"January 1805 began with a rush of diplomacy unseen since the end of the Revolutionary Wars in Europe. The expansionist King Charles IV declared his interest in Egypt and began preparations for the invasion of that country. Four days later on the 7th of January the Sultan of Turkey responded to this apparent aggression - although he had no claim over Egypt himself - by announcing that in return he would "take Morocco under his wing".

The Spanish immediately began to show signs that distance would be no object in a war with anybody when their attention was drawn closer to home. The British government had decided to expand its navy. Britain and France were still at war and practically all British ships were tied up blockading French ports or prowling the English Channel looking for Dutch blockade runners.

To facilitate British strategy against Napoleon more ships were needed. It would take a year for the Hull ship- yards to build any more vessels, and for the British this was simply too long to wait. They were certain that Napoleon would not drag his feet and thus they felt that another direction was needed. Sitting in neutral Portugal's capital, Lisbon, were 12 ships of the line. The British Special Envoy and general troubleshooter Lord Chamberlain was dispatched to Portugal with missives suggesting a closer political union between Britain and Portugal, and less conspicuous suggestions regarding the use of their fleet.

Regrettably for the British the Portuguese were less than enthusiastic about this plan and when Chamberlain thought to press the issue with unambiguous threats Charles of Spain responded by telling Portugal that she would receive Spanish backing in the face of British Aggression. Thus, when Lord Chamberlain infortned the Portuguese government that Britain would take what it required by force the Spanish ambassador informed Chamberlain that the British were now also at war with Spain.

Meanwhile, if this was not enough, on 18th January a remarkable happening occurred in the Italian minor state of the Romagna. Within hours two embassies ftom major European powers arrived claiming sovereignty over the country! Firstly the Russians and then the Austrians advanced these proposals, thinly veiling military threats from nearby troops if the Romagna declined.

On the face of it Austria was in a much stronger position to exert its will, with troops only a matter of days away in Venetia. However, a large Corps of Russians was on a 'training' exercise on the island of Corfu conveniently under the command of one of their senior generals, the Hanoverian mercenary Levin Bennigsen. Whilst the Italians dithered on a practically impossible decision the British poked their oar in by advising them that they could expect financial assistance if the Romagna were to reject both demands. Had they thought carefully about Britain's other commitinents the Romagnese would surely have come to the conclusion that the British were prevaricating but a rush of Latin blood spilled over and the nature of the rejection provoked both Austria and Russia into immediate declarations of war on the Romagna.

When both Austria and Russia realised that they had acted in an identical fashion, instead of coming to an understanding they attempted a 'Mexican standoff' with the result that relations became so strained that war between the two was declared over the ownership of the little Italian state.

Whilst all this was going on the French and Prussians were negotiating a carve up of Central Germany. 'Me Prussians already controlled Saxony and their share of the spoils would initially be the independent counties that made up the state commonly referred to as the Duchies, along with Hesse. For their part the French would take Baden and Berg to add to Hanover, Kleves and the Palatinate which already enjoyed French rule. The Germans had little choice in the matter and were carved up without force.

Following all these aggressive moves various of the powers envisaged that peace would not last and they cast about for allies. Prussia and Russia signed a treaty with the proviso that the Russians would not expect any Prussian assistance against Austria. A similar alliance was made between Russia and Britain with the same condition. Seeing the way things were going France and Austria decided that mutual interest demand that they ally. The beginning of the year showed all the signs that chronic instability would once more ravage Europe."

Unfamiliarity?

Does all this seem very unfamiliar? It should, because this is not the history of Europe in 1805 that we all know. This was the beginning of a long running Napoleonic Wargaming campaign run by the Wootton Bassett Group who actually extend between Swindon and Oxford. Initially the campaign was not intended for public consumption, however my habit of keeping a campaign diary meant that when I was looking around for a subject to write a series of articles on, this campaign became the obvious choice.

To my knowledge a dissertation on a full Napoleonic campaign has not been written since Barry Van Danzig's five part series in Battle Magazine starting in November 1977! 1 for one enjoyed not only those articles, but indeed any on similar lines, such as Tony Bath's Hyboria in Battle/Military Modelling or John Bennett's Gussie in Lone Warrior. There is something fascinating in reading an alternate history, be it mythical or based on fact, and this is especially true when battle reports are prominent in the story along with explanations of the mechanics involved in the game. This is my intention. For my part the idea has been made more exciting because the campaign is ongoing, so I do not know the future myself!

The basis of the game is the superb Avalon Hill boardgame, Empires in Arms . Using this any campaign of the Napoleonic Wars can be fought, although the game is more suitable for large campaigns due to the map scale. It would be next to impossible to detail every rule in the game, so rather than try I will explain the outline along with any house rules employed. I would then encourage any reader interested in the period to get a copy of Empires in Arms for themselves.

The game can be played by up to seven players. We have five so two of the major powers are run at random using a chart. The countries and players are as follows:

Britain: Vic Chamberlain
France: Kevin Morgan
Russia : Ian Barstow
Austria: Steve Maycock
Prussia: Rob Jones
Spain : auto-controlled
Turkey : auto-controlled

Each country's forces are split up into Corps and Fleets, along with garrison counters. All are broken down into strength points. each point equals one ship or 1000 men. The naval strengths proved irrelevant as it was decided to fight naval actions using the intrinsic game rules.

However, the idea behind the campaign was to provide meaningful tabletop battles so a system for converting strength points into army lists was required.

As far as infantry and cavalry were concerned, the rules specify strength points (SP's) as to which they are. The difficulty was that apart from an artillery corps for France and Russia no gun strengths are accounted for. The problem was really a matter of ratio, and 2 guns per 1000 men was decided upon.

The types of troops were put into chart forth using numerous reference books, one I can particularly recommend is Napoleonic Armies by Ray Johnson. Within basic categories the ratio of different types of troops were put into percentage form utilising a single die roll when a brigade was created. Players had the option of what strength they wanted their formations, with top and bottom limits of 4000 and 2000 respectively. It may be possible at a later date to publish these lists and the associated troop ratings within these pages.

The next article will concentrate in depth on the turmoil which encompassed February of 1805.

More 1805

Campaign of 1805 Wargame: Part 1
Campaign of 1805 Wargame: Part 2
Campaign of 1805 Wargame: Part 3
Campaign of 1805 Wargame: Part 4