Macta, Algeria, 28 June 1835 using Bloody Big Battles

The Battle of Macta was fought on 28 June 1835 between French forces under General Camille Alphonse Trézel and a coalition of Algerian tribes of western Algeria under Emir Abd-el-Kader.

The French had fought an inconclusive but bloody battle with Abd-el-Kader a few days earlier in the forest of Muley-Ismaël. The French, with 20 wagons full of wounded men, turned back towards the coast to resupply for a fresh effort

 
Abd-el-Kader attacked the French column where the track passed between the Macta marshes and some hills. 

Basically this is an historical version of the classic Wagon Train scenario. The objectives are the two wagons which start the game in French control. If a unit of Algerians contacts a wagon then it is removed from the table and cannot be recaptured by the French.

Information on the battle is sparse with regards to exact location and numbers of Algerian troops. For instance I have read accounts of the marshes being on the French Left flank and others where they are on the Right flank. I've gone with the marsh on the French Left flank. 

The table is only 3x3 foot. With 3" ranges for the smoothbore muskets and the French having to stay near the track then it isn't really a game of manoeuvre as the Algerians can come on where they want. In theory the French could  get the wagons off the table by Turn 4 but it is highly unlikely.

French Forces
Bases	Attributes	Morale	Weapon	Unit	Deployment / Arrival
1			Ldr	Gen Trézel C-in-C	Upto 12" from S Edge and <6" from track
3	P	Trnd	SM	1/66th Line	Ditto
3	P	Trnd	SM	1/66th Line	Ditto
3		Trnd	SM	Bataillon d'infanterie légère d'Afrique (Bat d'Af)	Ditto
3		Trnd	SM	Bataillon d'infanterie légère d'Afrique (Bat d'Af)	Ditto
3	S,A	Trnd	SM	5/Legion Etrangere (Italian)	Ditto
3	S,A	Trnd	SM	5/Legion Etrangere (Italian)	Ditto
3	S,A	Trnd	SM	4/Legion Etrangere (Polish)	Ditto
2	A	Trnd	Cav	2/Chasseurs d'Afrique (CdA)	Ditto
2	A	Trnd	Cav	2/Chasseurs d'Afrique (CdA)	Ditto
2			SA	Mountain howitzers	Ditto plus limbered
2		Raw		Wagons	Upto 12" from S Edge on the track
Algerian Forces
Bases	Attributes	Morale	Weapon	Unit	Deployment / Arrival
1			Ldr	Emir Abd-el-Kader	Anywhere along E edge
4		Trnd	SM	"Regular" Infantry	Ditto
4		Trnd	SM	"Regular" Infantry	Ditto
4		Trnd	SM	"Regular" Infantry	Ditto
4		Trnd	SM	"Regular" Infantry	Ditto
1			Ldr	Milud ben-Arrach	Anywhere along W edge
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto
4	R	Trnd	SM Cav	Tribal Cavalry	Ditto

Deployment. The wagons must stay on the track which doesn't double movement.

Turn 1: Algerian cavalry & infantry move to cut off the column's advance. the rear wagon only moved half a move so the column is already extending  

A close up of the column with General Trézel in the centre

Turn 2: On the right 2/CdA and a Mountain gun have moved onto the small hill but are charged by Algerian cavalry and infantry respectively. On the left the other squadrons of  2/CdA face off against more tribal cavalry. Meanwhile at the tail of the column a large force of Algerian cavalry awaits the right moment to pounce.

Turn 3: On the right 2/CdA and a Mountain gun have been overrun. On the left 2/CdA and General  Trézel have been overrun whilst the rearguard companies of the 1/66th have retreated to the wagons . Only in the edge of the marshes have the French had success with part of 5/LE holding off a cavalry charge.

Turn 4: Part of 5/LE recaptures the hill. At the rear of the column the only remaining Mountain Gun unlimbers and together with 4/LE faces the Algerian cavalry. At the front of the column the vanguard companies of the 1/66th evaporate leaving their comrades from the rearguard as the new vanguard! 

Turn 5: The Algerian cavalry sweep down from the hill hitting the right wing of 5/LE which retires behind the wagons. Behind them are two units of the Bat d'Af who both failed their movement rolls so can't  do anything.

Turn 6:  The rearguard Mountain Gun gets overrun and one wagon falls into Algerian hands. The 1/66 gets destroyed at the front of the column. One of the Bat d'Af  makes its movement and swings about to face the cavalry from the marshes but it is really too late.

Turn 7: The loss of the second wagon means that the French are defeated. In the actual battle  Emir Abd-el-Kader could only get a handful of his troops to continue the fight as many of them were too busy looting the wagons and killing the wounded. 

When I originally wrote this scenario back in 2020 the French were in 6 base units which made them hard to destroy. This time I had split the French into 3 base units which made them more flexible but vulnerable. 

For the next playtest I will make the Algerian cavalry Raw and give the French infantry Devastating Volley. I might even have to get some more Chasseurs d'Afrique painted up

Unlike most Colonial games, this one has both sides armed with the same weapons so there is no technological advantage to the Europeans. In fact the French had been selling weapons to the Algerians for quite some time as part of their treaty with Emir Abd-el-Kader!

I was made aware of this battle only because it was Marshal François Achille Bazaine's first major battle, admittedly he was only a sous-lieutenant in the Legion Etrangere at the time.

All French figures are Pendraken and all Algerian figures are either Lancashire Games or Pendraken

Mukden 1905 RJW using Bloody Big Battles

I've wanted to do the battle of Mukden for quite a while now. 

Start of game from Russian positions

I've considered various ways such as single battle using a 12' table, a 2 game campaign where the Japanese player decides on which flank the 3rd army appears, the several game campaign covering the different phases of the battle and the single battle on my dining room table which is about 5' long and 3.5' wide 

 Naturally I went for the easiest one, the single battle on my dining room table. 

Rough map of the battlefield

The terrain was very basic. I included the highlands to the east because they played a significant part in the battle so steep slopes and classed as difficult terrain. However I excluded the Han river because it was frozen during the battle. Mukden was 2 villages and the single Objective was the northern road exit from Mukden. The frontline comprised Rifle Pits that were just over 3" apart. This meant that troops couldn't sit in their trenches and fire-fight

The  east and west roads are purely to mark the route of Japanese 3rd Army so there is no road bonus for them. 

All of the OOBs give the number of battalions, squadrons & batteries but, other than total numbers, I haven't found a manpower OOB. So using the unit OOBs I divided the number of battalions by 8 and rounded up. 

Japanese OOB

C-in-C FM Oyama Anywhere south of front line 

4 A Vet SM General Reserve 

First Army South of front line, South-east of Mukden 

Gen Kuroki

4 A Vet SM Guards Div

5 A Vet SM 2th & 12th Inf Divs 

Second Army South of front line, South-west of Mukden 

Gen Oku 

4 A Vet SM 5th & 8th Inf Divs 

4 A Vet SM 4th Inf Div & 8th Kobi 

Third Army Either on Road SW of Mukden or on Road SE of Mukden 

Gen Nogi 

4 A Vet SM 9th inf Div & Cavalry Corps 

3 A Vet SM 1st & 7th Inf Divs 

Fourth Army South of front line, south of Mukden 

Gen Nozu

4 A Vet SM 6th & 10th Inf Divs 

3 A Vet SM Okubo's Detachment 

Fifth Army South-east hills 

Gen Kawamura 

5 A Vet SM 11th Inf Div 

10 units of 40 Infantry & 6 Generals @ 6500 Troops per base 

Russian OOB

Second Army North of Front Line, west of Mukden

4 P Trnd SM Tapornin’s Detachment

3 P Trnd SM Vasiliev's Detachment

3 P Trnd SM Rifle Corps

3 P Trnd SM VIII Army Corps

2 P Trnd SM X Army Corps

3 P Trnd SM Golembatov's Detachment

Third Army North of Front Line, south of Mukden

3 P Trnd SM V Siberian Army Corps

2 P Trnd SM XVII Army Corps

2 P Trnd SM VI Siberian Army Corps

2 P Trnd SM General Reserve, Third Army

First Army North of Front Line, east of Mukden

4 P Trnd SM I Army Corps

3 P Trnd SM IV Siberian Army Corps 

3 P Trnd SM II Siberian Army Corps

3 P Trnd SM 3rd ESR Div,III Siberian Army Corps 

3 P Trnd SM 72nd Inf Div, III Siberian Army Corps

4 P Trnd SM Rennenkampf's Detachment

Reserve In Mukden 3 P Trnd SM I Siberian Army Corps

17 units of 50 Infantry @ 6500 Troops per base 

Due to the large scale I decided that all troops would be armed with SM giving a 3" range. I ignored artillery as, again due to the scale, it just didn't feel right.

The Japanese 3rd Army which was sent to outflank Mukden was represented by 2 counters, one real & one dummy,  which simultaneously appear on both the south-east and south-west roads. They move exactly like other units but are always considered in command. The real 3rd Army is revealed when a Russian unit is within 6" of it as the start of a Japanese turn.

The Russian army was not allowed to advance beyond their front line as this felt in keeping with General Kuropatkin's defensive mindset.

Turn 3: the Japanese 3rd Army arrives on Russian left flank.

In the centre the Japanese have broken through the frontline but the Russians have thrown in their Reserves to bolster the line

Turn 4: Russian 1st Army appears to have the left flank covered

On the right flank Russian 2nd Army has immense difficulty manoeuvring 

Turn 5: A general Japanese assault along the whole front succeeds on the Russian left flank but holds elsewhere

Turn 6: Weight of numbers pushes back the Russian Left flank. 

The observant reader will no doubt have noticed that several Russian units have not reacted to events close-by. This is mainly due to the Russian player's inability to roll anything higher than 5 on the Movement chart for several turns.

Turn 8: The Russians are on the back foot now. Although Russian 2nd Army has finally moved units from the right flank to the centre, the Japanese 2nd Army is advancing against the right flank. On the left flank 2 of the Russian units are Spent and won't last long. In the Centre Japanese 3rd Army units have entered Mukden 

Turn 9: A rear-guard action by the last 3 units of the Russian army won't hold the Japanese for long. However the Japanese units are scattered far and wide and won't be able to mount an effective pursuit.

The Russian army had basically ceased to exist so I conceded the game at this point knowing that the Japanese would capture the objective in their next turn. 

Game Observations

General I was pleased with the first attempt at this scenario. 

I thought that the OOB worked well with the Russians acting historically due to their Passive attribute and also having smaller units which vanished once they started taking casualties. The Japanese army with the 6 Generals meant that they rarely failed to move. 

There are a couple of changes that I would make. Firstly give the Russians a second line of Rifle Pits so that they could fall back on them. Secondly I would move everything 6" towards the Japanese base line to give more room for IJA 3rd Army's outflank. Finally I would remove the east & west roads  and just have the counters advance down the east and west edge of the table.

Thanks for Shaun for playing the Japanese

The figures were all from Pendraken's old 10mm RJW range    

Algeria 1837 using Bloody Big Battles test game #1

My Algeria 1830s-40s project is nearing completion so we gave the armies a run out to see if the rules, unit ratings and terrain worked.  The scenario covered a French expedition to subdue the Arab and Kabyle tribes of the Tell Atlas.

Kabyle mountaineers

The Terrain

Looking north from the ountains

A Kabyle settlement

The table was setup with a French outpost at the northern end of a plain. There are a couple of Arab encampments on the plain. The southern end is mountainous where the Kabyle have several settlements.

The French force

Allied Arab cavalry lead the columns out of the Fort 

#	Unit	Bases	Type	Skimishers	Morale	Trait	Weapon
	Command	2	Ldr
2	Foreign Regt Btn	5	Inf	1S	Trn	Devastating volley	SM
2	Bat' d'Af	5	Inf	1S	Vet	Devastating volley, Aggressive	SM
2	Line Infantry	6	Inf		Trn	Devastating volley	SM
1	Zouave Btn	5	Inf	5S	Vet	Woodsman, Aggressive	SM
1	Turco Btn	4	Inf	4S	Vet	Woodsman, Aggressive	SM
1	Chasseurs d'Afrique	4	Cav		Trn	Ragged volley, Aggressive	SM
1	Spahis	4	Cav		Trn	Ragged volley	SM
1	Allied Arab Cavalry	6	Cav		Raw	Ragged volley	SM
1	Mountain Arty Regt	3	Art				SA

The Algerian force

Arab cavalry threaten the rear of the french force

#	Unit	Bases	Type	Skimishers	Morale	Trait	Weapon
	Command	2	Ldr
2	Kaid's Guard	5	Cav		Vet	Ragged volley	SM
9	Arab Cavalry	6	Cav		Trn	Ragged volley	SM
5	Arab Infantry	4	Inf	4S	Trn	Ragged volley	SM
7	Kabyles	4	Inf	4S	Raw	Woodsman, Aggressive	SM

The Woodsman trait is Can evade as cavalry vs non Woodsman unit and Ignore difficult terrain

At this period the French Foreign Legion was a collection of battalions lumped together by nationality, eg Polish, Italian, Swiss etc, and wasn't as good a fighting force as it would later become.

The best troops in the French African army were the Zouaves and the Bat' d'Af, the Battalions of Light Infantry of Africa, made up of men with prison records who still had to do their military service or soldiers with serious disciplinary problems.

The Algerian forces were more than a match for the French inflicting several defeats on the invaders. The Arabs generally fought from horseback and were often as well armed as the French. The Kabyle, given the terrain, usually fought on foot and were excellent at skirmishing.

Setup

The French start in Fort Louis, The Kabyle and the Arab infantry start with 2 units at each settlement. From turn 2 a D6 worth of Arab cavalry units arrive on the eastern and western edges. they can move but cannot charge on their inital turn.

The Game

The French objective was to capture the 5 encampments, 2 on the plain and 3 in the mountains. The Algerians had to stop them.

 Kabyle encampment in the foothills

 Arab encampment on the plain

 The French expedition leaves Fort Louis - I have no idea why the are marching backwards

The French are almost in reach of the encampments on the plains but with cavalry to their flanks and rear inevitably form a "square"

The Kabyle leave their mountain camps to engage the French

 Rodge made these terrain pieces for his 28mm North West Frontier

They are excellent ground  for 10mm mountaineers

 On the western flank the French form line against Arab attacks

However Arab cavalry start working around their flank

Kabyle skirmishers force the French to halt. 

The French western flank hold against Arab charges and Kabyle musketry

 On the eastern flank the allied Arab cavalry get pushed back into the square after attacking the encampment 

 In turn the Arabs launch an attack against the Foreign Regiment  

 The Arab Kaid watches as his troops engage the Foreign Regiment  again

 The repeated assaults force the Foreign Regiment to retreat leaving a huge gap in the flank 

 The allied Arab cavalry charges to the rescue whilst the Zouaves form a square

 Arab cavalry oblige the Zouaves by charging them

 After 2 rounds of drawn combat, each side loses a base, the broken square repels the cavalry 

The western flank at the end - both sides at a stand-off

The eastern flank at the end - the Arabs have the upper hand

A victory to the Arab and Kabyle forces as the French failed to get a single encampment. The French eastern flank looked very dodgy  although they probably had enough firepower to hang on.

We will give this another run out with the mountains along the long edge to se if the French can even get a foot in the foothills

The French were outnumbered 2:1 in bases but do have the advantage of Devastating Volley (Shift Right) ,Target is Cavalry (Shift Right) and Skirmishers (Shift Right) so when they DO roll decent dice it is quite effective.

I made a couple of changes to the standard Bloody Big Battles rules. 

• For the Woodsman trait see above. 
• Smooth bore musket range was increased from 3" to 6" inches 
• A unit in square is treated as being in a town for melee 

Otherwise the rules worked well, as always, with cavalry being very dangerous with their 18" move and 2 changes of direction..

Thanks to Mark, Rodge & Shaun for playing. Rodge's mountains are cracking terrain pieces.

The Arab cavalry are mainly Littlewars Miniatures from Lancashire Games with some Pendraken and Old Glory.

Everything else is Pendraken Miniatures

The tents and the fort are by dreamholme Scenics

Te-li-Ssu 1904 RJW using Blood Big Battles

The battle of Te-li-Ssu was fought on 14–15 June 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War. This scenario was originally written for the Age of Valor ruleset and I've converted it, very roughly, for Bloody Big Battles.

Japanese 3rd Division assaults the Russian left flank

The main changes from the original scenario are

• reduced size of table from 8x5 feet to 6x4 feet
• reducing the number of infantry and cavalry bases by about 50%
• reducing the Japanese artillery by 75%
• reduce the number of turns from 15 to 12

The reasons being the available table, stands of troops and time.

Looking west across the battlefield

The streams are fordable by infantry and cavalry and the hills are steep. The ground level is difficult going for movement as it is cut down kaoliang.

Japanese Forces

	Bases	Type	Traits	Morale	Weapon
3d Div	1	Ldr
6th Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
35th Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
18th Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
24th Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
Div Art	2	Art		Trn	BLA
4th Div	1	Ldr
8th Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
37th Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
9th Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
38th Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
Div Art	2	Art		Trn	BLA
5th Div	1	Ldr
11th Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
41st Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
21st Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
42nd Regt	4	Inf	S,A	Trn	RR
Div Art	2	Art		Trn	BLA
1st Cavalry
Regular	4	Cav		Raw	RR
Divisional	4	Cav		Raw	RR
Army Art	3	Art		Trn	BLA

Russian Forces

	Bases	Type	Traits	Morale	Weapon
1st Div
1st ESRR	5	Inf		Raw	RR
2d ESRR	5	Inf		Raw	RR
3d ESRR	5	Inf		Raw	RR
4th ESRR	5	Inf		Raw	RR
Div Art	2	Art		Trnd	BLA
9th Div
33d ESRR	5	Inf		Raw	RR
34th ESRR	5	Inf		Raw	RR
35th ESRR	5	Inf		Raw	RR
36th ESRR	5	Inf		Raw	RR
div Art	2	Art		Trnd	BLA
35th Div
Tobolsk	5	Inf		Trnd	RR
Marshansk	5	Inf		Trnd	RR
Zaraisk	5	Inf		Trnd	RR
Div Art	2	Art		Trnd	BLA
Cavalry
Cossacks #1	3	Cav	S	Raw	RR
Cossacks #2	3	Cav	S	Raw	RR
Samsonov #1	3	Cav	S	Trnd	RR
Samsonov #2	3	Cav	S	Trnd	RR
Art	1	Art		Trnd	BLA

The Japanese plan of attack was for the 4th & 5th Divisions to roll up the Russian right flank whilst 3rd Division demonstrates against the Russian left flank.

(A word on the Smiley faces - Yellow is Disrupted, Green is Low on ammo and Red is Spent)

The "Unlucky" 4th Division advances towards the entrenched Russian Cavalry

 The initial assault is halted with both sides taking casualties

The Japanese 5th Division assaults the junction of the Russian cavalry and the 9th ESRD

5th Division storms the trenches ...

..reforms on the hill... 

... and stands it's ground whilst attacked from front and rear

 Meanwhile the Russians quickly form a new defensive line on their flank from the remaining cavalry, part of the 35th Division and 2 batteries.

 As Japanese 5th Division is hammered by the Russian line, the 4th Division reforms and joins the attack

4th Division takes over the attack from 5th Division,which presses on for Telissu, but fails to capture the the Russian guns

 A new Russian defensive line halts 4th Division's attack 

 5th Division's advance on Telissu is halted by another Russian gun line covering the approach to Telissu and it disintegrates.

The Russian right flank at the end of the game - a standoff

Meanwhile on the Russian left flank, the Japanese 3rd Division is busily demonstrating away

 Until it gets fed up with demonstrating and decides to have a go

 As it advances against the 1st ESR Division it is supported by it's artillery 

 The entire left flank of the Russian line collapses under the onslaught

and on the penultimate turn it storms Telissu

So a victory for the Japanese at the last possible moment and from an unexpected direction. 

Admittedly most of the Russian force had disappeared as it was Raw and it was only the 35th Division plus artillery that was hanging on. The entire Japanese 5th Division was out of action but the 4th had recovered it's strength due to high-rolls on the Movement table.

A very good scenario which I hope did justice to the original. The original scenario is available on ScribD but they wanted me to enter my card details so I could download it. Fortunately I found an old copy in my backups

As usual I do have one complaint. This is a common wargaming one - the table-edge of the world. I've noticed it especially in the RJW battles where the Sedan-fixated Japanese generals are always attempting to outflank the Russians. I will have to have a think about how to handle this.

Thanks to Dave, Mike, Rodge and Shaun for playing 

The figures were all from Pendraken's 10mm ranges