Grand Battery

A Guide & Rules for Napoleonic Wargames

Jon Sutherland, Diane Canwell

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781844159413
• eBook ISBN: 9781783461073
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 19th Century History
• Index: History

How would you have fared as one Napoleon's marshals, or in command of a division of redoutable British redcoats under Wellington? Grand Battery offers you the chance to find out. This book includes all the rules you need to play miniature wargames set in the Napoleonic Wars, plus plenty of useful background information you need to get started.The book provides a concise historical overview of the events and battles of the period, and includes sections on the weapons and tactics of the various armies. The buyer's guide gives an up-to-date survey of the wealth of ranges of miniatures available and advice on which are compatible with which. Organizational tables give a breakdown of typical formations for all the major combatants and most of the minor ones (any one for a Wurttemburg infantry division?), allowing you to structure your collection and also to organize hypothetical games quickly with 'off the peg' orders of battle. Three historical scenarios are also included, each with their own specific orders of battle, maps, objectives and victory conditions.The rules themselves, which utilize an innovative card-driven turn sequence to simulate the unpredictable ebb and flow of battle, are designed for playability, while still giving 'realistic' results and rewarding sound tactics. Though designed primarily for division level games with 25 or 15mm figures, the command and control system takes account of corps or even the largest army level games and they are easily adaptable to any figure scale. Get ready to march to the sound of the guns!

CHAPTER 1:

Period History, Chronology and Major Battles

Chronology of Napoleonic Battles

The Napoleonic Wars, although they only spanned around sixteen years, involved nearly every European nation. The wars also spilled out into North and South America and into Egypt. The Napoleonic Wars were primarily fought between France and her allies and a shifting coalition of nations. A constant against the French were the British and at various times they were in alliances with Russia, Austria, Portugal and other countries.

The Napoleonic Wars represent perhaps the first total war; in the sense that the wars were being fought by primarily conscripted soldiers and whole nations found themselves embroiled in the conflict rather than their professional armies.

The French managed to fashion a huge number of victories, some of which would knock nations out of the conflict for some months or years before they could recover. There were periods of peace, but they were short-lived. Systematically the French under Napoleon attempted to dominate Europe and reshape the states as they saw fit.

The wars saw innumerable small skirmishes and engagements, but also vast battles with tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of men involved. In Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 he took with him an army of half a million men. This chapter can only scratch the surface of the Napoleonic period. It begins with a chronology identifying the key events and battles. We then turn our attention to some of the key engagements of the Napoleonic Wars, leading up to the last throw of the dice by Napoleon and the French, which ultimately ended in the destruction of his army at Waterloo and his exile, which marked the end of the Napoleonic period.

Year	Date	Conflict
1792	20 April	France declares war on Austria, Prussia and Piedmont, beginning the War of the First Coalition
	23 August	Capitulation of the fortification of Longwy
	14 May	Russian troops cross the border and Poland fights to defend the constitution
	2 September	Capitulation of the fortification of Verdun
	20 September	Battle of Valmy
	23 September	The Austrians encircle Lille
	1 October	The Convention splits French forces in eight armies: North, Ardennes, Moselle, Rhine, Vosges, Alps, Pyrénées, and Interior
	3 October	Revolutionary troops occupy Basel
	4 October	Revolutionary troops occupy Worms
	27 October	Revolutionary troops enter Belgium
	6 November	Battle of Jemappes
	9 November	Revolutionary troops occupy the Palatinate

1793	1 February	France declares war on England and Holland 7 February France declares war on Spain
	18 March	Battle of Neerwinden
	22 March	Great Britain, Holland, Spain, Naples and the Holy Roman Empire declare war on France, in reaction to the murder of the French king
	28 June	Battle of Valenciennes
	August-September	Siege of Toulon
	15/16 October	Battle of Wattignies
	28/30 November	Battle of Kaiserslautern
	22 December	Battle of Fröschwiller
	23 December	Battle of Savernay
	26 December	Battle of Geisberg
1794	24 April	Battle of Villers-en Cauches
	18 May	Battle of Tourcoing
	28 May - 1 June	Battle of Ushant
	26 June	Battle of Fleurus
	4 November	Kléber recieves the capitulation of Maastricht
	6 November	The Russians enter Warsaw
	8 November	French troops enter Nimwegen
	November/December	Civil war breaks out in the Vendée
	14 December	Kleber begins the siege of Mayence
1795	20 January	French troops occupy Amsterdam
	5 April	Peace treaty of Basel
	23 June	Battle of Lorient
	16 – 20 July	Battle of Quiberon

	22 July – 16 August	Battle of Cape of Good Hope
	29 August	Peace treaty between France and Sweden
	28 September	Treaty between Great Britain, Russia and Austria
	1 October	Annexation of Belgium by France
	24 November	Battle of Loano
1796	2 March	Bonaparte is named supreme commander of the Italian Army
	10 April	Beginning of Bonaparte’s campaign in Italy
	12 April	Battle of Montenotte
	13 April	Battle of Millesimo
	14 – 15 April	Battle of Dego
	21 April	Battle of Mondovi
	10 May	Battle of Lodi
	15 May	Bonaparte enters Milan
	20 May	Military campaign in Germany resumed
	4 June	First siege of Montua
	16 June	Battle of Wetzlar
	9 July	Battle of Malsch
	16 July	Kleber enters Frankfurt
	18 July	Moreau enters Stuttgart
	25 July	Jourdan takes Würzburg
	3 August	Battle of Lönato
	5 August	Battle of Castiglione
	7 August	Kleber victorious against the Austrians at Forchheim
	18 August	Treaty between France and Spain: offensive and defensive alliance

	24 August	Battle of Amberg
		Battle of Friedberg
	3 September	Battle of Würzburg
	5 September	Battle of Caliano
	8 September	Battle of Bassano
	12 November	Battle of Caldiero
	15 – 17 November	Battle of Arcola
1797	14 – 15 January	Battle of Rivoli
	14 February	Battle of Cape St Vincent
	23 March	Battle of Malborghetto
	18 April	Battle of Lahn
	Summer	Napoleon’s conquest of Venice
	11 October	Battle of Camperdown
	30 December	French troops enter Mayence
1798		Irish Rebellion
	19 May	Departure of Bonaparte’s expedition to Egypt from Toulon
	June	Occupation of Malta, landing in Alexandria (July
		2), conquest of the Nil region, push to Syria
	21 June	Battle of Vinegar Hill

	21 July	Battle of the Pyramids
	23 July	Bonaparte conquers Cairo
	1 August	Battle of Aboukir Bay Turkey declares war on France
	22 August	Battle of Killala Bay
	25 August	Battle of Castlebar
1799	10 February	Bonaparte leaves Cairo and leads his army towards Syria
	19 March – May	Siege of St Jean d’Acre
	25 March	Battle of Stockach
	5 April	Battle of Magnano
	17 April	Battle of Mount Tabor
	27 April	Battle of Cassano
	4 – 7 June	First Battle of Zurich
	17 – 19 July	Battle of Trebbia
	25 July	First Battle of Aboukir
	15 August	Battle of Novi
	16 September – 2 October	Battle of Bergen-op-Zoom
	25 September	Second Battle of Zurich

		6 October Battle of Castricum
1800	20 March	Battle of Heliopoli
	20 April – 4 June	Siege of Genoa
	3 May	Battle of Stockach
	5 May	Battle of Möskirch
	16 May	First Battle of Ulm
	9 June	Battle of Montebello
	14 June	Battle of Marengo
	19 June	Battle of Hochstadt
	3 December	Battle of Hohenlinden
	24 December	Assassination attempt on Bonaparte
1801	9 February	Treaty of Lunéville
	21 March	Second Battle of Aboukir (Alexandria)
	2 April	Battle of Copenhagen
	6 – 12 July	Battle of Algericas
	8 Oc...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1: - Period History, Chronology and Major Battles
• Chapter 2 - The Armies
• Chapter 3 - Weapons and tactics
• Chapter 4 - Organizing troops
• Chapter 5 - Wargame Rules
• Chapter 6 - Scenarios
• Chapter 7: - Buying Guide
• Bibliography and Further Reading
• Quick Reference Sheets and Order Markers