Welcome the French

February 24th, 2010 Giles Posted in "British Grenadier" rules, french Comments Off


I recall Eclaireur (author of the "British Grenadier!" AWI rules) mentioning to me a few years ago that he'd asked Alan Perry whether he intended to sculpt any French figures for the AWI. The answer was "not for about 5 years", and I believe EC told me this 4 or 5 years ago. This might give an indication of how much advance planning sculptors (or some of them at least) put into their ranges, or may suggest that the Perry Miniatures AWI range is a long-term venture which will see everything one could wish for released at some stage. I mention this conversation because the Perries took a bit of flack on the TMP forum when they announced the release of their AWI French. Most Perry news releases seem to be met with replies of "why didn't you release [my pet wants] instead?", but the reaction to the French was more focused. The arguments against are: (1) there are more obvious "gaps" in the range (e.g. American light infantry) and (2) there just aren't many gameable scenarios that involve the French. To be honest, both points are reasonably made and justified. But I'm sure everything will appear in time.

Personally I'm delighted to see these figures. I'm sure that for every person who wants to see light infantry in caps or Rhode Island negro troops there's another who wants to see the French. More importantly for me, having the French allows you to wander off the American continent and look at scenarios in the Caribbean, India and elsewhere and even consider "what ifs" involving large numbers of French and British infantry going head-to-head. Those types of scenarios won't be of interest to everyone, but I'm happy to be able to stretch the boundaries of the period and learn about what the French actually did in the field, whether in American or elswhere, to assist the American war effort (and of course further France's own ambitions). Anyway, the purpose of this post is to set down a few thoughts on how I intend to approach the French forces. I should add that as well as the new Perries I have been looking at the Eureka revolutionary wars range for suitable figures.

Organisation
Following the 1776 army reforms, each regiment had two battalions. According to Rene Chartrand's Osprey, Each battalion had 6 companies - 4 fusilier, 1 grenadier and 1 chasseur. Full strength seems to have been 107 for the grenadiers and 171 for all the other companies. In addition to these, there was an "auxiliary recruit company" that was "added in wartime". I've read elsewhere, however, that each battalion had either the chasseur company or the grenadier company - a result of the regiments formerly consisting of just one battalion. The flank companies, however, were apparently used on a regimental rather than battalion level, and often placed in composite ad-hoc battalions for particular battles.

There are currently only 2 published "British Grenadier!" scenarios that feature mainstream French troops (there is a third, Gloucester Point, but that only involves Lauzun's Legion). La Vigie is a Caribbean action from 1778 that requires 6 battalions of 18 figures each (Armagnac x 2, Auxerrois x 2, Viennois and a colonial battalion) and separate combined grenadier and chasseur units of 18 figures (the chasseurs appearing as 3 lots of 6-figure skirmish units). Savannah has more complex requirements: 2 named battalions of 12 figures each (Armagnac and Dillon); 2 composite fusilier units, of 16 and 18 figures; 3 combined grenadier units of 8 figures each; and more skirmishing chasseurs amounting to 24 figures. Savannah therefore reflects the practice of French commanders gathering together elements of several different regiments into composite field units; ideally for these units I'd want each stand to represent a different regiment. The Savannah scenario also allows the French player to add the grenadiers to the various fusilier units, so I need to ensure that the poses of these troops are the same. Therefore, the approach I'm going to adopt is to paint up the flank companies at the same time as the fusilier companies.

Uniforms
Most readers will know that the French army changed its uniforms during the course of the AWI. There are two relevant "ordonnances": 1776 and 1779. The latter uniform is distinguished from the former by longer coats tails and the replacement of grenadiers' bearskins with cocked hats (although it mnay have been the case that some troops still wore their bearskins). Troops stationed out in the West Indies are unlikely to have received the 1779 uniforms before the Savannah campaign in October of that year. Therefore, the figures required for the scenarios above should be in the 1776 uniform. Troops arriving with Rochambeau in 1780 and Saint-Simon the following year would probably have had the 1779 uniform.

Incidentally, Perry Miniatures are remodelling their grenadiers, to remove the bags on the bearskins - there is an announcement on the front-page of their website (scroll beneath the plastics announcement). I'm not too fussed - I shall use the figures I have already bought for bombardiers de la marine, which did have bags on their bearskins.

Flags
I was quite confused about flags until I asked around on various fora. It seems that as part of the 1776 reforms the number of flags carried by each regiment was 1 per battalion. The first battalion carried the "drapeau blanc", i.e. the white colonel's flag (which seems to have been the same for most regiments); the second battalion carried the more colourful and distinctive "d'ordonnance" flag. This is helpful for recreating the La Vigie orbat, as GMB don't currently have colours for the Armagnac and Auxerrois regiments - I can use the drapeaux blancs from other packs. French flags were topped by a distinctive finial - these can be bought from Front Rank.

The photo above is a wip pic of the Armagnac Regiment. These were painted using a mid-grey undercoat instead of my usual black one, and I'm happy with the overall look - quite crisp and snappy, I think. Lee's Legion and the Von Mirbach regiment are finished and going through the basing process; ditto more First Carlist War stuff. If the sun ever appears again in London (this has been the worst winter on record) I might even be able to take some decent photos...
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4th July Parade (2)

August 23rd, 2009 Giles Posted in "British Grenadier" rules Comments Off


It's been a while coming, but this is the British half of the AWI army parade that I posted back in July 2008 (see here). I realised that if I didn't do it today, I probably wouldn't do it this year, as the conditions were perfect: the hottest day of summer so far; a rather strong bottle of Spanish rose over lunch, which put paid to the hope of any painting this afternoon; and the pleasure of listening to England see off some other upstart colonials in the cricket (with all due respect to my Australian readers - you know that Australia is only behind England and New Zealand in my affections....). So here are the forces of King George, an army that did its best in difficult circumstances and, though it probably didn't realise it at the time, ultimately produced by far the better historical outcome by losing. [Incidentally, I note from a comparison of last year's photos with today's that my gardening skills clearly need improvement.]

First, some general views. i brigades most of the line regiments into brigades of 3-4, but this is not historical. However, all units are "at strength" at 1:20 and based for relevant "British Grenadier!" scenarios



Burgoyne's force: This is minus grenadiers, Brunswickers and specific artillery figures, but you can get a sense of how small the line regiments are in 1:20 (2 foot regiments are only 12 figures). For more on the Burgoyne expedition, please see the Saratoga posts label here.







British artillery, with various orders of dress all massed together:





The Hess-Kassel contingent. This is only about a quarter of the regiments supplied:

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Highlanders, Grenadiers and elites:







It's worth pointing out that, even more so than with the American parade, this collection reflects the work of Alan Perry. A few of the indians are by Conquest Minatures, and the Queen's Rangers Highlanders are from Eureka, but everything else is sculpted by Alan, for either Foundry or Perry Miniatures. If Paul Collingwood can get an MBE for a handful of runs in test cricket, then surely.....
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Spencer’s Ordinary, 26 June 1781

February 11th, 2008 Giles Posted in "British Grenadier" rules, Battles Comments Off




Last night "Eclaireur", Ronan the Librarian/Supercilius Maximus and myself had a bash at the Spencer's Ordinary scenario from the new "British Grenadier" scenario book. EC was the host and the game was played out on his large table. This second scenario book book has a good mix of better and lesser known engagements, together with a hypothetical Gloucester Point battle and a massive Germantown scenario. My favourite in the book is Savannah - with French troops, negro militia, sailors, Pulaski's Legion, militia on both sides and 9 British 12-pounders it's a mega-game with plenty of exotic troops to field. It goes straight to the top of the Allison list of Demo Games I'd Like to Do.

Anyway, Spencer's Ordinary. This scenario is at a ratio of 1:5, as it represents what was really a large skirmish between Loyalists and Greene's advance guard under the command of La Fayette. Simcoe's Queens Rangers had been on a foraging expedition and halted for the night at a tavern near Williamsburg in Virginia called Spencer's Ordinary. La Fayette attacked and this scenario represents the ensuing melee. It gives players the chance to put on the table a mass of Queen's Rangers (64 infantry figures and 22 cavalry) and Hessian jaegers on the "British" side and then militia, Continentals and 20-odd light dragoons on the American side. The scenario therefore doesn't have any regular British troops but does have plenty of cavalry, which one doesn't see that often in AWI battles. Most of the figures are from Eclaireur's collection. I contributed half of the Queen's Rangers, an American militia brigade and a few odds and sods.
The general layout - Loyalists on the right with their baggage train and Americans entering from the right. The tavern itself was represented by a Grand Manner model, defended by its owner and its Head Waiter, a Mr M Gibson.



The first engagement of the day was a cavalry scrap in the centre of the field. Charge and counter-charge carried on throughout the game with the Americans generally coming off the worst, although there was much toing and froing on both sides. Loyalist fire on the American positions was aided by the only artillery piece in the game, a Queen's Rangers 3-pounder.


The American right wing gave way under pressure from the Loyalist cavalry, whilst reinforcements in the form of my militia riflemen began moving up through the woods to assault the tavern itself, which was defended by Hessian jaegers and loyalists. By this stage the Queen's Rangers had taken up a strong defensive position at the tavern and astride the main road.

The 1st Continental Light Dragoons gamely charged the Queen's Rangers next to the tavern but were eventually beaten back with musketry. By this stage it was clear that the Americans were not going to be able to meet their objective of pillaging the baggage - it was not possible to break through the Queen's Rangers given the collapse of the right flank.

We played about 11 turns I think. It was clear by that stage that the Americans had had the worst of it. The game turned on the few dice rolls of the cavalry skirmishes on the American right and could have produced quite a different result had those rolls been to the Americans' avantage. This was a fun scenario; it's always good to have an excuse to get the Queen's Rangers out in force!
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Monmouth Courthouse, 18 June 1778

January 2nd, 2008 Giles 2 Posted in "British Grenadier" rules, Battles Comments Off

On the Sunday after Christmas I made a visit to Perry Miniatures HQ in Nottingham in the company of Eclaireur, author of the "British Grenadier!" rules, to refight the early stages of the Battle of Monmouth on the Perries' vast table. Here are some photos together with a short summary of what happened. Alan and Michael Perry played the Americans, whilst their mate Chris and I started off the Brits. EC joined in later as the Hessian commander, Von Kospoth, once the British reinforcements arrived. Most of the figures belong to the twins, with a few from Eclaireur's collection and a couple from mine (which I bought along just so I could say they'd fought on the Perries' table).

Monmouth was one of the largest battles of the AWI and falls into 2 BG scenarios - the early stages, which are essentially a surprise attack by the Americans under General Charles Lee on the British baggage train and rearguard, and the later stages in which the returning British main force attacks headlong into the Yanks after Lee has suffered a severe lack of nerve and Washington takes personal charge to restore the situation. So the immediate objective of this "early stages" scenario was for the British to hold off the Americans long enough to save the baggage train, but the Britis are also seeking to hammer the Yanks once their reinforcements arrive. It is an "encounter" scenario, with reinforcements arriving for both sides at various stages in the battle. The British are on the backfoot until the 5th/6th turns, by which stage their reinforcements begin to arrive and the tables can be turned if the British attack aggressively and manage to push the Americans back. The scenario was developed by Ronan the Librarian/Supercilius Maximus and appears in the second BG scenario book, which will shortly be published by Caliver in the UK. The scenario contains various optional special rules which are designed to replicate the conditions on the day, such as movement and casualty rules to simulate the effects of the extreme heat.

Here are the opening positions, with the baggage train screened by two battalions of light infantry, the loyalist Queen's Ranger and the British 16th light dragoons (both mounted and dismounted), but outnumbered by two American brigades which have suddenly appeared at the edge of the table.



The light infantry deployed to hold up the Yanks as the baggage train hurried as fast as it could towards the other side of the table. As it happened, the Perries managed to tie these two units up with various impressive looking threats which never materialised, so the two light infantry battalions were not as effective as they should have been. What I should have done was swung the light infantry up against the Americans who were advancing on Monmouth and thrown the cavalry out to deter any flanking movement by those American units that were seeking to outflank the position.



The Americans quickly charged the Queen's Rangers which were holding an orchard outside the town of Monmouth. The ensuing melee was lost by the Americans and the lead battalion's retreat precipitated a brigade morale test. That went very badly for the Yanks and the entire brigade fled back to where it had started from - this fight in the orchard was an early turning point in the battle, as the Brits were in severe danger of being overwhelmed.:



Eventually the British reinforcements arrived just as more American brigades were arriving on the table. Whilst the British left was still weak, with the Americans now reformed and coming back for another go at the orchard, I threw the grenadiers brigade straight into the attack, with EC doing the same with von Kospoth's Hessian grenadiers brigade.



Unfortunately, I failed to co-ordinate the grenadiers' attack properly (not helped by some poor dice rolling which quickly brought them up to 3 Disruption Points quite quickly). The lead unit found itself exposed and received murderous fire - it failed a morale check and retreated all the way back to the baggage, now safely within British lines. I can perhaps take some comfort in the fact that Clinton when ordering the grenadiers into the attack didn't seem to care much for co-ordination either: he is reported as having shouted "Charge, grenadiers; never heed forming!" (a remark which caused an incensed grenadier officer in the 45th Foot to describe Clinton as behaving "like a Newmarket jockey"). EC's Hessians fared better with their firing, and for a moment it looked like these German auxiliaries might carry the day. By this point the British had also finally brought up some much needed artillery (most of the game was fought with the Brits having only one 3-pounder, as opposed to several batteries of American guns).



The battle for Monmouth town had now resumed, with the Americans doing a bit better than the first time and slowly forcing the Loyalists back. I had suggested a tactical withdrawal to tighten up the British line, but Chris and EC (quite rightly) felt that as Clinton was now on the offensive the Brits should hold their ground; if grenadiers were routing on the right then honour demanded no thought of abandoning the left. Here a skirmish line of dismounted light dragoons attempt to hold back Durkee's brigade.



Initial rolls on the ensuing mellee suggested that the Americans might take the orchard, but at this point time was called (after about 5 hours' play). The Brits had saved the baggage train but failed to break through the American lines on the right. A couple of British regiments had taken heavy casualties, notably the grenadiers and light infantry, whilst the American losses seemed pretty light. So probably a "tactical scenario win" for the Brits but a "strategic battle win" for the Americans; or rather that's what the battle looked like at this point, but of course there was much more of it left to go.

"British Grenadier!" produces a very tightly contested game, in which luck plays an important part as well as generalship. As always, careful command and control was vital - the British reinforcements had no orders when they arrived and I realised that Clinton, the C-in-C was busy trying to assist rallying off DPs on the British left when he was more urgently needed to hand out orders on the extreme right. I then failed to keep the grenadier battalions in column whilst advancing towards the American lines,which would have reduced the number of DPs they accumulated. By adopting a funny echelon formation I also allowed the Americans to rout the lead battalion and the brigade was lucky to survive the ensuing morale test. But then on the day the grenadiers took a pasting, and the mechanics of "British Grenadier!" tend to reproduce historically accurate results unless you think long and hard about what you want to happen and plan carefully. That said, the Americans did much better under the command of the Perries than they did under Charles Lee.

Just so I can show that they were there, here are my British dragrope men taking a break from hauling a Perry gun:



It was a highly enjoyable day. Many thanks to Alan and Mike for their hospitality and to Chris for gamely putting up with my crappy dice throws (and for picking up the rules very quickly).
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