The 1866 Russo-Turkish War Continues

Part 2 of my fictional Russo-Turkish War set in 1866.

Last time, the Russians attack but the Turks drive them back. Now, the Turks pursue into Romania. The Russians, with Romanian allies, make a stand at the (fictional) city of Aparare.

Order of Battle

• Russians (green, top) - Russian infantry and artillery in the city with skirmisher protecting the flank (left). Romanian and Russian infantry in reserve.
• Turks - Elite cavalry, elite infantry, and infantry in the front line with cavalry and infantry in reserve.

Battle of Aparare

The Russian artillery bombards the Turkish infantry. The Turks respond by charging the walls. They clamber over and silence the guns. Meanwhile, the Turkish cavalry routs the Russian skirmishers.

The Russians rush reserves into the city and rout the Turks who seized the guns. On the other flank, a the Romanian infantry greets the victorious Turkish cavalry with a wall of lead. The Turks are about to rout, but their general steadies them.

For the moment. Another volley scatters with cavalry. The Russian infantry clears more Turks from the city.

The Romanians rout the Turkish reserve cavalry.

The Turkish general calls off the attack. It is a Russian (and Romanian) victory.

Russo-Turkish War of 1866

I'm still on a late 19th century kick. This time I'm pitting the Russians and Turks in a fictional war. I purchased Dominion of Otto von Bismarck, but for this game I'm using a generic horse & musket variant.

Background

While war engulfs Austria, Prussia, and Italy, revolt breaks out in Bulgaria. The Turkish army begins suppressing the revolt while the Russians, with assistance from Romania, march to assist the rebels.

The Battle of Kurvavo River

The Turkish army takes up a defensive position at the Kurvavo River in Bulgaria. The Russians prepare to cross.

The opposing forces:

• Russian (top) - Cavalry, skirmisher, cavalry. 2 elite infantry in reserve.
• Turkish - Infantry, artillery, infantry. Bashi-bazouks (unreliable skirmishers), infantry, skirmishers

Russian cavalry charge across the river on both flanks. They rout the Turkish infantry.

The Russian cavalry (right) continue their rampage, routing the Turkish skirmisher. Russian skirmishers try but fail to take out the Turkish guns.

The Russian cavalry (left) charges into a wall of lead. They rout.

The Russians then defeat the Turkish left flank. Victory is in their grasp. Only the bashi-bazouks (right) stand in their way. But the bashi-bazouks fight valiantly and drive off the cavalry.

Then they fall on the Russian center and wipe them out.

A bloody Turkish victory!

The Austro-Italian War Continues

I had some free time so I decided to follow up from the Battle of Custarda.

The Battle of the Carbonara River

After defeating the Italians at Custarda, the Austrians pursue. The Italians take up a defensive position behind a small fordable river called the Carbonara.

The Austrians (white, bottom) initiate the attack by sending their elite jaegers in a probe across the river. The Italian line infantry sends them reeling back. Then an artillery duel begins; the Austrians get the best of it,

The Italians send some Bersaglieri against the Austrian artillery. The Bersaglieri succeed, but at such high cost that they are also rendered ineffective.

Note: The Bersaglieri are not elite in this game. Still hurting from the last battle, I guess.

The Italians try to plug the gap with some unreliable cavalry. The cavalry bolts instead. Then the Italian infantry on the left attacks the Austrians Grenzers. The attack devastates both sides.

Decimated, the Italian army retreats.

Aftermath

With two shocking defeats, the Italians sue for peace. Venezia remains in Austrian hands.

GAME NOTES

• I think I will close out this campaign with a 2-0 Austrian victory.
• The river provided a defensive bonus to the Italians. It did not apply against artillery, however.
• Forgot to deploy my generals, which means I forgot rallies once again. D'oh!
• I've been getting confused shuffling back and forth between different versions of Dominion of, so I created a generic horse & musket version. I used this version for my battle.
• I also created a random army generator - loosely based off the one in Dominion of Frederick the Great, but tweaked a little so armies without elites are possible. I used my generator to come up with these armies.

The Austro-Italian War

While the Prussians invade Bohemia, the Italians march on the Imperial-held city of Venice. An Austrian force awaits them.

The Battle of Custarda

The Italians (top) advance on the Austrian defensive position near the (fictional) town of Custarda.

The opposing forces:

• Italians: Bersaglieri (elite skirmishers), artillery, elite cavalry. 2 line infantry in reserve
• Austrians: Cuirassiers (elite, disciplined cavalry), 2 line infantry. Jaegers (skirmishers) and artillery in reserve

The Italians open with an artillery barrage on the hill, but the Austrian infantry unleashes a volley that drives off the gunners. Meanwhile, the Austrian Cuirassiers (left) charge the Bersaglieri. The skirmishers' firepower is not enough. The cavalry ride them down.

The Italian general tries to rally the Bersaglieri to no avail.

The Cuirassiers continue their path of mayhem.

Then they flank and rout the Italian infantry.

The Italian army must retire!

GAME NOTES

I played this game (using Dominion of Spear and Bayonet) to try out an idea. It actually solves 2 problems.

• Problem 1: Since Dominion of came out, I tried to find a role for generals. But nothing ever really worked.
• Problem 2: I keep forgetting to use the rally rule.

To solve problem 2, I decided to create some rally tokens to serve as reminders. But then I had an epiphany - why not use generals as rally tokens! I'll place a general in reserve and then remove it when I try a rally.

Rewriting German History

My Own Version of the Austro-Prussian War

Sometimes I get a random hankering for a game set in a certain period. That's what happened with this report. I was perusing George Gush's A Guide to Wargaming (available thanks to John Curry's History of Wargaming project). Gush includes a Franco-Prussian battle report. This got me interested in gaming the 19th century, although I decided to swap the French for my beloved Austrians.

Here is my version of the Austro-Prussian War using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet.

Background

Because of disputes over the governance of the provinces of Schleswig-Holstein, Prussia invades the Austrian Empire.

Battle of Eichenwald Hill

The Prussian advance meets resistance from the Austrians.

Note: I am not recreating actual battles. These are all fictional.

The opposing forces:

• Prussians (dark blue) - Front - cavalry, artillery, line infantry. Reserve - elite line, skirmishers
• Austrians  (white) - F - line, artillery on a hill, elite disciplined cavalry. R - skirmishers, infantry

Firepower sweeps away both sides' cavalry.

The Austrians win the artillery duel.

The Prussian line sweeps away the Austrian jaegers.

The Austrian line and Prussian elites grind each other down.

Note: I used the wrong marker for the Prussians. They should have a gold marker. I played them correctly, though.

Then the opposing line infantry wipe each other out.

This leaves the Prussian offensive in the hands of their jaegers. They come through, driving off the Austrian artillery.

It is a bloody victory, but the Prussians pursue the defeated Austrians.

Battle of Bergheimdorf

The Prussians catch up to the Austrian army near Bergheimdorf and launch an attack.

The opposing forces:

• Prussians - F - skirmishers, line, cavalry. R - elite line, artillery
• Austrians - F - cavalry, line, skirmishers. R - elite line, infantry

Looks like I'm missing some markers. Each army is 11 points. This was accidental.

The Prussian center advances but gets driven off. On the left, the Austrian cavalry charges, and gets cut down.

Likewise, a Prussian cavalry charge (R) fails. The Prussian jaegers hold tight on the left flank.

Note: Once again I'm using the wrong markers. In this battle, gray = elite

Skirmishers battle artillery on both flanks. In both cases, the Austrians prevail.

Now it is the Prussians who must retire from the battlefield.

Battle of Grünthal

The Austrian are the pursuers. They seek to drive the Prussians out of the Empire.

The opposing forces:

• Prussians - F - Skirmishers, artillery on a hill, cavalry. R - 2 elite line
• Austrians - F - line, skirmishers, elite cavalry. R - artillery, elite line

The Austrian cavalry drives off the Prussians, but they leave the battlefield in pursuit.

The Austrian attack wipes out the Prussian center and left flank.

The Austrian line flanks the Prussian elites on the hill. The attack succeeds and the Prussians are defeated.

With this defeat, the Prussian king sues for peace.

But now, the Austrians must deal with those perfidious Italians!

GAME NOTES

• I debated which Dominion of rules set to use. I wasn't sure if Spear and Bayonet is designed for regular vs. regular warfare. I pondered using Napoleon Bonaparte but ultimately, I just stuck with Spear and Bayonet.
• Again, I forgot to use the rally rule!
• I used the random army lists in Frederick the Great, dropping one cavalry unit for skirmishers. Using random lists gave a little variety to the games.
• I used my counters from MicroBattle. I was worried that I would not have enough infantry, but the my armies were sufficient for the random lists.
• I'm loving my approach to gaming:
• Generic armies let me jump into random periods without delay. I normally would not collect 19th century armies so it would require a project to do the Austro-Prussian War. But with my generic counters, I can do it at a moment's notice!
• The Dominion of series lets me do an entire campaign in a morning. This encourages me to try different eras because I know I won't likely have an unfinished campaign.

Battle of Nolustee

Last year on my old blog, I decided to start an American Civil War campaign in commemoration of Memorial Day. I chose to model my campaign on the 1864 North Florida campaign.

This year, I decided to restart the campaign, this time using Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet for rules.

Background

The Union holds the Florida port city of Jacksonville. However, the rebels use interior roads to supply the army with beef.

Historical note: Once Vicksburg fell, cutting off supplies from Texas, Florida became the primary beef supplier of the Confederate army.

The Union decides to launch an expedition from Jacksonville to take Lake City. This will cut off the rebel's supply of beef.

A Confederate army marches to counter the expedition. It meets the Union forces near the little (fictional) town of Nolustee.

The Forces

The Union commander, General Truman Seymour, has the following forces:

• 4 infantry brigades (Barton, Hawley, Chuzzlewit, and Montgomery)
• Rated as line infantry
• Montgomery's African American troops, including the 54th Mass., are elite.
• Chuzzlewit's brigade is fictional. All others are historical.
• 1 cavalry brigade (Henry) - rated as Skirmishers
• 1 artillery detachment (Hamilton)

General Finegan commands the Confederates. I'm not naming the brigade commanders. Finegan commands:

• 3 infantry brigades (Line)
• 1 cavalry brigade (Skirmishers)
• 2 artillery detachments

Note that the cavalry units are rated as skirmishers. I assume they operate as mounted infantry.

Set Up

• Finegan (top): Artillery in woods (fortified), line, mounted skirmishers, with artillery and line in reserve
• Seymour: Montgomery, Hawley, Henry' mounted skirmishers, with Barton, artillery, and Chuzzlewit in reserve.

The Battle

Montgomery's brigade unleashes a volley that sweeps through the rebel artillery, sending the artillerists running.

The cavalry brigades wipe each other out.

Seymour brings up his artillery. It flails the rebel's reserve infantry. Things are looking good for Seymour.

But the rebel infantry routs Hawley's brigade.

And Chuzzlewit's brigade.

Montgomery's brigade falls to the reserve artillery. Now Seymour is staring at a possible defeat!

The rebel artillery blasts Barton's brigade. They flee, leaving the field in Confederate hands.

Aftermath

Seymour must retreat back to Jacksonville, with the rebels nipping at his heels. Finegan sees an opportunity to liberate Jacksonville from the Federal troops.

Stay tuned for chapter 2 around next Memorial Day!

The First Silesian War

A Dominion of Frederick the Great Mini-Campaign

A couple of weeks ago I picked up the new titles in the Dominion series.

• Dominion of Frederick the Great
• Dominion of the Claymore, Tomahawk, and Talwar

I decided to try out Frederick with a mini-campaign, using scenarios from the book.

Mollwitz

King Frederick of Prussia takes advantage of the Austrian succession crisis by invading the Imperial territory of Silesia. Field Marshal Neipperg leads the defense.

King Frederick the Cat
A Chat GPT pic based on a photo of my cat Fred

Frederick's artillery bombards the Austrian infantry to no effect. The infantry charges and overruns the guns.

Frederick brings up his infantry, which rout the Austrians. But the Austrian cavalry on the right overwhelm their counterparts.

A concerted attack on the left and center decimates the Austrians.

But the Austrian cavalry continues its success.

Before the Austrian cavalry could follow up its success, the Prussians hit the Austrian infantry's flank.

The battle was close - the Prussians were also near defeat. But they emerge victorious.

Chotusitz

This time, Prince Charles of Lorraine leads an army against Frederick. But Frederick takes the initiative and attacks.

The Prussian cavalry on the right kick off the battle. The Austrians rout them.

Fredericks elite infantry advance and drive off the Austrian cavalry. Meanwhile, the infantry in the center battle to a bloody stalemate, with both sides rendered ineffective for the rest of the battle.

At this point, Prince Charles feels confident. His army outnumbers Fredericks. Then disaster strikes as his flanks collapses.

Another narrow victory for Frederick!

Aftermath

After these defeats, the Empress Maria Theresa has no choice but to cede Silesia to Frederick.

Dominion of Freedom

When I first posted about Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet, I suggested that one could use it for a different kind of colonial war - the American Revolution. The author Steve concurs. Anyway, I decided to try a battle.

Set Up

I rolled to help determine the army makeups. I came up with:

• Continentals - 4 skirmishers, 1 cavalry, 1 artillery
• British - 1 line infantry, 2 grenadiers (elite bayonets), 1 artillery

I decided that the Continental infantry would be skirmishers, although ambushers may have been better.

The Battle

A British column (red) marches through the American countryside. The Continentals plan to ambush the redcoats. But the British get wind of it, and attack first.

The grenadiers (center) charge the "hidden" Continental guns. A whiff of grapeshot stalls the attack. Then Continental skirmishers hit the head of the column. Firing accurately from cover, the skirmishers wipe out the British line infantry.

The British bring up their guns. Their cannonade has no effect. But now Continental skirmishers hit the rear of the British column, dispersing the British cavalry.

Those same skirmishers then wipe out the grenadiers coming up from reserve.

And then the Continental guns finish off the last grenadiers.

The British column is in shambles. A Continental victory!

Notes

• That was fun, especially since I was rooting for the Continentals.
• It always helps to roll well. The Continentals kept rolling 5s and 6s vs. the British 1s and 2s.
• I wanted to model the stereotypical Revolutionary War battle - the British regulars in the open in rigid lines while the American shoot at them. That's why I made the Continental infantry skirmishers rather than line infantry. I could have made them ambushers also.
• I made the grenadiers melee infantry because I envisioned them going in with the bayonet.
• I probably should have added some terrain, just for looks. In my mind, I envisioned the Continentals attacking out of woods.
• I also want to change my battle board. The brown was for battles in dryer regions, such as the Eastern Roman Empire. I need a greener board for more temperate climates.
• With the success of today's experiment, I now plan to use Dominion for a mini-campaign - the Battles of Lexington-Concord. I have the campaign structure sketched out; just need to get it on the board.

More Dominion

During March, I took a little detour from the Dominion series, but I'm back.

This latest posting was prompted by another release in the series - Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet.

Needless to day, I purchased it straightaway.

But First, a Pike & Shot Battle

A couple of weeks ago, I played a battle from 36 Renaissance Battles for Dominion of Pike and Shot. I'm just getting around to posting it.

The battle in question is St. Gotthard 1664, featuring the Ottoman Turks (blue) vs. my favored Austrians.

I lost my notes on the tide of the battle and I didn't take many pictures (I don't want to reveal the setup that the author so meticulously prepared). Anyway, you can see it was far from competitive. The Ottoman steamroller just did a number on the Austrians.

But I am glad to see an army list for late Pike & Shot Austrians. I may use this battle as the basis for an Austrians vs. Turks campaign.

On to Dominion of the Spear and Bayonet

As I mentioned, I picked up DotSab right away. Looking through the lists, I was pleased to see some American lists, including ones for Florida! I decided to test the game with a Seminole War battle.

In the initial fray, the US dragoons drove off some of the Seminole ambushers.

But then disaster struck for the American forces. The dragoons got into a firefight with more ambushers. Both sides were rendered hors de combat. In the center, the Seminoles drove off a unit of line infantry,

Note: The trees are just there for looks. They do not impact the battle.

After exchanging losses, it comes down to this. The US line infantry outflanks and attacks the Seminoles. Alas, its attack fails. This allows the Seminoles to descend upon the flanks of the Missouri Volunteers, routing them in the process. This forces the line infantry to withdraw.

The Seminoles win!

Note: I just realized that I have the Seminoles army list wrong. They should have 2 elite units. Well, they still won.

DotSaB for Colonial American Battles?

As the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution approaches, I've been toying the idea of playing some Revolutionary War battles. I wonder if I could use DotSaB for these battles. I may have to experiment.