I just watched the A&E presentation of Horatio Hornblower of a British-Emigre landing in France in 1794. It looked like a good scenario for a Matrix Game (given that the story involves love, political terror, a decoy and a battle) so I've written it up. The Hornblower shows so far are full of historical inaccuracies and down right stupidities but I still enjoyed them. It's a pleasure to see ships under sail. And being a landlubber who gets sea sick on calm seas, I marvel that my ancestors rode these things across the Atlantic. Of course none of this applies to the present scenario because it is a ground action. THE SITUATION The French nobility has fled France to escape the terror. The remnants of the royal army (dressed in white coats) have joined them. They are a rabble of a force. The Prussians considered them militarily useless, which history bore out. A group of emigres in England have convinced the British government to ferry a small force over to France to try to raise the peasants up in revolt. It sounds foolish to us but bear in mind that the peasant revolt in the Vendee was active at this time and that not all Frenchmen liked Robbespierre. Enter Hornblower, on board a ship taking Frogs to their deaths. For the invasion to succeed, the Republican artillery must be held at bay for a few days to give the general enough time to raise an army. The guns are said to be to the south. The general will land in the north at Quiberon Bay (site of a major naval battle earlier in the century). A small detachment will be landed to seize the bridge at Muziac. They are to hold that position until relieved by the main force. This scenario deals with what happens with this detachment. Unfortunately for the Royalists, the Republicans have learned of their secret plans and have already moved their guns north. The main invasion force will be destroyed. Oops! So the detachment's job is a fools errand. They must discover this and somehow get away before the noose tightens. RULES I play this game using the simple Battle Matrix Game rules I've described before which I've started calling "Politics by other means." Forces consist of individual figures grouped together in units. Roll 1d6 to see how many inches your people move. Roll 1d6 per figure firing. 6's hit, hits kill. Hit figures make a matrix argument about why they're not dead. Once a turn players can interrupt another players turn to make an argument for something unexpected to happen. If no enemy are present, players get to move their people freely, anywhere on the map. Players make one argument a turn to make things happen. They can tell a love story (like Hornblower did in the show) commit political terror (like the French commander did) or do something smart (like Hornblower eventually does by riding north and discovering the advancing Republicans). Players can set up barriers to movement (putting all the civilians under guard, creating a line of defense, etc.) to block this liberal movement policy and one can raise new troops (if you can convince the locals to join up). Eventually though, the Republicans will come and attack. Then its all over for the Royalists! The game switches back to a battle game with slow movement. THE FORCES The Royalists: Twenty figures (three six-figure units of infantry and two officers). Vive Le Roi! The time has come to return home! The people will flock to us. They call out for our leadership. Soon we will get revenge on the revolutionaries. God save the King! We go to France to fight the traditional enemies. Frogs must be defeated. The British Regulars: Twenty figures (three six-figure unit and two officers). The British Navy: Eight figures and a cannon (one six-figure unit, two officers and a ship's gun). I don't understand sit, aren't all Frogs the enemy? "No Stiles. The royalist Frogs are good Frogs, the republican Frogs are bad Frogs." I don't understand, Mr. Hornblower. The People of Muziac: Twenty figures, (women, children, old men, and a few men). Vive le Revolution! Down with the Duke! (Then one citizen is shot). Er ... Vive le Roi? (another one is shot). Vive le Roi! The Republicans: The French begin with one officer and a six-figure unit that starts off board. Every second turn of the game they gain another six-figure infantry unit. They can hold them off board and build up an attacking force to launch all at once. They can also send units in piecemeal. Republicans can come from the north, west or south. THE LEADERS DUC DE MUZIAC: The Royalist colonel. Why these dogs have destroyed my house! You? You are no mayor! You sell women's underwear! Set up the guillotine in the square. LORD HOWARD: The British colonel. Steady men. Don't waste your ammunition until you have a target. HORNBLOWER: The Naval lieutenant. Leave that woman alone! Sir! "What Mr. Hornblower? Are you a Republican?" No sir! But no gentleman would treat a woman so, no matter what her birth. MAYOR DE MUZIAC: The mayor of Muziac. M. le Due, I used to sell linen. Now I serve the people. Your house is open to everyone's use. And the people do not want you back. Start humming the Marseillaise. PS you only control the young men of the village, you will have to recruit the other people to use them. GENERAL TURREAU: The Republican general. The only way to defeat rebels is the way I did it in the Vendee - bum them out! Now the emigres have returned to help us add them to the toll of the Terror. Good. Of course we know their plans so it should be an easy task. THE GROUND This game takes place around the village of Muziac. The field needs to include a town, a river (to the south of the town), a bridge over the river and a river ford. The town can consist of a couple of buildings (one of which is the Due's mansion). Other terrain can be added to suit your fancy. The field can be made on two standard tables put together. Personally I use sculpted terrain boards (of river, town and hills) that is supplemented by toy trees, lichen and kitty litter roads. HOW THE GAME PLAYED OUT I solo played this game in my back garage. It took an afternoon to play. What I did was make an argument each turn to see if commanders changed his orders. If I thought the orders should stay the say I argued that it stayed the same - if the argument failed then I made an argument of how the orders changed. If situations called for a change, then I argued for a reasonable order change. If it failed then I made an argument for a foolish order change. Once the Royalists had reached the town and set up positions, they began using their arguments to do other tasks (like guillotining peasants, romancing pretty school teachers and scouting out the enemy). If I had other players I would have just played it like a regular wargame. The Royalists/British marched in unopposed. The sailors set up at the bridge, the British regulars at the ford and the Royalists in the town. The mayor tried to rally the people but was arrested by the Due. The Due then set up the guillotine and started the Terror. This drove the uncommitted peasants into the arms of the revolution. Many slipped away to the hills. Meanwhile, Hornblower met and romanced the school teacher. While the French general gathered his troops off board. Eventually the French attacked. They came up on the rear of the town, while the peasants attacked the British regulars. The fighting was furious in the town but since the French had held off and not gone in piecemeal, they eventually won. A new unit every other turn turned the tide. Eventually French units started coming in from the south - to block the line of retreat. The Brits then abandoned the Royalists, blowing up the bridge behind them. They then drove off the piecemeal French attack and marched off the board. Oh, and Hornblower got the girl and got away with her. Back to MWAN #102 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com