THE LOCAL NEWSLETTER FOR THE HMGS-Midwest MINIATURE WARGAMING ENTHUSIAST VOLUME 4 ISSUE 12 SPRING 2012

BOD Update - Spring 2012 by Jeff Cohen

I want to thank everyone in- ments and events to bring in volved with the planning and many local gamers that have running of the convention. not attended past conven- They all do a great job, and they sacrifice their time with no real compensation. We do INSIDE THIS not pay our volunteers. But I S S U E : they do get to enjoy the same great brownies that our Game BOD Update 1 Masters enjoy. Little Wars is much more than the volun- LW 2012 - My 2 teers, its success also comes Take from the vendors that attend all your friends. For those and have supported us for so that wish to be part of the LW 2012 2 many years, and the Game team, just contact me. AAR Masters who run all those great games. It is also about This year’s Wounded War- Crace’s Race 3 those that attend the conven- rior Silent Auction, thanks to tion, the players that enjoy our dealers very generous And the Win- 5 themselves and leave with a donations brought in a little ner is…. smile and another great tale tions. We also look to add over $600.00. ALL proceeds Tac- 7 to tell of great victories, or more Parent/Child events on go directly to the Wounded tics 1550—1815 defeat due to those bad die Sunday, making that day Warrior Project. rolls. even better for those with LW 2012 16 children. We plan on having Photo Album 17 The future of the convention family packages available looks very good. We are now through the Pheasant Run Treasurer’s 18 in a very nice facility that Resorts for those that would Report easily meets our needs. We like to be able to turn attend- Gaming Op- 19 plan on holding the conven- ing a convention into a fam- portunities tion on the last weekend of ily vacation. April each year. This allows us and those that support the To do this we need every- convention to do some real one's help. Help in recruiting events and running games. planning and to schedule Dealer Area—LW 2012 events and tournaments. We We also need help in getting want to continue to grow in the word out on the conven- size. To concentrate on bring- tion. Posting flyers at hobby ing more great events and shops, and anywhere tournaments to the conven- that High School & College tion, and to build the number Students frequent (these are of events scheduled on Friday where the future of the hobby and Sunday. On Sunday we is). In addition we need post- look to bring more tourna- ings on websites, and telling P A G E 2

Little Wars 2012 - My Take! by John Barsanti—LW Convention Director

Another “Little Wars” has successfully concluded and I would like to say how pleasant it was to see so many people at- tending, especially those I have come to know from attending the convention over the years.

It takes a tremendous amount of behind the scenes work to make a convention like “Little Wars” a success and we are fortunate to have a staff that understands what it takes to make the convention work and does it. There are too many to mention individually; their names are listed in the convention program and many of you know who they are because when you had a question they were the ones who answered it. I would also like to thank those who put on the games we “As in all all enjoyed. I know that they spent a tremendous amount of time preparing for their games and gave additional time at the battles the convention putting them on. I hope they all realize the pleasure they gave us by their efforts with no reward other than dead and our thanks and a brownie and I hope that they will be back with games next year. wounded I would like to add my personal THANK YOU to those volunteers and game masters; without them we wouldn’t have a came chiefly convention as successful as this one was; and it was undoubtedly successful. Attendance was up, the games were excel- from the best lent and plentiful, and the venue was great as many of you told us. The comments received have been very positive and and the we appreciate them. The Board of Directors and Staff are already working on next year’s convention, planning improve- brave... .” ments and working on changes suggested by you, the gamers. We hope to build on this year’s success to increase atten- dance and offer the finest gamming in the Midwest, if not the country. If you would like to help contact any of the Board --Field of Directors. The organization is always in need of people who can help us make this a better convention. Marshal Lord Carver I look forward to seeing you all next year at “Little Wars” April 26-28, 2012 at the Dupage Expo Center. -- .

Little Wars 2012 AAR! by Steve Rysemus—LW Events Manager

As John put it above we have closed the books on yet another successful Little Wars convention. Just to give yet an- “War must be other view on this convention, I wanted to take some time to give my views. To all the judges that volunteered to run carried on some great games, THANK YOU ALL! We really cannot have a successful con without you. This year we had about systematically 190 events in total including four War College events. This is up from last year’s convention. We also had some 30 dealers including some new ones that we have not had previously. From what I have heard, most of our dealers had a , and to do it pretty good weekend. you must have men of Any time a convention changes venue there are growing pains. Yet Little Wars continues to pull people from all of character the country. I know we get some people from as far away as California and Montreal just to mention a few. All you had to do is to stroll through the parking lot to see the out of state license plates to know this. We had some great activated by games with beautiful terrain, the free Paint-N-Take was back for it’s second year. And we see the same young folk principles of that have been with us for some time now that are now turning into young adults that are very rabid about playing with honor... .” minis! --Gen George Rest assured we are hard at work already on the 2013 convention. We have our dates, same location and new plans. One of our goals is to expand the Friday and Sunday events. I think you would agree that both Friday and Sunday had Washington much more to offer this year and had many more people on site than in the past. Feel free to offer suggestions to help -- . us build that up, whether by offering more tournaments, or by involving more local clubs and schools. We are always looking for ways to increase these days. Once we do, then we can start to think about holding a four day convention. How great would that be?

Please check out our website, as pictures are getting posted there from the con. Also keep your eyes there for more changes to the website as well. We are thinking about adding some new pages.

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Crace’s Race - A Nav-Con 2011 AAR by Roger Reynolds

This scenario was based on the possibility that the Japanese Port Moresby invasion force did not turn back after the air battles in the Coral Sea in May 1942. Historically, a combined Australian and American cruiser-destroyer group under RAN Admiral Crace had been sent to intercept the invasion group. Had the Japanese continued on, they may have met; perhaps just south of Normanby Island, coming out of the Goschen Strait, entering Milne Bay as they round the eastern tip of New Guinea. Distant escort for the Japanese unit consisted of the IJN’s 6th Cruiser Squadron and a couple destroyers. Possible reinforcements were available from the convoy escort.

The RAN/US force consisted of the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia (8-8” guns), light cruiser HMAS Hobart (8-6” guns), heavy cruiser USS Chicago (9-8” guns), and three American destroyers; the PERKINS, WORDEN and WALKE . The cruisers started in line ahead, with the destroyers a half-mile ahead in line abreast. About 15 miles, bearing about 345° relative, just coming out of the haze, were the enemy.

The Japanese cruisers; AOBA, KINUGASA, KAKO and FURUTAKA (all 6-8” guns and 8 torpedoes) were in line. The destroyers WAKABA and YUGURE (both 5-5” guns and 6 torpedoes) were about a half-mile to port. On the First Turn the two lead IJN cruisers turned left, the rest moved straight ahead at full speed to confront the enemy. The American destroyers slanted towards the Japanese, with HOBART following them. AUSTRALIA and CHICAGO turned left and closed up. Turn One gunnery went to the Japanese as HOBART was struck four times by AOBA and once by KINUGASA. These 8”ers started a bad fire amidships, as they ignited the float plane refueling point.

On Turn Two , HOBART veered sharply to port as her fire fighting teams swung into action. All the other ships of both sides continued on as before. AUSTRALIA scored the only hits of the turn as she plunked AOBA stern sheets with two 8” strikes. Turn Three saw the Japanese move fairly straight, as did the Allied cruisers. PERKINS, WORDEN and WALKE bore left and laid smoke to try and give partial cover to their cruisers. WALKE paid dearly as she was summarily eviscerated when six tightly grouped 8” shells from AOBA tore her apart from stem to stern. On fire and breaking up amidships, the sinking ship drifted to a stop. The hulk rolled over and disappeared a few turns later. AUSTRALIA knocked a 4.7” AA mount off the KAKO with two 8” strikes.

The Fourth Turn saw all ships go reasonably straight ahead, which led to a great increase hitting, mostly by the Japanese. HOBART scored the only Allied hits, punching three vicious 6” shots into YUGURE , removing most of the bow. WORDEN took single 8” blows from AOBA and KINUGASA. WAKABA scored one 5” and YUGURE two 5”ers on PERKINS , starting a fire.

Turn Five saw some maneuvering on both sides. Although the Allied force still continued straight, PERKINS turned sharply right, towards the enemy, to unmask her off-side torpedo mount, having launched the other two mounts earlier. KINUGASA and AOBA reversed to port for the same reason. FURUTAKA must have missed a signal, go-ing straight and rapidly separated from her companions when KAKO, WAKABA and YUGURE made sharp left turns. This put those three on an opposite course from their opposition. AOBA still managed to slam WORDEN with a pair of 8” hits, and WAKABA landed her own pair of 5”ers on PERKINS. AUSTRALIA assailed FURUTAKA with four 8” and one 4” strikes.

With Turn Six the Allied heavy cruisers continued their westerly course, nearing the coastline. HOBART finally extinguished her fire and turned northwest, towards the enemy. PERKINS made a sharp right to rejoin the beat up WORDEN . Badly injured YUGURE executed a hard-to-port, leaving a large volume of smoke in her wake as she tried to dis-engage. FURUTAKA turned left to rejoin KAKO , which went straight. KINUGASA and AOBA completed their about turn and were heading southwest. Hit- ting picked up again, with AOBA smacking PERKINS amidships with two more 8” and KAKO landing a single 8” on AUSTRALIA . The RAN cruiser returned the attention to FURU-TAKA with single 8” and 4” strikes. But it was YUGURE that was the center of Ameri-can attention; CHICAGO rammed home two 8” rounds, while PERKINS and WORDEN landed one 5” shell, each; holing the bow yet again and knocking out the gun director.

Turn Seven saw YUGURE slant left and KAKO move right, as the cruiser tried to assist the escape of the ruined destroyer. FU- RUTAKA cut right, heading for the en-emy. The other two cruisers kept on course. The Allied heavies curved right, HOBART swung in behind the destroyer smoke screens, which were now moving slowly, but closing the enemy. AOBA and KINUGASA found a hole in the smoke and plugged HOBART with two 8” shots, each, destroying the off-side torpedo mount, while WAKABA added a 5”er. KAKO put two more 8” rounds aboard AUSTRALIA , one of which was a dud. CHICAGO whacked FURUTAKA with three 8s, which threatened the magazine, but to no avail. HOBART and PERKINS added to WAKABA ’s woes with single 6”, 4”, and 5” thumps. P A G E 4

Crace’s Race - A Nav-Con 2011 AAR by Roger Reynolds

There was no fancy maneuvering on either side for Turn Eight , but the hitting slumped a bit. AOBA shifted to CHICAGO , wrecking a secondary gun director with a pair of 8” hits. AUSTRALIA took a single 8” shell from KAKO and two from KINU-GASA, which started a fire. She returned the favor back to KAKO with three 8” “Your rounds. HOBART plugged FURUTAKA with one 6”er, but then intercepted a Long Lance torpedo launched by greatness does KINUGASA. The light cruiser fell out immediately and sank quickly. not depend upon the size Commencing with Turn Nine the Allied group received reinforcements as the American destroyers SELFRIDGE (8-5”, 8 TT) and HAMMANN (4-5”, 8 TT) roared on with safety valves secured, moving a topmost of your speed northeastwards, towards their two remaining cruisers. FURUTAKA joined up with KAKO , but those two command, but were now between their sister cruisers and the enemy heavies. CHICAGO bore the brunt this time, with AOBA on the manner and KINUGASA getting hits in pairs again, crumpling a section of the stern. KAKO then took two 8” and two 5” in which you hits from CHICAGO , which came close to flooding out the after magazine. PERKINS tagged FURUTAKA with exercise it...” a 5”er, while the still viable WORDEN added two more on the cruiser. Feisty WAKABA struck PERKINS with two of her own 5” guns, setting the American on fire, which went out almost immediately as the destroyer rolled — Marshal over and sank from her relentless punishment. Ferdinand Foch . With Turn Ten , AOBA turned about as KINUGASA went straight. WAKABA was trying to withdraw north, as KAKO and FURUTAKA jinked about to cover her. AUSTRALIA and CHICAGO completed their turns and set- tled on a southwest course. SELFRIDGE slammed two 5”, and HAMMANN one 5”, into KAKO ; while WORDEN dropped a couple 5” shells on WAKABA , hitting the bridge. AUS-TRALIA blasted four 8”ers into AOBA , destroying a boiler room and coming close to flooding out B magazine. But AUSTRALIA was prime target for 6th Cruiser squadron, having her bow holed by taking three 8” rounds from AOBA , two from FURU- TAKA , and another courtesy KAKO . KINUGASA 8”ers hit CHICAGO twice more. WAKABA tagged WORDEN once with a 5”er.

Turn Eleven turned out to be the last of the game. All ships continued moving as previously. AUSTRALIA’s bow was further distorted by another two 8” from AOBA, FURUTAKA adding one more. CHICAGO slammed KINUGASA with an 8”er, and then the secondary's landed two 5” rounds on WAKABA. WORDEN help to finish “Men are of off WAKABA with another pair of 5s landing amidships. But at least WAKABA landed two final 5”ers on CHI- no importance. CAGO. The game was called when CHICAGO took two torpedoes from a KAKO spread. Already a third What counts is damaged, the cruiser could not sustain such staggering destruction. She rolled to starboard, sank with most of her crew. who commands....” The end results were clear. The Japanese force, with an aggressive forward de-fense diverted the RAN/US task — Gen group. Even without the torpedo events, they forced the allies from a direct route and scored some key hits. Charles de Initially the allied gunnery was poor, but they picked it up later. However, with friendly smoke in the way, they had to shift targets frequently and were unable to concentrate on one our two enemies to try and knock them out. Gaulle —

From a critical damage standpoint, the dice produced what seemed to be an above average number of fires and blank spots on the chart, but below average in all other cate-gories. Several “Get out of CD” cards were played to good effect.

My thanks to all participants for their enthusiasm and attention to detail on the ship cards that make this report easy to put together. Gunnery kudos go to Dave Schroeder of the “mighty” AOBA and Steve Podgorski driving AUSTRALIA . Torpedo honors go to John Zalanka for sniffing out CHICAGO’s intentions and placing the KAKO spread just right.

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And the Winner is……... by Steve Rysemus

The theme for the Little Wars 2012 was Technology, In- novations, & Advancements. I think you would have to agree that this year’s winner was Justin Gramm and Glen Domingo’s stunning terrain table for their Shellshock Combat System Pocket Armies (Modern) and Shellshock Combat System Blitzkreig games that all ran on the very same table. This table was quite extraordinary in that it featured REAL live growing grass, and moss. Grown in the basement of Glen’s home. In addition, this table had the added feature of running water that flowed down a river into a lake. And let me tell you, this was no ordi- nary lake, as the lake included LIVE tadpoles swimming around in the water!

Second place goes to Curt Murff and Michael Mays beautiful fort in the Assault at the forks of la Belle Rivièr event. This setup was a true sight to behold. Played on three separate tables that together made one large event. The miniatures were also fantastic and all players had a great time in the huge game. Congratulations Curt and Michael!

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Infantry Tactics 1550 - 1815 by Robert Fulton

I. & Shot : Infantry Tactics & Organization before the 17 th Century

• tactics and close-order infantry not new; much experimentation • Infantry took over role of “backbone” from cavalry after 1500: • Infantry became cheaper to equip and firepower potential rose relative to cavalry • Swiss pikemen and combat morale was the model; monopolized by French; organized into haufen (companies) of 200 men; 3:1 or 4:1 pikemen to shot • Landsknecht troops (German) adopted same system but using pike block vs. 3 columns • Spanish were different: • Sword and buckler-armed and missile infantry with arquebusiers • Allowed hit-and-run warfare effective against pike blocks • This is the age of the dreaded Spanish tercio ; tercios (1534) were literally solid (not hollow) squares of men; comprised of between 10 to 20 companies amounting to between 1,000 to 5,000 men (typically 12 companies – 10 pike, 2 arquebusier: • The Spanish perfected the use of multi-national tercios to maximize effectiveness • Walloons excellent marksmen; Spanish ferocious attackers; Germans reliable in a pinch • Tactics : • Ranks packed in; social organization key – cohesion of ranks • Pikes and halberds (polearms) more than adequate against even heavily armoured cavalry • Aggressive charges the norm to achieve hand-to-hand • How to protect the arquebusier ? Answer – put ‘em behind field forts or pikes • Weaponry : • The pike was supreme; pike/ arquebusier squares the norm • and wheelock coming into use (1521); slow rate of fire & 44 movements to load, but heavier & better penetration than arquebusier ; danger from the matches; no uniform manufacturing techniques, lots of experi- mentation • Shot weapons rarely effective beyond 100 meters; fighting was close quarters Pikes critical because had not been invented

• Battles: firepower of shot troops effective when they had cover • Carignola (April, 1503): Spanish shot behind trenches & slaughter French cavalry • Ravenna (April 1512): Spanish weakened by artillery; destroyed by Swiss/French inf. • Pavia (February 1525): Firepower and value of pikes

II. Rise of Firepower : Infantry Tactics & Organization in the 17 th Century

A. Maurice of Nassau: the first innovator

• In this era, defense reigned supreme for both land battles and sieges • Starting in the 1530’s, armies began a long, sustained period of growth; they also became more professional; proliferation of manuals on drill (Geoffrey Parker): • Standardization of equipment, drill, and organization; discipline was crucial • Three lines of battle set up like a checkerboard (similar to the Roman acies triplex); with training & wheelocks achieve much better fire rate • Pikemen placed 5-10 ranks deep and shot 8-12 ranks VOLUME 4 ISSUE 12 P A G E 8

Infantry Tactics 1550 - 1815 by Robert Fulton

• Maurice of Nassau (1567-1625) – Dutch Organization: “nothing new under the sun” • Student of ancient military history; many of his ideas from Roman and Byzantine military treatises and battle ac- counts • His innovation was to apply these techniques to ‘modern’ armies with contemporary technology; implemented the first professionally trained, standing army • New methods for drill and for discipline; standardized pikes and calibers • Introduced flexible & more maneuverable formations – Dutch adopted two-battalion organization (550 men; 250 pikemen and 300 ) • Tactics : • Maurice embraced ‘new’ tactical methods involving rolling volleys (fire by ranks) with countermarch and re- loading; constant volume of fire & also motion • Formations could now advance and fire; pikemen used less to charge and more to protect the arquebusiers; dra- goons dismounted and fought as infantry • Weaponry : • The pike now shared the field with matchlocks & wheelocks • Pikes still critical for protection against cavalry • Battles: the one major field battle of the Dutch Revolt was Nieuwpoort, which was an un-decisive victory for the Dutch (a slogfest): • However, it did test Maurice’s new tactics and drill system and the Dutch held their own • This is something that had rarely happened in a field battle B. Gustavus Adolphus: Additional Firepower

• Maurice’s innovations were adopted and improved by Gustavus • Swedish field brigade composed of 3-4 squadrons (216 pikemen and 288 musketeers) and arranged as two mutually- supporting lines; high degree of discipline • Shallow formation – six ranks of pike in center & two ranks of musketeers each flank • Ratio of 3:4 pikemen to • Tactics: • Pike-and-shot tactics give way to firepower as offen- sive; breaking the enemy lines of infantry seem as the key to winning a battle • As they advanced, rear line (two ranks) of musketeers joined front two ranks, forming three-rank full line; • Salvos fired all at once (kneel, crouch, stand), reload, repeat until the enemy breaks; w/artillery the was fire devastating • Weaponry : • Lighter muskets; pikes continue their long and grad- ual decline as a primary weapon • Gustavus added ‘light, mobile’ artillery to infantry to beef up firepower; each brigade equipped Battle of Breitenfeld – Initial dispositions. © Wikipedia; with up to 12 one and ½ or three-pound light cannon; cased ammo • Battles : • Brietenfeld (September 1631): Saxons run off while Gustavus destroys Tilly’s Imperial army; artillery duel pre- cedes infantry fight; Swedes placed musketeers between cavalry formations and could decimate caracoling cavalry; Swedish cavalry preferred the charge P A G E 9 VOLUME 4 ISSUE 12

Infantry Tactics 1550 - 1815 by Robert Fulton

• Rocroi (May 1643): Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Condé vs. Spanish; during massive cavalry battle Spanish horse put to flight, leaving infantry to carry on; French twice repulsed by Spanish tercios, so French try to use artillery; Spanish remained on field repulsing cavalry charges and despite heavy artillery bombardment. Condé offered surrender conditions & two tercios left the field with standards and weapons. C. Louis XIV: The Professionalization of the Army

• Technological and institutional changes result in centralized administration model under Louis; more efficient for financing and managing standing armies: • Result: larger armies, mostly infantry; now 1:5 or 1:6 ratio pikemen to musketeers • Turenne places infantry formations within cavalry to help break up charges • French battalion 650 men: 480 muskets, 120 pikes, 50 ; muskets 5 ranks deep • Tactics : • Battalions placed in double or triple lines, multiple ranks deep, 200 meters apart in checkerboard fashion to cover ‘gaps’; use of field fortifications to anchor infantry lines • Linear tactics come to the fore; deployment of battalions in mutually supporting lines, but maneuver for ad- vantage is starting to come into the conduct of the battle • No longer enough pikes to defend the full battalion; any place they were put disordered the battalion (which made for tactical inflexibility); • Firing by ranks, with a variation on countermarch where each rank fires and reloads; also, two ranks at once (firing by files), and four to six ranks at once (firing by divisions) • Volley exchanges but also wide variety of maneuvers to advance or fall back as needed • Weaponry : • Lighter muskets along with thinner ranks; many fewer pikes • musket gradually replaces matchlock; still ineffective above 100 meters flintlock (snaphance, fire- lock) musket (1650s); flintlock more reliable; movements required to load reduced to 26, thereby increasing rate of fire • Plug bayonet (1647) originally for , dragoons, and other ‘elite’ troops; socket bayonet (1697) • Battles: armies significantly increasing in size; siege warfare supreme; the luckless William III • Seneffe (August 1674); Condé takes on William III (of Orange) & pays the butcher’s bill • Steenekerke (August 1692); maréchal Luxembourg against William; William brings troops along several attack approaches but timing botched III. Power of Linear Combat: Infantry Tactics & Organization in the 18 th Century

A. The Age of Marlborough: Battle of Attrition

• Continued gains in firepower and organization; pikes by-and-large gone; three or four ranks: • Dutch system of battalions: musketeer companies divided into four divisions of four firings each, three ranks; French held out – five ranks rolling fire held out – five ranks rolling fire

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Infantry Tactics 1550 - 1815 by Robert Fulton

• Battles becoming huge affairs involving 100,000 or more • Maurice de Saxe (1696-1750): theories about ordre mixte , as well as oblique order attack • Austrians begin extensive use of Croat light troops (Grenzer regiments); British: Highlanders • “Confident Tactics : language by a • Firepower and discipline decide in the end, but maneuver to gain crucial advantages of timing and military placement – Marlborough feints then delivers critical blow at weak point • commander is Linear allows command and control, but smoke and noise of battles always obscures • not usually Four divisions of four firings each, three ranks: 2nd and 3rd ranks of each firing would fire, then next regarded as firing, then 3rd and fourth, by which time first firing reloaded • evidence of First rank of all firings held in reserve; • competence.. .” Light artillery now accompanies all regiments; generally 3 to 4-pounders and manhandled; prolonged • -- Gen Weaponry : • Joseph E. Flintlock musket now in common use; socket bayonet eliminates need for pikes • Johnston -- Muskets still yield inefficient fire because of windage, lack of aiming and accuracy, fouling, rust, bent ramrods, etc. • Cartridge ammunition (1738) adopted by all; iron ramrod (1718) as well; • Standardized musket manufacture, e.g. (1730; 7.8 million made by 1850) • Battles : • Blenheim (August 1704): classic Marlborough/Eugène victory over Tallard and Elector of Bavaria; Tallard allows Marlborough’s infantry to cross the Nebel • Malplaquet (September 1709): Marlborough meets his match in Villars; ready for the classic Marlbor- “The ough feint and main blow; upwards of 40,000 (20%) casualties courage of Fontenoy (May 1745): Cumberland is bested by de Saxe the soldier is B. Frederick the Great: Maneuver & Discipline heightened by the • By now, armies had again become smaller, but even more professional; Frederick brings age of linear warfare knowledge to climax of his • Frederick’s advantages accrued from his father’s judicious management of both the army and the treasury; he profession.. .” was not as skilled a commander as his legend permits --Flavius • Firepower becoming supreme; science of warfare in Vegetius the Age of Reason but, infantry dominant force during Renatus -- . this era; cavalry in fully supporting role during field bat- tle • What real innovations here for infantry? • Frederick’s use, both effectively, and inef- fectively, of oblique order attack • Prussian cadenced march (1730s) probably Prussian line infantry attack at the 1745 Battle of Hohenfriedberg. adopted from Swedes; allowed closed vs. © Wikipedia open columns, quicker battlefield maneuvers, and much less frequent dressing of ranks • Infantry still did not have square formation ; better to lie down as one regiment did at Kolin (1757), or, form large square ‘accidentally’ as at Mollwitz (1741) • Also, attack columns still rare but employed for storming strong points

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Infantry Tactics 1550 - 1815 by Robert Fulton

• Tactics : • Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau (Old Dessauer) developed Prussian system of battalion firing by (eight) platoons; each end to the middle; served at Blenheim • Even French adopt platoon firing, probably due to Maurice’s influence • While Old Dessauer desired firepower, Frederick preferred close combat, and it cost him • By 1740s and 1750s, specialist infantry – , light troops • Weaponry : “Not till I see day • Muskets now mass produced and better quality; infantry could now fire up to 5 rounds/ light ahead do I minute if well trained (at least on parade ground) want to lead, but • Battles: increasing importance of field battles relative to sieges when danger • Leuthen (December 1757); classic Frederick oblique attack expertly executed threatens and • Torgau (November 1760); classic Frederick oblique attack gone very bad; proof that by the others slink away I end of 7YW the Prussian army was decimated and undisciplined am and will be at my post.. .” IV. French Revolutionary Wars & Napoleon: L’ordre Mixte -- General • The democratization of the French Republic swells the army back to Marlborough sizes William T. • John Lynn: esprit du corps and Republican fervor makes all the difference Sherman -- . • During the Revolutionary Wars (1792-1800), training and discipline at first suffer, so fire- power suffers; as a result, the attack column gains acceptance • Napoleon simple perfects the tactics developed in these battles • Napoleon Bonaparte: • His great genius was his ability to create mobile combined arms forces and to move strate- gically along multiple lines of attack • Once the battle was joined, he would bring superior firepower to bear • Massed artillery forces • Attack become king – sheer numbers overcome the effects of musket firepower in many cases • Exception being to a great extent British and battalion firepower; training and discipline • Most other European forces adopt modified French system by 1809 “There is nothing • Tactics : like seeing the • Line formation still presents other fellow run to most often used formation in bring back your battle, however courage…” — • Attack columns first employed Field Marshal systematically by French in Viscount Slim of Revolutionary wars; depend Burma —. upon protection by skirmishers and artillery support; disci- A Napoleonic-era British , “The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras” by Elizabeth Thompson. © Wikipedia; plined fire could destroy them • Originally, attack columns designed to get a battalion to the enemy quickly; intent was to deploy in line, but this was not practical

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Infantry Tactics 1550 - 1815 by Robert Fulton

• Hollow squares now developed in defense against cavalry charges; required precise timing and discipline • Skirmish (open order) tactics and screening by light ( tirailleur ) forces become critical; street fighting, woods, against artillery • Weaponry : • and rifled muskets begin to be added to elite and light () units, but only with Prussians and English; French continued to use fusil or carbine muskets • Battles: (see table) • Jemappes: first use of French attack columns; French route a smaller Austrian force using open order and attack columns • Austerlitz: Napoleon outmaneuvers the Russians and Austrians; infantry advances quickly to seize the high ground for the artillery • Waterloo: “He’s nothing but a pounder after all”; the failure of the three arms to support each other effec- tively; victory of British discipline Table 1: Significant Infantry Battles by Time Period

Battle Date (N.S.) Forces Engaged & Outcome & Importance Nieuwpoort 2 July 1600 Maurice : 10,000i, 1,400c, 14g Dutch victory (4,500 Sp cas.); Spanish : 7,700i, 1,200c, 9g First test of Maurice’s drill & linear formations Breitenfeld 17 Sep 1631 Gustavus Adolphus : 29,000i, 13,000c Swedish victory (13,600 Imp Tilly : 26,000i, 9,000c cas.); Superior Swedish firepower and discipline Rocroi 19 May 1643 Prince de Condé : 17,000i, 6,000c, 14g French victory (15,000 Sp Francisco de Melo : 19,000i, 8,000c, cas.); Cracking the dreaded 18g Spanish tercios Seneffe 11 Aug 1674 Prince de Condé : 30,000i, 14,200c, 60g Draw/French victory (11,000 William III : 40,000i, 22,000c, 70g Allied cas.); Condé’s failure to surround Allies Blenheim 13 Aug 1704 Marlborough : 52,000, 66g Allied victory (34,500 Fr/Bav Tallard/Elector : 56,000, 90g cas.); Victory of Marlbor- ough’s system of maneuver and feints Malplaquet 11 Sep 1709 Marlborough : 86,000, 100g Allied victory (11,000 Fr cas. Tallard/Elector : 75,000, 80g but 21,000 Allied); infantry bloodbath; Marlborough’s last battle Fontenoy 11 May 1745 Maurice de Saxe : 32,000i, 14,000c, 80g French victory (4,500 Br Cumberland : 53,000, 93g cas.); Maurice system of strongpoints

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Infantry Tactics 1550 - 1815 by Robert Fulton

Table 1: Significant Infantry Battles by Time Period (continued)

Battle Date (N.S.) Forces Engaged & Outcome & Importance Leuthen 5 Dec 1757 Frederick II : 36,000, 167g Prussian victory (22,000 Archduke Charles: 66,000, 206g Aus cas.); Expert execution of oblique maneuver Torgau 3 Nov 1760 Frederick II : 35,000i, 13,500c, 309g Austrian victory (16,670 Pr Leopold von Daun: 42,000i, 10,000c, cas.); Frederick’s oblique and 275g maneuver horribly executed Jemappes 6 Nov 1792 Charles Dumouriez : 40,000, 100g French victory (1,200 Aus Albert of Saxe-Teschen : 13,796, 56g cas.); Test of new skirmish and attack column forma- tions Austerlitz 2 Dec 1805 Napoleon : 72,000, 157g French victory (27,000 Aus/ Alexander I : 85,000, 318g Rus cas.); classic Napoleonic tactics Waterloo 18 June 1815 Napoleon : 48,000i, 14,000c, 250g Allied victory (48,000 Fr Duke of Wellington : 50,000i, 11,000c, cas.); Victory of British dis- 150g cipline VI. Bibliography

Black, Jeremy. Warfare in the Eighteenth Century . Smithsonian History of Warfare. HarperCollins, 2006. Chandler, David G. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough , 2 nd ed. Sarpedon, 1995. ______. The Campaigns of Napoleon , 2 Vols. Simon and Schuster, 1966. Childs, John. Warfare in the Seventeenth Century . Smithsonian History of Warfare. HarperCollins, 2006. Duffy, Christopher. The Military Experience in the Age of Reason . Psychology Press, 1987. Frost, Robert I. The Northern Wars: War, State, and Society in Northeastern Europe, 1558-1721. Modern Wars in Perspective. Longman, 2000. Howard, Michael. The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France, 1870-1871, 2 nd ed. Psychology Press, 2001. Jorgensen, Christopher, Michael Pavkovic, Rob Rice, et. al., Fighting Techniques of the Early Modern World: AD 1500 to AD 1763; Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics. St. Martin’s Press, 2005. Lynn, John A. The of The Republic: Motivation and Tactics in the Army of Revolutionary France, 1791-94 . Westview Press, 1996. Parker, Geoffrey. The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800 . Cambridge Uni- versity Press, 1988

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Infantry Tactics 1550 - 1815 by Robert Fulton

Porch, Douglas. The Wars of Empire . Smithsonian History of Warfare. HarperCollins, 2006. Warner, Denis A., and Peggy Warner. The Tide at Sunrise: A History of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905 , 2 nd ed. Psychol- ogy Press, 2002. Weigley, Russell. The Age of Battles: The Quest for Decisive Warfare from Breitenfeld to Waterloo . Indiana University Press, 2004 Typical Pike Square, c1580

Courtesy Christopher Jorgensen, Michael Pavkovic, Rob Rice, et. al., Fighting Techniques of the Early Modern World: AD 1500 to AD 1763; Equipment, Combat Skills, and Tactics , New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2005

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