"Best "small force Horse and Musket campaign"?" Topic

Best "small force Horse and Musket campaign"?

When I think, "small force", I think of a campaign small enough for a couple of guys to buy, paint and prepare the entire force for both sides. Maybe not on a 1-1 unit basis, but on a representative basis. So if the campaign had 15 line regiments of "Nation X" but there were never more than 6 in a single battle, 6 line regiments it is for the painting lineup.

I also like a variety of unit types. To me "horse and musket" means there's a solid cavalry presence. This rules out some of the FIW / AWI campaigns.

So an ideal "small campaign" has about ten infantry regiments, 5 cavalry regiments, and 3-5 gun batteries per side, more or less. Very gameable.

Also fun is when there are some great personalities involved, perhaps eccentric, vilified or otherwise.

Some that come to mind, are the '45 Jacobite Rebellion, and Cornwallis' Southern Campaign.

What others would be good?

Maurice will fit your needs perfectly:

link

You can stick to the historical participants, or you can fictionalize it to your heart's content.

Feel free to consult with many of the people who are already running campaigns using it:

link

Or check out the free "Lite" version:

link

A fun video review is here:

YouTube link

I'm thinking of historical campaigns, not game campaigns. sorry for any confusion. But yes, they may very well be played with Maurice.

My first choice would include campaigns from the French Revolutionary Wars between 1796-1799 in either Italy, Germany, or Switzerland. All have manageable force sizes and interesting personalities.

LFS will handle the scale, A la Baionette III supplement has some starter scenarios for the 1790s.

Although not historical take a look at these three ; they are small campaigns with the force size you're interested in.
Grant, Charles and Olley, S.
RAID ON ST MICHEL
The ANNEXATION OF CHIRAZ
THE WOLFENBUTTEL WAR
The Wolfenbuttel War is the third book following on from Raid on St. Michel and The Annexation of Chiraz. Once again, this book concerns the hostilities of Charles' two fictitious mid-eighteenth century combatants, the Grand Duchy of Lorraine and the Vereinigte Freie Stadte (VFS). That said, the scenarios are applicable throughout the horse-and-musket period with little modification.

Where this mini-campaign differs from its predecessors is that it is loosely based on a real campaign -- that of the Hundred Days, culminating at Waterloo. The four scenarios and the movements between them are drawn from the battles of Quatre Bras, Ligny, Wavre and Waterloo. However, while the campaign sequence is followed, the outcome is far from certain.

The book provides the fictitious background to the war, planning details including the selection of forces, the instructions for each army, tabletop maps, and orders for each side. There are instructions for the game organizer and options for forces in each battle if fought as a stand-alone wargame. The book is illustrated with photographs of each battle as it was fought with Charles' armies. Newspapers and a Who's Who, not to mention the Ballroom scene, add color to the story of the Wolfenbuttel War.1 vol, 72 pgs 2012 UK, PARTIZAN PRESS

I also love Maurice, can't recommend it highly enough. My 10mm army of Louis Catours is eight regiments of infantry and three of cavalry, (four bases each-40 figures or 8 horsemen/unit) and four stands of artillery. All under command of one general. I also have four individually mounted officers to stand in as 'notables' as required. The 10mm Old Glory strips were quick and a joy to paint. I think I breezed through the entire army in 4-6 weeks, and that waa painting only 1-2 days per week.

My best games are one on one on a smallish (3x5 to 4x6 board).

Love it, love it, looooove it!!!

Who is Louis Catours?

Apart from the smaller number of cavalry, Brown's Niagara campaign of 1814 has a lot to recommend it: a very limited theatre of operations, small forces, siege of a small fort (Erie).

"Who is Louis Catours?" -this made me smile:)

You could also consider ..
French invasion of Ireland 1798
British Invasion of Uraguay and Argentina 1806-7
The Russo-Swedish war 1809
The Walcheren campaign (- the maleria)
British expedition to the cape ( British vs Franco-Dutch)
The Austrian corps in Russia 1812.
British campaigns in the West Indies 1790s.
British campaign vs Denmark.

If you have the will you could do a fictional campaign based on the Anglo-Swedish alliance vs Russia in 1809. Sir John moores army landed in Sweden I believe but didn't do anything and found the Seedish king to be mad.

Greene v Cornwallis (and later Rawdon) in the Southern campaigns of the AWI might give you a useful learning curve.

Both armies were mostly infantry, but in such varied forms as to make them interesting; a few guns, mostly smaller calibres; and whilst there were not many cavalry by European standards, there were enough to make them a potential battle-winner if used properly (and some were in the form of legionary corps, which adds to their flexibility).

In real terms, you're looking at 5-6,000 Continentals/Militia against 2-3,000 British/Germans/Loyalists max. You also have a siege (Ninety-Six) with much potential.

I was thinking that some of the smaller actions on the Western Front of the 7YW might fit the bill, but I'm not as well versed on them. They lead up to some of the bigger battles like Minden, and if I remember correctly feature French and British, but also involve Hessian, Prussian, Austrian, and Hanoverian forces. Probably some others I can't remember.

Emsdorf and Warburg are nice examples of the above.

British in Afghanistan or Indian revolt?

Texas revolution or the Mexican American War

Doh!

Louis Catours

SHOULD BE

Louis Quatorze

Nothing like a little embarassment on TMP for an education!

The British chasing Morgan in the South ending at Cowpens.
If not that, then Kings Mountain.

Both involve chases and decisive battles at the conclusion.

Sorry about the smirking Timotheous -we all knew who you meant!!!

1-2 brigade sized forces.

How many were in use in the Tyrol uprisings against Napoleon? There was a new line of figures for them in 28s last year, so that might fit the bill.

Possibly some Vende stuff too

ECW campaigns would seem about that size – aside from the big battles, of course – if the odd Pike is not too off putting.

You might try one of the 'side' Napoleonic campaigns, like the Austrian invasion of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1809. If you look at the Peninsula war, there are a lot of small (1 corps per side at most) little campaigns where some marshal or another tried to conquer/pacify a province.

The battle of Gohrde in September 1813 has an intriguing allied force under Wallmoden, including British (with rockets), Hanoverian, Russian and Prussian troops (including Lutzow's Freikorps). Ranged again this at the battle itself was only one French brigade – but this was part of Davout's XIIIth corps based in Hamburg, so more French are available. I think there Swedes around too, and even Danes in the bigger picture.

This would take a bit of work to get into campaign form: some kind of larger level sortie from Davout's corps in Hamburg. But the Allied force would be unusual and attractive.

Fredericks campaigns in Swedish Pomerania and Mecklenberg are what you are looking for in a SYW time frame, and fits the bill in combatant variety and numbers. Some possible mucking around with galleys if you have nothing much to keep you on shore and have a hankering to see the watery parts of the world ;-)

regards
dave

How about the two Anglo-Sikh Wars.

And my suggestion, though a little late? The circa 1718-1738 skirmishing and a few set battles along the Military Frontier between Austria and the Turks, with the Venetian and Ragusan Republics thrown in for good measure!

Something I'm working on at the moment, though with an ImagiNations twist to it.

Freiherr,

you seem something of a specialist on that little known but fascinating subject. Do you have a list of recommended sources / websites perchance?
Kind regards
C

Chokidar

Alas no, but I'm working on it! I've only just returned to wargaming after a total absence of 33 years, so still very much a newby.

BUT… I speak fluent Italian and Croatian, and have lived in Brescia, within the Venetian Republic, and near Bilje (Bellye in Hungarian), just down the road from Eugene of Savoy's fortified villa. Barun Trenk was another next-door-neighbour too, in a manner of speaking! Hence the interest in these areas.

I'm rapidly finding references, and you have already helped. I've contacted the reenactment guys in Venice directly, but they haven't been in touch yet. The museums in Dubrovnik have quite a lot of stuff, but mostly archived or in storage, but I'll stir them up when I have more specific questions for them.

Sourcing suitable 15mm circa 1740 Turks is probably going to be a nightmare…….!

I think I may have found my Turks! They were hidden amongst the 15mm Napoleonics by MiniFigs. Some would make good Republic of Ragusa irregulars, certainly.

Don't AoR have Turks that you could use for the 18th Century?

Thanks! Who are AoR? I haven't heard of them yet.

I could be mistaken but I think AoR refers to 'Age of Reason' – a rules set.

One of my favorite small force Horse and Musket campaign is the 1788 Russo-Swedish War [which also involved a Norwegian invasion of Bahuslan]. Historically, only a few thousand troops per side [regardless of whether you do the Bahuslan campaign or the fighting in Finland].

The 1808 Russo-Swedish War also included a Swedish invasion of Norway, which included a few battles of less than 5,000 men per side – even at 1 to 25 [figure to men ratio], that's about 200 figures per side – well within the range of most gamers' budgets and time.