Tuesday 21 June 2016

The War of the Austrian Succession - 1


As regular readers of this blog will know early this year I moved house and as a result no longer have my permanent wargame table.  

In the next few weeks I will be able to have a temporary 6 by 4 table available to resume gaming. It's smaller than my old 10 by 6 I used to have in my basement.

So my thoughts are moving to what type of game I can put on this temporary table. 

With my son Max showing more interest I hope to do more gaming with him.

I have decided to set up a solo campaign to generate smaller 18th Century battles to game.  Many years ago I ran a Sport of Kings campaign from the Warfare in the Age of Reason rules. 


Reading the Campaign rules and looking at the map I decided to give it a go.  

The following show the maps which I found here.




I have decided that I would leave out Turkey as I don't have any Ottomans.

So the scene is set. It's 1740 and I am ready to go.  I decided the following political stance for each nation as follows.

Sweden: unaligned but with a burning design to avenge the defeat at Poltava and seeks to take on Russia. Will cooperate with Prussian in this objective. I may well use my GNW armies for battles against the Russians. 

Russia: Apprehensive about Swedish intensions Russia will keep a large part of its forces covering this threat. The Russian however will look to seek territorial advances in the Baltic and Poland.

Prussia: Will look to expand whether it can with Austria and Poland it's key areas. Has a non agression pact with Britain over Hanover but is distrustful of British intentions particulary if they intervene to support Austria.

Austria: Austria only friend is Great Britain. Threatened by Prussian in the north and the combined Bourbon Alliance (Gallispan) in Italy and the Low Countries things look tough.

Great Britain: Brittania rules the waves - or does it ? The Gallidpan navies outnumber the British. Holding out in North America will be crucial and the  Med may be a side show. Hanover is also    a concern as is French action in the Low Countries. 

France:  Too many options not enough troops.  An alliance with Spain helps. France will work with the fellow Bourbons  in putting pressure on Britian in North America and the Carribean and in Italy against the Austrians. France main thrust will be in the Low Countries and a secondary option in Rhine.

Spain: The Spanish thrust will be directed towards Italy via France however the North American and Carribean will see both land and naval forces committed. The Spanish will look to control the Mediterranean Sea to support its Italian objectives. 

So the scene is set. Next I will set up the starting forces ready for the first Campaign moves.  


4 comments:

Chris Gregg said...

Good luck with this Mark. Look forward to seeing some of the battles which result.
Chris
http://notjustoldschool.blogspot.co.uk/

Chris said...

Will the campaign rules allow the American colonies to launch their own expedition against the fortress of Louisbourg? Against all expectations they captured it; its unconditional return to France by the terms of the peace treaty was never forgiven by the colonists (in New England, at least), as it had been mounted as retaliation for Indian raids along the frontier.

Some scholars contend this was the first step towards the Revolution 30 years late although this seems like a stretch...

Best regards and good luck with the campaign,

Chris Johnson

Alter Fritz said...

It is crucial for Britain and France to hold either India or North America in the campaign as they generate lots of strength points. More important for Britain than it is for France. If Britain can control both colonies it usually wins the campaign

PaintPig said...

The last sport of kings campaign I was in was marred by treachery, all I will say is the Russians (me) did quite well against the Ottomans even had a Mediterranean fleet! But the Prussians never forgave their treacherous allies.... much weeping and rending of garments. Good luck, look forwards to reading more.