Königgrätz 1866

Some years ago I bought copies of WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 3: GETTYSBURG 1863 – BRANDY STATION, BARLOW’S KNOLL, SICKLES’S FOLLY AND PICKETT’S CHARGE and WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 8: THE AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR OF 1866: THE OPENING BATTLES by John Drewienkiewicz and Andrew Brentnall. When the fourth book that this pair of authors had written was published – WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 12: KÖNIGGRÄTZ – I failed to buy a copy, but recently I decided to fill that gap on my bookshelves ... and I am very pleased that I have!

The book comprises:

• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Days of Destiny
• Chapter Two: The State of the Armies
• Chapter Three: The Historical Battle
• Chapter Four: The Holawald Wargame
• Chapter Five: The Problus Wargame
• Chapter Six: The Swiepwald Wargame
• Chapter Seven: The Nedelist What If? Wargame
• Chapter Eight: The Entire Battle Wargame
• Chapter Nine: Conclusions
• Chapter Ten: The Battlefield Today
• Appendix A: Detailed Orders of Battle
• Appendix B: Later Careers
• Appendix C: Bibliography
• Appendix D: The Reilly Memorandum
• Appendix E: Rulesets for the APW
• Appendix F: Place Names Then and Now

The book contains numerous maps and illustrations, all of which help the reader to follow the action.

One aspect of this book that I particularly liked was the way it helped a wargamer who was considering how to refight the battle to look at it as either a number of related actions taking place at the same time or as a whole battle. The former would appeal to those wargamers who like to fight corps-level wargames where the manoeuvre units are infantry battalions, cavalry regiments, and artillery batteries, whereas the latter is aimed at those who like to think about battles in terms of infantry regiments/brigades, cavalry brigades, and massed artillery.

I am really pleased that I decided to buy this book, especially since my interest in this war has been rekindled by my recent online battle against Gary Sheffield. I have a couple of small Austrian and Prussian 15mm-scale that I bought via eBay some years ago, and they deserve a bit of an airing, and this book might just be the excuse I ned to do so.

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WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 3: GETTYSBURG 1863 – BRANDY STATION, BARLOW’S KNOLL, SICKLES’S FOLLY AND PICKETT’S CHARGE was written by John Drewienkiewicz and Adam Poole, and published in 2011 by Ken Trotman Books (ISBN 978 1 907417 18 4).

WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 8: THE AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR OF 1866: THE OPENING BATTLES was written by John Drewienkiewicz and Andrew Brentnall, and published in 2013 by Ken Trotman Books (ISBN 978 1 907417 43 6).

WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 12: KÖNIGGRÄTZ was written by John Drewienkiewicz and Andrew Brentnall, and published in 2016 by Ken Trotman Books (ISBN 978 1 907417 43 6)

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PS. Before anyone points it out, I have noticed that two of the above books have the same ISBN! I did check, and according to all the sources I looked at, this information is correct. It appears that this is not as unusual as one might think, and often happens when a publisher reuses the ISBN of a book that is no longer in print.

Another batch of renovated 20mm-scale World War Two Russian vehicles

I recently completed a third batch of renovated 20mm-scale World War Two Russian vehicles.

Like those in the first and second batches, the trucks were scratch-built using the Keil Kraft/Davric/Knightwing model of a 1.5ton Great Western Railways van as the basis, and the small tracked tractors were built from components from the Airfix M3 half-track model.

I don't plan to do any more renovations for the moment, as I think that the time has come to organise the German and Russian figures and vehicles that I have completed into formations.

Contemplating my naval

Archduke Piccolo's recent tabletop naval battle has set me thinking.

He adapted the rules in GRIDDED NAVAL WARGAMES using some elements from the naval rules in THE PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME, and fought an action between two American Civil War-era ironclads (a turretted monitor and a casemate ironclad) and a slightly more modern turret ship.

This happened just as I was coming to the stage in my current World War Two Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project when I was beginning to think about the naval aspects of my campaign. As a result, I went to one of my display cabinets and got our my 'cartoon' versions of a generic destroyer, the German pre-dreadnought Schleswig-Holstein, and Russian Marat/Petropavlovsk. (The latter was a very cut-down version of the original design, and only had two triple 12-inch gun turrets.)

Generic destroyer

The model is 18.5cm long by 2.8cm wide, and using the formula set out in THE PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME, she would have 13 Flotation Points/Strength Points. Archduke Piccolo suggests halving this, which would give her 7 Flotation Points/Strength Points.

German pre-dreadnough battleship Schleswig-Holstein

The model is 20cm long by 7.7cm wide, and using the formula set out in THE PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME, she would have 77 Flotation Points/Strength Points. Archduke Piccolo suggests halving this, which would give her 39 Flotation Points/Strength Points.

Russian battleship Marat/Petropavlovsk

The model is 24.5cm long by 7.7cm wide, and using the formula set out in THE PORTABLE COLONIAL WARGAME, she would have 94 Flotation Points/Strength Points. Archduke Piccolo suggests halving this, which would give her 47 Flotation Points/Strength Points.

These revised Flotation Point/Strength Point values seem to be much more reasonable when used with larger models, and I will probably adopt this in future.

VCOW timetable

The VCOW (Virtual Conference of Wargamers) timetable has been finalised, and is shown below.

Click on the timetable to enlarge it.

My talk about the foundation of Wargame Developments will be taking place on Sunday morning, and I intend to listen to as many of the speakers as I can. I’m not sure if I will sign up for any of the online games, but I’m going to give it some serious thought over the next few days.

I will be sending a copy of the timetable and the programme to the attendees later today, and fully expect that this will generate a few more bookings.

Nugget 327

The latest issue of THE NUGGET was uploaded to the Wargame Developments website yesterday.

This issue contains the most up-to-date details of the VCOW (Virtual Conference of Wargamers) programme, but it must be pointed out that it may well be subject to changes before the conference programme is finalised.

May I again remind you that the number of places for VCOW are limited, and we have already received nearly fifty bookings. It is still not too late to book a place at VCOW, and this can be done by selecting the PayPal button on the VCOW blog and paying the £5.00 fee.

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IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the nineth issue and last issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2019-2020 subscription year.

A re-subscription reminder will be sent to members in due course, but as I do not expect the annual subscription cost to rise, you may re-subscribe using the existing PayPal buttons on the relevant page of the website.

Nugget 327 and VCOW

The editor of THE NUGGET sent me the latest issue yesterday, and I hope to send PDF format to all the members of Wargame Developments later today. A printed copy will be posted out (along with a printed edition of N326) when our printer is once again open for business ... which we hope will not be too far in the future.

This issue contains details of the VCOW (Virtual Conference of Wargamers) programme as they stand at the moment, although they may well be subject to change before the whole thing is finalised. The places for VCOW are limited, and we have already had nearly fifty bookings. It is still not too late to book a place, and this can be done by selecting the PayPal button on the VCOW blog and paying the £5.00 fee.

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IMPORTANT: Please note that this is the nineth issue and last issue of THE NUGGET to be published for the 2019-2020 subscription year.

A re-subscription reminder will be sent to members in due course, but as I do not expect the annual subscription cost to rise, you may re-subscribe using the existing PayPal buttons on the relevant page of the website.

Getting back into the saddle

After quite a bit of procrastination on my part, I’ve finally begun work on a book entitled THE PORTABLE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY WARGAME.

Much of the text has been written by other wargamers, and my main tasks will be editing it into a coherent whole and providing some background information about the period. I'm not sure how long this will take, but I hope to get the whole thing finished by the end of August ... by which time I hope that Lulu.com will have finally sorted themselves out!

More renovated 20mm-scale World War Two Russian trucks

I have just completed a second batch of renovated 20mm-scale World War Two Russian trucks.

Like those in the earlier batch, these were also scratch-built using the Keil Kraft/Davric/Knightwing model of a 1.5ton Great Western Railways van as the basis.

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Since completing this batch of trucks, I have found several more and three small tracked tractors, and I hope to renovate these additional models over the next week or so.

Seize and Hold!: An online Portable Wargame battle report

On last Tuesday afternoon, Gary Sheffield and I fought our second online Portable Wargame. The scenario was set during the Seven Weeks War, and saw two equal forces of Austrian and Prussian troops (each comprising two battalions of Jägers, six battalions of line infantry, and a battery of field artillery) trying to beat each other to seize and hold a road bridge over a river.

Gary commanded the Austrians, and I was in charge of the Prussians.

The Austrians entered at N2 and the Prussians at A9.

Before the battle

The terrain over which the battle was fought.

Turn 1
The Austrian force, led by the 1st Fiedler Jäger Battalion, entered the battlefield, followed by 2nd Mundt Jäger Battalion and the I/3 and II/3 Esterhase Infantry Battalions.

In reply, the Prussians sent forward the 1st Tarlenheim Jäger Battalion, 2nd Hentzau Jäger Battalion, I/3 Strelsau Infantry Battalion, and 1st Strackenz Field Artillery Battery.

The situation at the end of Turn 1.

Turn 2
The Austrian force began to advance on its objective, and were joined on the battlefield by III/3 Esterhase Infantry Battalion and 1st Riemeck Field Artillery Battery.

The Prussians also maintained their steady progress towards the bridge.

The situation at the end of Turn 2.

Turn 3
Whilst the Jägers managed to rush forward to secure the bridge, the rest of the force (with the exception of I/3 Esterhase Infantry Battalion) continued their steady advance.

Stimulated by the sudden rush forward by the Austrian Jägers, the Prussian 1st Tarlenheim Jägers also moved forward rapidly to prevent any further Austrian movement across the bridge, whilst the 2nd Hentzau Jägers moved to secure the ford over the river. The rest of the force, which had been joined by the II/3 Strelsau Infantry Battalion, continued to move forward.

The situation at the end of Turn 3.

Battle is joined in the centre of the battlefield.

Turn 4
Whilst the 1st Feidler and 1st Tarlenheim Jägers fought for control of the bridge, The rest of the Austrian troops began to deploy as best they could in order to secure their end of the bridge.

The Prussians sought to exploit the situation by moving the 2nd Hentzau Jägers so that they could begin to cross the river ford, and bringing forward the III/3 Strelsau Infantry Battalion, which was accompanied by the force commander, General Baron von Sapt.

The situation at the end of Turn 4.

Turn 5
The fighting between the opposing Jäger battalions resulted in both being forced to withdraw, but left the Austrians in control of the bridge. The Austrians used the opportunity to begin moves to intercept the 2nd Henzau Jäger Battalion, which had by now crossed the river at the ford and to bring forward the I/4 Sachs Infantry Battalion.

The Prussian commander sought to move his troops into positions where they could assault the bridge and drive off the Austrian forces deployed there.

The situation at the end of Turn 5.

Turn 6
Whilst the fighting near the bridge remained inconclusive, both sides tried to bring more troops forward or to deploy those that they had to meet developing threats.

Austrian concerns about the 2nd Henzau Jäger Battalion led to the movement of the III/3 Esterhase Infantry Battalion toward the enemy Jägers in order to cut them off. Matters were helped by the arrival of General Kretzmer, the Austrian commander, who joined the I/4th Sachs Infantry Battalion.

The Prussians were more concerned with bringing more troops into the part of the battlefield where the fighting was taking place, and were joined by the I/4 and II/4 Zenda Infantry Battalions.

The situation at the end of Turn 6.

Turn 7
The Austrians seized an opportunity that presented itself, and rushed the 1st Fiedler Jägers across the bridge and into the buildings on the Prussian side of the river. (This ultimately proved to be the turning point of the action, although this was not clear at the time!)

The Prussians concerned themselves with trying to winkle the 1st Fielder Jägers out of their position, whist continuing to bring more troops (III/4 Zenda Infantry Battalion) forward and to exploit the presence of the 2nd Hentzau Jägers on the Austrian side of the river.

The situation at the end of Turn 7.

Turn 8
The fighting between the Austrian 1st Fiedler Jägers and the Prussians for control of the bridge continued, whilst elsewhere both sides manoeuvred their troops to gain an advantage.

Turn 9
The fighting near the bridge was turning into a slogging match, with neither side appearing to prevail. In order to break the deadlock, the Prussian commander sought to move more troops (I/4 and II/4 Zenda Infantry Battalions) across the river ford ... just as the Austrians were beginning to reinforce the troops that were containing the 2nd Hentazu Jägers by moving the I/3 Esterhase Infantry Battalion up to support III/3 Esterhase Infantry Battalion.

The situation at the end of Turn 9.

Turn 10
With Prussian casualties mounting, General von Sapt decided to use the much-depleted 1st Tarlenheim Jägers to assault the building occupied by the Austrian 1st Fiedler Jägers. This proved to be a disastrous decision, and the remnants of 1st Tarlenheim Jägers were withdrawn, utterly broken.

Although the battalions of 4th Zenda Infantry regiment were crossing the river at the ford, the Austrian I/3 and III/3 Esterhase Infantry Battalions were poised to attack them. At the same time, the last remaining Austrian troops (III/4 Sachs Infantry Battalion) arrived to reinforce the Austrian forces.

The situation at the end of Turn 10.

Turn 11
By this point, the Prussian force was fast approaching its Exhaustion Point, and as the Austrians were too strong to push back across the bridge and they were moving troops forward to intercept the Prussian troops on the Austrian side of the river, General von Sapt realised that his task was impossible, and he sought to withdraw in order to replace his losses so that his command could fight another day.

The Austrians were happy to accept the situation, and allowed the Prussians to withdraw unmolested.

The battle was over ... and the Austrians had won!

The situation at the end of Turn 11.

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This battle provided both of us with well over two hours of fun and enjoyment, and we hope to repeat the exercise as soon as we can, but with our roles reversed.

The game clipped along at a fair rate, and proved yet again that the PORTABLE WARGAME is an ideal system to use to fight online battles. We used Skype throughout the game, and only lost contact once. The break lasted less than a minute, and did not affect the running of the game in any way.

Other people's Portable Wargame battle reports

This morning, I suddenly realised that it was nearly a month since have I mentioned any of the PORTABLE WARGAME battles that have appeared on the PORTABLE WARGAME Facebook page, and here are a few examples of what people have been doing.

Barry Carter seems to have been using the rules for all sort of different periods, and has fought nine battles!

Polish-Lithuanians vs. Tartars.

Anglo-Zulu War.

Fantasy Elven Civil War.

A Very British Civil War: Fenian Invasion of Canada (Part 1).

A Very British Civil War: Fenian Invasion of Canada (Part 2).

Napoleonic battle.

Bactrians vs. Graeco-Italians.

The Pilgrimage of Grace.

World War II: Eastern Front.

Martin Smith has also been fighting quite a few battles.

Picts vs. Byzantines.

Alexander vs. Porus.

English Civil War.

Alan Saunders continued to fight his English Civil war battles, ...

... Martyn Simpson fought another Colonial action, ...

... and Jeff Butler had another foray into Fantasy.

New contributors included Dave Beagle, who used the rules for a Colonial action in East Africa between British and German troops ...

... and Jon Freeman, who is preparing to use the rules to re-fight World War I battles.

Writing this blog post has really whetted my appetite to fight some PORTABLE WARGAME battles of my own ... and once the current stage of my current World War Two project is completed, I hope to do so!

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Please note that the photographs featured above are © Barry Carter, Martin Smith, Alan Saunders, Martyn Simpson, Jeff Butler, Dave Beagle, and Jon Freeman.