WARGAMING 19TH CENTURY EUROPE 1815-1878
◗ Neil Thomas
◗ Pen and Sword (2021 reprint)
◗ £14.99
◗ 202 pages (softback)
◗ ISBN:9781399014335
◗ pen-and-sword.co.uk
Note: this review is based on several reads of the rules, and a playtest of certain combat situations, but not a full-blown wargame.
My first foray into this author’s work was his Wargaming: An Introduction, which was not a happy experience: an admirable attempt at a core ruleset that, with modifications, could work across all periods, but including (amongst other absurdities) an example ‘Waterloo’ game in which French batteries in a valley fired over a ridge into another valley beyond, destroying an Allied infantry unit...
In case you too felt the same way, I would say that this present book is a major contribution to wargaming. It is amazing how much he packs into 200 A5 pages. There is a good sketch of the key social, political, military and technological changes, from the revolutionary struggles of the 1830s to the 1877 Russo-Turkish War. There is a seven-page core set of rules, with each sub-period and army having special rules and army lists to reflect unique characteristics such as morale, weaponry, generalship and so on. I feel that a major flaw is his obsession with having equal-sized armies (in this book, ten units per side) even when one side is significantly inferior across the board. I understand his dislike of points-based systems, which can lead to a tyranny of seeking the perfect model army, but to wargame a Neapolitan ‘rabble’-class army against an equal-sized quality opponent is pointless. Opposing armies were not generally equal in size! However, he gives ten supplementary well-chosen battles of the period (Alegria 1834 to Sedan 1870) as scenarios where the two sides are unequal, although with some distinct juggling with reality: for example, Montebello (1859) saw 20,000 Austrians face 8,000 French, which he reduces to 17 units versus 13 - ?
I tested rifled-musket skirmishers versus an average cavalry unit: in reality, a dream ticket for the cavalry. Here, skirmishers fire 24 cms and move 12 cms, compared to the cavalry’s 16 cms move, so the skirmishers can ‘fire and retire’ sufficient times to cripple the cavalry through bases lost to firing and to subsequent morale test(s). Separately, there appears to be no significant difference between an elite infantry unit charging a levy unit, and a levy unit charging an elite unit – in both cases, the charger will win. Other oddities: infantry in line can ‘pivot’ but can’t move; dragoons cannot charge cavalry; 4-base levy infantry can charge 3-base elite infantry, but 4-base elite infantry cannot charge 4-base levy... and so on.
However... this book is crammed with examples of wargame mechanisms in terms of how to vary the impacts of firepower, morale, melee, command & control, terrain, flank marches, reinforcements, and much more. Neil also explains the reasoning behind his key decisions on game mechanisms in his search for ‘simple realism’.
Finally: Neil writes very engagingly; proofreading is superb (I only found one typo); there are 33 full-colour wargame photos; appendices show figure sources and thumbnail reviews of useful source books.
Overall – I’d be most reluctant to use the rules exactly as presented, but I found this book to be a truly inspirational profile of an era and a source of ideas for all periods: This book richly merits an MW Medal and hopefully your £15. Recommended.