Startup of a Nine Years War campaign

The Nine Years War Campaign

Being a narrative of the events that transpire between the belligerents in our play of the Compass Games board game of the Nine Years War and using the situations presented to play period wargames with our 28mm figures using the Blenheim 2004 rules package (with thanks to all who contributed to the development of truly fast play large battle rules for the period).

1688 - the Initial Situation.

In the Grand Campaign scenario the Bourbons begin allied to England (Under James II) and with three armies poised to push the war into the Spanish Netherlands and the Empire.  These forces are under veteran leaders and prepared to march and seize counties and fortresses to increase the size, prestige and wealth of France.   They maintain small forces on the borders of Spain and Savoy as it is unclear what actions either of these powers will take when the war begins.  Our team of crafty and veteran gamers will begin with a good central position and with forces marshalled in advance and with purpose.  The only worrisome issue is the state of England under their Stuart monarch where his popularity is low and his staunchly Protestant subjects unhappy with the alliance with the ‘old enemie’ of France.

The Alliance powers, led by the Dutch under William of Orange, is gathering together its allies and armies as the game begins.  Already the Empire has provided subsidy forces, the Bavarians and Imperial forces have collected in Munich and the Tyrol, and Prince Eugene is en-route from Vienna to command in the Germanies or perhaps in Italy as the war opens and spreads.  A strong expedition to London might suffice to bring England back into its natural alliance with the other powers, but it risks short-term losses on the continent and is not guaranteed to succeed.  Our team of veteran gamers will try to maximize their opportunities while holding the initial Bourbon advances to a minimum. 

We use a random terrain table to setup our wargame battlefields and here is the current configuration (one shot looking from each side) that came up when the host rolled on the waterways column of the table.

The few troops in the corner are a sample force to give players an idea of how the 28mm units take up space on our twelve foot by four foot table.  They will likely be moved to their correct starting location and formations when our first table game is invoked.  One aspect of using random die rolls is that you occasionally do get the only two villages on the table within musket range of each other, and all at one edge of the table.  Something I would never consciously do if I was just placing down terrain tiles or blocks!

We will try to keep this narrative up to date over the next few months as battles rage and reputations are made and lost in the crucible of combat.  I will also try posting a mirror image at my blog which can be reached here:  http://myintreuefest.blogspot.com/ until public outrage forces me to withdraw it…