Wellington - The Crossing of the Gaves and the Battle of Orthez

I've had this book for thirty years, give or take, I may have read it in the past or dipped into it, but a recent post in the Napoleon's Battles user group provided the necessary inspiration for me to read this book cover to cover. 

It was first published in 1925 and reprinted in 1994.  My copy had a stamp saying: "This book was warehouse damaged and is now being sold at a special price."  Not sure what the damage was, but the book does have two flaws.  The images included are very poor quality (the one on the cover is probably the best).  This is a pity as the author went to some trouble to photograph the battlefields.  Maybe the 1925 edition had better reproductions.  However, more serious is that there are no maps at all.  Given the subject of this book, I found it a serious disadvantage.  Not to be at a loss, I searched my library for suitable books that might have maps as well as a Google search.  

In the last and least likely book I found just what I was looking for:

From Page 107 A Guards Officer in the Peninsula edited by Ian Fletcher

The inspiring post was a scenario for the Battle of Orthez, February 27, 1814.  It can be found here: 

Berthier: Orthez

At this time it also lacked a map, and part of my reading was an attempt to work out what the terrain was like.  The answer appears to be rolling hills with spurs and ravines.  Perhaps significant at a battalion level, but perhaps less so at the brigade level represented by Napoleon's Battles (and at one inch is 100 yards).

While reading this book I was constantly distracted by ideas for a campaign and how to represent the various overarching aspects.  These included: 

The weather (obviously given the campaign season). 

The need for Wellington to wait until funds arrived (and also to hold ports at which such ships could arrive in safety given the weather) noting also that funds were needed to pay the muleteers on which the Allied army depended for its transport.

The risk that Spain would come to a separate peace with France (which would make for a very interesting situation).

The need to keep the Portuguese happy (they were demanding their own army structure, rather than being just brigades attached to British divisions).

The bulk of the book is providing background (and importance of securing various places by siege or storm) and the manoeuvring leading to the battle. Hence my need for a map.

It took me a while to understand "the Gaves."  It was not defined in the book, or in the map and it is not a word you can Google.  My old French/English dictionary came to my rescue and provided the obvious answer: (n,m) torrent, mountain stream (in the Pyrenees).  Just as an aside, the same word (n,f) means crop (of birds).  I will go with the former meaning, but continuing the French lesson: le gave and la gave have two distinct meanings, but les gaves requires context.

The actual battle, like some others when Soult had not been forced to retire by being outflanked on his right), was initially hard fought with the Allied attacks held until they were able to break through the centre.  There was then a successful rearguard, but it eventually fell apart leading to a rout, with the French saved by nightfall and lack of allied cavalry to lead an active pursuit.  The terrain was both an aid and a hindrance.

My thinking had gone from trying to conceive of a Snappy Nappy style game to a more Scharnhorst (of the Blucher ruleset) pregame map manoeuvre.  There is still the idea of being able to portrait various encounters with differently scaled rulesets, from something like Songs of Drums and Shakos for very small-scale skirmishes, through to Napoleon's Battles for the big battle.  Other rules popular at the club (if I was to go that way) are Sharp Practice and General d'Armee.

At the very least I am now painting my way through a heap of Portuguese infantry, picking regiments based on locations I visited last year.  The particular interest in this campaign is also aided by having visited the area as part of a battlefield tour in the mid 1990s (for which I must find my photos).  The tour was more about Soult's counterattack across the Pyrenees in 1813.

Now I am reading A Guards Officer in the Peninsula.

Burgundian Ordonnance versus 100 Years War English - Further Practice

Curtis again tries his hand with 100 Years War English against my mighty Burgundians.

The English are a mix of my Dark Ages figures and Syrian archers from my Crusader army.

The Burgundians, who were out scouted deploy between two woods.  

There is a lake on their extreme right.

The English, who chose Aggressive Deployment, start to advance.

The Burgundians start to shoot.

The shooting continues with both sides having some success.

But the weight of the Burgundian fire is telling.

In go the pikes and the Burgundian knights move up ready to charge.

The Burgundians fight the dismounted English men-at-arms.

And prevail.

Imperial Elegy - No Bots

Well actually a Bot did takeover the Ottomans and caused plenty of headaches, more's the pity.

We did finish, but in the end the Great War occurred and we lost heart to continue, maybe...

Richard has again provided this superlative AAR:

Turn 5 

Sleepwalking into a Great War

With the Ottoman player unable to attend today's session, the Bot took over and certainly made its presence felt.

There was a lot of Empire building going on at the start of Turn 5. Britain resumed its Colonial mission and laid the planks for colonies through the centre of Africa stretching contiguously from Cairo to the Cape.

A diplomatic incident saw Russia lose Japan as an ally. Britain then swooped in and quickly allied Japan. Britain is very active diplomatically and also allies Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands and takes control of the Low Countries flashpoint.

France steadily invested in her armies and navy ensuring 2nd place in Power Projection and the resultant +1 DRM to industrialisation rolls.

Austria continued to invest in her people, granting rights.

The Poles stage a revolt in Galicia after Russian Provocations.

The big move of this turn was sprung by the Russians. Cunningly waiting until the Austrians were out of cards, they declared a war of conquest with the aim of claiming Romania which had recently been incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Russians called upon their committed alliance partners France and the Ottomans. France refused to participate, but the Ottomans gladly joined in. The Austrians seeing the writing on the wall did some fast talking and offered a negotiated settlement without a shot being fired. Possibly a wise move as a combined Russo-Ottoman force may have been able to force their way to Vienna and inflict a major defeat. Romania is ceded to the Russians.

The Ottomans make diplomatic overtures in Oman and eject the British mission and subsequently take control of the naval base.

France places diplomatic influence on Italy. Italy moves into the Triple Alliance at the end of the turn.

Italy establishes a naval base in Aden.

Turn 6

A series of diplomatic wars break out between Britain and France over the Netherlands and between Russia and Britain over Persia.

A New Administration in Prussia abandons Unification as a National Goal. 

The Austrians fidget excitedly with a card they are dying to play. 

Further Polish revolts occur in Russia and whilst able to support their compatriots inside the Austrian Empire, the Austrians quickly subdue the Poles as do the Russians later in the turn. The Russians had to lose stability and the Austrians pounced with the Revolution of 1905 card causing them to either lose additional stability or lose a random card. The Russians discard a card.

France develops Dreadnoughts and 2 hulls are quickly laid down. The plans are shared with the Russians who also lay down a hull. Britain and Austria also lay down hulls in a frenzy of ship building.

Britain puts down a revolt in Balochistan, finally subdues Fiji and Rhodesia. Britain cements control of the Africa flashpoint.

Prussia colonises Somalia.

The Balkan Wars see Greece take control of Macedonia from the Ottomans.

Italy establishes a Naval base in the Caroline Islands.

The pesky liberals cause armies to stand down across Europe.

Turn 7

Prussia initiates a diplomatic offensive in Denmark, who break off their alliance with Britain. Germany places and then removes diplomatic influence with a view to attacking Denmark. They are prevented from declaring war however, as a series of mandatory events has raised the World Tension Track to 3 stopping Powers from declaring war.

The US Civil War breaks out. France sends a naval squadron and exerts diplomatic influence in support of the Confederates.

The Ottomans play Empire of the Sun. Russia loses Manchuria and Japan ally with the Ottomans replacing Britain.

The Boxer Rebellion breaks out, affecting Britain, France and Russia.

Italy expands its military with a squadron and standing army.

Later in the turn, the USA carries a big stick and takes control of Japan.

There is a lot of late game window dressing as the Powers try to shore up meeting National Goals. 

Britain reassesses its National Goals through play of  New Administration, ditching Most Alliances for having 8 more colonial spaces than they started the game with.

All the Powers are, however, sleepwalking into a Great War. Turn 7 started with a War Tension Track value of 1. There had been 5 separate cards in turns 5 to 6 which reduced WTT, despite that, Turn 7 started at 1 and then there were the following Mandatory Cards all increasing WTT by 1 each:

The Black Hand

Assassination (

Powder Keg (The re-alignment of Greece from Britain to Russia)

The tipping point was the play of the the very last card of the game, Shifting Alliances mandatory card which forced Britain into the Triple Entente and due to the number of powers in Alliances, triggered a Crisis Roll caused by inter-power espionage. Despite a last ditch effort through applying a +1 DRM with the play of Historical Bias, Britain narrowly failed to have the matter decided by an International Conference. The Great War breaks out.

France must have had some kind of premonition about the GW breaking out as they had made optimum investments in Dreadnoughts, Frontier Forts and Reserve Armies throughout the last turn and also being in charge of the Ottoman Bot for some targeted choices. But of course there is no such thing as clairvoyance and therefore I think it is fair to say we can condemn the French for the espionage which tipped Europe into a Great War.

Editorial: 

I feel there is a lesson in this. Although the temptation is to use cards for other things, it might be worth investing in the Diplomacy track in the interests of the stopping powers splitting into Alliance blocks. We all had the opportunity to do it with odd points here and there and remember you can influence any power including your own.

All National Goals are revealed. The VPs are as follows:

Britain: 10

Prussia and France: 6

Austria: 5

Russia: 3

Ottomans: 4

Once a Great War breaks out, the VPs are used to calculate "National Will". Depending on the VP band achieved, various bonuses in the form of Elite Corps or track boosts, i.e. Manpower, Stability or Industrialisation can be applied.

The State of the Alliances is as follows with some National Will boosts yet to come :

The Entente:

Prussia: 4 Standing Armies, 4 Reserve Armies and 2 Squadrons

Britain: 1 Standing Armies, 3 "Reserve Armies" appearing at London on GW Turn 1, 4 Dreadnoughts, 7 Squadrons, 2 Indian Armies

Austria: 5 Standing Armies, 5 Reserve Armies, 3 Dreadnoughts, 3 Squadrons

The Alliance

France: 5 Standing Armies, 5 Reserve Armies, 4 Dreadnoughts, 4 Squadrons (One is supporting the Confederates.)

Russia: 6 Standing Armies, 7 Reserve Armies, 2 Dreadnoughts, 2 Squadrons

Ottoman (or probably Turks as we should now call them following play of Young Turks): 4 Standing Armies, 3 Reserve Armies  3 Squadrons

Italy: 4 Standing armies, 2 Squadrons

In terms of land power (prior to some National Will effects), the Entente has the edge in terms of armies 34 to 24, however France is exposed to a potentially 3 front war against the Prussians, Austrians if they can push through Italy and Britain landing in their rear.

The corollary to the French situation is the Prussian situation. The Russians have a huge army and only one logical target. What happens in the first turn is likely to have a big impact on whether they can get the Steamroller going.

Naval Power is poised at an interesting juncture.

There are currently British and French Fleets at sea in the North Atlantic which will precipitate an immediate naval battle unless one side decides to flee. The forces are currently equally matched, however with the British Free Deployment at the start of a war (including a Great War) special rule they will be able to bring in another 2 Squadrons and a Dreadnought thus have a a +4 Firepower advantage together with a +1 extra ports, so a +5 modifier in total. This could make or break the war, especially if one side loses Dreadnoughts affecting stability.

Elsewhere the Austrians have a very large fleet and easily outnumber the Italians and Turks in the Mediterranean. 

Interestingly, the USA Alliance chit would normally start in the neutral box at the start of a GW. However, as the US Civil War was still in progress, (The normal game sequence stops once a GW breaks out)  the US Civil War never resolved, it is not placed so the USA will never enter.

At this point the game was adjourned. The players were caught quite by surprise as to how quickly the WTT escalated. Debate is currently being pursued amongst the players about whether to continue and resolve the Great War or assume that it was indeed averted by an International Conference.