How many times have you looked at your collection of motley figures on their shelves/tins/boxes and thought ‘wouldn’t it be nice to find a battle where I can use them all’. Unfortunately, as we all know, Wellington’s British are not easily compatible with Austrians or Russians, the occasional scrap aside. Add your limited collection of Spanish (well, mine is) and various Confederation of the Rhine troops and you are hard pressed to find a historical scenario to recreate. This leaves two options. First, go back to your copy of Campaigns of Napoleon for an idea, or create a fantasy scenario (no, I don’t mean Orcs).

Needing to develop an idea for a display game at the Napoleonic Association show at Fritton Lake, I took two main factors into account. What I owned in the way of figures and who would be likely to watch the game. As far as the figures go, the collection is diverse and probably fairly typical. Lots of French, quite a few Austrians and Russians, almost as many rarely used British (got to have them, though, haven’t you?) followed by Bavarians and other assorted French allies. Even two battalions of Spanish and one Neapolitan. Not many Prussians in my case, but quite a few Poles, but then again, everybody seems to have more Poles than the Duchy of Warsaw.

As for the likely viewers, it seems that the majority will be civvies, by which I mean those sad, lamentable types who thought that growing up meant putting away your toy soldiers. These non-wargamers aren’t going to give a damn about seeing historical accuracy - “I think you’ll find the Neuchatels didn’t carry an Eagle” - what they are going to want is colour and loads of troops. Come to think of it, so do I.

Fictitious, but...

So, it’s a fictitious scenario. I don’t know about you, but I like my fiction to be well developed. Plausible, and with some decent background detail. With that in mind I had to think of something that would not come across as a ‘get all the figures out’ game. Rather, to look through the collection and select everybody who I wanted to see on the table at once. The only seriously ostensible scenario along ‘what if’ lines is one set after Waterloo, and to do this, firstly we must assume that Napoleon turned over Wellington on June 18th (yes, hard to believe, I admit).

Nevertheless, let’s assume that Gerard did his job and held up Blucher properly, enabling Napoleon to use the Armée du Nord with greater effect against the Allied forces. Let us now assume that whilst victorious, Wellington managed to extricate a good proportion of his British troops at the expense of the less fortunate allies. This leaves the door open to a logical fantasy progression.

Wellington retires through Belgium to Prussian territory, linking up with Blucher at some point. The Dutch-Belgians fragment in the face of Wellington’s apparent desertion, suffering heavy casualties under the inept Prince of Orange, who mercifully dies on the field, leaving the defeated troops open to easy persuasion by Napoleon. That being, of course, to return to the Imperial fold, which they readily do. The Brunswickers, ornery as ever, spread out across country and head for home, a few brave units following in the tracks of the Anglo-Prussian retreat.

So much for the results of an alternative Waterloo. To now add to the bigger picture, let us look to Austria and Russia. The Austrians are still unhappy at the resurgence of Prussia, and are not exactly gutted to see Blucher racing for the Rhine at high speed. Furthermore, a second, more demanding letter has arrived in Vienna addressed directly to the Empress Marie-Louise, whose husband is now insistent that she and the King of Rome should return to Paris. Whilst Schwartzenberg encourages caution, Marie-Louise pre-empts discussions by demanding that she is returned to her husband.

Peace Treaty

Not trusting the Russians any more than the other allies, Austria agrees, and with Marie-Louise comes a peace treaty, effectively splitting the coalition and ranging Austria, France and Holland against Britain, Prussia and Russia. Sounds okay so far, I think. But not quite, for if you recall a couple of paragraphs ago I mentioned being a bit strapped for Prussians.

How to handle it? Simple. First, Blucher falls from his horse whilst riding alongside Wellington. The fall kills the frail old man, leaving Gneisenau in nominal command of the Prussians. Within hours rumours are spreading that the British, maybe even the Iron Duke himself, have murdered Blucher (what do you mean a motive, he probably told the pregnant elephant story once too often) and it is all that Wellington can do to stop the two ‘allied’ forces accosting each other. The Prussians are last seen heading eastwards, muttering dark curses about not being able to trust foreigners.

Marching west comes Barclay de Tolly and his Russian army, delayed following Waterloo whilst the Russian High Command evaluated the situation. The trouble is, Barclay has had to reduce his forces to counter an upsurge in Turkish activity in the Crimea - most convenient - and he was counting on finding the Prussians alongside the British. Not so.

The Anglo-Russian force eventually stops near Hamburg, casually ignoring “get orf moi land” letters from the Prussians. Nevertheless, a further retreat seems inevitable, although its direction is limited. The Prussians are rather unsubtly pointing out that whilst the Russians are quite welcome to pass through, further incursions by the British will oblige Prussia to side directly with Napoleon, who they now see as the lesser of two evils.

In return for neutrality, Britain agrees to evacuate her troops through the port of Bremen in Hanover. Loyally, the Russians agree to remain with the British as long as possible until they are evacuated. What they have not accounted for is the vigour of Prince Eugene de Beauharnais, the reinstituted Viceroy of Italy, who has convinced the Austrians that a few thousand dead Russians would be in their best interests.

Not only that, but he has mobilised an Italian field army and both these forces are heading towards Bremen as fast as their little legs will carry them. The Italians head due north through Hesse, their movements are known to Wellington and Barclay, but they are not too concerned. The Austrians are given tacit permission to loop east then turn west through Brandenburg to come up behind and encircle the Anglo-Russians.

It is a masterful, if deceitful plan, and one which has certain similarities to a battle two years before. But this time the boot is on the other foot...

Notes on the Game

The Anglo-Russian army is allowed to deploy north and east of the Weser and north of the Syke-Achim road. They deploy first. The precise arrival times of the French will not be determined until the day of play. Basically, one of the three French forces will begin the game deployed on the table. This will be determined at random. The other forces will roll dice to determine how many moves flank marching they should take before arriving. By not letting the Anglo-Russian player/s know who rolled what a high degree of uncertainty will hopefully ensue.

Napoleon will arrive between points A-B; Eugene between points C-D and Schwartzenberg between points E-F.

The Weser has suffered from an extreme drought and is presently fordable along its entire table length by cavalry and infantry, both of whom are automatically disordered. Artillery may of course only use the bridges. The North Sea is not fordable! All woods are nice and dense, and the hills are relatively gentle. All the built-up-areas are well constructed, each able to hold one brigade, apart from Bremen which may hold two.

Bremen 1815 Order of Battle