The British are coming, the British are coming !

Paul Revere (apparently he actually said ·The Regulars are coming out!·)

During the American Civil War the prospect of European intervention into the war was a reality, but a reality that in the event did not occur. Intervention was dreaded in Washington and was a glittering prize in Richmond. It perhaps offered the best chance for the Confederacy to ·win· the war and assert its· independence. The two nations that the South looked to for help were Britain and France. These nations were generally seen to be sympathetic to the Confederate cause and had economic reasons for supporting the South. In addition they possessed powerful armed forces with which to intervene decisively into the war. They would perhaps be able to sweep aside the Union blockade of the South and allow much need equipment and supplies into the Confederacy. The British army perhaps could operate from Canada and invade the United States, while the French advanced from their bases in Mexico to intervene in the West. Perhaps instead they could use their naval mobility to join the Confederate field armies or attack the Unions· coastal enclaves?

In this article I will look at how the forces of Britain and France could be represented using the excellent ·Fire and Fury· rules. Hopefully I will provide enough information to represent these forces using other rules, but unfortunately I am not familiar enough with other rules to provide a detailed breakdown. In addition I will provide some scenarios for using these forces. I have largely based the organisation and forces of the intervention on the historical forces these countries used at around this time. Therefore the French forces are based on those that they sent to the Crimea in 1854 · 55 and Italy in 1859, while the British forces are also based on those sent to the Crimea. Later similar expeditions and wars, such as the Franco Prussian war of 1870 · 71, saw this nations deploy similar forces although with different tactics and weapons. But first of all a little explanation about how my interest in this theme came about.

Like our illustrious editor I first started gaming using plastic 1/72nd scale ·Airfix· soldiers. Having played ACW various systems with these figures I discovered ·Fire and Fury· shortly after it became available in the UK. It was ·love at first play·, if you can say that! So having invested in metal 15mm figures my gaming group and I set about playing all the then available scenarios. However, being the early days there was not that many available and so I turned to other gaming possibilities for the rules. I had also during this period developed an interest in the contemporary European wars, from the Crimea War of 1854 · 56 to the Franco Prussian War of 1870 · 71. It occurred it me that it should be possible to recreate the battles of these wars using a modified version of ·Fire and Fury.

Of course it was then just a short step to what if the European powers had intervened in the civil war? Within our gaming group we regularly play games with civil war troops and European troops. These can be of a variety of types. British and /or French forces, from the period, fighting against Union forces. Alternatively they might fight in combination with Confederate forces. These battles are usually fairly ·historical· in that usually they involve substituting or adding to the original forces involved. For example we have fought Gettysburg scenarios assuming that Britain and France had intervened following the hypothetically successful invasion of Maryland in 1862. We have had a British and a French force fighting with the Confederates in various scenarios, the ones in the rules book. Alternatively we have fought the battle with say Ewell·s Corps replaced with the French 1st Corps. Indeed you could just substitute a combined British and French army for the entire Army of Northern Virginia! But perhaps my favourite is to substitute British and / or French troops in the ·Pickett·s Charge· scenario. Can the French Imperial Guard pull off what Pickett just failed to do? Perhaps the support Pickett would have received from the British Highland and Light Divisions will be more effective than the support of A.P.Hill·s troops?

The second kinds of battle we play involve the intervention forces in plausible actions that may have taken place in such a situation. For example a fictitious encounter in Tennessee involving French and Confederate forces or in the north involving invading British and Canadian forces. Also in this category are re-fighting historical battles from other periods, but using forces from this time. You could, for example, re-fight almost all of the War of Independence battles but use 1860·s British and civil war Union troops. I will provide two such scenarios in later articles.

Finally we also play more ·extreme· what ifs. In this case we use any of the European force of the time with or against civil war troops. Prussia and Russia were at this time pro Union and so they generally appear along side them or at least against the Confederates. While we also use Austrian and Italian forces as well. The thing they all have in common is the complete lack of any plausible reason for being in America, but it is still fun to play!

French Organisation and Equipment:

At the time of the Civil War the French army was still basking in the glory it had acquired during the war in Italy in 1859. It is true that things were not proving quite as easy for French arms in Mexico, but circumstances there were difficult and it was easy to write these experiences off. The intervention of the Imperial army from France would be different · or would it?

Infantry: The French infantry were armed with a conventional muzzle-loading rifle and will fire as standard Civil War infantry. At this time the French were still using the tactics that had brought them success in Italy. These consisted of bayonet charges in Attack Column or Supported Line. So all French infantry, except for skirmishing Chasseur units, will count as using Assault Tactics (see ·French Infantry Tactics·). In addition some of the French troops were notable for their zeal and aggression in attack and they will count as Impetuous (see ·Impetuous·).

French Infantry Tactics: The French at this time were using the same bayonet charging tactics that had successfully seen them through the war in Italy and indeed had brought them great success in the Napoleonic wars. Admittedly there had been some changes since 1815 but not many. The war in Italy had seen them sometimes take heavy casualties while in attack column. So some of the better commanders modified the tactic to reduce casualties by using ·rushes· by sections of a unit while the other part of the unit covered their colleagues.

So all French, non-Chasseur, infantry units receive a +1 charging modifier in close combat if they are in Field / Assault Column. Our group portrays Assault column on table as a 3 stand deep formation or you can use the Field Column as per the rules. In addition all units with an ·E· unit commander and all Guard, Foreign Legion, Zouave or Turco units receive a +1 charging bonus if they are in supported line. An ·A· is put at the end of the unit designation to show that a unit is using Assault tactics and an ·AS· if it can do so in supported line. For example a French line regiment may be written as 6 / 5 / 3 A or if it has an ·E· commander as 6 / 5 / 3 E AS.

There is though a down side to this tactic, as the French were not trained to fight in other ways trying to use different tactics could lead to confusion. So if a French, non-Chasseur, unit is not in March Column or a formation it receives a +1 close combat bonus it receives a ·2 on the Manoeuvre table. For example a French Line regiment without an ·E· commander which is in supported line or line will receive a ·2 on the Manoeuvre table, but one with an ·E· commander will only receive the ·2 if it is in line.

Impetuous: Some of the French infantry units were also particularly noted for the ferocity of their attack, namely the Zouave and Turco regiments. A similar situation was the case with British cavalry and they will also count as ·Impetuous. These units receive an additional +1 impetuous charging bonus in close combat. But they must, if they win the combat, take the most aggressive or the options available. So for example a French Turco regiment in Supported Line would receive a +2 charge bonus in close combat. But if it the result of the combat was ·Driven back· the unit would have no choice but to take the ·continue to charge a half move towards the nearest enemy· option. It could not just choose to ·carry the position·. Units that this rule effects are noted with an ·I· at the end of their designation, i.e. 6 / 4 / 2 IA for example.

The majority of French infantry at the time were organised into battalions of 726 men with 3 such battalions making a regiment of 2,178 men. I suggest that you use the regiment as the standard unit of the French army, although it might be possible if you are using the smaller 1:150 ratio to use battalions. These figures mean that a battalion would be 4 or 5 stands (1:150) or 3 ½ stands (1:200) or that a regiment would be 15 stands (1:150) or 10 stands (1:200). Of course as was the case with every army at any time it was very unusual for a unit to have its full theoretical strength available. In Italy in 1859 French battalions were usually about 600 strong. Giving units of 4 stands for a battalion and 12 for a regiment in 1:150 or 3 for a battalion and 9 for a regiment at 1:200. You could if you wish inflict the poor French wit a large number of small, 3 or 4 stand, units but it is probably better to fix the standard unit size at either 12 or 9 for 1:10 scale or 1:200 scale respectively.

The exceptions to this organisation were twofold. First of all some units would not have all 3 battalions. The second regiment of the French Foreign Legion for example only had 2 battalions, while ad hoc ·regiments· of 1 to 4 battalions were also used. His should though cause little problems as you can just use multiples of the standard organization.

Secondly and more difficultly there was the Chasseur a pied battalions. These were the trained light infantry of the French army and they had larger battalions, 1,216 men in theory, and they always operated as individual battalions. As with the other units they were usually under strength so we will fix the standard size of these units at 6 (1:150) or 4 (1:200). Consideration of these units is more difficult as they could be used in a number of ways. They could operate as an individual battalion sized unit or be attached to one of the other units in the Division. So for example in 1:200 scale a Chasseur battalion could be deployed on table as a 4 stand strong unit or be attached to a now 13 strong line regiment (3 * 3 stand line battalions + 1 * 4 stand chasseur battalion). It is more usual though these units were deployed as an individual unit in skirmish order. So they can instead be deployed as skirmishers · see ·Skirmishers· below. In which case they will consist of units of 9 (1:150) or 6 (1:200) stands.

Skirmishers: The Europeans often used whole units of trained light infantry in skirmish order and these rules are to depict them. Mounting 2 figures on a standard base rather than the usual 3 depicts these units. The normal size of the units used are a French battalion or British regiment. To determine the strength in stands of such units in skirmish order simple work out how many two figure stands the unit could form and lose any spare figures. So for example, a five stand unit is going to be deployed in skirmish order. It would have 15 figures on its bases, so instead it has seven bases with two figures on in skirmish order and the spare man is lost. The unit would then roll for attrition as outlined elsewhere. Skirmishing units must always operate in line and have a ·L· at the end of their designation, i.e. 5 / 3 / 2 L.

Usually we do not allow units to change formation to and from ·Skirmish· formation. We feel that the commander should decide how the unit would be used at the beginning of the battle. That should then remain their role for the duration of the battle. Please feel free to devise some house rules for formation changing if you wish, but remember that you will have to convert back to 3 figure stands. If a unit has a choice whether to be in skirmish formation or not it will be written in this format in the order of battle · 4 \ 3 \ 2 (6 \ 5 \ 3 L).

Skirmishing infantry receive a ·1 modifier when they are shot at and are effectively better shots, as they will have more stands available to shoot than normal units. They may move through ·Rough· terrain as if it was normal terrain, but must pay for fording as usual. They may also perform passages of lines through other friendly units at no movement penalty. Skirmishers do not have any restriction on wheeling, etc and may move a full move in any direction. If they are charged by formed infantry they may retire behind any friendly, non-skirmishing, troops if those troops are within 6·. The charging unit may continue on to contact this supporting unit if it wishes or occupy the position of the skirmishing unit. If this option is chosen the skirmishing unit may not fire or participate in any following charge combat but the ·formed· unit behind may. The skirmish unit may though be targeted by any breakthrough charge.

If a skirmishing unit is contacted in the open by mounted cavalry it must stand and fight a charge combat. It fires then loses 1 stand for each 2 mounted stands that are involved in the combat and becomes disordered, then the charge combat if fought with the mounted unit counting any shooting casualties it has and the skirmishing unit counting the loses due to being in contact with mounted troops in the open. If in the open a skirmishing unit will receive a ·2 modifier in charge combats against any type of enemy. If a skirmishing unit is in cover then it just fights and reacts as if it was a normal infantry unit.

Example: A 6 stand strong mounted unit charges a 6 stand strong skirmishing unit, not in cover. It cannot retire so it shoots and gets a ·Telling Fire· result and the mounted unit loses a stand. The 5 remaining stands then cause 3 stands loses to the skirmishers and disorder them. So the 5 mounted stands will get a ·2 in the close combat phase (disordered and 1 stand lost), in addition to any other factors that apply. While the 3 remaining skirmishing stands will receive ·5 in the close combat (disordered, 2 stands lost and fighting in the open), in addition to any other factors that apply.

Variable Unit Sizes: You could of course just use these standard sizes for all units but we feel it is better if there is some variety in unit size. Particular as America is a lot further away than Italy and subsequent attritional loses from sickness, travel, etc would be greater. Therefore we usually roll for each unit before the battle to see how many stands the unit has lost before the day of the battle. The table below summarises a possible series of dice combinations to do this, although feel free to devise your own version.

Variable Unit Table:

Notes: Some common sense needs to be used with this table and it are only a guide. No unit should be reduced to less than half of its original strength.

Cavalry: French cavalry at this time, and in common with all European cavalry, fought mounted and with sabre or lance in hand. Therefore they will be subject to the restrictions outlined elsewhere under ·European Cavalry Tactics·.

French cavalry was organised into regiments of 1,200 men in 6 squadrons, but it was usual to only send 4 squadrons, notionally about 800 men, on foreign campaigns. This would give units of 5 (1:150) or 4 (1:200), but once again we will reduce these to 4 and 3 respectively to represent field strength. At 1:200 a brigade of 6 stands may be fielded instead of 2 small regiments.

European Cavalry Tactics: European cavalry, unlike the American cavalry, did not at the time see the value of dismounted action. Therefore it would be an extremely rare event if they were to dismount to fight. Therefore under normal circumstances they are not allowed to dismount. They may only do so as part of a scenario and only then after careful thought from the organiser. Remember that during the various European wars of this time there was no significant dismounted action by any European cavalry.

This though perhaps meant that European cavalry was better trained or whatever for mounted combat and all European will receive a +1 if in close combat with mounted troops. The heavy cavalry will receive a +2 modifier but will only have a movement allowance of 15·. Better cavalry, Guard regiments for example, receive an additional +1 modifier. This will be noted on the orders of battle with a +? in brackets at the end of the designation. So a French Light Cavalry unit might be, for example, 6 / 5 / 3 (+1) while the French Guard Heavy cavalry might be 6 / 4 / 2 (+3). However, remember these modifiers only count against units that are mounted.

Artillery: French artillery was all muzzle loaded rifled artillery and we will count it as Union artillery under the rules. There were 6 guns in a battery.

Infantry Division: The standard organisation of a French Infantry Division was 2 batteries, 4 infantry regiments and a Chasseur battalion.

* See Corps below for how to deal with batteries in 1:200 scale.

Variations: The 1st Division of the Imperial Guard only had 3 ·Line· regiments but had a Guard Zouave battalion. Either use this as an extra battalion added on to one of the other regiments or as a 4 (1:150) or 3 (1:200) stand unit. One division may substitute 2 ·Line· regiments with the 2 regiments of French Foreign Legion but remember the second one will be of reduced size. Zouave and Turco regiments could be added to division or substituted for existing units in divisions. Zouaves were French soldiers in ·African· style uniforms, while Turco·s were North African soldiers. These units could be used instead of any of the Line or Chasseur units or in addition to the normal units. So you could have for example 1 Zouave, 4 Line or 1 Chasseur, 3 or 4 Line and 1 Turco. But there were only 3 regiments of each and usually only 1 unit was attached to any one division.

Cavalry Divisions / Brigades: French Corps had an attached Cavalry brigade or division. If the Corps had 2 infantry divisions it had a brigade, except the Imperial Guard that had a full division. If the Corps had 3 or 4 infantry divisions it had a full division.

A cavalry brigade was usually two similar cavalry regiments, i.e. 2 Hussar regiments or 2 Chasseurs a cheval regiments. A cavalry division was two brigades and a horse battery. The brigades within a division would be similar, i.e. both light cavalry. When the French army campaigned in Italy in 1859 it left all its medium and heavy cavalry at home, except the Guard. It is I think very likely that they would have done the same if they had intervened in the civil war. Although of course if you fancy using cuirassiers then feel free to do so.

* Single cavalry brigades are attached directly to the Corps.

** Use either regiments or brigades not both.

Cavalry regiments used in Italy were Hussars, Lancers, Chasseurs a cheval and Chasseurs d·Afrique. The Imperial Guard Cavalry Division had 3 brigades, 6 regiments, and 2 horse batteries. It had 2 Cuirassier regiments, a Dragoon regiment, a Lancer regiment, a Chasseurs a cheval regiment and a Guide regiment.

Corps: French Corps in Italy had either 2 or 3 infantry divisions, although it was possible for them to have 4. In Italy France deployed 6 Corps. Three of these had 3 infantry divisions and the other 3, including the Imperial Guard, had 2 divisions. As noted above they also had either a cavalry brigade, if they had 2 infantry divisions, or a cavalry division, the Imperial Guard and Corps with 3 divisions. The Imperial Guard had a full cavalry division, but one of the 3 infantry divisions strong Corps only had a cavalry brigade. So there were 3 Cavalry Divisions and 3 Cavalry Brigades in the army. A Corps would also have artillery at Corps level. This was usually 1 battery for each infantry division it has plus, perhaps, another one. i.e. a Corps with two infantry divisions would have 2 or 3 batteries; a Corps with three infantry divisions would have 3 or 4 batteries.

In 1:150 scale this is easy because 1 battery equals 1 gun stand therefore a corps has 2 to 4 gun stands as Corps artillery. At 1:200 it can be a little more complicated as 1 battery equals ¾ of a gun stand. A two infantry division Corps would have 36 or 42 guns so say 5 gun stands, 40 guns, per Corps. You could assign 1 or 2 guns to each division and keep 1 to 3 as Corps artillery. For three infantry division Corps the number of guns would be 60 or 66 say 8 gun stands. They would be assigned 1 of horse artillery for the cavalry division, 1 or 2 for each infantry division and 1 to 4 as Corps artillery. I don·t think it makes too much difference which way but once assigned to either a division or the corps it may not be changed.

British Organisation and Equipment

The British army had fought its· last major campaign against first class opposition in the Crimea in 1854 - 55. It had managed to emerge victorious there despite the logistics mess it was in. Indeed not even the incompetence of the commanders had managed to stop the formidable British infantry pulling off some spectacular successes. The war in America would prove to be no different. How could a "bunch of uppity colonials" stand before the best infantry in the world? IMPOSSIBLE, What, what !!!!

For the British the brigade will be the standard unit in the game. A British brigade was similar to American brigades in that it consisted of a number of regiments. There were sometimes 2 or more battalions in a British regiment but usually the battalion and regiment were the same. British infantry battalions of the time had a full strength of 900 men this would be 6 stands (1:150) or 4 stands (1:200). Again it would be unlikely that many units were at this strength and 700 - 800 men, 5 (1:150) or 4 (1:200) stands would be more realistic.

British brigades usually had 3 or 4 battalions, so our basic units will be 15 or 20 stands (1:150), 12 or 16 (1:200). Once again units should roll on the Variable Unit Table to get a more realistic actual strength. Often individual battalions within a brigade, or indeed whole brigades, could be light infantry. It was though fairly uncommon that they were used as such at this time, but perhaps the terrain in America would suit their use. Therefore individual battalions from a brigade may be separated and used as skirmishers, see ·Skirmishers·. If the whole brigade can do this it will feature the word Light in its title, if it is only an individual battalion it is marked with an italic ·L·. For entirely light brigades you do not have to form the entire unit into ·Skirmish· formation. You could for example just form 2 out of a 4 battalion strong formation. For example a unit 16 stand unit, L with 4 battalions, could be deployed as a 12 stand unit and a 6 skirmisher stand unit · one battalion of 4 stands deployed as a 6 stand skirmisher unit. While a similar unit of 16 stands, with the word Light in its title with 4 battalions, could be deployed as an 8 stand unit with two units of 6 skirmisher stands. Alternatively this unit could be four units of 6 skirmisher stands. In all cases the attrition role would then be applied.

Cavalry: Like the French cavalry the British cavalry was trained and used mounted, so the restriction outlined in ·European Cavalry Tactics· will apply. In addition British cavalry was traditionally very impetuous and will receive the benefits and disadvantages outlined under ·Impetuous·.

British cavalry regiments were of 3 squadrons of 142 men each. It was though usual for only 2 squadrons to be sent abroad and this was what was sent to the Crimea. So the standard size of a British cavalry regiment would be 284 men. Maybe the full 426 men would have been sent but you will have to work them out yourselves. The cavalry though is likely to have suffered more than most units from the trip to America and the conditions there. Therefore we usually use 1 stand per regiment, for both scales, to form the brigades.

Cavalry brigades will be our normal formation and they consisted of between 4 and 6 regiments. Thus, the standard size for brigades will be between 4 and 6 stands, depending on the number of regiments present, and then of course roll for variable strength. In the Crimea there were initially two brigades of British cavalry, the Light and the Heavy brigades. Each of them had 5 regiments of either light or heavy cavalry. Later on the Heavy brigade had 6 regiments and the two light brigades had 4 each.

Artillery: Like the French and Union armies the standard number of guns in a British battery was 6. Unlike them though the British had breech-loading rifled artillery rather than muzzle loaded artillery. These Armstrong guns had been introduced in 1859 and were at the time controversial. The lack of training of many of the officers in charge of them and a strong lobby who disliked the guns as "new-fangled" made them a subject of controversy. In 1864 production was stopped and in 1870 a committee decided to revert to muzzle-loading guns, although mainly it seems for economic reasons. The complete superiority of the Prussian Krupp breech-loading guns over the French muzzle-loaders in 1870 would show the potential of these weapons. So despite the mixed reports it is likely that the British guns themselves would have worked very well and could have proved decisive. Unfortunately the lack of training and maintenance may though have been a problem. Rules for their use are in the section called "Breech-loading Artillery".

It is possible that some batteries may still be equipped with smoothbore artillery, particularly if they are colonial units. If used they will count as Confederate artillery. In 1861 the British had about 1/3rd of their batteries equipped with the new breech-loading guns. This ratio was still increasing during the course of the civil war and the newer guns would be more likely to have been sent. So at least 50% of the guns should be breech loading.

Breech-loading Artillery: We rate the British guns as 0 · 4· fire factor 10, 4· · 16· fire factor 5, 16· · 24· fire factor 4, 24· · 32· fire factor 3 and 32· · 40· fire factor 1. This reflects the greater accuracy, rate of fire and power that breech-loading guns were capable of. The guns will though count as ·Suffering a technical problem· on a roll of a 9 to simulate the various problems the British army had with these guns. This is the same as an ·Out of Ammo· result but the battery is unable to fire at all. The guns do not have to be withdrawn but must spend a turn fixing the problem. This can be done in a similar manner as outlined in the ·Fire & Fury· rules, i.e. they limber up and withdrawn to their wagons. Or they may remain in place and miss a whole turn, both players firing phases.

The second novelty in the British arsenal, although a small part, was rockets. Rockets had been used for more than 50 years by the British and were used in America during the war of 1812. They were erratic weapons and the results of their use could be very unpredictable but did have a number of advantages. They were very light and easy to move. While if they did hit their target the damage could be high and horses in particular were very scared of them. Rules for their use are in the section called ·Rockets·. It is recommended that a maximum of one battery is used, as there were never many of them.

Rockets: A battery equipped with rockets moves at Horse artillery rate and generally operates as a standard artillery stand. They are not though allowed to perform any kind of indirect fire, as there would be a great danger of hitting the friendly troops. Rockets have a range of 32· like other artillery stands but they also have a minimum range of 4·. At less than 4· they cannot fire at all. For ranges between 4· and 32· the effect of them is variable. The British player totals up any other stands fire points that will fire at a target and then announces that the rockets will fire as well. He then rolls two D6 for their effect. The effect will be the difference, if any, between the two dice and so it will vary between 0 and 5. This number of fire points is then added to the total and a roll on the ·Musketry & Cannonade Table· is made. If the target of a rocket battery is mounted then the minimum result that can be obtained is ·Lively fire· and the target is at least disordered.

British Artillery Examples: 2 British breech-loading artillery stands and a rocket battery are firing at an infantry target in the 16· · 24· range bracket during their Offensive fire phase. The two beech-loading stands are 4 fire points each, making 8 in total so far. Next the British player rolls for the effect of the rockets. He rolls two D6, which come up a 5 and a 3. So the rockets add 2 to the effect of the other guns to make a total of 10. The firer consults the ·musketry & Cannonade Table· using the 10, 11 row and rolls a D10, scoring a 9. This is ·Telling fire· so the target unit is disordered and loses a stand, but the 2 breech-loading guns are also effected and are ·Suffering a technical problem·. Therefore they cannot fire during their next two opportunities as outlined in ·Breech-loading Artillery·.

In the following phase the rocket battery fires again, but this time on its own and against a mounted target. It rolls two D6 to see its effect, a 3 and a 5. So the battery has 2 Fire Points and rolls on that table with a +1 for a mounted target. A 4 is rolled, modified to a 5, ·Desultory fire·. Normally this is no effect but as the target was mounted the minimum effect is ·Telling fire· so the cavalry are instead disordered.

Higher Formations: Like both sides in the civil war, and unlike the French, the British didn·t have a set organisational structure. In the Crimea they used divisions as the highest level of organisation and didn·t have any Corps. Infantry divisions in the Crimean war had two brigades each. We will assume that this is their standard structure, but wide variations would be possible, and that Corps will not be used. Generally the higher level formations of the British army were very ad hoc until modern times so it would be possible to attach units all over the place. Cavalry often operate as independent brigades but were nominally organised into a division of 2, later 3, brigades.

British formations had no set allocation of artillery. Instead the artillery was kept at army level and assigned as needed to the divisions, etc. In the Crimea campaign the British had 1 gun battery per brigade and a few extra batteries of siege guns and rockets. This seems a reasonable allocation to stick to so a British force will have 1 battery of 6 guns per brigade. The batteries for the cavalry brigade will be Horse batteries. In addition they have 1 additional battery of rockets. At 1:150 scale this is easy, as 1 battery equals 1 artillery stand. In 1:200 scale it is a little trickier as each battery is ¾ of an artillery stand. So just work out how many stands there should be. Multiply the number of brigades by ¾ and use commonsense about any remaining fractions.

In the Crimea the British eventually deployed 6 infantry divisions each of 2 brigades. Of these 1 was of Guards, 2 were of Highlanders. Two brigades were designated, as ·Light· and so may be all skirmishers, i.e. they are L. There was 1 cavalry division that had 1 Heavy brigade and eventually 2 Light brigades. This force had 12 foot batteries, 3 horse batteries, 2 siege / position batteries and a rocket detachment.

Troop Quality: Generally the quality of the European troops is covered by the classifications given in the ·Fire and Fury· rules. But when considering additions that needed to be made to the existing rules to fight European wars we felt that two additional categories were needed. Firstly a category, better than ·Crack·, to represent the really good European units and secondly a category, below ·Green·, to represent the really bad units. We have called these ·Elite· and ·Militia· and we extrapolated the figures provided in the rulebook to obtain suitable values for them. ·Militia· units are units that are similar to ·Green· units but are poorly officered, unwilling to fight or suffer from other problems that were not present in the civil war armies. ·Elite· units are similar to "Crack" units but they have in addition the benefits of a strong tradition, formal training and discipline.

It is unlikely that any unit deployed in America would be of ·Militia· quality, so we will ignore these and look at the ·Elite· category. In addition it is possible that units stronger than those given in the Brigade Effectiveness Table will be used. The additional information you may need is included in the table below

Brigade Effectiveness Table (Additions)

Rating the French Army

The French army was a trained, average army. It was true that many of the troops would have had combat experience in Italy. Yet they seem to have, under Napoleon III, lost that spirit that they had under the first Napoleon. So they will generally be rated ·Veteran·, with the following exceptions.

Elite: All Imperial Guard Corps and Cavalry division units.

Crack: All Zouave, Turco and Foreign Legion units. All Cuirassier and Chassuer d·Afrique cavalry units.

Veteran: All other units.

It is also possible to rate occasional units one level higher or lower to reflect a particularly good or bad unit.

Rating the British Army

The British army had many very good units and a fine military tradition. Unlike the French army they had managed to maintain the high level of confidence in themselves that the French had lost. In addition to actual British units it is likely that colonial troops would be used. The most obvious candidates for use are Canadian and West Indian troops, but it is possible that troops from further a field would be used.

British troops should be rated as follows.

Elite: All Guard infantry, all Highland infantry and approximately half of the cavalry.

Crack: All ·special· infantry, such as the Light brigades and units with a high reputation. All other British cavalry and approximately half of all other British infantry.

Veteran: The remaining British infantry and higher quality colonial troops, such as most Canadian troops.

Green: Other Colonial troops.

Leadership

The quality of the general ship in Europe at this time does not appear to be too high. It was an era noted more for the incompetence of it·s· generals. To simulate this you can add ·Poor· generals (not unit commanders), 1 P.Ldr in the order of battle. These generals are only used to command artillery, of formations they are in command of, and give no other bonuses. The following are suggestions for assigning ·Poor· and ·Exceptional· leaders.

French Leaders: For Divisional commanders or higher roll a D10 for each commander. A 1 = a ·Poor· leader, a 2 · 8 = a normal leader and a 9 or 10 = an ·Exceptional· leader. Cavalry Division leaders receive a ·3 to this dice roll.

For unit commanders roll a D6 for each unit. A 5 or 6 are an exceptional unit commander for all units.

British Leaders: For Divisional commanders or higher roll a D10 for each commander. A 1 - 3 = a ·Poor· leader, a 4 · 8 = a normal leader and a 9 or 10 = an ·Exceptional· leader. Cavalry Division leaders receive a ·2 to this dice roll.

For unit commanders roll a D6 for each unit. A 3, 4, 5 or 6 are an exceptional unit commander for all British units. A 4, 5 or 6 are an exceptional unit commander for all colonial units.

That completes my quick guide to the possible intervention armies. In the next part I will provide details for re-fighting an updated version of the Battle of Brandywine from the war of independence. Meanwhile I will finish with some sample British and French formations in 1:200 scale. These are based on formations used in the Crimea and Italy. You could try swapping some or all of them for Confederate forces in historical battles. Give it a try it can be fun.

French Formations

The original strengths are in brackets after the unit name if you would like to roll for them yourselves.

1st Corps: Marshall Baraguey d·Hilliers · 1 Ldr

Corps Artillery: 4 guns (2 may be attached to the infantry divisions instead)

Imperial Guard Corps: General Saint Jean d·Angely · 1 Ldr

Corps Artillery: 2 guns

British Formations

The original strengths are in brackets after the unit name if you would like to roll for them yourselves. These are based on the forces at the battle of the Alma and Balaclava for the cavalry. At least half the guns should be breech loading.