrary- They work well for massive battles but I felt they didn't really deliver the narrative quality I was looking for here. Also the pictures are terrible - same camera as usual - maybe the peculiar light caused by the winter/spring weather we are experiencing. I plan to re-run the game/skip to the next battle in the series and do something a bit different.

so here are the highlights:

Here the Russians launch their attack along the edge of the dunes. Historically they set off too early; at least an hour before the proposed dawn jump off, so the dark picture works in our favour.

The defenders of Schoorl are brushed aside

And General Herman's column's plough on towards Bergen.

The British are now awake and moving at a random speed because of the rough terrain. They attack Krabbendam and drive out the defenders.

The advance is now general on the left.

The British press on with little opposition.

But the Batavians send up reinforcements!

Don's brigade - led by the glorious 17th assault Oud Karspel on the allied left.

The rest of Don's brigade frontally assault a Batavian battery - they make no headway but unbelievably suffer no casualties and this goes on for several rounds. Around this point in the game I became annoyed with the rules. Either nothing happened or whole units were getting wiped out in a single turn - it seemed to lack the to & fro that characterises this period of military history - there was little opportunity for a heroic narrative it was just 'do not, or die' it seemed - I tried 'Shako' for a turn - I like some of the ideas but the results were identical so I switched back to the devil I know - my highly adapted version of Volley and Bayonet.... 

On the allied right things are going badly - a Russian cannon has been destroyed in a counter battery exchange and the Russians are in danger of being thrown out of Bergen.

Vicious street fighting ensues.

The French move to outflank the Russians in Bergen.

They emerge from the gloom to envelop the hapless Russians (please note that their uniforms are much darker in natural light).

On the other side of the river the Batavians also move up.

... and just in time as the British finally take that artillery position.

The Russians are forced out of Bergen but that is probably to their advantage - can they escape or will that column hit them in the flank?

They pull back and attempt to rally - the whole force is pretty battered and it's British reserve has failed to take the bridge and link up with the main army.

The British and the Batavians finally make contact in significant numbers but by the rules of the scenario the battle should end here. A bit of a damp squib - nothing much has happened really and what fighting there was has been pretty inconclusive - the dice are probably broken. I am going to have my tea but might resume the battle later...

Fog of War

Am currently researching the battle of Neerwinden for a talk I am giving on General Mack and am struck once again by how little 18/19th century armies seem to have known about the strength and dispositions of their enemies. I know the 'fog of war' issue gets discussed frequently in wargame periodicals but it is so rarely adequately simulated on the table. Sadly as I tend to play games where a) time is limited b) my opponent doesn't hold with such frippery or c) my opponent is me, I doubt I can test out ideas I am having on this - maybe if I train up the lad to a sufficient level?

Neerwinden in 1793 was a classic encounter battle between the Austrians under Coburg and the French under Dumouriez. The French outnumber the Austrians by about 44,500 to 41,400 (so not much in it). The Austrians have twice the number of cavalrymen (9800 to 4500) but don't seem to have used them for scouting. The French move first and subsequent Austrian plans are based on teh belief that the main French strength is attacking their right... but they don't know...
And this happens a lot - at Jena Napoleon thought he was facing the whole Prussian army - he wasn't.
At Austerlitz the allies thought that Napoleon's right was wide open but that gap was waiting to be plugged by Davout (who only just made it by some serious forced marching).
Maps were wrong. Columns were sent down unsuitable roads, roads that didn't exist, roads that were already occupied by other columns.
A walk in teh countryside will show you that even with a good map (and GPS) it is easy to get lost in unfamiliar country and the extent to which even barely noticeable folds in teh ground can conceal landmarks (and groups of your mates lying in wait).
How often is any of this seen on the wargames table?
I am going to give this some thought and one day will report back on a suitably random game- though there is a limit- you do have to feel like you can direct events to a degree or there's no point playing!?

A picture tells ...?

Whilst researching for my latest book I have come across a range of interesting images not all of which can be relied upon as historical sources. Or can they? Do the artists know something that we don't?

This is the battle of Tournai in 1794- probably painted in the 19th Century. We see the Austrian commander and his staff observing (or perhaps directing) the battle. The figure on the white horse may be intended to depict the Prince of Cobourg and perhaps the officer with the drawn sword is Archduke Charles? We have Austrian Cuirassiers and dragoons, possibly a wounded Frenchman and what appear to be British or Hanoverian cavalry though the uniform appears fictional as does the flag. Quite pretty but probably of limited historical significance (ASKB)

This is considerably more useful. This (also from ASKB collection) shows the attack on the French fortress at Valenciennes- though presumably not the final storm as that took place at night. I would love to know who all these people are. Presumably the central figure is the Duke of York. Next to him may be one of his brothers (two of whom served in teh campaign) or possibly Murray his Adjutant-General. The dismounted figure in the foreground looks like Abercromby but surely lacks sufficient lace for one of his rank? the figure in white is possibly an Austrian Liaison Officer (then again he could be Dutch. Once again there are (presumably) defeated Frenchmen, there again they could be Hessian or Hanoverian cavalrymen? There are Austrian hussars, civilian train drivers and British Artillery in 'Mother Shipton' hats. This painting was clearly made at the time or very close to it and is of great interest to the historian (and figure painter) - both pretty and useful!

Bashing a Bishop

Well - there still hasn't been any gaming. There is a game set up but just haven't made it into the loft but I have been doing a fair amount of modelling and painting. There is also a skirmish game with 54mm figures that I might put up some pictures of but that was so long ago I can't remember much about it. Anyway, I have been trying to get through the mountain of tank kits that I bought every time someone suggested that we did some WW2 gaming and of course I like to use up all the bits that are left over as well- Waste not. Want not....

What the heck is that? It is an early British self-propelled gun called a Bishop. It was used in the Western Desert Campaign and I have crudely fashioned this one using a left over PSC Valentine hull with a turret from balsa and plastic card - like they used to do in early days of wargaming when everyone was out to save themselves a few bob.

Looks a mess! It got better!

That Balsa turret caused me a few problems when it came to painting - just soaked right in! Hopefully should be able to show it in use at some point.