Which rules are best for mid 19th century warfare. Of course it helps to know which continent your on because apparently the North America Civil Wars were nothing like those happening in Europe…..
My current preoccupations are with the Italian Wars of Unification that, depending on your viewpoint, ran from 1820-1871 or 1848-1870 or even just 1859-1861!
Whichever timeline you choose the events threw up numerous conflicts across the Italian peninsula.
These last three were considered here and here for my Kloster Arens Encounter
I guess I had settled on the Neil Thomas set with Mike Smith’s Table Top Battles offering a solution for larger battles generated by my mythical campaigns.
The thing is I had not actually tested Piquet for this period so that was still an unknown. And so was A Gentlemans War for that matter.
And then at Hammerhead 2022 I played Fire and Fury. It reminded me that this ruleset had caught my eye the odd decade ago (!) only to fade away.
I enjoyed the participation game and to cut a long story short, tracked down a 1990 1st Edition courtesy of Dave Ryan at Caliver Books. It included some photocopy extracts of post publication comments which suggested a lot of improvements! There were a lot of complaints at the time it would seem. Nice touch from Dave Ryan to include these contemporary articles with this ruleset.
With so much negative noise why bother with them though? Well they have continued to be published. And it seems they have been morphed into other era’s. My Hammerhead participation game was for the Renaissance: Perhaps this endurance shows the core mechanics work for lots of gamers.
I thought, just maybe an ACW (American Civil War) ruleset might suit my 19th century European wars in Italy after all.
The Italian Wars of Unification fit between the Crimean Wars and the Franco Prussian War while they also bracket the American Civil Wars.
Next up will be some simple tests of Fire & Fury to start with.
*In 2020 I was all Anglo Saxon and shieldwalls and tested a few rulesets to see which might work for me.
A blaze of yellowGlorious TulipsPrimroseDark to Black Tulips are not everyones cup of tea but the edges on these are fantasticthis flowering alpine green leaves really set off the miniature pink and yellow flowersMore Pink – this time a spikey Tulip
And even the trees are beginning to bud
ok so this is a mediterranean pine tree – after 15 years in a pot – grown from seed you get these neat little cones – tree fruit if you like.
I have been searching for rules that offer that “something” – that dimension that enhances gaming a certain era. You could call it flavour because most rulesets are basically the same – dice throwing, card turning, measurement, maths, probability and movement around a table sized gaming space.
And of course we all like different flavours.
The Po valley in Northern Italy has seen great armies and leaders pass through, throughout the centuries. Mid 19th century warfare as an era is probably seen by most as a backwater – certainly when it comes to Italy. I guess the wars that get remembered are the Franco Prussian War and of course the American Civil War. These wars it could be argued, framed the next 100 years of global history and perhaps still do.
Back in the Po Valley it was the case of an old empire in retreat.
It was also the time that got us from Napoleon to Kaiser, musket to rifle if you like. Smoothbore and Rifled guns operated side by side.
Battles in the Po Valley in the mid 19th century were short and hurried affairs. But some incurred great loss of life that was noticed. Notable for their apparent lack of professionalism – something about no scouting, lots of surprises and a distinct lack of strategy. The accounts – many contemporary bear out the first two criticisms.
The great strategist Napoleon fought in the Po Valley at the end of the 18th century and his battles were very much confined by the geography. I think his Napoleonic Grand Strategy is more about what went on in the whole of Europe. His wars should been seen in that context. So I would argue Radeztky in 1848 was no less able than Napoleon in achieving his strategic victory in the Po Valley. The difference is that Austria was not fighting a pan european war. But it was fighting battles in the Po Valley.
The issue of poor scouting and too much surprise actually makes for more interesting wargames and throws up opportunities to make a game more interesting. It perhaps beckons to the more erratic ruleset?
For many the war across the Atlantic in the United States is not to be compared – different continents with different outlooks, society and geography.
And yet to my untutored eye while the ACW might have had a grand strategic aspect (western and eastern theatres?), it also seems to have had some campaigns driven by geography limiting the options available to a General. Perhaps there were similarities between these apparently very different wars fought on separate continents?
Even so I had set my mind against looking at the American Civil War as a rules source for my mid 19th century European interests: A case of less is more – something wargamers are often not very good at – me included.
But……
The very nature of limited professional armies, volunteer forces, often with ineffective leadership and disorganisation plus similar technology means that the wars in the Po Valley, seemed quite complimentary to those of the Amercian Civil Wars (ACW).
A bit of a ramble to explain how belatedly, I have considered using ACW rules for my Wars of the Italian Unification (WotIU) battles. In particular Fire and Fury.
The Wiki Commons licensed image shown here is to be found in an excellent Wikipedia page about the Italian Unification Wars. The image shows a classic hill top town – in this case being attacked by the Sardinians (Piedmontese) while defended by Austrians.
This game was thrown in firstly because Battles with Model Soldiers was the source of my original ruleset test scenarios for Fire & Fury.
Battles with Model Soldiers is really a 200 page design/ideas book with rules dotted throughout.
The rules I used are explained briefly at the end of this post. A key aspect is alternate moves with losses incurred before any responses. Initiative (who goes first in each turn) therefore matters.
Donald Featherstones book provides basic rules for American Civil War actions. he shows the mechanics through three stepped up siutations
infantry only
infantry plus cavalry
infantry, cavalry and artillery
In this game I used the last stepped up situation of infantry, cavalry and artillery.
Narrative – Near Rome in 1849
In this confused affair a wargaming Napoleon faces off against Garibaldi – I suppose the nearest real conflict would be 1849 at Rome where Garibaldi gave the French a shock defeat.
The forces were
Roman Republic (Garibaldi) on the left
Red Dragoon Volunteers in foreground left
White Legion Volunteers
Roman Artillery (in liberated Austrian uniforms!)
Milan Sharpshooters in distance
The French were led by General Oudinot looking a bit like the great Napoleon himself.
33rd Line Regiment right foreground
Austrian Artillery on loan
66th Line Regiment in distance
French Cuirassiers
In terms of “ground” the battle was fought on a low ridge (no effect on movement) crossed by a rough track (no benefit) and the fenced orchard (inaccessible to all forces).
The rings denote remaining strength – red = 4 artillerymen/5 figures, yellow = 10 figures, blue = 20 figures with green showing 15 figures in value.
What you see is almost what you get – counting actual figures equals strength. I don’t do figure removal normally – using rings and dice to show remaining strength. So 8 cavalrymen on show were actually 10 in value. I also did some selected base removal in this game (for visual effect) just to confuse matters!
The action was brisk!
This game is a bit short on images – it was quick – almost done in 3 moves really……
Move 1
Both forces deployed and marched forward to drive the other from the ridge otherwise known as Orchard Hill.
Move 2 – Oudinot won the initiative
the 33rd Line fired on the Red Dragoon Volunteers inflicting 3 casualties at medium range
The Austrian artillery opened up on the White Legion Volunteers missing them completely
the 66th Line fired on the Roman Artillery and the artillerymen promptly ran away (die throw = 6 hits versus 4 figures in strength)
The 10 French Cuirassiers charged the 20 Milan Sharpshooters.
Basically a melee is headcount times 1 point for an infantryman or 2 points for a cavalryman.
So this fight was on equal points. 1 d6 is rolled per 5 points – 4 dice each. Cavalry get +1 on each dice throw (2 to 7 range possible) for charging.
Cuirassiers scored 17 versus Sharpshooters 20.
The points tally HALVED equals the damage. So 17 points halved and fractions rounded down meant 8 points of damage to the Sharpshooters. Thats 8 figures lost from the 20 that started the fight.
Meanwhile the 20 points of damage halved was 10 and divided by 2 points per cavalryman gave 5 cavalry killed.
The survivors represent their basic morale – 10 points of Cuirassiers x 1d6 throw of 5 = 50 while the Sharpshooters at 12 points x 1d6 throw of 6 = 72.
The Sharpshooters won while the Cuirassiers retreated with 50% losses. (bit of Roman gloss there…..)
Garibaldi responded
The Milan Sharpshooters hit the 66th Line with 4 hits
The White Legion hit the Austrian Artillery for six literally – destroying them
The Red Dragoon Volunteers charged the 33rd Line
7 remaining Dragoons x 2 pts versus 20 infantry x 1 pt meant 14 points versus 20 points or 4 v 3 dice (round up half or better fractions – 14 points becomes 15 points = 3 dice)
Cavalry get +1 for charging. The Dragoons inflicted 16 points damage halved = 8 infantrymen killed
The 33rd Line threw 12 in all = 6 Cavalry points damage or 3 actual dragoons killed
Now the Dragoons had already lost 3 casualties to firing so were now down to 4 dragoons
4 cavalry x 4 die roll versus 12 infantry x 2 die roll was 16 v 24 or a victory for the 33rd Line
The Cavalry retreated
Move 3 Garibaldi won the initiative to move first
The Milan Sharpshooters fired on the 66th Line scoring 1 hit
The White Legion fired on the 33rd Line scoring 8 hits – destroying the 33rd
Oudinotin Move 3 sent his 66th Line against the Sharpshooters. In the melee the 66th won reducing the Sharpshooters to just 4 men who retired.
The game is almost over!
Move 4 Oudinot moved first
The 66th fired at the Sharpshooters but missed
The Blue Cuirassiers now returned to the fray
Move 4 Garibaldi
The Red Dragoons also returned to the fray
The White Legion now closed on the 66th Line
The Milan Sharpshooters scored 2 casualties on the 66th Line reducing them to just 10 men.
Move 4 the french right is now under attack – the french left having been destroyedMove 5 the French Curiassiers charge in as the infantry trade fire
Move 5 Oudinot took the initiative
The French Cuirassiers made one last valiant charge into the Milan Sharpshooters.
The Sharpshooters killed 1 Cuirassier in turn receiving 3 casualties
The Cuirassiers won the melee driving off the Sharpshooters
The 66th Line fired on the approaching White Legion scoring 6 casualties (I allowed liberal firing arcs!)
Move 5 Garibaldi
The White Legion fired on the 66th Line inflicting 5 casualties in return
Move 5 the French Cuirassiers chase off the Milan Sharpshooters
Move 6 Garibaldi won the initiative
The White Legion fired on the 66th scoring 4 more casualities
Move 6 Oudinot attacksin desparation
The 66th Line and Cuirassiers charge home against the White Legion.
The White legion suffered 2 casualties
In return they inflicted 4 infantry casualties with 1 cuirassier loss
Move 6 The last knockingsMove 6 – the 66th Line break leaving the Cuirassiers alone to hold off the White Legion and the Red Dragoons
Oudinot knows the games up and in Move 7 his Cavalry retire covering the rest of his routing forces.
General Garibaldi triumphs capturing the ridge.
Rules used in the Battle of Orchard Hill
Donald Featherstone distributed his many periods (10) rules within the 200 pages of text. The basic rules presented were for horse and musket and his three stepped up situations used an American Civil War example.
My Summary of Rules from Battles with Model Soldiers
In the Spring of 1848 a provisional government sprang up in Milan after the Austrians under Field Marshall Radetzky withdrew their troops eastwards to the “Quadrilateral”.
The Provisional Government sought protection from Piedmont under King Charles Albert.
At the same time they raised their own forces.
Here are the Milan Line Infantry of the National Guard in field attire.
* Prior to the Austrians retiring, protests included the Milanese refusing to smoke as the Austrian Government had a monopoly on tobacco sales!
Within a year the uprisings were squashed and Field Marshall Radetzky was a hero of the Empire – complete with Johann Strauss Senior composing the Radetzky March to celebrate the Austrian victory at Custoza in July 1848.
John at just add varnish posted his Waterloo 1815 Austrian artillery from the 1850’s. And as it happens I was gaming with very same figures.
Plastic soldier review certainly did not like the officers samurai sword!
So the game report will be a while coming and in the meantime here is a quick snap. My Austrians are in brown as per the box art.
The battle of orchard hill will feature more Austrian forces In the distance the 1860 bersaglieri di Vignola have run away after finding our Austrian gunners a bit too sharp at even long range – radeztky would have been delighted
Waterloo 1815 figures are more 25mm than 20mm so you could say true 1/72.
Piedmont, after the French defeat of Austria in the Second War of Italian Independence, organised popular plebiscites in the central duchies with the forces of Modena opting to follow the Austrians into exile while the army of Parma collapsed and that of Tuscany was reformed and reorganised.
Animation is good to excellent and the mouldings are crisp and clean. Some of the postures are a bit contrived yet having painted them up they look ok.
Many new volunteer units were raised including one battalion of Bersaglieri in Modena drawn from the Emilia and Trentino lands.
The charging bugler is excellent …………….Even serious publishers can’t resist the lure of the Bersaglieri………..
The Battalion was incorporated into the Piedmontese Army as the 23rd Battalion of Bersaglieri in 1860. It retained is unique facing colours.
The cover art shows Piedmontese Bersaglieri in summer campaign dress
Back in 2021 an early unit for this project (the wars of italian unification) came from the Strelets Sardinian box plus some spare Lucky Toys figures.
Hammerhead – an exceptional show – quite a plaudit. Well it is the show of 100 participation games. OK may thats an overstatement. It is the show of participation though.
A show dedicated to participation is exceptional – in the UK
It celebrates each year from the start in 2014 with a collectable figure. In that time it has grown to be part of a Triumvirate of Newark Shows, alongside the two Partizans.
I am happy to say I did participate.
An unexpected start – I met Andy Callan……..
Andy Callan lept up from the table to explain his participation with Peter Dennis as they got ready to play with Renaissance WoFun “flats”. Andy was so enthusing and I promised to return to play. I should have played there and then as I never made it back. At least I was able to compliment Andy on his article back in Spring 1987 when, I think Stuart Asquith was at the helm, Practical Wargamer published “Leaders and Generals”. Andy’s ideas about leadership and how to emulate it the wargame have stuck with me.
Andy said at least “Never mind the Billhooks” had buried rumours of his demise: That certainly made me smile. Anyway, mention Andy Callan and I just go back to a writer who had excellent ideas and could communicate them well. Thank you Andy for a great start to my wargaming day.
The main hall was well set up with plenty of room – and I think just one no show trader. Not bad as we still leave the COVID era behind……The Gamers Lounge meant even more opportunities to play. And note next years show is 4th March 2023I was very tempted to play this gameThose WoFUN flats are very tempting as my efforts have never realised an actual army in this period – Redbox 1/72 plastics based for IMPETUS are still waiting for all their mates who reside in numerous boxes………hours of painting left versus instant armies right – compelling for side projects?The WoFUN flats are plastic – digitally carved and printed which come in “pop out” sheets with bases sold separately. Andy Callan “pressed” this sample into my hand and I am tempted, very tempted.Some interesting Sci Fi figures were availableAnd some scenic items – lots more 3D printing in evidenceMore Renaissance figures of the 25/28mm crossover eraLandesknecht – I think these might be old glory or foundry?A large renaissance participation game tumbling dicetumbling dice tumbling diceBring and Buy was goodwild west Iwild west IIgaslandsThat 7YW gamesome homecasts for 7YWexcellent scratchbuilds28mm plus size looks good at showsmore excellent buildingsUbiquitous DBAtraders had plenty to selllots of buildingslike I said 3D printing growsAn Excellent show
I bought Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy No.118 for January/February 2022.
My magazine buying is haphazard – appropriate for the erratic in me.
This edition certainly caught my eye, enough to part with £5.50 – around the cost of a small 1/72 tank kit.
Sicily for some strange reason has become the epicentre of my wargaming interests.
Originally it was just Romans versus Carthaginians.
Then Renaissance interest emerged albeit in the context of mainland Italy and Spanish/Aragon influence.
Both of these interests have failed to come to fruition.
Then the Normans arrived and I headed south with them – Roger of Sicily beckoned. Except that dragged me back to Normandy/England and the Scandanavians.
A trip to Palermo helped maintain Sicilian interest though.
Byzantine wall painting fused with Arabic wood carved ceilings encased in heroic Norman structures – a legacy of Roger of SicilyBaroque Sicily was a significant player in the mediterraneanEver the great market place – a crossroads on the seaNorman grandeur to be found in the suburbs of PalermoA bronze helmet from the pre christian Greek era of influenceThe baroque gate facing the old port beyond. it manage to survive the WW2 allied bombing of dogged german defence of this old city. Even today some built up areas areas are still simply cleared ground – old plots awaiting a new life 80 years later
However the Normans in the South project stalled at the end of 2020 as Garibaldi hove into view.
Garibaldi has taken me to the Island again in my 2021 project – the Wars of Italian Unification.
Neapolitan Cacciatori elite light infantry from 1859 – Garibaldi did not have it all his own way.Regular Piedmontese by “lucky Toys are in some cases touching 28mm and come multi pose “ish”. They stayed out of Sicily but headed south when Garibaldi was getting to much hero worship.A collection of units from the Army of the South 1860 – lucky toys again large 25mm 1/72 figures ripe for skirmish actionsMy essential troops for 1848 – Austrians wearing the transitional uniforms that make them look less Napoleonic yet fighting much the same way – except of course in 1848 the troops still wore shakos, breeches and tailed coatees with turnbacks. this new style only really arrived in 1850 and by 1859 was already dated!
Garibaldi and the Unification Wars project is currently stalled as well.
Now my Fauxterre projects around the interwar 1930’s era hover over the western mediterranean as inspiration for an imaginations campaign.
So the magazine promised me much. And yes it was a good buy.
My Key Connections were
Miniature Reviews – Butlers Printed Models H39 and Lorraine 38L VBCP for Fauxterre 1930+
Lundehogda 1940 – a Norwegian campaign scenario that looks adaptable to use for Fauxterre 1930+
Stepping Stone to Europe article – all about Sicily and its strategic geographic position – touching on Greeks, Normans, even Austrians (1859 in Neapolitan Lands?), Garibaldi and Operation Husky (1943)
The very last “Desperta Ferro” – although 1300 era (so a bit late for my Normans in the South project) were dragging my thoughts back to medieval Italy and Sicily and some glorious castles I had seen watching the pro cycling – Giro d’Italia.
Spedizione Dei Mille Garibaldi 1860 – One of the actions that propelled me into reading more about Garibaldi……
Irregular Neapolitans ready to fight the Garibaldini reviewed by Guy Bowers in WSaS108, however I have them looking vaguely like French 1848 Line Infantry fighting? you guessed it Garibaldi – this time in Rome…….
the section “An Offer you can’t refuse” – figure choices – amongst the 28 mm and 15mm usual suspects, Irregular Miniatures Garibaldi figures in 20mm get a mention…….
The irregular 20mm Garibaldini reviewed by Guy Bowers in WSaS108 – in COLOURGaribaldi – The man himself from unloved “lucky toys” where 1/72 stretches to 28mm on occasion !!!!
Carving out an Island Kingdom – back to Roger of Sicily and his multicultural Kingdom – a quick one pager about this amazing character.
This thing of ours – Chris Breese – writing about our hobby and who might join us. I actually met Chris at Fiasco in 2021 by his fantastic display. Great communicator and unlike me able to deliver his vision of Stoke Field 1487 – a late late show in the Wars of the Roses complete with Irish and German interests.
I failed to take a pic but did get one of the equally grand rennaissance demo next door…….
My discards were minimal out of 21 articles. Excellent work by the editor Guy Bowers.
Of the other articles I learnt some new ideas from those on figure conversion and scratch built walling.
Street fighting the Punic Wars or Gangs of Rome go south, looks good visually while Assault on Johnny 1 was a nice scenario for the parachutists amongst us.
The features section included
Killing Yamamoto – interesting but not my thing
Defend the King – again interesting and contemporary with Norman/Saxons/Viking wars so very enjoyable
My converted 1/72 Normans in the South – shields on left straight lift from osprey of a certain family.Been there done that – 28mm Vikings by Garrison circa 1977 – they were shown the door by the hobby at the time……………
Guardian of the Shrine – Napoleonic Zombies – must be very compelling but again not my thing – well the zombies bit anyway
Six steps to Naploeonics was an ok read but seemed to side step the material problems with the demise of the 15mm metal market segment, no mention of 6mm and the rise of 28mm – it seemed to keep taking you towards bigger battles with large 25mm and out of most peoples budgets. Its sister article about Warlord Epic Battles – bulk plastic 15mm units did not get a link but seems complimentary?
Back end Napoleonics 1848 Austrians are still visibly of that era, handling the same smoothbores.The 1st War of Unification ended in 1849 with an Austrian Triumph, ten years later the styles are bleeding over to ACW era – kepis all the way. In this case some English Legion Volunteers who served Garibaldi’s Southern Army.
So this particular edition was actually packed with interesting material. I don’t read just what I prefer – often periods or rules I don’t do give me ideas, that can be transferred. At the end of the day its all wargames in some way or other.
happy reading
In my 2021 year end post this model theatre appeared and originates from Palermo and celebrates the history of puppet theatre – wargames stories in another mode?
The Wargaming Erratic 
