Muskets and Tomahawks in the American War of Independence.

This weekend I had the pleasure of joining Mike C., Bob, Si, John, Alex and Paul for game of Muskets & Tomahawks version II, set in the wilderness of North American during the American War of Independence with a straight forward attack and defence scenario, that had the American Patriots or Rebels depending on what side of the War of Independence or Revolution you get your history from and like wise the poor-old Redcoats, simply following orders and policing the colonies against tax avoiders, or those damnable lobsters doing the bidding of their tyrant king, you can take your pick.

  

As you will see the American line looked rather formidable with a river to its front with sections of rapids restricting the areas to be forded, overlooked by plenty of cover provided by woodland, flanking a ridgeline on which several emplacements had been constructed and defended by American Continental regulars, with their riflemen and allied Indians operating mainly out on the flanks.

 

The British had a significant force of regulars that included light infantry and grenadiers, backed up by loyalist units including the Queen's Rangers and several warbands of Iroquois Indians.

The position looked like the one General Howe would have definitely flanked, looking to minimise casualties by turning the rebels out of their nicely constructed positions rather than an attack directly to the front; but it seems we must have had 'Old Tom' Gage running matters because a classic Bunker Hill manoeuvre was the order of the day and so the British force was split into three divisions, as seen above with the intent to demonstrate in the centre and look to turn the flanks, with the centre supporting and reinforcing success as it hopefully presented.

To support this 'order of the day' the British would be able to recycle destroyed units and bring them back to the table from the jump of points on their table edge as required.

My Light Bobs deploy on the left flank preceded by a screen of Iroquois warriors as the advance begins.

I hadn't played M&T for quite a while, and most of us were getting reacquainted with the rules and sequence of play as we went, with the interesting decision points the rules throw up for the respective players, whether to play an enemy turn card or not and thus take command points for a later activation, whilst trying to set up a sequence of play to discomfort the enemy in so doing.

As my light bobs and Indians walked into a maelstrom of American long rifle fire, effectively the artillery in this skirmish game, with my Indians purposefully out ahead screening the lights and being the bullet magnet I thought they might prove to be, the regulars came on behind in open order, looking to close up to the river as unmolested as they could ready to threaten the positions on the other side.

The Indians did their task manfully as they made best use of the limited cover on the British bank and returned some sporadic musketry that managed to knock over the occasional militiaman or rifleman that showed himself.

In the meantime the the light-bobs, who had done what I had hoped by drawing American units out on to the American left flank to contest their approach, used their quicker march rate to quickly change direction and join the regulars nearer the centre in readiness to join the crossing, accompanied by the battered Indians.

The battle was also 'hotting-up' on the British right as John pushed the Queens Rangers and Loyalist Provincials across the river with his regulars in close support, managing to drive off the American Indian and militia, not though without casualties as the Provincials fell back in rout, to rally back behind the redcoats advancing past them.

Si managing things in the centre, swung his recoats to the right in support of John's success and helped to draw off fire from the main push that was backed up with the British assault unit of Grenadiers looking to take the fight up on to the American ridge.

With a six turn game the battle was very much in the balance at the halfway stage, with the British assault starting to make their way over the river but suffering ever increasing casualties as they did so.

The first British regulars across rapidly formed close order line from the open order they had used in the approach march and started to issue the first crashing volley fire that was the trade mark of British infantry from this era, with the first volleys starting to thin the ranks of Continentals lining the ridge.

As if to join in the fun my battered Indians seemed to take heart from the turn of events and charged into the woods on the American right flank wiping out a unit of riflemen with tomahawks in close assault as the light-bobs drove the Americans out of another nearby wood, making good use of the bayonet and thus allowing my two units of regulars to get across and join in the musketry to clear the forward ridge of defenders.

However our American opponents were certainly not done and attack was followed by counterattack with my Indians and light-bobs dispersed in the fighting as the remains of these battered units finally succumbed to the casualties they had accrued on the approach.

 

As the afternoon drew to a close, our battle reached a crescendo of action as redcoats battled along the length of the forward slopes to dislodge the American defenders and were rewarded for their casualty count with the dispersal of several American units manning the log emplacements.

The final 'hurrah' saw the bearskin clad grenadiers launch themselves on to the American left flank ridge position driving off the defenders with their bayonets but going down gloriously, to quote out senior commander, in the process.

 

The game was declared a British win, but only just, and the table bearing the British casualties bore testament to the bill paid for such a victory, and with many more victories such as this the war was most certainly lost.

Thank you to Mike for putting on a very fun game, with lots of drama and narrative, and of course to Bob, Si, Paul, Alex, and John for their company and play.

JJ

Battle of Pavia 1525 - Gus Murchie Memorial Game 2025

Each December, The Devon Wargames Group play a game in memory of Gus Murchie, a club member who passed-away before his time. This year, 2025, is the five hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Pavia, generally regarded as the climactic battle of “The Italian Wars”.

Background: The French de Valois dynasty had a claim to The Dutchy of Milan and three successive
French kings campaigned to incorporate Milan into France; while they captured the Duchy, they could never hold it. The third of these kings was Francis I and after winning the Duchy in 1515 and then losing it, he crossed The Alps in early 1525. 

Francis I of France c1510-15 - Jean Clouet

Milan city was yielded without a fight but the Hapsburg-Imperialists decided to defend Pavia. The city was better prepared for a siege than Francis expected and his commanders advised him to retire to Milan for the winter. But Francis refused as no French monarch had abandoned a siege before. The Pavia garrison commander’s main problem was money to pay his mercenary troops, but with a significant Imperialist forces nearby relief for the city was possible.

Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor moved more forces into Italy, and in 1525 met up with the French at Pavia some 20 miles south of Milan. At first the Habsburg troops were encircled, but then a large Spanish army, using muskets for the first time, attacked the French and virtually wiped them out. The French king, Francis I, was captured and, by the Treaty of Cambrai in 1529, was obliged to renounce his claims to Italy. Six years later Charles V was crowned king of Italy. The Habsburgs had triumphed.

North of the city lies a walled hunting park and large hunting lodge, Castello Mirabello. The park became the home to a substantial part of the French army. To the east was a series of ecclesiastical buildings, known as the Five Abbeys, that barracked Francis’s Swiss troops. 

Charles de Lannoy, Viceroy of Naples, Imperialist Commander

The Imperialists offered open battle but the French refused. The Imperialists aimed to bolster Pavia with reinforcements and money; in the misty morning hours of 24th February 1525, the Imperialists breached the northern end of the park wall. What followed was a rather confusing and uncoordinated series of engagements; Francis was captured along with the death or capture of the flower of France's nobility. Richard de la Pole, the last Yorkist pretender to the English crown was killed too, making this the absolute end of “The War of The Roses”.

Our game: The battle field was divided into five parts each with its own table. There was the French

camp, Castelo Mirabello, the Park, the road to Pavia, the Five Abbeys. Most Imperialist troops

entered from the north of the hunting park or sallied from Pavia. The French forces were distributed

between the various tables.

The main French camp, along with Francis and his Gendarmes, is in the top left and Castello Mirabello shown. Imperialist troops entered through a breach in the wall next to the northernmost gate and there were French troops waiting for them in the park. The Pavia garrison sortied up the Pavia Road, to link up with main Imperialist force but were opposed by the Swiss, from the Five Abbeys. The Imperialist camp was represented in the game but took no part in it.

Our game starts at 6am in mist and darkness; to simulate this, units were deployed using playing cards until spotted. Initially spoting distance is six inches plus a D6 inches rolled each move; as the mist recedes the spoting distance extended until daylight at 8am, when all blinds are revealed. Only when units are spotted were the models put on the table and, if the mist returned (per the D6 roll) they were replaced by a card again. Francis could send out scouts who could interrogate enemy blinds, so he wasn’t totally in the dark.

Initial deployment was historical but the commanders could then act freely. The Imperialists did have a game objective, to get three units of harquebusiers down the road to Pavia, via Castello Mirabello; the French had no objectives. 

The first half of the game moved quickly as it involved mostly blinds, but as visibility improved and the blinds revealed, clashes of arms ensued. What followed was a series of separate engagements between French and Imperialist troops as both sides, as was historical, but not in the same locations. The main park area saw little action as Spanish units closed in on Castello Mirabello, as per their objectives and the Pavia garrison marched directly to meet the relief force along the Pavia Road.

French forces, consisting of Swiss pikemen, moved from the Five Abbeys onto the Pavia Road to oppose the garrison’s sortie. A full-scale battle ensued along the road, as the French tried to stop the garrison linking up with the relief force; pikes blocks clashed and harquebusiers fired. To further deny any link-up, the French had withdrawn their forces in the park to defend the Pavia Road.

As per their objectives, the Spanish advanced towards Castello Mirabello, the lighter Spanish troops moving through the woods to its north and the supporting heavier troops both pikes and cavalry moving through the main park; using the mist as cover Spanish harquebusiers, broke into the Castello, which turned out to only contain the French baggage train.

The French had not been idle and after a short delay, Francis called them all to action. The main French army, led by Francis, marched towards the Castello; clearly a large clash would take place there. French and Spanish pike blocks clashed outside the Castello walls as the French arrived from their main camp. Other Imperialist units continue on their original route towards Pavia and soon appeared on the Pavia Road table, sandwiching the French force between themselves and the garrison sortie.

As the mist cleared Spanish harquebusiers, occupying the Castello, saw King Francis and his gendarmes outside the perimeter wall. With a crescendo of shot the harquebusiers fired at the gendarmes, but only caused one casualty. As Francis was attached to the gendarmes a “risk to leader” test was rolled and Francis was unhorsed. The gendarmes stopped their advance as a remount for the king was produced.

Everywhere units were locked in mortal combat and the battle could have gone either way. The next turn the Spanish harquebusiers fired again at the gendarmes causing another casualty, but Francis had a second horse shot out from under him again. This time the gendarmes were less content to wait for the king’s remount and pressed forward towards the scene of the action, leaving the King and his entourage covered by some skirmishers.

As ill-luck would have it a unit of Spanish light horse, Jinetes, were emerging form the woods behind the Castello and charged the French skirmishers easily scattering them. To their surprise, as they rolled-on they encountered Francis’s party and captured the King. Francis, as a premier European monarch wasn’t going to surrender to a bunch of Spanish roughs, but only to a gentleman of similar status to himself. The Spanish Captain-General. The Viceroy of Naples, was less particular about the company he kept and had been riding with the Jinetes, so Francis had no option than to hand over his sword to the enemy general.

Initially I was surprised that history had repeated itself in our game. The Imperialists had been lucky with the “risk to leader” rolls though. On reflection, the same terrain, visibility conditions and troop types had been replicated in our game as at the original battle, so such the result was perhaps less implausible.

Acknowledgement: I would like to thank Chas and Alex who were my assistant games masters, the game was too big for one person to coordinate. Some figures were from my own renaissance collection and Chas, Alex, Vince, Everett and Colin contributed many figures too; I certainly didn’t have nearly enough! Likewise, terrain was provided by other club members too. 

Overall, it was pleasing that the DWG has enough resources to put on a large historical refight game of this size. I mustn’t omit, Ian who turned up in period costume and lent out suitable hats from his costume collection; some say the better attire of the Imperialist side is the real reason for their victory. 

https://www.alternative-armies.com/products/furioso-renaissance-wargame-rules

The rules were Furioso by Alternative Armies. Figures were Perry, TAG, Casting Room Miniatures, Steel Fist et al.

My thanks to all the club members who participated sportingly and forgave my mis-steps.

Stephen Huntsman

Editor's Note: I should like to extend my thanks to Stephen for volunteering his services early last year to plan and organise the Xmas game for 2025, that also involved a series of warm-up games through the year, and reported on here on the club blog, to get a group of club players familiar with Furioso. 

It is not easy setting up and running a large game like this, with the coordination required to organise terrain and figure collections held by club members to be made available on the day, and as club chairman my role has been made so much easier by having members like Stephen ready to volunteer their efforts to help make our club the great place it is.

Thank you Stephen, on behalf of the Devon Wargames Group.

JJ

Devon Wargames Group & Friends - Fleet Air Arm Museum 2025.

 

This weekend just gone, the Devon Wargames Group together with friends spent the weekend doing what wargamers do best, gathering around a large table, with plenty of toys on it and playing to our hearts content, followed by and accompanied with the usual good humour and banter such opportunities present, all courtesy of the wonderful folks at the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton and their excellent facilities for running such a weekend.

With our club now boasting a healthy membership and a regular attendance of some twenty-five players gathered around four sometimes five games during our normal club calendar, our games have to be tailored to accommodate everyone wanting to play and our time is more limited to play them than perhaps we would want.

So the chance to play a big game over several days on a big table with all the swings of fortune and drama that a big game can offer over and above the more normal fare of skirmish type offerings, now very much in vogue with wargamers and wargame manufacturers, was too good to turn up; and we were very happy to take the opportunity offered by the FAA Museum to play on the Saturday and Sunday and to run five large games, with most attendees staying overnight for some evening association, and others coming up for one of the days to play.

As you will see the games were very much in the 'Grand Manner' to quote a legend of the hobby, and with a broad mix of eras and themes to appeal to most folks preferences.

So in no particular order our games featured:

The Battle of Cape Ferrol, 22nd July 1805, better known as 'Calder's Action', run using Far Distant Ships, and hosted by 'Yours Truly', with thirty-five 1:700 model ships of the line battling away in a thick Atlantic gloomy fog.

I have posted a full AAR on my own blog JJ's Wargames for those interested to know more, but suffice to say here that the two days of play illustrated well the frustrations commanders faced trying to fight a battle and manage their respective forces in the kind of weather the Atlantic can produce, that was a real problem in the days before modern radar and ship to ship communications.

JJ's Wargames - Battle of Cape Finisterre (Calder's Action) using Far Distant Ships

A Cold War Scenario in 10mm, run and hosted by the chaps from the Penarth & District Wargames Group using a home-brewed set of rules 'Chieftain' battling away on the North German Plain.

ACW Gettysburg 28mm using Fire & Fury 2nd Edition hosted and presented by Jack and Charlie with the Union having a tough time holding the line.

In the 250th anniversary year of the start of the American War of Independence in 1775 it seemed very appropriate that we should have a game in 28mm using British Grenadier and hosted by Ian and Paul with a lot of buildings, toys and ships!

 

Finally we had Willz and Guy presenting The Battle of Dettingen which took place on the 27th June, 1743, during the War of the Austrian Succession and here using Austrians for the French and British for the Prussians in 20mm, with some 1200 infantry, 250 Cav and using the Osprey rule set 'Honours of War'.

Many thanks to the Fleet Air Arm Museum for making their facilities available to us on this hopefully our inaugural Devon Wargames Group event and to all those who took part in making this a gathering for the memory.

Cheers all.

JJ