This conflict has attracted considerable attention amongst English speaking gamers, which may seem odd considering the combatants were mainly French and German. There are a number of rule sets specific to the conflict and plenty of choice for metal figures in various scales. Thus it is easy to get into gaming of this war.

Several members of my local club, the Bytown Barbarians, (Bytown was the early 19^th Century name for Ottawa until Queen Victoria decided that it would be the capital of a united Canada but with a more impressive name) decided to delve into a new period and decided that the Franco-Prussian War was intriguing. A number of decisions had to be made before we could play our first game.

It was easy to decide on a scale, 15mm, because of the ranges of the various firearms employed by both sides. Our average tabletop is eight feet by five feet and we find that 15mm is ideal for 19^th Century games because of the maximum ranges of artillery and rifles. The figures are not always easy to paint, but we can certainly mass plenty of them on the table for a game. In most cases, the club members contribute to the club’s figure inventory so it is easy to have between 500 and 1000 figures from which to pick the armies.

To ensure that we have a wide selection of figures, it was agreed that all the participants would purchase both French and German forces. The basic commitment was enough figures and equipment to form a division. The size was determined by the rule set that was picked for our introductory games. The members were free to choose their figures from the manufacturers of 15mm figures. The core purchasing was from Essex Miniatures because one member was going to the UK on holidays and planned to visit the Essex head office. We also bought from Old Glory as our club was encouraged by one of the designers, Perris Cooley, to visit his brother’s website (being established on a new host server as I write) to see photographs of their work for Old Glory. Yes, this is a shameless plug but then Old Glory appealed to us because their figures come packed 100 infantry to a bag. It is an ideal number for the big formations that we wanted to create.

While shopping amongst the many dealers at Fall In 2002 (see the article on this convention above), I took advantage of the end of business sale at Falcon to buy a large number of packs of the very good 15mm French and German figures. This gave us a few unique units to add to our collection, particularly the French colonial troops.

For rules, we picked "They Died For Glory" which first appeared in The Courier (Vol VII No. 1) and then as a stand-alone rulebook. We liked the rules and scale of 1:50. Other rules were also considered including "1870", which had lots of background information on the war and included scenarios for the later period (after the surrender of Emperor Napoleon III and the bulk of the Imperial forces) when the French were dependent on volunteers and units of the National Guard. Of course, we shall be gaming with "Victorian Warfare" when it is published by Saga Publications.

Two of the participants decided to present a scenario at a regional convention, MIGS Con 2002, held in October in Hamilton, Ontario (Canada).  They chose an unusual scenario in that it was an historical scenario where 1/2 the German forces were Bavarian, and the other Prussian. The scenario was a refight of the German assault on the French left wing at Froeschwiller.  This assault proved to be a bloody affair with the Germans taking twice as many casualties as the French.  The French however, decided (as they did in many of the battles in this war), that they had been beaten, and pulled back.  This allowed the Germans to take this "position magnifique".

The scenario, which comes with the "They Died for Glory" rule set, was ideally suited for a convention situation. The whole scenario could be played in 3.5 to 4 hours, required only 4 players, and was full of action almost from the get go.  The scenario is this: 

The French are securely installed on a hill 2 elevations higher than the Germans, who start off in the valley below.  The French are outnumbered 2 to 1, but have cover (provided by woods which cover the their entire frontline) and a short line of trenches.  Their artillery comes into play from turn 1, while the Prussian guns only get into action on turn 7.  The Bavarian and Prussian forces are required to get 3 units off table by the end of the scenario (12 turns).  Both sides are faced with tough decisions.  The French have no idea what the Prussians conditions of victory are and therefore must spread their forces along most of their front.  The Prussians have to basically take casualties for 6 turns, and keep going until they can finally assault the French positions, and use their superior numbers to make the breakthrough they need. 

The scenario played out true to history.

• The Bavarians and Prussians made several brave and costly assaults up to and into the French positions.
• German casualties were somewhere in the 45-50 per cent range of troops engaged.
• French casualties were about the same, but their depleted numbers would have meant that subsequent assaults would have been successful.
• The French won the battle, but would have been forced to concede their positions in the dark, unless heavy reinforcements could be brought to the area.

It was indicative of this hard fought battle that both sides had chances to win, but timely shooting, judicious use of the French bayonet in a counter assault and bad morale rolls by the Bavarians finally tipped the scales in the French forces favour.

Feedback from the participants and convention organizers was very positive, and we have made the commitment to put on another scenario in the upcoming Hotlead convention during the last weekend of March to be held in Stratford, Ontario.

My own involvement in this period was influenced by my proximity to many of the battlefields in north-eastern France while I was stationed in Lahr, Germany. It was an hour’s drive from my residence to Woerth or Froeschwiller. A non-gaming friend is familiar with the area as this is where his wife’s family lives and he is able to supply me with photographs and other souvenirs of the historical sites of the war. The local museum had a beautiful diorama of a massive French cavalry charge during the battle that was made from a large collection of beautiful metal flats. This diorama could easily inspire anyone to try figure painting and or gaming.

There will be more news about this conflict because the gang will be hosting another game at Hot Lead in late March based on the battles of Gravelotte-St. Privat (see below another re-fight). Plus we have all those figures to review in upcoming issues.