ECW - VwQ Rules - Pt 1

I got an email from someone asking me where he could download Clarence Harrison's Victory without Quarter miniatures rules for the English Civil War, and I had a look around and I'm no wiser. It is a damned good question. I believe that if you email Clarence he will send you them, but a couple of discussion threads I saw mentioned that he is in any case very busy with his own life, and this might be both onerous (for Clarence) and slow (for everyone). I have a pdf which was sent to me very kindly by Clive, but as far as I can see the Quindia Studios site doesn't have a download available at present. I have emailed Clarence myself, but thus far have no response.

So I thought I'd take it upon myself to put the rules up here in a series of short posts - not because they have anything to do with me directly, other than my own enthusiasm for them. I don't think this should cause any offence against copyright, since I am not selling them and since they are not offered commercially anywhere anyway. I'll put them out in three instalments, and I will also say a few things about why I like them, how I propose to use them, and about a few things I propose to build into them. If this does step on anyone's toes, or causes any problem, then please shout and I'll pull the posts as necessary. They are intended to be supportive and encouraging - the game should be widely available if it is not already.

Reviews of any sort are always a bit dodgy, since they often tell you more about the reviewer than the item under review, so I hasten to add that any criticism implied here is entirely my personal view, and that overall I think VwQ is an unusually good game. There will be the odd enthusiast who feels moved to say that I should just use Forlorn Hope, or 1644, or De Bellis Renationis, and be really cool (like them). If anyone thinks anything along these lines, then I'm sure you are right, and I will probably have a go at these other rule sets at some time in the future - I have certainly looked at and considered all of these, and a number of others going all the way back to George Gush, Terry Wise, Wm B Protz et alia. I have recently played Charlie Wesencraft's rules from his Practical Wargaming and enjoyed them, but I'm still pretty firm on VwQ as my game of choice for what is - for me - a completely new period.

Why? Well, first and foremost, I likes 'em. I like the philosophy, and I identify very strongly with Clarence's stated objectives and preferences in his own games. In particular the multiple-figure stands, the lack of rosters and record keeping (casualties are not removed), the simplified tactics are all very appealing, and the card-driven activation system is good anyway, but is eminently suitable for solo play, in which I need just the right amount of control to be be placed in the lap of the gods.

Because of my solo game interests, I have also produced a computerised management program incorporating VwQ for my own use. The program is useable in solo or non-solo contexts, of course, but is especially useful for solo stuff, in which the banter and jollity surrounding card shuffling and dice throwing duties are conspicious by their absence, and such functions can become a pain in the butt. The solo gamer (at least this particular solo gamer) is certainly looking for a pleasurable experience, but he is primarily a facilitator for a little piece of (fake) history, and some of the social traditions of miniatures gaming can become a little wretched without a room full of pals. I will trust my laptop to shuffle cards accurately, without cheating and without dropping them on the floor, and to test morale every few seconds without developing the Screaming Habdabs or losing the will to live.

So the program exists, it runs, though it still needs some debugging and the Optional Rules (notably the Event Cards) are not in there yet. Writing the program undoubtedly cements understanding, but it also revealed a few gaps in the game - things which are not covered. Clarence, in his introduction, makes no claims for originality or even completeness of his game, and there are some interesting and useful expansions on the League of Augsburg forum. I do not think it would be disloyal of me to say a little about some of these gaps, and what I have done about them - in any game of this type, there will be a good many points where the author knows what he meant, and takes as understood certain house conventions of his own which he carries in his head and which make sense of situations which are not explicitly covered - Clarence even invites gamers to add their own extensions where they think they are needed.

I'll say a bit more in later parts of this about the add-ons which I (and others) have - erm - added on, and I may even say a bit more about my computer program. In the meantime (at last), here are the first sheets of the rules. If there is some more sensible way to incorporate pdf files in a blog post, I'd be very pleased to learn of it. Oh, and Clarence - if you are out there, I'd be delighted to hear from you.

That's Enough Guerrilleros for Now

This post follows an email from Ludovico, who wanted to see what I was doing about flags for the Spanish irregulars. The first thing to note about these flags is that they are a complete fabrication - some are derived from a mish-mash of historical examples or depictions, or parts of such - especially of outdated types, some are adapted from reconstructions I found on the Internet, and at least one is just pinched from elsewhere, though whether a guerrilla unit would carry any one of these flags I really don't know. The main motivators were

(1) I had a bunch of irregular standard bearers with nothing to carry, and

(2) flags are fun to design and print (if gluing them into place is rather more fraught...)

Here, in a single jpg, are the fictional flags I put together for the 6 latest units - if they are of some use or interest, please feel free to copy them, or adapt them, or whatever. If you print the big version of this image so that it prints 62mm high, the flags will be at my intended size for 1/72 scale. Also, please note that, as always, the green rectangles are not part of the flags - these are added so that you can cut out a white flag from a white sheet of paper. Also, please note that they have no historical merit or relevance at all...

Ludovico also wanted to see a picture of all the guerrilleros together, so here they are. The 4 "battalions" at the front are mostly a mixture of Qualiticast and Kennington, the remainder are the ones I pictured yesterday (though they now have flags and sabots), and they are almost all Falcata. There is also a mounted unit, but I forgot to include them [sorry, Ludovico]. The Falcata figures, being just a little taller, are on 2mm plywood bases, while the others are on 3mm MDF. This is what passes for house standards here.

The Matchstick Cathedral

When I was a kid I read a short story - it may be well-known, I can't remember much about it. A mysterious man takes a room in an apartment block in Paris, and keeps very much to himself. The concierge, true to her trade, lets herself into his room on one of his rare days out, and finds that he is building a colossal matchstick model of Notre Dame cathedral - in the most astounding detail. She becomes fascinated, and keeps checking on its progress when he is away. She wonders what he will do when it is complete.

Eventually, of course, it is complete and the man disappears, and in a week or two the police are called in. They never find him. As the detective is locking up for the last time, he has a final, long look at the model - through the tracery windows he looks at the tiny pews, rows and rows of them, the statuary, the shrines. If it were not impossible, he could swear that he can see a tiny figure walking about in the dark interior. Shaking his head, the policeman turns out the light and locks the door as he leaves.

That story always bothered me a bit. When I was eleven or so I used to lie next to my model railway and imagine whiat it would be like to live in the little houses next to the line. One thing is for sure - the standard of factory painting on Hornby Dublo passengers and railway personnel would have made them pretty nightmarish companions! The whole idea of literally disappearing into one's obsession is interesting, I guess.

This morning, apart from the sounds of triumph as my young son gradually found the hidden chocolate Easter eggs around the house, there was a sudden roar of laughter from me as I printed off a correctly-sized flag for one of my new Spanish guerrilla units.

There was a posting here some weeks ago in which I was experimenting with antique fonts to get flags like this exactly right. I produced one such this morning, loosely based on some known real examples, gave it a tasty little skull-&-crossbones device and a textured overspray to make it look a bit mucky. Here is a large view of it - the green border, as ever with my flags, is not part of the design - it is simply added to make it possible to cut out a white flag from white paper!

I was really pleased with the effect, and I printed off a 1/72 scale copy to see how it looked. If I print the whole image so it is 13mm high, it trims down to about 10mm high, which is what I wanted. It was probably obvious all along, gentlemen, but of course you cannot read the flag at this size - almost any font at all would have done. No-one will ever be able to tell how good it might be.

Except the little man inside the matchstick cathedral, of course.

I have now completed another 6 little units of guerrilleros - they do not have their flags yet, or their proper battlefield sabots, but they turned out fine. There are a couple of interlopers from HaT and Kennington, to make up the numbers, but otherwise these are all the reissued Falcata figures. The mixture I have here probably is an impossible amalgam of different regional types who would never have spoken to each other, never mind fought together, but they look suitably rough and tough. The leader illustrated below has a certain humorous quality - come to think of it, that is not a common feature of my armies. You may spot some chaps above who are wearing regular army style uniforms - according to Charles Esdaile's Fighting Napoleon, it was commonplace for men to desert from the regulars or militia to join the partidas - the pay was frequently better, and the looting was definitely better!

More Creeping Elegance - 2o Jaen

"If you can't say anything nice," my grandmother used to say, "then just button it."

Let's get back to safe ground - pictures of toy soldiers should be pretty uncontroversial. Creeping Elegance is my euphemism for that process whereby figures that I don't like very much get gradually replaced. In this particular instance, I had a Spanish Line Infantry unit for which the other ranks were Warrior figures and - while there is nothing instrinsically wrong with Warrior, I hasten to add - I've never been completely happy with them. By some combination of pose and size they don't quite fit in with the rest of my troops, and I've always intended to replace them with the Minifig S-Range SN1s I use for all my Spanish line when I got some.

I've now done it. This is the first part of another push to get the Spanish Army finished. This is the 2nd Regiment of Jaen - formerly a provincial militia unit, but promoted to the Line in 1810. The other ranks are, as mentioned, now SN1s, though the command figures include Kennington Portuguese and the mounted officer is an Art Miniaturen Belgian officer with a new hat (borrowed, I think, from a Minifigs Old Guard bandsman). Yes, their facings are brown - Bueno says so.

The Warrior soldiers have gone away to a new home, where I believe they will serve their new owner well. I am currently basing and finishing off a big batch of Falcata guerrilleros, who will appear here sometime, and there are some 5 or 6 more Line battalions in various stages of preparation. I also have castings set aside for a second foot battery for the Spaniards, and am looking around for more cavalry for them.

Hussars are a no-brainer, so I could certainly add a unit of hussars (any nationality, really), and I really fancy the new Falcata cavalry figures which can be Line Cavalry or Dragoons, though they are maybe a bit 1808 for me - I'm working on that. Once again, I am surprised how little information there is around for what Spanish cavalry looked like in 1810-12.

In the meantime, here are the corrected version of the Segundo Jaen. Fine big bayonets, eh?

This is a later addition to the posting – on the subject of the real Segundo Jaen, here is a tiny piece taken from the Base de Datos sobre las Unidades Militares en la Guerra de la Independencia Española, edited by Col J J Sañudo and published by the Ministerio de Defensa. Here you see what this particular unit is known to have done in 1812 – all the marches, their strength on various dates, their presence at the Battle of Salamanca, the fact that their colonel was Don Francisco Ignacio Cepeda...

A very useful resource indeed.

Hooptedoodle #47 - Royal Mail: we are not worthy

It's a good while since I had a rant about Royal Mail, but I think it's time.

Recently I wound up a small business and, as must always be the case, the dross lying around at the end includes outstanding bills to be chased up. In the overwhelming majority of cases, I am happy to say, my former customers always paid up promptly, so this really is just a sad little blip to finish off with.

If they don't pay, and if the bill is big enough to bother with, my procedure is to send one last reminder by some form of registered mail, saying that if I am not in possession of cleared funds to settle the account in full by such-&-such a time and date a month hence I will submit an application to the Sherriff's Court to recover the debt. I use the registered mail service since the digital signature on the Royal Mail website's tracking service provides proof that this letter has been received.

On Tuesday, I sent one such Very Last Demand by what Royal Mail describes as Special Delivery. This costs the princely sum of £5.45 for a small letter, but guarantees delivery the next day and, of course, the recipient has to sign for it. Ideal.

On Wednesday evening, I checked the RM website, to learn that they had failed to deliver my letter. They had attempted delivery at 08:44, but - since this is a business which opens at 09:30 - there was no-one there to sign for it. So they left a postcard which says that the item can be collected from the local sorting office, but please don't try until the following day, so that the roundsman can get it back there.

Today (Thursday) the tracking information on the website has changed. It says that they failed to deliver it again at 06:22 today, and left another postcard. It isn't looking very promising, is it? Is it just me, or is it possible this service is not very good value? I keep trying to be an enthusiastic customer of Royal Mail, and I have to say that they have delivered an awful lot of stuff safely for me over the years, but occasionally they let me down badly and I forget how much I love them. Usually this is when they are required to think what they are doing.

I always try to make this blog useful if it is possible to do so. Since our perception of RM's service is obviously so dependant on the key issue of whether we are at home or not when the postie arrives, here's a useful little notice to help him. Right-click on the picture, select Link from the drop-down, right-click on the big version and save it, and then you can print it out and laminate it and attach it to your door when it matters. Naturally this is only of immediate use to UK residents, but if you are outside the UK you could still give it a try. Please don't bother to thank me, I think we all have an obligation to that nice Mr Cameron's Big Society.

Solo Campaign - Weeks 9 & 10

Week 09

Wellington now has his new supply depot at Vigo in operation, and supply trains are reaching him at Lugo. He has also been reinforced by replacements and hospital returns to the tune of 5080 men, and a couple of replacement guns for those lost by Gardner’s battery at Benavente.

The Allied Siege Train has moved into the fortress at Elvas, and Karl von Alten has marched the Light Division over the rough roads from Elvas to Abrantes. If these had not been elite troops, they would have struggled to complete the march.

A large force of Spanish irregulars under Ximenez moved from the Ocana area to Toledo, where they threaten the supply route from Madrid towards Talavera and Badajoz. Maucune, who is still supplied by the Army of the South through Zafra and Badajoz, is ordered to deal with Ximenez, and has moved his Division to Talavera.

Week 10

Clauzel, unaware that Cotton’s force has failed in its march to Orense and returned to Zamora, marches north from Salamanca, aiming to join up with Marmont at Leon. The two forces engage at the so-called Action at Peñausende (reported in previous posting), and Cotton, misjudging his enemy’s strength, makes an attack which fails, partly due to poor co-ordination of a plan which is in any case too complicated, but also because the Allied artillery and cavalry are massively out-performed by the French. Cotton withdraws in good order, still having a substantial superiority in cavalry (numbers, if not quality...)

Cotton will be forced to spend next week retreating over rough roads into Orense, and his force is Tired to begin with...

An outbreak of fever among the French garrison at Burgos has some 400 men in hospital.

Maucune’s Divn advanced from Talavera into the Toledo area to deal with the force of Spanish irregular troops commanded by Ximenez, but the Spaniards retired into Ocana, a move which Maucune – having no cavalry at all – was unable to prevent.

Solo Campaign - Action at Peñausende

Weeks 9 and 10 of the solo Peninsular War campaign are now up to date, and have duly produced a division-sized battle, which I fought out yesterday. Notes on the current state and position of the armies will appear shortly, but I propose to cut down the level of detail in these weekly summaries - they are tedious reading, even to me!

In the meantime, here's an account of...

Action at Peñausende (Fri 27th Mar 1812)

General view of the Allied starting position, from their left flank. Portuguese at this end.

Unaware that General Cotton’s march over the hills to Orense had been aborted because of the weather, Clauzel was ordered to bring his force up from Salamanca to Zamora, the intention being to join with Marmont at Leon. This march caused some disquiet in his division, since it would take them across the battlefield of Corrales, the scene of their recent defeat at the hands of España’s little Spanish army. In fact, they did not get that far - patrols from Cavrois’ dragoons came upon Allied cavalry near Mayalde in the evening of 25th March, and it became clear that these troops were part of a larger body, though the only details established were the presence of two Portuguese cavalry units.

Cotton also had little knowledge of the force which was approaching him. Marching south toward the Arroyo de San Cristobal, his advanced guard came into contact with French troops near Peñausende on the 26th, and he decided to attack on the following morning. The area is hilly, with wooded areas. Cotton, with Clinton’s Sixth Division plus the cavalry brigades of Otway (Portuguese) and Le Marchant (British dragoons), had approximately 10,200 men, with 12 guns, and his scouts advised him that this gave him a significant numerical advantage. In reality, Clauzel had rather less than 8000 men, but the presence of part of the reserve artillery of the Armee de Portugal gave him a total of 24 guns, all of heavier calibre than the Allied artillery.

French position, from their right

Clauzel placed Berlier’s brigade of infantry in some woods on his right flank – a strong position [though perilously close to the table edge!], put the combined voltigeur companies of the Division in to the little town of Peñausende, and placed the brigade of Pinoteau (who had now arrived to replace the discredited Barbot) in the rear of the town. His two cavalry regiments were held in the rear, Picquet’s 6e Dragons being on the extreme left. His three foot batteries were all well sited on prominent ground.

Hinde's Brigade - chosen to make the main attack

Cotton’s plan was to demonstrate against the French right with Rezende’s Portuguese, thus preventing Clauzel from reinforcing his centre from this area, and to drive the main, central attack in through and past the town. Le Marchant’s heavy dragoons supported the extreme right.

French light troops hold the town at the outset

The assault started well – the 2nd (Queen’s) and 1/36th from Hinde’s brigade took advantage of the woods extending up to the workshops and sheds on the northern edge of the town, and made a vigorous assault on the town itself – the fighting there continued for about 45 minutes, but the French voltigeurs were driven out in fine style. Elsewhere, the Allied effort faltered badly. The French artillery – severely criticised for its poor performance at Corrales – produced a devastating weight of fire, the Portuguese advance was halted and twice driven back, and Bull’s troop of the RHA was outranged and outmatched – the horse gunners were silenced.

Le Marchant's ill-fated Heavy Brigade

The French left - Pinoteau's brigade and the 6e Dragons - Clauzel is on the white horse

The Allied effort in the centre did not develop – the capture of the built-up area proved to be of little value in the absence of a concerted advance by Hulse’s brigade, which spent a lot of valuable time dressing lines and forming up, waiting for the Portuguese demonstration on their left which never came.

Picquet's Charge! - 6e Dragons put paid to Le Marchant's second regiment

Though the Allies had more casualties from artillery fire, the situation was something of a stalemate until Cotton sent Le Marchant’s brigade of cavalry forward to threaten the French left. This produced a remarkable response from the French. Picquet’s single dragoon regiment advanced to meet Le Marchant, badly mauled his two regiments on the low hill to the west of the town, and scattered the fugitive survivors, cutting down Le Marchant himself in the process. Sweeping on, Picquet’s men forced the 32nd Foot into a square which was subsequently broken and destroyed when Clauzel force-marched a battalion of the 50e Ligne to support Picquet.

The infantry firefight develops in the centre - the Allied attack was so under-developed that the French came looking for them

At this point the Allies had lost what little momentum they had developed, were outflanked on their right and bogged down elsewhere – apart from losses to the 27e Ligne as a result of a fire-fight near the town, the French were unshaken. Cotton, realistically, withdrew at around 4pm, his Portuguese cavalry covering the retreat.

Orders of Battle

Anglo-Portuguese Army (part) – Lt Gen Sir Stapleton Cotton

6th Division – Maj Gen Henry Clinton:
Hulse’s Bde – 1/11th, 2/53rd & 1/61st Foot, plus converged light cos with 1 coy 5/60th Rifles
Col Hinde’s Bde – 2nd, 1/32nd & 1/36th Foot, plus converged light cos
Conde de Rezende’s Bde – 8th & 12th Portuguese (2 Bns each), 9th Cacadores
Greene’s battery, RA

Cavalry:
Le Marchant’s Bde – 3rd Dragoons, 5th Dragoon Gds
Col Otway’s Bde – 1st & 11th Portuguese Cavalry
Bull’s Troop, RHA

Total loss: 1200 infantry, 480 cavalry

French force (from Armée de Portugal ) – Gen de Divn Bertrand Clauzel

2nd Divn:
Berlier’s Bde – 25e Leger (3 Bns), 27e Ligne (2) plus battalion of voltigeurs
Pinoteau’s Bde – 50e Ligne (3), 59e Ligne (2) plus battalion of voltigeurs
15/3e Art à Pied

Cavalry:
Picquet’s Bde – 6e & 11e Dragons

Attached Reserve artillery:
10/3e & 19/3e Art à Pied

Total loss: 800 infantry, 120 cavalry

[The action was played out with standard CCN rules – 5 command cards each, Allies moved first, 7 Victory Banners for the win]

Aftermath: Cotton obliged to retreat over the hills to Orense, which manoeuvre had been abandoned two weeks earlier as a result of wintry weather. The loss to his army was not disastrous, and Cotton extracted his force with some skill, but there is severe criticism of poor decision making and general timidity of the attacks. Wellington’s political situation will suffer further as a result of the action, which is unfortunate since the combat was something of an accident, Wellington himself was not present, his appointed subordinate commander conducted himself reasonably well and the army is not mortally damaged. When news of this episode reaches London, there will once again be a clamour for Wellington to be replaced. Sir Henry Paget is widely tipped as his successor.

[Game went well – the Victory conditions should probably have been set higher – Allies lost 7-3 on Victory Banners, but their position was far from hopeless at this point. My thanks to Kieran and Nick for helping out with the battle – total time elapsed was a little under 3 hours, which is very good considering that Kieran was new to the rules and needed some instruction as we went along.]