1600 - Something: Paris in Summer

The next (and penultimate) game in the Summer 1606 move is the resumption of the Franco-Spanish action. This has been going on a while, as the reader may recall. Most recently, the Spanish and some French mutineers inflicted a couple of sharp defeats on the French, forcing them out of Burgundy.

This time, the Spanish have moved into the Ile de France with an army and an artillery train. Those 18 bases consist of 4 demi-lancer bases, 5 pike, 5 shot, 2 light horse bases, and 2 artillery bases, of course. They are facing a supported French army, also of 18 bases. The French have 6 cavalry bases, 6 shot, 4 pikes, and 2 light horse. They are, in fact, on the defensive strategically, but in my hands, for some reason, the French have never let that bother them tactically.

For some (other) reason, whenever I roll the terrain for Franco-Spanish conflict, I end up rolling a double six and placing a wood right in the centre of the field. This game was no exception, so both sides are now peering around the trees to see the enemy. The Spanish are to the right, with their cavalry on their right, together with the light horse. The guns are in the centre, on a handy hill, which gives them the ability to fire over the heads of their own troops to the left and right. The Spanish infantry was deployed by the field in the centre (and, in fact, in it), then blocking the gap between the woods and rough ground on their left.

The French inevitably decided not to hang around in their starting positions and get shot at, but to move on up and attack. I think this is mainly due to the preponderance of French cavalry, who, in general, need a bit of a run-up. So the bulk of the French horse were deployed on their left, the idea being to sweep around the flank and capture the guns. Well, we can dream, can’t we?

I have introduced some new rules regarding time and wind. The wind rules were implemented recently, and it is blowing from the bottom left of the pictures to the top right, or north-east, force 1, which is pretty feeble. The weather is fair. The time the action starts is 14:45. We’ll see how that goes as well.

The action opened inevitably, with an artillery bombardment by the Spanish. This did cause a little disruption initially to the French infantry but nothing serious. On the far side you can see the light horse of both sides in action against each other. Both have drawn the sub-generals in to try to manage the combat. On the French right, nearest the camera, the infantry are advancing to hold the Spanish in position. On the French centre left, led by the general, the other French infantry are approaching the hedge and in a firefight with the Spanish musketeers holding it.

The next move the French infantry pike got at the Spanish musketeers in the field and, rather unexpectedly, simply routed them. You can see them fleeing just to the right of the field. It has to be admitted that Spanish morale wobbled a bit at this, although the rest of the field was pretty much as it was.

The fighting became fairly general as the central French foot got into range, and came off second best in the firefight. On the French left, the light cavalry duel continues, while in the field by the wood the French general has taken control, put a sleeve of musketeers into the field and ordered the pike and rest of the shot to advance on the French foot there. He has also ordered up the reserve French cavalry from the centre (oddly, the French right wing reserve cavalry was left in place, probably due to it being in a good position on a hill).

Things started to come to a crisis after a couple of hours. Firstly, the wind dropped, which made it even more difficult for the musketeers and gunners to see what they were shooting at, and even harder to hit anything. Even so, the Spanish guns have administered a battering to the French infantry in the field by the wood, forcing the base out and behind a hedge. Meanwhile, in the centre, the Spanish infantry under the general is pushing back the French with good shooting and decent pike work. On the French left, behind all the smoke, a French cavalry base has charged the Spanish pike in flank and routed it, while one of the French light horse bases has seen off a Spanish counterpart. On the other hand, on the French right, their infantry there is busily losing the firefight even though they outnumber the Spanish foot.

Casualties were mounting on both sides. In the centre, the French foot fled, while on the French right their foot have been fought to a standstill by the Spanish. On the French left, however, their cavalry has been busy, pouring through gaps left by the defeated Spanish infantry. The French did get a bit lucky here as the Spanish put their lancers into a base of light horse which held out heroically for a couple of moves before fleeing. The Spanish sub-general is now in danger of being flanked by the cuirassiers of his French counterpart.

At this point both sides had to make morale rolls. They were both six bases down. The Spanish rolled withdraw, while the French rolled fall back. Looking at the situation, you can see the wisdom of the dice. The Spanish right is in tatters, and in a couple of moves they might well lose the guns. There are also marauding French cavalry behind their lines. While their reserve demi-lancers might well manage to intervene, there are still the French infantry to consider.

On the other hand, in the centre the French have fled, and their right is in no position to achieve anything much. But then, nor is the Spanish left. At 17:45 two sides drew apart, at least, as far as anyone could tell through all that smoke.

That was a lot of fun as a wargame, and the outcome was uncertain until the end. Even the destruction of the French centre could not stop them on the Spanish right, possibly because the French had two generals in action there to the Spanish one (who was in the centre).

Still, strategically, this means that the French have successfully defended Paris, although at considerable cost to an already denuded treasury. On the other hand, the Spanish are still firmly entrenched in Burgundy, but they cannot pursue further advances on Paris this year. A lot is still going on, and the last battle is between French-inspired Basque rebels and local Spanish forces. We will have to see how that goes.