Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Melchett: Field Marshal Haig has formulated a brilliant new Like all caricatures, the above has elements
of truth in it. However, WW1 actually has
tactical plan to ensure nal victory in the eld. plenty to offer the wargamer on land, sea
Blackadder: Ah. Would this brilliant plan involve us climbing and air. Lets dig a little deeper.
out of our trenches and walking very slowly towards the enemy? One point to remember (and there is a
clue in the name) is that WW1 was a
Captain Darling: How could you possibly know that, World War with numerous theaters of
Blackadder? Its classied information! conict; the Western Front, the Eastern
Front, as well as fronts in Italy, Palestine,
Blackadder: Its the same plan that we used last time and the The Dardanelles, Greece, East Africa
and the Pacic. All these areas can
seventeen times before that. provide interesting scenarios and unique
From Captain Cook, Blackadder Goes Forth situations: in Palestine cavalry played
a signicant role, in East Africa an
Below: This months cover artwork, 1st Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment at Audregnies by asymmetrical campaign pitted German-
David Rowlands, seen again below in all its glory. The painting shows the heroic stand of led native troops against a range of
Lt. Col. D C Boger and his troops against the advancing German columns near the village British Imperial forces, in the Italian Alps
of Audregnies, at the close of the Battle of Mons. Read more about this action, and see more small-scale skirmish warfare ourished,
artwork, on Davids website www.davidrowlands.co.uk. alongside the big offensives.
10
War I
World Wars
gas and mortar bombardments, in which
strategic and tactical bombing, long-
1914-1918
gaining 100 yards was a great victory. Its Its certainly the case that the middle
range reconnaissance etc.
true that there were large periods in the period of the War on the Western Front
1803-1815
At sea there were not only great (and War that t this description - but not all. turned into an attritional slogging match.
Napoleonic
generally indecisive) battleship actions, However, as revisionist historians have
The opening months of the War were
but also decisive squadron-sized actions shown, this was perhaps due more to
of maneuver and counter-maneuver in
(Coronel and the Falklands, for example), the indirect repower of artillery (in one
the West. The French found out that
single ship ghts, coastal forces, estimate 80% of casualties were artillery
lan in attack was not enough against
submarines and Q-ships. inicted) and that of other weapons
modern weapons and the Germans
than purely to the arrogant bunglers
All the examples above provide a lot of desperately marched to make the great
model of British or French generalship
wargaming possibilities ranging from turning movement of the Schlieffen Plan
(the Allied forces were generally on the
large-scale battles of movement, ying a reality. The battles of this period are
attack in this period). Theres certainly
circus-style dogghts and massed eet like those of the American Civil War
an argument to be made that generals like
actions to small-scale trench-raiding (though elements of that war should have
Haig did learn from mistakes and today
with a dozen gures a side, plane verses warned of the shape of things to come)
its difcult to see who could have done
plane combats and Q-ships trying to lure or the Franco-Prussian War; the generals
much better in the existing situation. Its
submarines to their doom. involved still thought in Napoleonic
also true that the previous vision of the
terms of a decisive victory. It was a
Given this plethora of choice we have Germans as supremely tactically gifted
victory that they strained to achieve in
to be selective here, so, in this article in the First, as in the Second World War,
the face of quick-ring artillery, machine
were going to concentrate on the land has come to be modied. In the case of
guns and aerial reconnaissance (not to
war aspect. However, lets salute the WW2 its become clear that the Russians
mention the deadly rie re of the British
brilliantly effective air combat system were not as backward tactically and
Expeditionary Force). All the classic
of Wings of War, with movement strategically as German commanders
types of cavalry still scouted ahead of
cards reecting aircraft performance writing their memoirs liked to pretend.
armies and occasionally charged home;
characteristics (the tight right-hand torque For WW1 its become apparent that the
a soldiers boots were vital equipment in
turn of the Sopwith Camel, for example) British Army of 1918 has more than
the long marches and counter-marches.
and an ever-growing range of single and a little claim to be seen as the most
two-seater models. Naval gamers are also In the East the Germans, Austrians and effective modern all-arms army of the
well-provided for with ship models of Russians also spent the rst months time. The middle period of the War also
all types in various scales. Some of the of ghting in a war of movement with allows possibilities of ghting between
forgotten campaigns like the river war decisive tactical (but not necessarily the Austro-Germans and the Russians on
on the Danube can also make for unusual strategic) victories like Tannenberg and the Eastern Front; the British and Turks
naval skirmishes. Lemberg. As far as can be made out from in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia; as well as
the Germans, Austrians and Bulgarians
against the Romanians (make sure you
take the Central Powers side).
11
The last period of the War, in 1918, is of mountain assaults (a famous one led by unusual spectacles like a battalion of
real wargaming interest with, rstly, the the young Rommel) and trench raids in Gordon Highlanders being rowed into
last great German offensives and then the addition to the more normal offensives. action in the 1918 River Piave ghting by
Allied ripostes, which turned it back to It also offers the possibility for a brief conscripted Venetian gondoliers.
a war of movement again with artillery period towards the end of 1917 to have
sometimes ring over open sights and Austrian, German, British and French In the East it was still more a war of
massed armoured attacks accompanying troops on the same table - not to mention movement than in the West. In Palestine
infantry inltration tactics. Youll be the Italians! In 1918 the Austrians were the ultimately successful campaign
able to add some more varied scenery to on their own again against the Italians, against the Turks involved aircraft and
your table top and get out of the trenches, who were aided by nearly 250,000 sweeping cavalry movements as well
cross rivers and canals and capture British and French troops with artillery as infantry, armoured cars, tanks and
villages and towns. This is also the period and air support. This front also offers artillery (and Lawrence of Arabia).
when American troops appear on the
Western Front. Below: An Austro-Hungarian anti-aircraft machine gun team, somewhere in Northern Italy.
Figures by Scarab Miniatures.
While all this was going on, von
Lettow-Vorbeck was ghting a brilliantly
successful, long, drawn-out struggle
against much larger opposing forces
in Africa. This campaign offers the
opportunity to eld an interesting mix of
European and African troops, including
exotic units like the 25th Battalion,
Royal Fusiliers (Frontiersmen). The
25th, raised and commanded by Colonel
Driscoll, had an amazing variety of
members: the famous hunter F.C. Selous,
ex-Foreign Legionnaires, a Buckingham
Palace footman, a millionaire and some
Texas cowboys. The 1915 Gallipoli
landings were a painful failure as the
Turks provided much tougher opposition
than expected.
The war on the Italian Front (1915
onwards) turned into just as much of
a slogging match as that of the West,
though it should be noted that it also
lends itself to a variety of river crossings,
12
UNIFORMS wore their famous hats with cocks The German army of the early part of
feathers in action (keeping the cocks the War still wore the pickelhube and
While its true that WW1 on the tabletop
feathers even when a steel helmet was riemen the shako. In the nal stage
is never going to look as pretty as the
Renaissance or Napoleonic periods, its substituted). Austria-Hungary also started of the war a three-colour splinter-style
not as drab as all that. French uniforms in the war with cavalrymen in blue and red camouage was even introduced for
1914 were almost as colourful as in 1870 and infantrymen in pike-grey. In Africa helmets and equipment like artillery
and the Belgian army of the same year von Lettows native askaris were a fairly pieces. Uniforms may have been eld
had an extraordinary range of uniforms: colourful lot and he was also reinforced grey, with grey-green for riemen, but
lance-armed red-trousered mounted by sailors of the sunken cruiser there were many detailed collar and cuff
guides wearing fur busbies, lancers, Konigsberg. The ANZACs sported slouch distinctions for different units and the
chasseurs cheval and infantrymen with and lemon-squeezer hats, as well as different states making up the army of
an interesting collection of headgear. sun-protective headgear at Gallipoli the German Empire. Also the various
Russian forces included Cossacks as and in the Middle East and their ranks grenade bags and knee patches that
well as more conventional troops, Polish included Maoris. festooned stormtroopers make for a bit
lancers wore the Napoleonic-style czapka Below: Musketeer Miniatures Highlanders (displaying their distinctive uniforms) take up a
until 1915 and the Italian Bersagliri position in a derelict building in Northern France.
13
Above: Austro-Hungarian troops move forward behind the cover of a German tank. Figures by Scarab Miniatures and Great War Miniatures.
14
Napoleonic Wars
for control of the village of Penchard (5
September 1914) between two French
infantry divisions and a Moroccan
1803-1815
brigade and two German infantry
divisions and a further infantry brigade.
This was an encounter affair with both
sides moving forward. The Germans were
nearer the village and got there rst and
were then attacked by the French across
a battleeld dotted with other smaller
villages and woods, with easily fordable
rivulets running across a terrain covered
with corn elds.
RAIDS
In the middle period of the War the
massive artillery preparations, with
literally millions of shells being red,
Above: A Scarab Miniatures machine gun team. and then the following frontal attacks,
suffering casualities, seem to have caused tabletop battleeld, looking south/north, do not lend themselves to much tabletop
more to the Jgers. This action was part would have Le Cateau with the River fun. Trench raids, however, do. These
of the ghting between the German la Selle valley below it in the middle of night-time raids came in all shapes
advance on Mons and the BEF covering its right hand (eastern) side with a road and sizes, from very small patrols of a
screen. As supports you could give the leading west out of Le Cateau, bisected in few men to company-sized forces with
Germans an all-arms force and the the middle of the table by a road running artillery preparation.
British the Scots Greys. Your table north-east/south-west. Make the ground In the West, the British and Germans
would be farmland, country roads, undulating with dips and gullies to give were particularly active in this sphere
tracks and villages. some cover and youre set up for a game with raids designed to disrupt the other
which gives both sides knotty problems. sides work on their defences, capture
ENCOUNTER BATTLES
If you have some French you want to prisoners for intelligence purposes
However, if you want something on a or to check on any evidence of new
use, the ghting during what came to be
larger scale, how about the ghting at Le installations and equipment on the
known as the First Battle of the Marne
Cateau? On 26 August General Smith- other side. All sorts of improvised
(September 1914) could t the bill. Both
Dorrien fought a delaying action with weapons, like spiked clubs or sharpened
sides were often sparring for control
brigades against German divisions in the entrenching tools, were used, but hand
of villages and other strategic points.
undulating countryside west of the town, grenades and pistols were frequently the
You could replay the struggle for the
dotted with villages (but few hedges). In arms of choice. Trench raiding scenarios
Chateau de Mondemont, which German
one part of the battle the Germans, from a will be enhanced by the maximum of
guardsmen struggled to hold as a vital
ridge, attacked the British right ank with scenery you can gather and by making
lookout point. This was a small-scale
nine infantry battalions and ve machine
gun companies. They were supported Below: Foundry British make their way across no-mans-land.
by more artillery than the British, who
themselves had two infantry battalions
(later reinforced by one more and
elements of another), 42 eld guns and a
heavy artillery battery. The ground was
open, about 2,000 metres square, with
some dead ground, used by machine-
gunners as cover, on the German side
of the crossroads in the centre of the
British position. British accounts suggest
that the German shrapnel was relatively
ineffective as far as the infantry was
concerned and that their machine guns
caused more casualties. Later in the
ghting another German division started
working its way up the valley of the
River la Selle south of Le Cateau to
outank the British position. The British
were now facing the re of the artillery
of three German divisions and at least
12 battalions of infantry. They held on
until ordered to retire; most of the guns
and infantry got away, apart from the 2/
Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. The
15
and
World War
The Problem
the rules might Some aspects of
need agreement NAVAL WARFAR
E Trenches in wargaming
on interpretation. ways:
The war saw the represented in one of two
first
many years. These aerial combat and some of into some form
Napoleonic Wars
GREAT WAR
Warhammer Historical are also reasonably the largest fleet by cutting downwards
following is a actions for
limited well served by of terrain panel, or
Jutland, to be honest selection of the best. Although sets of rules; the
www.warhammer-hi GREAT WAR
SPEARHEAD
Below: More action from Gallipoli as Woodbine Designs ANZAC troops surge
storical.com www.geocities.com/ pieces that
Ive written a book by creating special terrain
1803-1815
es
bomber offensive me a bit cold, but and slope
lie on top of existing terrain
wiTh Trench
Price ***** certainly tempted writing one
Price me to try dogfights. they are sufficiently high to
Production ***** **** ALGERNON upwards until
Production *** PULLS IT OFF! of a trench; in
Too Fat Lardies represent the height/depth
As you would
expect www.toofatlardies.c VICTOR effect forming a rampart.
solid and dependable from the Warhammer stable, The second edition Y AT SEA:
o.uk Mongoose Publishing AGE OF DREADNOUGHT
16
Napoleonic Wars
surrounded by hills to the north, south
and east. To the west the ground was
atter and from this direction a railway
1803-1815
entered the town. The northern and
southern defences were trenches, but with
no wire. The southern and south-western
defences were on the hills with mainly a
single line of trenches and some redoubts.
You can also include some wadis in your
terrain to give the attackers some cover.
The British units included cavalry and
the Camel Corps and outnumbered the
Turkish defenders. There was also a very
successful cavalry attack from the south
East and Gallipoli, and Artizan Designs Above: Woodbine Designs
which overwhelmed the defence and ANZAC characters.
those for the Arab Revolt and Lawrence
penetrated the town.
of Arabia. Vehicles are also available
illustrated and with a lot of information,
FIGURES from some manufacturers. has been inuential in raising interest in
A wide selection of scales are available: RULES the period. Contemptible Little Armies
6, 10, 15, 20 and 25-28 mm. Obviously, (Rattrap Productions/Brigade Games) 3rd
for large-scale actions, 6 and 10 mm Research for this article turned up Edition is a very playable set. To the Last
mean that you could get big battles 13 sets of WW1 rules - and there are Man is a good set of rules by Chris Peers,
like Cambrai onto the table. However, certainly more out there! The Great not easy to pick-up but very pleasurable
rather like WW2, the big battles seem War (Warhammer Historical), superbly once you have.
better suited to board games. Strangely
enough for a war involving millions, For a more in-depth look at
WW1 games can be very satisfying the WWI rules head to our
with up to 60 or 70 gures a side - for website and download our
example, a three-company battalion of
some 60 gures plus support. You can
.net WWI Rules Roundup
which appeared in WI264
substitute tabletop companies or platoons
for actual battalions, which works well
to reght battles, as long as you keep FURTHER READING
the relative force proportions. Trench The literature on all aspects of WW1 is vast. Below are some basic resources to get you going:
raids are exciting with very few gures The First World War. John Keegan. Pimlico 1999. (A good one volume introduction.)
attacking and defending. A couple of
tanks supporting a company-sized attack August 1914. Barbara Tuchman. Papermac 1980.
(The opening phases of the War, 1914, both East and West.)
against a defence equipped with a eld
gun in the anti-tank role, either in a Osprey: a wide range of books on national armies, units, equipment, battles and campaigns. They
also cover air warfare in a lot of detail, as well as naval.
trench assault or 1918-style open eld
ght, can give you the sort of game that Battleground Europe. Leo Cooper, Pen & Sword Books.
(Useful series covering many individual battleelds in the West, Italy and Gallipoli.)
can be fought to a nish in an afternoon
or evening. In early 1914 theres scope Battle Tactics of the Western Front. The British Armys art of attack 1916-18. Paddy Grifth.
for small scale cavalry vs cavalry or YUP 1994. (Essential reading.)
cavalry vs infantry actions with a troop of 1918. A Very British Victory. Peter Hart. Phoenix 2009.
cavalry and a company of infantry - say The Eastern Front 1914-17. Norman Stone. Penguin 1998.
30 gures for the two
The German Army at Ypres 1914 and The Battle for Flanders, The German Army on the Somme
There are a wide range of gures 1914-1916, The German Army at Passchendaele, (among others). Jack Sheldon. Pen & Sword.
available in 20mm plastic. However, in (Sheldon has done superb research in regimental archives and accounts published after WW1;
occasionally the contemporary narratives are a little our gallant lads style for modern tastes, but
25/28mm metal, feasible if were talking they give a lot of interesting detail.)
relatively modest numbers on the table,
Verdun. Alistair Horne. Penguin 1993.
there are some beautifully sculpted and
detailed gures. Manufacturers like Great The White War. Mark Thompson. Faber & Faber 2009. (The Italian Front, 1915-1918.)
War Miniatures, Brigade Games, Old The Last Crusade. Anthony Bruce. John Murray 2003. (The campaign in Palestine.)
Glory and Renegade Miniatures have a
Battle for the Bundu. Charles Miller. MacMillan 1974.
wide coverage of the British, Germans (A very entertaining account of the ghting in East Africa.)
(including von Lettows forces from
Tanganikyan Guerrilla. J R Sibley. Pan/Ballantine 1971.
Brigade), French and Austrians. Ebor
Miniatures specialize in the French and Gallipoli. Peter Hart. Prole Books 2011. (There are a lot of books on Gallipoli; this is probably
Belgians of 1914. Scarab Miniatures the most objective, but see L A Carlyon too.)
have some nice Austrians and Italians. Novels and memoirs: Under Fire (Henri Barbusse, the anti-war classic);
Musketeer Miniatures have some Early Her Privates We (Frederic Manning); War (Ludwig Renn); Storm of Steel
(Ernst Jnger, certainly more pro-war than Barbusse.)
War British and Russians. Woodbine
Design and Eureka Miniatures have the Internet sites: Among many, www.landships.freeservers.com has a lot of useful information.
gures you might need for the Middle
17