The basic idea of the campaign is very simple: you move a few armies and have a wargame. How come it gets so complex? I suppose it is a bit like real life. Most of life is fairly straightforward, after all, but it gets very complicated every once in a while.
The current mess in Burgundy is a case in point, but I have also reported on the shambles around the Baltic consequent on Sweden’s financial woes. But, in Burgundy, as reported last time, the French lost to the invading Spanish. However, as reported earlier, the French in Burgundy also had to face a mutinous French army from Languedoc. A few dice rolls determined, firstly, that the mutinous French were pro-Spanish protestors (they might also have been protesting about the French betrayal of Sweden in Estonia) and that the Spanish–French action would be fought out first.
As recorded last time, the Spanish won the first action, leaving the somewhat denuded French to face the mutineers and some Spanish supports. After some consideration and counting, the Spanish came up with a nine-base allied contingent. This is based on the fact that the Spanish army in Burgundy consisted of an army and an artillery train, and was supported from Savoy. An allied contingent of six bases and a support of three seemed reasonable. The allies, therefore, had a twelve base Fronch army plus the Spanish.
The French were weakened from the first battle, mustering but seventeen bases, although they still had the artillery from their train. Most of the casualties were among the cavalry, after all. When you consider that the aim of the campaign was to create lots of twelve-base-a-side actions, you can see that the dice and cards are not really cooperating.
I decided to set up on the double table to avoid the pitfalls of an overcrowded battlefield, as recorded recently. The French are to the right, their artillery on a hill, protected by some infantry. The plan was to attack the Spanish (on the French left, nearest the camera), on the basis that the smaller Spanish army would be easier to break. The French right would stand broadly on the defensive, hoping for some magic from the guns.
Just for fun, I tried some low-angle shots. The above is the best, relatively speaking, and is taken from behind the French gun line. The Spanish are to the left, in the field, while the mutinous infantry and cavalry are ranged before the guns. The Spanish and mutineer foot are Baccus, the French Irregular. The cavalry is the other way around.
The action proceeded fairly slowly, as the French government suffered a tempo point drought. Still, eventually they got moving. The light horse exchanged shots, the artillery missed, and the government's left wing moved forward. The government general (on the hill) realised that he had to move his wing forward a bit to cover the flank of the left wing. If he did not, the red-coated mutineers could attack the wing of the government blue-coats. So, now, the whole government army is in motion, which was not the plan.
Government plans started to go a trifle awry. In the foreground, the cavalry of the left is in position, the Spanish light horse has been driven back, and all is ready for a charge. Unfortunately, the cavalry formation has been disrupted by Spanish musket fire, and the cavalry refused to go in. Still, the infantry of the left is about to hit home, engaging in a firefight with the rest of the Spanish foot. On the other wing, the mutineers have made use of their cavalry superiority to threaten the flank of the government cavalry, while the latter are in contact with the mutineer light horse who, against all the odds, are holding them up.
Assorted crunches came to pass. On the government's right, their cavalry has been charged in flank by mutineers. The infantry is now engaged with the mutineer foot. By the field, government pikemen are driving back their Spanish counterparts, while on the left, the French cavalry is still refusing to charge the Spanish demi-lancers.
Several crises were resolved in a turn or two. On the government's right, the mutineer cavalry started to rout their opponents, while the infantry continued to shoot at each other. Remarkably, the doubly shaken Spanish pike managed to recoil their opponents – a 6-1 get out of jail free card. On the government left, the Spanish light horse saw off their opponents, giving the demi-lancers an opportunity to charge. They refused the first time, but then went home, blowing away the government cavalry and their unfortunate light horse.
At this point, government morale drooped to a withdraw result, leaving the mutineers and their Spanish allies with a victory. I think they were a bit lucky, both with the pike battle in the centre (this is the second time French pike have been duffing up Spanish, only for the game to be called before they win), and with the cavalry battle on the left, which depended on who charged home first. The French could, I think, have done a bit better. Their general stayed with the foot on the centre-right. He might have done better to have controlled the cavalry battle more closely.
As you might imagine, these actions in Burgundy have left the French in some strategic difficulty. While they advanced last year into Luxembourg, the loss of Burgundy is a serious matter, and I am not at present sure where the army there can retreat to. While both actions could have gone either way, the government lost both of them and now has to face the loss of troops and prestige, while having Spanish and mutineers at the gates of Paris.
Still, before trying to work out what happens next, I have to move to something a bit more amphibious, with a Barbary corsair raid on the coast of Portugal. First, up, whether it is a naval, land or mixed wargame….
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