Gonzalo -The Final Furlong

 

Above, Blue Moon Spanish Heavy Cavalry, some are fully equipped Gendarmes barded horses and all. Others have lesser armours. This is my take on the Spanish noble cavalry. 

A lot of the lesser nobility were in financial difficulties and it showed in their armament. Distressed Gentry supplied much of the military momentum across Europe. Assets and wealth were flowing relentlessly upwards. Centralising as we might say today.  

Those with good titles but empty purses sought military success to restore the family fortune.  It was worse for the poor of course. They joined the Army too but were unlikely to enjoy the tangible benefits of Royal attention.

I will note that the Caballeros were quite prepared to stick a lance into a French destrier if they thought it would defeat its rider. The French hated this. Good horses were very expensive. Also, Spanish Heavy Cavalry could and did fight as Genitors if circumstances required it.  I cannot say where the first flag above came from. The second is from David at Not By Appointment.  

Blue Moon Genitors above and below.  Good figures with a fine variation of pose and equipment. Note the feathered darts also found in Ireland.

Blue Moon Stradiots next.

Again fine variety of pose and equipment. The resulting units look the part.

I intend two units of these Stradiots. They could after all be found on all sides.

Venexia arquebusiers and crossbows. Mostly I have kept the Blue Moon and Venexia cavalry in separate units. I will make an exception for the Gendarmes. They work well together.

I thought I might usefully add a few flags. Imperial imagery for the Spanish and their Allies.

Pretty good Stradiots from Blue Moon.

A Venetian influence for these Blue Moon Stradiots. Another stronger unit below. I actually have Stradiots from Venexia and Mirliton too. All are good figures. I guess I just like Stradiots.

With that the project is nearly done. A base or two of gendarmes.  Another Colunella and more German Pikes for France are in the works. A unit of Italian swords and halberds and a couple more of crossbow skirmishers. We are near done. Parades will then ensue for each army. 

Ancient Spain

 

Here are my Ancient Spanish. Allies or opponents to Romans and Carthaginians depending upon circumstances. Ancient writers always gave their martial qualities five stars and a recommendation. Above Forged in Battle Light Horse and Minifigs slingers. 

Another variant on the theme. Forged in Battle Spanish Heavy Cavalry supporting young warriors from the same stable. The young warriors have slings but are eager to fight close to. Consider them a sort of long range Velite. 

The two units in cameo.

Forged in Battle heavy infantry. Five to a base in Civitates Bellantes and considered "Javelinmen".

More of the same below.

Once again. High morale and with some armour.

Old and new. Essex, Chariot and QRF.

More Spanish light cavalry.

QRF Slingers below.

Minifigs slingers. Old I know, but there is a lot to like. 

A final group of young warriors.

The last of the Spanish heavy cavalry.

Should you be Ancient Spanish inclined Forged in Battle are well worth a look. I'm also becoming interested in Cromarty Forge plastic/resin. I'm reliably told that they scale with Essex and that they do not break if they hear you swearing. Promising.

Still, My Beating Heart! -An Aztec Game

 

Regular Readers will know that I have been pursuing an Aztec Game. It has been a long and winding road with False Dawns and near fatal influences. The latter were from games systems that impressed me sufficient to try and stuff the Aztecs into them.  My fault, not that of the game originators. Mind you, useful things were learned.

Anyhow, we have arrived at our destination.

This post gives an initial flavour of the key concepts of Still, My Beating Heart an Aztec Game. Future posts will take us through, unit profiles, encounters and eventually to a complete game. If that works I will offer it for publication.

Unit Sizes

Spanish units are of 12, 6 or 3 figures.

Aztec units are of 18 or 24 figures

Tlaxcalla units are of 18 or 24 figures

Otomi units are of 12 or 18 figures

Figure Scale and Basing- Up to you.

Casualties- Figure removal or tracking is your choice.

Key Concepts

Who's Who? An allied Spanish/Tlaxcala  force should have a minimum of two Tlaxcala units for every one Spanish unit.

Steel swords and Copper Quarrels- Convey advantage.

Armour- Steel is best. Meso-American armour works against Meso-American weapons. That why they, including many Spanish soldiers, wore it.

Mixed Units- The Aztecs, Spanish and Tlaxcala mainly fought in units with mixed abilities. Those units could both melee and shoot. Aztec and Tlaxcala units contained both professional warriors and levies.

Wounds Accrue- Hits insufficient to cause a kill or in excess of that amount accumulate for Spanish units. This has consequences.

Prisoner Lost- A Spaniard taken prisoner has consequences for all of the combatants.

Horse Lost- The loss of a horse will impact on Spanish behaviour regardless of if the Caballero is saved.

Sancta Maria, Pedro Alvarado, Axayacatl – The presence of a Friar, Pedro Alvarado or a Warrior wearing the battle armour of the Emperor Axayactl will boost morale for that side.

You First- Spanish units in combat distance of Aztecs cannot hold back and let their Tlaxcala allies do the fighting.

Hopefully, I have captured your interest. Next time with the Mexica we will look at unit profiles.

Also coming up, Dr James O'Neill has produced the first of two volumes on the Nine Years War for Helion. I'll review volume 1 here. My verdict? Don't hesitate. Then an update on my Billhooks Crusades Game, it's good news. Last but not least hopefully more Maximillian soldiers.

In times like this a fun hobby helps.

A Savage and Romantic War- A Wargamer’s Guide to the First Carlist War, Spain, 1833-1840-A Review

 

Conrad Cairns is well known to aficionados of gaming the First Carlist War.  His  previous book The First Carlist War 1833-1840: A Military History and Uniform Guide was very well received.  It has proved increasingly hard to find. For English speakers, alongside All Honour is Lost: Scenarios, Orders of Battle and Regulations for Wargames of the First Carlist War 1833-1840 by Nuno Pereira it constituted a unique resource.  This third book then, from Helion, is very much to be welcomed. 

It can be fairly said that just as Barry Hilton brought the League of Augsburg to the hobby Conrad Cairns has opened up the First Carlist War to us. I have illustrated this review with some of my Carlist War Collection. Big 15s from Capitan and QRF.

I had feared the current volume might be a re-branding or a re-hash of previous work.  Groundless as it turned out.  This is new stuff.  Excellent!  What do we get?

Chapters begin with an introduction on what sparked the author's interest. He went to San Sebastián. Donestia the locals call it. A lovely city on a bay and full of history. I have been there too.

The second part of the book sets out a history of events. This deals with the Carlist Army of the North, the Carlist Expeditions, The Carlist Army of the Centre and the War in Aragon, next comes the War in Catalonia and then The Reckoning. This is all well written and informative.

Then we get an in depth look at the the Government Forces and their Foreign Allies. This includes:

Line Infantry, Light Infantry, Provincial Regiments, Royal Guard Infantry, Marine Infantry, National Militia, Paramilitaries and Volunteers, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers and Sappers, The British, The French and The Portugese. 

Comprehensive indeed. As you might expect with uniform details galore.

The Carlist forces are next.  Respectively, the Army of The North, Infantry of the Army of The North, cavalry of the Army of The North, Artillery and Engineers of the Army of The North, the Army of The Centre and finally other Carlist forces. Again with uniform details.

Then comes a section on the material of war. This looks at weapons and equipment, Government flags and Carlist flags. Just what you need to know. David at Not By Appointment has a few suitable flags in his Spanish Collection.

Next comes Battles for Wargamers. An ominous 13 in all. Replete with maps, forces deployment, and a precis of the action. All very well done.

The final chapter is a mini campaign. This is done to the same high standard that characterises this book.

We finish with a Glossary and Notes and an appendices on tactics. There is an index. All in all 137 pages and copiously illustrated with photos of toys and artwork by Marco Capparoni.

If you want a new period to game in '25 this book delivers everything you need for an informed start to Carlist Wargaming. It is first rate in every respect. I should add the First Carlist War has much to commend it to gamers. Your games will not be short of drama and excitement.

For the established Carlist War gamer there is still much of interest here.

If you would like to see my Carlist war Collection click the tags below.

Berbers for Billhooks

 

There are of course Berbers and Berbers.  I’m thinking of Berbers in Spain.  Of course, Berbers are and were Berber, with Berber military traditions.  A quick look at Moorish and Numidian forces in ancient days shows the roots of that tradition.  Broadly speaking I’m going to end up with a list of units rather than a specific army list.   

 

This is my thinking so far.

When the ground was right, restrictive to cavalry and close formation troops, massed Berber skirmishers could attack in waves hurling javelins at close range.  On one such occasion they lured veteran Arab cavalry into dismounting to pursue them into difficult ground.  The Berbers then attacked destroying the Arab force.

 

On open ground other tactics were required and found. These revolved around the veiled spear men you see above.

Some tribes enjoyed a better military reputation than others.  Unfair?  Maybe.  It does allow us to vary the rating of units.  For example, we might have:

 

Veteran Berber spear men or Levy Berber spear men.  The veterans might be Retinue in Billhooks terms.   

Berber spear men might also be in a block with a second rank of archers.  The archers might be levy or might not.  A third rank of cavalry stood behind the archers.  Importantly, the cavalry could advance directly through both lines of infantry when the time came for a counter attack.

Sub Saharan troops loom large in Berber Armies.   

They might be mercenaries and so retinue.  Or, military slaves and so possibly not.   

They could be spear men or archers or a highly rated Black Guard unit. I've just ordered a unit of the latter because...El Cid.

 

Berber skirmishers were very good.  Fortunately, Billhooks already provides for such fellows.  I’ll use the Kern stat’s. Often such Berber infantry formed a second line behind the spear men and threw javelins over their heads.  The spear men leveled their spears, butts firmly grounded and knelt behind their shields to facilitate that.  This means we should allow our Berber skirmishers to form up to carry out that function.

That leads us nicely to Berber tactics in set piece battle.  The light cavalry deployed on the wings or in front of the army.  The light infantry was on the flanks.  The centre was formed of spear men with supporting archers or javelin throwers.  Behind this more cavalry waited.

The idea was to absorb the enemy charge and counter charge when they were disordered.  On occasion this was combined with a flank attack.

If you are interested in the Crusades, you might now be thinking “Just like the Fatimid’s battle tactics.” A moment later you might add "and Frankish tactics in Outremer".

This raises the interesting question were all Berber cavalry light skirmishers?  I don’t know the answer.  I can say that Berber cavalry in Fatimid armies did not skirmish but fought hand to hand.

Here is another thing, Berber armies could manoeuvre in response to drum signals. I think that calls for a special card.  My take is simple, the card will allow the whole army to advance or retire a single move.  It can be played once in a game.

That’s it so far.  More soon.