Hooptedoodle #51 - Not Like Me at All

Thomas Newman

For almost all my life I've loved, played and collected music. I tend to lose critical arguments on the subject, because my tastes are (I think) unusually wide and, because I studied it for so many years, I have been exposed to, and impressed by, all sorts of styles and genres. I also think that the passing years bring a change to one's perception and appreciation - I am less interested in attitude these days (though I have my moments) and more involved by textures and orchestration. I am mystified by the number of sub-categories of contemporary dance music, and can't really see why anyone would be interested enough to go to the trouble of coming up with all those names, but this kind of trainspotting approach to music classification appears to have partly replaced what I would recognise as artistic appreciation. No matter.

I have a very large collection of CDs - visitors might probably be disoriented more by the lack of consistency than anything else. Delius, Robben Ford, Planxty, loads of jazz (whatever the hell that is - anything from King Oliver to John Scofield, but an awful lot of Bill Evans and 1950s be-bop guitarists), 1940s R&B, Cuban bands, on and on. Of late I have been listening to gypsy jazz guitarists, the work of Vince Mendoza, Mendelsohn's symphonies, Tom Waits, Fauré, a lot of baroque concerti, Anthony Wilson - a very mixed bag. I have no axes to grind, it's just stuff that I like.

One thing I have never got much involved with is film music - I've maybe even been slightly prejudiced against it. I have Shostakovich's "Gadfly" on CD and I bought the music from "Gladiator" (because I couldn't get it out of my head), and I have a couple of albums of music from Jacques Tati's films (because it makes me feel happy), but otherwise not much. Music designed to go along with a movie seems, intuitively, to be only part of something. Also, because they are meant to generate a variety of moods and support a wide assortment of dramatic situations in a film, listening to a series of short tracks in quick succession in your living room can be a bit unsettling - they tend not to develop in a symphonic sense.

It is not like me at all, but recently I have become very interested in the hypnotic soundtrack works of Thomas Newman. I was aware of the big hit theme from "American Beauty", and also that he was a very successful composer for film, with a huge back catalogue - I even knew that he was Randy Newman's cousin - but his work had mostly passed me by. I've now bought the soundtrack albums for a number of his films, and I think they are remarkable. Most of the clips for Newman on YouTube feature distracting (and sometimes soppy) trailers from the films, so I've included a clip which shows somebody's Canadian photos - and very nice too.

Not everyone's cup of tea, for sure, and until recently I wouldn't have bothered to listen, but I may have become a fan. Mind you, after an hour or so I'll be digging out my old Steely Dan albums.

Solo Campaign - Combat at Ancenigo, Navarra – Saturday 4th April 1812

General view of the battlefield at midday - the French are on the right

Later in the same week, but further north, a punitive expedition from the garrison of Jaca came into contact with guerrilleros from the Huesca area, near the hamlet of Ancenigo. The French had a brigade of 4 battalions of experienced infantry, plus the usual additional small battalion of combined light troops, together with a company of foot artillery borrowed from the fort at Jaca. The whole was commanded by Chef de Bataillon Fantaise, seconded from the 118e Ligne. His infantry included 1 provisional bataillon d’élite of line grenadiers and 2 of foot dragoons – again, picked men from a number of regiments. [Each of these units counted as “grenadiers” in the CCN rules, which gives advantages in melee and in morale tests]. His other battalion was Polish - from the 4th Regt of the Vistula Legion – more tough veterans.

He was opposed by a force of around 3000 guerrilla troops commanded by the sinister Gomez brothers. [The Spanish force had been expected to be rather larger than this, but some of the troops failed to arrive – for the purposes of this campaign, bodies of Spanish irregulars can be greater or less than estimated, depending on dice rolls – the Hermanos Gomez were not lucky in this respect].

This was a much more conventional set-up battle than that at Olias earlier in the week – the French took position on two low hills, artillery in the centre, the Poles and the light troops on the right. Pedro Gomez, the elder of the brothers, had difficulty restraining his troops, who were worked up into a frenzy by a number of priests serving in the ranks. He directed his first attack against the more lightly manned hill on the French right. The two leading bands of irregulars did not even reach the foot of the hill before they were broken by musket fire and disintegrated. Around the same time, roundshot from the French artillery caused another band to break up in the centre.

Rapidly running out of men, momentum and ideas, Gomez threw another two units against the hills on the French right, and sent in his cavalry in a looping, uphill charge against the French left flank. Both of these attacks failed and broke up into crowds of fugitives. The Spanish force retreated in disorder into the hills around the Rio Gallego. The fighting had lasted exactly 22 minutes. If proof were needed, the day demonstrated that irregular troops are not best suited to this kind of warfare.

OOBs

French Force – from the garrison of Jaca, Navarra (Ch/Bn Fantaise) – approx 3500 men, 6 guns
Grenadiers Provisoirs (1 Bn)
Dragons (a Pied) Provisoirs (2 Bns)
1/4e Vistule
Part of 14/3e Artillerie a Pied (Capt. Plantaine)

Loss – 30 men

Spanish Force – Junta de Navarra, commanded by Pedro and Jose Gomez – approx 3000 men

Loss – 1840 men

The big attack on the French right...

...didn't go well at all

The situation after about 20 minutes - the Spanish forces (on the right) have mostly disappeared 

Poles and skirmishers on the French right, who took most of the weight of the attack - all the French casualties were sustained in this area

This and the remaining pictures were taken by my young son, who is very interested in close-ups - here's some foot dragoons, with Ch/Bn Fantaise close at hand

It's a hard life in the artillery

Guerrilleros retreating through the village

Irregular cavalry

Solo Campaign - Ambuscade near Olias - 31st March 1812

The larger-than-life Ximenez brings his loyal troops to meet the accursed French - my thanks to Iain, who did the super paint job on the leader 

The scenario is the most basic imaginable - a French force in column of march has to pass through a defile in a forest. Spanish irregular forces are concealed in the trees, and their presence is unknown until they choose to attack. Maucune's column marched onto the table in an organised manner, light infantry followed by artillery followed by the line battalions, with light infantry bringing up the rear.

I used Commands & Colors:Napoleonics rules, as usual, but - since all the action was to take place in the centre of the field - I abandoned the use of the Command Cards. I had considered just retaining the Tactical (as opposed to Field Sector) Cards, but felt this might give an unbalanced game. My solution was to require each side to roll 2D3 at the start of each turn - that gave the number of units they could give orders to this turn. Since there was virtually no cavalry involved, squares were not really a consideration, but the idea was that forming square would require that side to give up one of their activation dice - yes, this is excessive - deducting one from the total might have been better. Whatever, this battle involved a great many Spanish guerrilleros, who are not allowed to do anything as formal as deploying into square.

The Spanish irregulars are handled by my own tweaks to CCN - guerrilla infantry may move 2 hexes and battle, and built-up or forest hexes have no effect on their movement. They may move into a forest hex and battle immediately. They do not count crossed sabres in melee, and they are deployed in small units of 2 blocks/stands each. A single uncancelled retreat will eliminate a unit at any time - this is critical - so it is important to keep them well supported, keep generals with them, move them out of the firing line as soon as they take losses and become marginal.

Maucune's column, headed for Aranjuez, was attacked by a force of irregulars under Don Antonio Ximenez, "El Gigante", the clothes-horse of the Junta de Castilla. The Spaniards probably opened fire too early, but Ximenez was keen to get the action under way while the bulk of the French force were still some distance away. The French artillery caused some panic among the leading units on the Spanish left, even though they did not cause a great many casualties, and a couple of these units were eliminated straight away, Don Jorge Maxwell, one of the leaders, being killed in these first exchanges.

It cost the French a great many killed and wounded - the 15e Ligne being particularly badly damaged - but eventually they managed to penetrate into the woods on both sides of the road, and after that it was merely a matter of time before the Spanish force gave way. Handling the guerrilla bands is interesting - they are very mobile, and have a big advantage in rough terrain, but are also very brittle. A single hit will reduce such a unit to a state in which they cannot harm anyone in a wood (for example), because the terrain effect cancels out the only remaining combat dice, and a further hit to themselves will eliminate them and gain another Victory Banner for the enemy. Thus it was constantly necessary to retire worn units and bring up fresh ones. Six Victory Banners were required for a win, and the French had an extra one available if they pushed through the defile to the far end. In the event they didn't need to push that far - they won 6-2 on eliminated units after about an hour, and Ximenez withdrew, his little army melting away into the forest.

OOBs

French Force - Gen de Divn Baron Maucune's division, Armee de Portugal - approx 7800 men - 8 guns
Brigade d'Arnauld - 15e & 66e Ligne (5 Bns) + combined tirailleur bn
Brigade Montfort - 82e & 86e Ligne (4 Bns) + combined tirailleur bn
11/8e Artillerie a Pied (Capt Genta)

Loss - approx 2600

Spanish Force - Don Antonio Ximenez, army of the Junta de Castilla - approx 4350 men - 3 guns
10 small "battalions" of irregular infantry, brigaded under Don Jorge Maxwell (k) and Don Xavier Gento
Small irregular cavalry unit
Volunteer artillery battery of 3 x 4pdr guns

Loss - approx 3200 - mostly missing

Maucune's column marches serenely into the woods

It's amazing what you don't see when you aren't looking for it...

What lies in wait on one side of the road

...and there's more of the beggars in reserve

After heavy loss to musketry, the French set about clearing the woods

Almost the end - by this stage, most of the guerrilleros had thought of somewhere else they would rather be

Solo Campaign - Week 11

The campaign has slipped a couple of weeks, but is still rolling along. Week 11 gets us up to 5th April 1812, which means that Winter is officially over (hurrah!). I have pasted in the Narrative section for this week, from which you will see that the Earl of Wellington is in trouble back home, and there are two combats between the French and the Spanish partidas to settle before I can finally update the map and the tables.

I wants one. I use Henri Lachouque's lovely 'Napoleon's War in Spain' for this campaign a lot anyway, because it gives useful reproductions of contemporary French maps, but I find the artwork inspirational, and I usually get distracted when I read it! Mention of a blockhouse in the narrative reminds me that I have wanted one for a while - either to build or commission one in 15mm. This illustration shows the sort of thing - this particular one was near Tolosa, but the design was used a lot by the French in Spain to guard their communications. This would be a fine addition to my PW scenery, methinks. I must try to remember to do something about it...   

Narrative - Week 11

Maj Gen Robert Ballard Long has been appointed to command the heavy cavalry brigade of the late Maj Gen JG Le Marchant, and will arrive in late April. In the meantime, the brigade, which is much reduced in numbers, is temporarily commanded by Major Clowes. There is talk of an extra regiment being sent to join Long, and – at his request – a surprise return to the older, non-French, uniforms with bicorne hats. It is not known when this may happen. General Long’s reputation as a leader of cavalry suggests that he is a better administrator than a battlefield commander.

Cotton’s defeated force, lucky with the weather [and the dice], managed to retreat to Orense in splendid order after being beaten at Penausende, suffering no further loss on the march. His army is still Tired, but may now rest and receive overdue reinforcements and replacements. This retreat could easily have been a disaster, which would have made Wellington’s personal situation very difficult.

As it is, there has been the predicted uproar in the British Parliament about the lack of success of the army. [1D6 < 3 in any week from next week will trigger a vote in the House – algorithm for the vote is silly, but an amusing parody of democracy – a total of 5D6 are available, divided according to current mood – at present this is 3:2 against Wellington, but may swing from week to week with further news – at the start of the campaign, for example, it was 4:1 in his favour. 3:2 means that, if a vote were called for, the totals of 3D6 and 2D6 would be compared – if the 3D6 were greater, Wellington would be replaced. A tie produces no change]. Wellington needs a victory, and soon. Sir J Bulstrode Fartingale, member for St Pancras, almost caused a riot by suggesting that the British Army’s continued presence in the Peninsula is entirely dependant on the current success of the Spanish forces.

Karl von Alten, with the Light Division, has crossed the border into Spain at Cuidad Rodrigo. Patrols from his cavalry (1^st Hussars KGL) report that there are no French troops at Salamanca.

Marmont, with the main French army at Leon, has detached Treillard’s cavalry (seconded from the Armee du Centre) and ordered them to return to Madrid, since there is a marked lack of French horses anywhere south of Burgos. Treillard had reached Segovia without incident by the end of the week.

Don Antonio Ximenez, “El Gigante”, something of a hothead [and also said by some to be an overscale Hinchliffe figure], has returned to the offensive against Maucune, and advanced back into the Toledo area. Maucune (also a hothead, in any case) has continued his march in pursuit of Ximenez, and his army is surprised to be attacked in woods near Olias, on the Aranjuez road, by an enemy they believed was retreating. Ambush of Olias takes place on Tues 31^st March.

In Navarre, guerrilla attacks on a French blockhouse have obliged Chef de Bataillon Armande-Louis Fantaise (of the 118e Ligne, who is astonished to find he has command of the garrison at Jaca) to march his 4 battalions and part of the garrison artillery out to deal with the problem. On Sat 4^th April they meet up with the forces of the Junta de Navarra – reportedly 2500 men [though the dice may increase this figure], commanded by the mysterious Hermanos Gomez y Gomez near Ancenigo, in the valley of the Rio Gallegos [because of the small size, this combat might be resolved off-table, which would be a shame, since one of the units, the 4e Vistule, have never been in action before!]. There are many popular tales of Gomez y Gomez, including the legend that they were originally a firm of builders in Zaragoza.

The fever epidemic among the French (Confederation) troops in Burgos continues, but is less serious than had been feared. This week, only the Franzburg Jaeger battalion reported new cases sick (200 men). The epidemic will continue, and the troops there remain Demoralised.

Oh yes - General Foy is recovered from his wound and should return to duty next week. It was nothing...

The updated map and tables will appear once the combats at Olias and Ancenigo have been decided.

The Drummer's Tale

My solo Peninsular War campaign has produced another combat - this time Maucune's Division of the Army of Portugal, with a little cavalry support, are attacked on the march by a large force of Spanish irregulars led by the formidable Don Antonio Ximenez - "El Gigante". I hope to get this battle fought sometime at the weekend, so a report and an update to the campaign notes will follow shortly afterwards.

In the meantime, here's a story I was reminded of yesterday. It is amusing enough to share, I think, though it's military connection is merely incidental.

A friend of mine, who is a professional drummer, received a phone call some years ago from the Glasgow branch of the Musicians' Union, apologising for the short notice, but could he possibly play at a dinner-dance function the following Saturday? It was to be primarily Scottish Country dance music, and it was £200 - which even now would be extraordinarily good money.

Well, yes - he normally didn't do this kind of work, but he certainly could handle it, and he could most definitely handle the money. He was instructed to arrive at 8:30pm at a castle, no less, somewhere in the wilds of Ayrshire, in formal evening suit, and ask for a Major McGuigan, who was the organiser. The dance was for the regimental association of a very famous Scottish regiment.

On the appointed evening, he arrived as instructed, to find that a large number of retired officers and their wives were seated at dinner. Major McGuigan (retired) showed him into a vast ballroom, and asked him to set up his kit, and the dancers would be through in about half an hour. My friend asked where was the rest of the band, and was told that there was no band - he was the band. The Association liked to dance to gramophone records of Scottish dance music, played on a huge old stereogram, and they liked to have a drummer play along to keep them right. This seemed bizarre in the extreme to my friend, but he entered into the spirit of the evening and it really went astonishingly well. He actually enjoyed himself, and everyone seemed most happy.

When the dancing came to an end, the organiser said a few words - the date of the next event, thanks to all and sundry, all that. Then followed an awkward silence, with the dancers still on the floor. Eventually, the Major said to the drummer, "We always finish with the National Anthem".

Right. "Do you have a record of it?". No, they didn't.

Unsure what to do next, and in a state of what he describes as blind panic, the drummer played the introductory roll on the snare, then stood smartly to attention and sang God Save the Queen at the top of his voice. The assembled company all joined in, and the evening concluded happily. He got his money, and was even booked for their next dance. One for the Twilight Zone, though.

Hooptedoodle #50 - Armagnac de Montal 1965

That one there's the rarest, the De Montal '65.

I was given two bottles years ago, when my father was alive,

On a very special birthday, and I’ve kept it just that way –

For family celebrations, or when old friends came to stay.

Take out the cork, let's try some, just a little taste,

A drop of something cherished in a world that’s gone to waste.

That scent of ancient sunshine - it's strange to call to mind

That I was still a schoolboy when those grapes were on the vine.

And now there's half a bottle left, it’s hardly used at all;

I was saving it for something, but what I can’t recall.

Hooptedoodle 50? – any lame excuse will do!

Let’s drink it down, have done with it, and buy in something new.

Cheers! - MSF

Historex - the completed figures

Short supplementary post - I have unpacked the completed Historex figures, made a quick inventory and photographed them, and now propose to wrap them up carefully and put them back in the box. These things are frighteningly delicate. Since I do not intend to unpack them again before they go to auction, I thought I should put the pictures up here. Some of the paperwork suggests that there may also be some completed French gun teams, but they must be in the loft. I don't have them, anyway. There are a few Airfix figures included, which look very good too.

I only once attempted a Historex kit - it took me weeks to put together a model of Marshal Massena, on horseback, and I became irritated when it became obvious that the figure had a ridiculously small head. I did finish it, and it sat for years in the back of the display case before it got broken when I was moving house. Whatever, the experience certainly heightened my appreciation of people who are good at this stuff. I remember (with some unease) reading an instruction which advised scraping the back of the (fabric) webbing straps with a knife edge, to encourage them to curl in the correct direction. Far too intricate for me - I am in the Klutz league when it comes to model making.