February 2015 – General Whiskers' semi-historical wanderings

Attack on Boialva 13th June 1808

Report of the action at Boialva, Portugal 13th June 1808

Captain Langton, commanding 2nd Squadron, 20th Light Dragoons and senior officer in Boialva, had orders to hold the town with the assistance of the local militia.
The previous day 1st squadron had suffered casualties south of the town, including the squadron commander, and the regiment had taken up defensive positions in the town.

Major Seillon of the French 3eme Provisional Dragoon Regiment had orders to attack.
He decided to retain two squadrons mounted and to attack on foot with his 1st and 2nd squadrons.
1st Squadron was to form a skirmish line and 2nd squadron two half-squadron columns.

The action commenced with the two mounted squadrons advancing either side of the town, keeping just outside musket range.
1st squadron then advanced in skirmish order and with their carbines swiftly drove two companies of the militia guarding the defensive outworks well back into the town.
They then moved into the buildings to the southern end of Boialva, but the 20th Light Dragoons moved forward the squadrons held in reserve and with support from a third company of militia drove the French back with severe casualties.

The militia are driven back from the walls

Major Seillon then moved his 2nd squadron up towards the town while the 1st squadron reformed and collected in their stragglers.
Captain Langton moved his dismounted cavalry and about half the militia forward to meet this new threat. A firefight over the southern defences ensued and eventually one troop of the French 2nd Squadron forced their way over the walls and into the south of the town.
With dusk falling and effectively a whole squadron lost, Major Seillon sounded the recall and the dragoons withdrew.

Although the British and Portuguese hold the town, the French now occupy positions surrounding it and in a good position to intercept any relief force.

Casualties: French – 161, British 36, Portuguese 42.

Wargaming note: This battle was fought using Commands & Colors Napoleonics, as seen in the photographs.

Battle in Poland, 1st September 1939

This is the first battle of my over-ambitious plan to replay the whole of the Second World War. The basis of the “campaign” is the Axis & Allies game, with the 1939 set-up that I found some years ago on the web. I think it was published by Peter Sides. Campaign moves are determined by information from two books; “World War II Day by Day” and “The Chronicle of World War Two”. Whatever happens in the game, history will try to reassert itself.

So, in the first German game turn I have a battle in Poland. In square 6126 the German 2^nd Tank Army is attacking the Polish 1^st Infantry Army, with support from the 1^st German Infantry Army. (In an earlier post I indicated that Axis & Allies units might become “armies”).

The strategic situation after the German move on 1st September.

The terrain was randomised using a deck of cards and a Memoir 44 game board. The resulting “map” was transferred to a wargame table using Kallistra hexagon tiles, some customised to provide the necessary terrain features.

The names of the three villages, Cerekwica, Mrowino and Napachanie were chosen simply because I found on Google Maps three settlements in the area with a similar geographical relationship. I think it’s better than using “Village A” or “Southeast Farm” or similar.
The battle would be won by the first side to achieve seven victory points. Possession of each of the three villages counted as 1VP and destruction of one entire enemy unit was worth 1VP.

The battlefield viewed from the southwest. Cerekwica on the left, then Mrowino. Both villages are occupied by Polish infantry.

View of the eastern flank from the south. The village of Napachanie. The wood to the left is on a hill, not obvious in this view.

The axis of attack for the German 2nd Tank Army. The green counters represent Polish forces not yet revealed, including some blanks.

The Germans began with a reconnaissance flight by a ME109, which spotted and strafed the Polish infantry in a wood north of Napachanie.

The remaining Polish infantry made a break for Napachanie from the wood. A second, as yet unidentified, unit moved off the hill to the right of the picture.

A German armoured car company raced into Napachanie to secure it before the Polish infantry could take possession. The ME109 came in for another strafing run…

...but was shot down by the jubilant Poles. — …but was shot down by the jubilant Poles.

Meanwhile in the northwest German infantry make a pincer attack on Cerekwica, defended by a company of Polish infantry. — Meanwhile in the northwest German infantry made a pincer attack on Cerekwica, defended by a company of Polish infantry.

Normally I try to work without tokens on the table, but sometimes it’s necessary. Each of my units has a small ID card that I can slip under the buildings to indicate their position if in occupation.

Despite a counterattack that caused a number of German casualties the Poles were forced back into the woods. A German supply convoy arrived.

Gaming notes
I changed the rule about retreating. Memoir 44 rules state that a retreating unit must move towards its baseline. With a flank attack in progress I ruled that it must retreat directly away from the major threat.
The purpose of the lorries in Memoir 44 is to “resupply” units that have suffered casualties. One base may be restored by removing one lorry. In the event there was no opportunity to do so.

At Napachanie a company of Pz IIs took over from the armoured cars and began to machine gun the Polish infantry. The armoured cars set off to recce the road to the northwest.

Note to self. “Do something about all those identically broken fences.”

But as they passed the wood on the crest of the ridge, the hidden Polish unit in the wood opened up with an anti-tank rifle and took out two of them. The third beat a hasty retreat. Dobry strzał!

The Poles at Napachanie had knocked out one Pz II, but more German armour was swiftly approaching.

The Poles counterattacked. A unit of TK3 tankettes with 20mm guns advanced, supported by a 75mm gun battery (top centre). Two more German tanks were destroyed by shellfire.

On the western flank things were not going well for the Germans. Rifle fire from the Poles in the woods was inflicting casualties on the Germans in Cerekwica (left) and the Poles in Mrowino (right) were holding up the advance of the German infantry across the open fields.

A unit of TK3 tankettes with MG armament emerged from the wood NE of Mrowino in support of the infantry. A Polish supply unit prepared to withdraw to safety.

Napachanie: The Polish and German armour begins to "mix it" while some armoured half tracks set off to deal with the AT rifle unit in the central wood. — Napachanie: The Polish and German armour began to “mix it” while some armoured half tracks set off to deal with the AT rifle unit in the central wood.

An overview of the eastern flank from the southwest. The Polish armour (centre) has chased off the German light tanks (bottom right), with help from their artillery (top left).

The Germans start to bring on their motorised artillery on the eastern flank... — The Germans started to bring on their motorised artillery on the eastern flank…

...and horse-drawn guns on the western flank. — …and horse-drawn guns on the western flank.

In the centre the remaining German armoured car surprises the Polish truck convoy, destroying two of the three trucks. The German tanks are keeping well to the south of the dangerous wood as they head for Mrowino. — In the centre the remaining German armoured car surprised the Polish truck convoy, destroying two of the three trucks. The German tanks kept well to the south of the dangerous wood as they headed for Mrowino.

Napachanie: The TK3s turn their attention on the German half tracks. — Napachanie: The TK3s turned their attention on the German half tracks.

Mrowino. The last Polish truck explodes and the Pz II unit catches the Polish tankettes from the rear. — Mrowino. The last Polish truck exploded and the Pz II unit caught the Polish tankettes from the rear.

But the Poles call in off-table heavy artillery to deal with the German tanks. — But the Poles called in off-table heavy artillery to deal with the German tanks.

From the southeast looking along the German axis of attack. The road is littered with burning vehicles. — From the southeast looking along the German axis of attack, the road littered with burning vehicles.

Napachanie: The Germans begin to deploy their 105mm howitzers. — Napachanie: The Germans began to deploy their 105mm howitzers.

Cerekwica is retaken by Polish infantry, while their tankettes machine gun the supporting infantry. — Cerekwica was retaken by Polish infantry, while their tankettes machine gunned the supporting German infantry.

Cerekwica/Mrowino: The Germans deployed their 105mm guns in direct fire mode.

Despite casualties from the German artillery fire the Poles hold on to Mrowino, but only just. — Despite casualties from the German artillery fire the Poles held on to Mrowino, but only just.

Back in the centre the German armoured car runs from a creeping artillery barrage. — Back in the centre the German armoured car ran from a creeping artillery barrage.

The Polish tankettes eliminate the last of the German infantry around Cerekwica and (behind the village to the left) Polish infantry attack and destroy the German supply convoy. — The Polish tankettes eliminated the last of the German infantry around Cerekwica and (behind the village to the left) Polish infantry attacked and destroyed the German supply convoy.

This marked the end of the battle. The Poles had eliminated five German units, including the ME109, or forced them to retreat from the battlefield, and recaptured two villages for the required seven victory points. The Germans had taken and held Napachanie in the southeast and eliminated two Polish units, a total of three points.
The game took fourteen turns for each player. At the end of turn 9 the victory point score was 4-4, and things were looking desperate for the Poles. Five turns later they won 7-3.

Aerial view from the south of the battlefield at the end of the game with Polish positions outlined in red and German positions in blue

Conclusion.
I think that Memoir 44 works best for set piece battles, or at least those with most of the forces on the field at the start. Because most of the command cards relate to right flank, left flank or centre the battle can become disjointed when trying to feed in troops at specific points. Each player in this game had four cards to select from at any one time, but the Poles got many of the “specials” like off-table artillery barrage. For almost half the game the Germans held three cards for a flank with one unit and one card for the flank with most of their forces.

As a first time exercise I think it worked well. I replayed part of the game later with Rapid Fire rules and it was clear that the firing was less devastating and the German superiority of numbers would overcome the Poles sooner or later.

And so I reach the end of the first day of the replay of the War. It’s only taken about a year to prepare and play. At this rate I will be 2,137 years old before I finish!

Painting, painting, painting

I am trying to increase the metal forces for use in my display games at Napoleonic re-enactment displays. This project is to replace the wooden blocks that I originally made for my home-grown game “Est-il Hereux?” with metal stands of 6mm miniatures.

I am currently working my way through a couple of hundred line infantry for Red Army and Blue Army and finding it a chore. Although the uniforms are very simplistic, toy soldier like, this batch has given me several headaches. First I managed to apply the white spray painted undercoat too thickly and it has filled the gaps between the legs of the soldiers and obscured some of the other detail. It has also come out with a glossy finish on the metal figures, even though some hard plastc figures sprayed at the same time have a matt finish!

This means that the red and blue acrylic paint is not taking well and most figures need at least two coats to get a proper covering. It does not help that I over-thinned the red paint before application.

Bah

First basic covering. Much touching up to be done.

A sub-project

As part of my wargaming projects to display the “battles of my youth” in my role as a pensioner of les Invalides in 1815 and to replay all the battles of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars on the tabletop I need more infantry. I already have all the troops created as printed paper overlays on wooden blocks, but I want to create “lead” playing pieces.

My models do not need a great deal of detail. They are to be toy soldier style as red army and blue army. I am using Irregular Miniatures 6mm figures. These infantry are no longer in the catalogue but Ian Kay still has the moulds and is kindly supplying me with the old castings. I have to cut the bases down from nominal 21mm wide (but in reality frequently more) to fit a 20mm square metal base.

I have about 500 figures to paint for my next battle. They have been spray painted with white undercoat and a few have their shakos painted.

My Pseudo-Napoleonic infantry waiting for their uniforms.

Engagement near Boialva 12th June 1808

The following are the reports from those engaged in this chance encounter between British and French cavalry in Portugal.

Report from Major Seillon
South of Boialva 12th June1808
My regiment of dragoons was riding north in column of route towards Boialva from Busaco when we came upon ENGLISH cavalry riding south. The road followed the line of a winding river valley, flanked by steep, heavily wooded, hills and we stumbled upon them as we rounded a bend. I thought they were probably Portuguese and led the first squadron forward, after ordering 2nd squadron to dismount and protect the flanks, which were heavily wooded and hilly. The enemy officer rode towards me with only two men, but as we advanced, changed his mind. It was too late, we were upon him. The enemy countercharged us and we realised from their “Huzzahs” that they were English. But they were no match for our fellows and we began to hack them down in numbers.
Very soon we had forced them back the way they came. They have retreated northwards, probably into Boialva. I have made camp south of the town. My losses are 8 men dead and 8 wounded and a total loss of 4 horses, after allowing for some which we captured in the engagement.

Report from Lieutenant Torridge to Major Greenholme, 20th Light Dragoons.
Boialva 12th June1808. 10pm. By the hand of Lt. Darwin, 2 Sqn.
Sir, I have to report the loss of Captain Comberton and 26 men of 1st Squadron in an engagement with French Dragoons south of Boialva.
Our squadron together with 2nd squadron was riding south from Boialva towards Busaco. The road followed the line of a winding river valley, flanked by steep, heavily wooded hills. Rounding a bend in the road we observed a column of green-coated cavalry coming the other way. Captain Comberton halted the squadron and rode forward with two men to investigate. The enemy – as they proved to be – advanced swiftly with a large squadron about twice the strength of our own and Captain Comberton was cut down before he could retire to us.
We countercharged and held them for a short while, but their numbers were too great and our horses were weak from the sea voyage. We were forced to fall back and have returned to Boialva, which was held by 3rd squadron.
We are now holding the town of Boialva together with 2nd and 3rd Squadrons. Captain Langton is commanding. 21 of my men are lightly wounded and we lost 28 horses in the engagement.

Report from Captain Langton to Major Greenholme, 20th Light Dragoons. Boialva 12th June1808. 10pm.
By the hand of Lt Darwin, 2 Sqn.
I am holding the town of Boialva with all three squadrons of the Regiment. 1st Squadron is in a poor state with 27 men missing, including Captain Comberton, and several wounded.
We came upon a large body of French dragoons today between here and Busaco. 1st Squadron was heavily engaged. I held 2nd squadron back as a reserve and dismounted two troops as a guard to our flanks, the valley being heavily wooded on both sides of the road.
When it was clear that 1st Squadron was in danger of being overwhelmed I ordered my men to remount and withdraw, and then took command of 1st Squadron and extricated them from the fight.
The men fought well, but we were outnumbered at least two to one.
I fear an attack tomorrow, but have put the town in a state of defence with the assistance of Captain Caminha of the town militia. He has about 350 men, armed with muskets of varying antiquity. In the armoury we found 4 old cannon on field carriages, but we have no experienced artillerymen amongst us or the Portuguese.

Waterloo in miniature – in miniature

At the end of May one of my reenactment groups, the 45eme Regiment de Ligne, is putting on a Waterloo themed display at Horsham.
My planned contribution is a display game of the Battle of Waterloo, played in my role as a pensioner of les Invalides.
This will be a big “bathtubbing” exercise, because I intend to replay the battle on a table two feet (60cm) square, divided into 144 squares.
I have the basic terrain ready, but some of the cork tile pieces representing higher ground need to be painted and gridded to match the table.

Hougoumont, with a battalion of Guard Infantry and a company of skirmishers in the orchard. My original Hougoumont occupied two squares and was too big.

Two companies of skirmishers hold la Haie Sainte as Blue columns advance towards the Red line on the ridge

Then most of the figures need to be painted. I will use the 6mm generic Red and Blue armies that I have been developing for this game. Tentative orders of battle are prepared. Units in the order of battle consist of four bases as shown in the photographs, except artillery which will have two gun bases. Maybe I will include two limbers as well – that remains to be seen. Their presence or absence will not affect the game.
Blue
2 Guard infantry
7 Line infantry
2 Heavy cavalry
3 Light cavalry
4 Artillery
Red
1 Guard infantry
6 Line infantry
1 Heavy cavalry
3 Light cavalry
3 Artillery
Red casualties will be recycled. When 4 bases of the same type (2 for artillery) have been lost there will be a chance that an identical Prussian unit will appear on the south-east corner of the table near Plancenoit.

Plancenoit village. Red (Prussian) reinforcements advance against Blue(French) Guard Infantry - it's as exciting as watching glue dry. — Plancenoit village. Red (Prussian) reinforcements advance against Blue(French) Guard Infantry – it’s as exciting as watching glue dry.

More news as the project develops.

11th June 1808. Marshall Bessières’ HQ gets to work

11th June 1808: General Order from M. Bessieres to all forces under command.
“All French forces are to treat our noble Spanish allies with courtesy and respect. All efforts are to be made to work with local town and regional authorities to secure goodwill and fraternal relations. All supplies and requisitions required by our forces are to be documented and to be paid for with Official Certificates of Military Payment redeemable at the Marshals pleasure.”

He also sent 3 dispatch riders with cavalry escorts of 12 men each to Bayonne, Madrid and Barcelona. They carried coded messages, the meaning of which cannot yet be revealed, but as a mental challenge to anyone with a few days to spare here are the messages, based on a coding system in use by the French in the Peninsula. This version translates to English, not French.

Message 1 to Bayonne
51, 144, 48, 33, 109, 15, 146, 120, 81, 136, 128, 48, 147, 99, 79, 136, 110, 118, 37, 142, 120, 6, 135, 48, 73, 148, 85, 13, 11, 39, 11, 25, 99, 128, 32, 6, 109, 89, 35, 9, 16, 43, 111, 48, 109, 77, 124, 145, 55, 38, 120, 48, 14, 16, 118, 108, 32, 7, 117, 120, 11, 32, 42, 26, 29, 8, 79, 136, 11, 37, 7, 16, 12, 50, 15, 7, 101, 47, 81, 81, 64, 148, 14, 25, 128, 6, 95, 32, 122, 110, 148, 38, 81, 81, 9, 14, 42, 26, 120, 81, 117, 92, 120, 51, 35, 132, 8, 26, 145, 110, 81, 127, 73, 101, 40, 55, 44, 122, 15, 79, 102, 33, 77, 29, 79, 75, 21, 118, 35, 47, 57, 54, 95, 120, 117, 128, 11, 118, 103, 75, 11, 131, 21, 81, 25, 9, 75, 33, 35, 9, 132, 146, 43, 6, 8, 8, 45, 103, 92, 146, 21, 101, 37, 75, 29, 29, 55, 6, 145, 146, 21, 33, 7, 47, 110, 101, 146, 29, 101, 55, 138, 6, 104, 11, 37, 7, 133, 24, 145, 131, 117, 50, 6, 75, 136, 110, 133, 11, 146, 67, 117, 117, 7, 136, 73, 135, 29, 12, 7, 109, 148, 3, 35, 128, 142, 136, 26, 31, 15, 146, 21, 26, 26, 117, 29, 42, 6, 128, 8, 146, 109, 108, 51, 13, 107, 11, 32, 148, 3, 75, 120, 142, 132, 48, 6, 41, 148, 136, 79, 146, 69, 117, 29, 79, 14, 9, 109, 122, 75, 31, 79, 44, 128, 6, 33, 109, 81, 64, 117, 75, 33, 110, 95, 120, 80, 35, 127, 51, 13, 95, 145, 110, 75, 11, 33, 11, 117, 114, 48, 131, 80, 24, 41, 67, 75, 109, 148, 114, 32, 35, 101, 104, 80, 132, 133, 75, 54, 114, 35, 127, 44, 35.

Message 2 to Madrid
40, 25, 146, 33, 109, 12, 81, 29, 79, 109, 120, 81, 74, 99, 81, 118, 110, 33, 131, 138, 60, 50, 81, 57, 148, 128, 146, 77, 24, 29, 111, 60, 117, 118, 92, 111, 45, 75, 110, 80, 60, 11, 40, 7, 142, 120, 12, 52, 101, 53, 81, 146, 143, 39, 75, 18, 77, 120, 7, 55, 81, 21, 67, 128, 79, 14, 16, 35, 44, 73, 15, 30, 92, 110, 149, 118, 103, 124, 127, 55, 71, 29, 79, 14, 133, 136, 108, 137, 7, 117, 128, 11, 131, 121, 24, 29, 44, 146, 109, 11, 32, 7, 133, 15, 125, 12, 75, 101, 47, 81, 48, 52, 148, 14, 141, 114, 26, 99, 37, 71, 110, 148, 71, 79, 48, 16, 14, 102, 6, 114, 79, 117, 12, 29, 51, 75, 133, 125, 60, 34, 79, 41, 110, 101, 40, 55, 8, 38, 92, 79, 54, 136, 143, 29, 79, 75, 142, 109, 35, 145, 56, 102, 135, 114, 117, 29, 11, 109, 143, 75, 11, 131, 21, 146, 90, 132, 124, 136, 124, 133, 16, 79, 43, 24, 50, 44, 135, 143, 80, 81, 21, 101, 137, 35, 120, 128, 55, 6, 47, 146, 52, 109, 75, 145, 111, 101, 48, 29, 101, 55, 51, 13, 30, 11, 37, 75, 132, 60, 37, 117, 8, 24, 124, 33, 73, 9, 11, 48, 67, 117, 117, 75, 136, 73, 135, 120, 92, 124, 33, 148, 123, 7, 114, 64, 33, 24, 104, 15, 81, 52, 13, 26, 117, 114, 42, 13, 114, 50, 79, 118, 108, 65, 24, 30, 11, 32, 148, 86, 75, 120, 142, 16, 146, 60, 148, 118, 48, 81, 69, 117, 120, 48, 14, 133, 109, 38, 75, 31, 81, 8, 128, 26, 109, 33, 79, 21, 117, 124, 33, 110, 45, 128, 12, 75, 145, 65, 24, 95, 47, 73, 124, 11, 33, 11, 117, 29, 79, 37, 15, 60, 67, 35, 33, 148, 29, 37, 124, 101, 31, 92, 9, 16, 75, 102, 120, 7, 47, 44, 124.

Message 3 to Barcelona
40, 141, 146, 109, 33, 15, 48, 29, 146, 118, 128, 146, 74, 45, 146, 136, 34, 118, 32, 21, 135, 122, 81, 118, 51, 146, 148, 120, 146, 143, 13, 114, 110, 60, 117, 136, 15, 110, 135, 75, 73, 12, 60, 11, 8, 124, 34, 75, 133, 60, 80, 75, 101, 130, 79, 79, 103, 39, 124, 18, 143, 29, 75, 55, 81, 64, 67, 120, 79, 14, 9, 7, 44, 73, 12, 30, 92, 34, 149, 33, 77, 75, 47, 55, 71, 29, 81, 14, 16, 33, 108, 131, 75, 117, 128, 11, 137, 42, 13, 120, 125, 48, 33, 11, 32, 124, 133, 80, 50, 12, 124, 101, 145, 81, 146, 64, 148, 14, 25, 120, 26, 95, 32, 68, 34, 148, 68, 146, 146, 16, 14, 42, 13, 120, 81, 117, 12, 114, 51, 124, 133, 50, 60, 73, 81, 127, 110, 101, 40, 55, 8, 122, 15, 146, 42, 118, 143, 120, 79, 35, 142, 118, 124, 127, 57, 121, 135, 114, 117, 29, 11, 136, 103, 7, 11, 37, 64, 48, 90, 16, 7, 109, 7, 9, 133, 79, 43, 24, 8, 50, 135, 18, 80, 146, 142, 101, 137, 7, 114, 120, 55, 6, 41, 81, 64, 136, 35, 127, 34, 101, 79, 114, 101, 55, 40, 13, 107, 11, 37, 75, 132, 60, 32, 117, 8, 13, 75, 118, 111, 9, 11, 146, 67, 117, 117, 35, 33, 73, 95, 29, 80, 75, 109, 148, 123, 7, 114, 52, 136, 26, 104, 12, 48, 21, 26, 6, 117, 114, 102, 13, 114, 44, 146, 33, 108, 40, 24, 107, 11, 37, 148, 3, 75, 120, 21, 9, 79, 60, 148, 33, 79, 146, 69, 117, 128, 81, 14, 133, 118, 38, 35, 30, 48, 44, 114, 6, 33, 136, 146, 21, 117, 124, 118, 111, 99, 29, 15, 35, 127, 65, 13, 135, 41, 110, 75, 11, 136, 11, 117, 120, 81, 37, 92, 60, 67, 124, 136, 148, 128, 137, 75, 101, 31, 15, 133, 9, 35, 54, 128, 124, 145, 50, 7.

The system is well described by Mark Urban in his book, “The Man Who Broke Napoleon’s Codes” (ISBN 0-571-20538-0) and I am indebted to Mark for his research. It is a substitution code, but each letter may have several numeric equivalents and sometimes a single number may represent a commonly used word or group of letters.

As an example of sloppy staff work which opens the first key to the code, all three messages begin with “M. Bessieres”