Start of Burgos Campaign Phase

Campaign map of Europe

There are five campaign areas in Europe, as shown on the map above

North Germany – French v Prussians
Central Germany – French v Russians
Southern Germany – French v Austrians
North Spain – French v British and Portuguese
Southern Spain – French v Spanish

This is a fictional campaign and is based loosely on the historical 1813 campaign.

The campaign is divided into campaign phases
Each phase is self contained and starts with both armies at full strength
Each phase is about the size of the historical Waterloo campaign

The map of Europe is divided into squares, and each square is a military district
Each campaign phase is fought for possession of one of those districts

The aim of my campaign is to allow me to use all of my model soldiers and scenery
To achieve this each campaign phase is fought in a different campaign area

The sequence is

North Germany
North Spain
Central Germany
South Spain
South Germany

This sequence was chosen to allow maximum contrast with uniforms and scenery.
For example we have a series of buildings for north Europe and Spain
The bland Prussian uniforms are followed by Wellington’s red coats
Bland Russians come next
Followed by the very colourful Spanish regulars and guerrilla brigades
And finally white Austrians, before we return to bland Prussian again

North Europe battlefield – Goslar campaign phase

The table is a collection of 2x2 foot scenic squares which replicate the campaign map.
The buildings, woods etc are placed on top of these scenic squares
6x6 inch fabric square are sued to show the area of the farm, village or town
A farm or village has one of these squares, a town two and a city four

On the photo above there is a farm top left, with a green square
Top right is a fortified farm, similar to Hougoumont or La Haye Sainte
Bottom left is a second fortified farm; normally this would be a village
Bottom is the city of Goslar, represented by four scenic squares

No attempt has been made to make my city look anything like the actual town of Goslar
To do so would require a lot of effort to make specific buildings or features
Just not worth the effort for a two month wargame campaign

Spanish battlefield – Merida campaign phase

You will see that I use the same scenic squares to create the wargames table
I live in Spain and have visited most of the major, and many of the minor battlefields
There are parts of Spain which are barren, particularly in the summer
But most of the country is similar to the UK, certainly in Valencia comunidad where I live
So I feel it is acceptable to use the same colour green for the base of each scenic square

The town buildings are all Hovels, of which I have a large and varied collection
The villages and farms are all homemade, from card.
My wife Jan did the artistic work, I did the basic painting
The town’s buildings are all light brown, to reflect the better construction
The farms and villages all white, which is very common on rural buildings

When there is a river involved there are less villages or farms
This is because I never have two buildings in adjacent squares
I have found that this allows a more open battlefield, which is more challenging
I also have eight squares with hills, which allows a good variation
And finally five river sections, including two bends.

This photo illustrates well the reason I use fabric squares to show the area of buildings
In the centre of the photo the city of Merida is represented by four such squares
The two nearest to the camera have been removed to show fighting inside the city

Burgos campaign map

I used to restrict the campaign phase to the area covered by the district being attacked.
In this came it would have been the nine squares with Burgos in the centre
But I had a problem when the attacking army lost the early battles and had to retreat
So I changed the campaign map to include the area either side of the district boundary
In this case the British base of Valladolid is on the left
The French base, and the campaign objective, of Burgos in on the right

I always have a twinge of regret when my fictional campaign involved a historical objective.
Some years ago my wife and I spent a week exploring Wellington’s 1812 siege of Burgos.
I know the ground extremely well, and would love to recreate the siege
But, again, that is not possible in a two month wargame campaign

Nor is the general area anything like the physical area around the city of Burgos
The river Douro does flow through the Burgos area, but not the city itself
And I am quite sure no resident of the area would recognise the route of my river
I long ago came to realise that the most important part of creating a wargame campaign is compromise

Conclusion

I don’t think I have any favourite campaign area.
The important thing for me is the wargame itself, which must be enjoyable
I have left behind the desire to recreate historical battlefields and battles
Or to attempt to make my tabletop battles just like “the real thing”

In my early years of Wargaming I read Don Featherstone’s Wargamers Newsletter
Don had fought through WW2, and had experience of “the real thing”
His approach was that Wargaming was an enjoyable recreation experience
He know only too well that it was impossible to recreate the horror of real war
And who in their right mind would ever want to do so

So I am looking forward to a couple of months of moving my French, British and Portuguese model soldiers around my well used wargames table. And when my wargame campaign visits a village or town which I actually visited I will have happy memories of the real thing, and not spoil the fictional wargames experience.