The Capture of the La Minerve off Toulon, June 24, 1795

Capture of Minerve off Toulon - Thomas Whitcombe

This weekend I was back at the wargaming table as I had the pleasure of playtesting Scenario 21, one of a hundred single-ship, small squadron engagements I have been compiling principally for use with Kiss Me, Hardy (KMH) and To Covet Glory (TCG), with set-up arrangements, victory conditions, break off rules and a mixture of meeting engagements and chases, which produce different games and with the two closely linked where one can quickly change to the other as circumstances permit.

These scenarios are garnered from the work of the great naval historian, William James, and his colossal work that documented the great sea fights and small actions fought by the British Royal Navy between 1793 and 1815 that cover the principal wars against Revolutionary France and her allies, 1793 to 1801, Napoleonic France and her allies 1802-1815 and the United States of America from 1812-1815, in the Naval History of Great Britain Volumes 1 to 6 extending into the close of the age of sail era in 1827, that includes the Battle of Algiers 1816, Navarin 1827 and the Burmese War of 1824.

Scenario 21 recreates the action fought on the 24th June 1795 that resulted in the capture of the French 40-gun frigate La Minerve and is outlined below in James' account of the fight that ensued, and in the post I thought I would take a look at the historical fight and the ships involved with a link to the club blog below and an AAR of how the scenario we played turned out.

Lowestoffe & Dido vs Minerve & Artemise 24th June 1795, 0845, 41°8'N 5°30'E

In the month of June Admiral Hotham, while cruising with the British fleet off the Island of Minorca, received intelligence that the French fleet was at sea. To ascertain the fact, the admiral, on the evening of the 23rd, detached the 28-gun frigate Dido, Captain George Henry Towry, and 12-pounder 32-gun frigate Lowestoffe, Captain Robert Gambler Middleton, to reconnoitre the road of Toulon

Lowestoffe & Dido vs Minerve & Artemise 24th June 1795, 0845, 41°8'N 5°30'E

On the 24th, at 4 a.m., latitude 41° 8' north, longitude 5° 30' east, these frigates, standing close hauled on the larboard tack, with the wind at north-north-west, descried approaching them, nearly ahead, the French 40-gun frigate Minerve, Captain Perree, and 36-gun frigate Artemise, Captain Charbonnier, which frigates, by a singular coincidence, had been ordered by the French admiral to proceed off Minorca, and ascertain the truth of a rumour that the British fleet was at sea.

As soon as the private signal made by the Dido, who was ahead of her consort, discovered the relation of the parties to each other, the French frigates wore round on the other tack and stood away. The Dido and Lowestoffe immediately made sail in chase. At 7 a.m. it was evident that the French frigates were leaving their pursuers; but at 8 a.m. the Minerve and Artemise, as a proof that they were not disposed to decline a combat with two ships, whose inferior force must now have betrayed itself, again wore round, and, with French colours flying, stood on under easy sail to meet the Dido and Lowestoffe; who, with colours hoisted, and all clear for action, kept their course to hasten the junction.

On arriving within about a mile of the Dido's larboard and weather bow, the Minerve, who was at some distance ahead of her consort, wore round on the same tack as the Dido, and at 8 h. 30 m. a.m. opened her fire upon the latter. The Dido, however, reserved her fire until 8 h. 45 m.; when, having got close under the Minerve's starboard and lee beam, the British frigate commenced a steady and well-directed cannonade. In about five minutes the Minerve, suddenly bearing up, with yards square, attempted to decide the contest at once by running down the little ship that was presuming to contend with her.

The table plan for our game, with the two forces cleared for action.
'. . . at 8 a.m. the Minerve and Artemise, as a proof that they were not disposed to decline a combat with two ships, whose inferior force must now have betrayed itself, again wore round, and, with French colours flying, stood on under easy sail to meet the Dido and Lowestoffe; who, with colours hoisted, and all clear for action, kept their course to hasten the junction.'

Just as the Minerve's flying jib-boom was about to touch the Dido's main yard, the latter put her helm a port, to avoid receiving directly upon her beam, a shock which, with the weight and impetus of the French frigate, must have sent her to the bottom. Owing to this well-planned movement, the Dido received the blow obliquely, the luff of the Minerve's starboard bow taking her on the larboard quarter. But so heavy, notwithstanding Captain Towry's precaution, was the shock, that it drove the Dido nearly athwart the hawse of the Minerve; and, the latter's jib-boom being carried away by the former's main rigging, the bowsprit of the Minerve became locked in the mizen rigging of the Dido.

From the bowsprit, thus favourably placed, the Frenchmen, under cover of the Minerve's foremost guns and a heavy fire of musketry, attempted to board, but were prevented, as well by the pikemen on the Dido's quarter-deck, as by the violence with which the ships, owing to a great swell and hollow sea, were striking against each other. After about a quarter of an hour's contest in this situation, and when the Dido was literally hanging by her mizen rigging on the Minerve's bowsprit, the latter snapped short in two, carrying overboard with it, besides eight or ten of the French boarders, the Dido's badly wounded mizenmast.

Laid down in January 1792, and launched in 1794 in Toulon, Minerve had a brief initial career before her capture, taking the British collier Hannibal off the island of Ibiza on the 14th December of that year before herself being taken in this action.

The wreck was quickly cleared; and the colours of the Dido having fallen into the sea with the gaff, the signalman, Henry Barling, with characteristic bravery, nailed a union jack to the stump of the mast. As soon as she had thus cleared herself, the Minerve passed along the Dido's larboard beam, rubbing sides the whole way, and the mutual cannonade recommenced with vigour. Presently, however, the lower yards of the Minerve, hooking the leeches of the Dido's two remaining topsails, tore them out of the bolt-ropes; and the French frigate, continuing to range ahead, left the Dido almost a wreck upon her larboard quarter.

Having, owing to the Dido's position ahead of the Minerve, been prevented from firing into the latter's stern as she passed under it to assist her consort, the Lowestoffe now placed herself on the Minerve's larboard bow, about a ship's length from her; and at 9 a.m. opened her fire, which, in six or eight minutes, brought down by the board the French frigate's unsupported foremast, also her main and mizen topmasts. About this time the Artemise, who, in running past, had fired an ineffectual broadside into each of the British frigates, hauled her wind and made all sail.

Artémise was a 32-gun Magicienne-class frigate, and was under construction in Toulon when the Coalition seized the city in August 1793,  leaving her behind  when they evacuated the city in December 1793. At the action of 24 June 1795, she escaped while Minerve was captured, seeing her captain relieved of his command for leaving Minerve.

At 9 h. 15 m. a.m., the escape of the Minerve being rendered impossible, Captain Towry caused the signal to chase to be spread over the Dido's quarter. The Lowestoffe thereupon quitted the Minerve, and made all sail in pursuit of the Artemise; and the Dido, setting her only serviceable sail, the foresail, stretched ahead to repair her damages. The Artemise and Lowestoffe soon began exchanging their chase-guns; but the latter, having unfortunately received a shot through her mizenmast, could not carry her mizen topsail. In consequence of this, the Artemise gained upon the Lowestoffe so much, that Captain Towry, at 10 h. 30 m. a.m., made the latter s signal of recall.

At 11 h. 30 m. the Lowestoffe again closed with the Minerve on the starboard quarter, and soon opened upon her a heavy raking fire. In the meantime the Dido, having bent new fore and main topsails, and partially repaired her damaged rigging, had wore and made sail in the direction of the Minerve; who, at 11 h. 45 m., on her mizenmast being shot away by the board, and with it her colours, hailed the Lowestoffe to send a boat and take possession. At this time the Artemise was nearly hull down to windward; and the Minerve, certainly, if not in a defenceless, was in an utterly unmanageable state.

HMS Dido was one of the twenty-seven Enterprise class of 28-gun sixth-rate frigates and was

commissioned in September 1787. Enjoying a long service career, not being broken up until 1817. 

The Dido, out of her complement of 193 men and boys, had her boatswain (Cuthbert Douglas) and five seamen killed, her first-lieutenant (Richard Buckoll, who, however, did not quit the deck), captain's clerk (Richard Willan), and 13 seamen wounded.

Dido's notable contribution to the taking of the Minerve was remarkable when it is remembered that

the weight of Minerve's broadside alone was greater than that of the two British frigates together, seeing the Admiralty duly award the two captains a Naval Gold Medal each, and in 1847 issuing to all surviving claimants from the action the Naval General Service Medal with the clasps "Dido 24 June 1795" and "Lowestoffe 24 June 1795".

The Lowestoffe, out of her complement of 212, had none killed and only three wounded. Each of these frigates carried the guns of her class, as described in the table below, with four 18-pounder carronades in addition; making the Lowestoffe's guns 36, and those of the Dido 32.

The Minerve mounted two carronades less than her establishment, see below, or 42 guns in all, with a complement on board of 318 men and boys, and is represented to have lost upwards of 20 in killed and wounded (among the latter her captain), exclusive of those that were drowned by the falling of the bowsprit.

Note: James rates Artémise as a 36-gunner rather than the 32-gunner with some sources suggesting her four extra guns weren't added until 1798, prior to her destruction at the Battle of the Nile.

The loss sustained by the Artemise, a regular 36, mounting 40 guns, out of a complement amounting at least to 300, could not of course be ascertained, but, from her small share in the action, was probably of very slight amount.

In every point of view, this was a gallantly-fought action on the part of the British. The Minerve alone was superior in broadside weight of shot to the Dido and Lowestoffe together, and the Artemise was rather more than a match for the Lowestoffe.

The conduct of Captain Towry was noble in the extreme. His senior rank gave him, although commanding the smaller ship, the right of choosing his antagonist, and he did not hesitate a moment in laying the Dido alongside a ship of nearly double her size and force. A ship of 1102 tons, and 318 men, coming stem-on upon a ship of 595 tons, and 193 men, was indeed a critical situation for the latter; and, had the Minerve's consort not behaved in a most dastardly manner, the Dido at least must have become the prize of the French commodore.

The 32-gun frigate HMS Lowestoffe - Derek Gardner
HMS Lowestoffe was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate built during the latter part of the Seven Years' War, she went on to see action in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary War, and served often in the Caribbean. A young Horatio Nelson served aboard her shortly after passing his lieutenant's examination.

It was well for the Dido that the Lowestoffe's captain possessed none of the backwardness of the captain of the Artemise; and, indeed, so ready is Captain Towry to admit the benefit he derived from his consort's aid; so far is he from wishing to monopolize the credit of the victory, that in his official letter he says, "By Captain Middleton's good conduct the business of the day was, in a great measure, brought to a fortunate issue."

The Minerve was conducted in safety to Port Mahon, and afterwards to Ajaccio, and was added to the British navy, under the command of Captain Towry, as a 38-gun frigate; to which class, from her fine qualifications, the Minerve became a valuable acquisition. The Dido’s first-lieutenant, already named, was justly promoted to the rank of commander; as was also Mr. Joshua Sydney Horton, the first-lieutenant of the Lowestoffe.

The table set up at the DWG yesterday in readiness for our refight of this remarkable action.
Devon Wargames Group - Action off Toulon, June 1795, Kiss Me Hardy

As can be seen from James' account, the Minerve put up quite a fight as did her opponents Dido and Lowestoffe with Artémise not so much, perhaps typifying the mixed resolve of the officers serving the French Revolutionary Navy of that time, so much so that a British commander could never be certain of the fight he might get from one action to the next.

As will be seen from the account of our game, the events had some distinct similarities with encounters of the 'right up against the bulwarks kind' and a good old boarding action to follow, to some very different ones with regard to the fighting performance of the two French frigates compared to their historical counterparts; although an unfortunate morale test result didn't help, that eight times out of ten would normally have been passed with flying colours, if you'll excuse the pun of another historically based British expression from the glorious days of Royal Naval history.

You can follow the link above to read the account of this scenario, which proved to be the entertaining game that James' account promised.

More anon 

JJ

Nailing the Colours, Battle of the Vanguards - Kiss Me, Hardy

Last Saturday I spent a very pleasant day running two Kiss Me Hardy games of my scenario 'Nailing the Colours, Battle of the Vanguards' recreating the fight between the Batavian-Dutch and British vanguards at Camperdown.

Devon Wargames Group - Clotted Lard 2024

The Battle of Camperdown was a story of two separate actions, one between the British and Dutch Van Squadrons and the other between the British and Dutch rear squadrons, with the Dutch centre attempting to support both and not really achieving either, thus while the Dutch rearguard was overwhelmed by British numbers and guns, a more equal combat was being contested to the north. 

There the combat was centred around the two flagships, Duncan's Venerable engaging De Winter's Vrijheid eighteen minutes after Monarch broke the line to the south which saw a separate fight take place between the opposing ships that lasted about an hour until reinforcements from Onslow's squadron, Director 64-guns, Powerful 74-guns and Veteran 64-guns joined Duncan's ships to seal the British victory.

The highlighted portion of this view of the battle just before it commenced indicates the portion of the Battle of Camperdown, Nailing the Colours represents

At the height of the combat, the colours and signal flags on Venerable were brought down by cannon fire. To ensure that there was no suggestion that the flagship had surrendered, a sailor named Jack Crawford scrambled to the top of the mainmast and replaced them as the battle raged beneath him. 

The battle between the British and Dutch flagships, Venerable and Vrijheid as depicted by Thomas Whitcombe, with the latter about to become dismasted in this exchange of fire.

Casualties in the battle were very heavy on both sides, attributed to the Dutch tactics, mirrored by the British, of firing at the enemy hulls rather than attempting to disable their masts and rigging as with other continental navies, with the worst hit of the British ships being Ardent 64-guns with 148 casualties, and Belliqueux 64-guns under Cpt John Inglis with 103 casualties.

In total, British losses were recorded, depending on your sources, after the battle as somewhere between 203 to 228 killed and 622 and 812 wounded, including 16 of the latter who subsequently died. Many of the British ships were badly damaged, taking on large quantities of water through damaged hulls. One of the worst hit was Venerable, which had to be completely dismantled and reconstructed after returning to Britain before the ship was ready for active service again.

Batavian-Dutch losses were later reported as 540 men killed and 620 wounded, with Vrijheid the worst hit with the loss of almost half of its total complement. Among the losses were Captain Hinxt of Beschermer and Captain Holland of Wassenaar, both of whom were killed early in the battle. Also lost were Captain Van Rossum of Vrijheid, who was struck in the thigh by a cannonball and died shortly afterwards from the effects of the wound. There were also large numbers of wounded among the Batavian-Dutch fleet, including Rear-Admiral Story.

Admiral Duncan receiving the surrender from Vice-admiral De Winter at Camperdown - Daniel-Orme

One of the few Dutch officers to escape injury or death was De Winter himself, who later commented

"It is a matter of marvel that two such gigantic objects as Admiral Duncan and myself should have escaped the general carnage of this day."

The scenario focusses on the attack by the British Vanguard under Admiral Adam Duncan before the arrival of elements of the British leeward division under Vice Admiral Onslow after they having quickly overwhelmed the Batavian rear and driven off the centre.

The table set-up as depicted in the table plan, with the Batavian van in battle-line spaced 9cm between their bases and their light ships looking to cover the gaps.

Camperdown like Trafalgar offers itself up to being broken down into separate actions that are squadron on squadron fights within the context of the larger battle, and if so inclined this scenario could easily be extended through to the arrival of the three British reinforcements should players have the time to fight it to that point.

Admiral Duncan's British squadron are set up in their line of bearing each aiming for a gap in the Batavian line having been signalled ten minutes earlier to break the enemy line and to engage closely.

That said I was content to play this in its basic format to play test the concept and learn any changes that would improve things, such as bringing the British closer in the second game and moving the Batavian line closer to the centre of the table thus shortening the British approach to bring on the fighting more quickly and to allow the Batavian's more room to manoeuvre to deal with British ships breaking in among their two lines.

The table all set up for our game at Clotted Lard - Let battle commence

The Batavian ships are rated as Sans Culottes in KMH, the usual rating for French, but their tactics were somewhat dissimilar from the French as described in the accounts above in that they preferred to reserve their fire to medium range or closer, concentrating on hitting the enemy hulls rather that attacking their rigging, a point noted by British observers who had been on the receiving end and the casualties it caused, quite unlike battles with the French or Spanish.

The example of the ship record card for the Batavian flagship Vrijheid rates them as Elite Sans Culottes, gaining the extra dice, but no additions for long and extreme range rigging shots

To better model the Batavian tactics, I removed the rigging shot bonus dice added to Sans Culottes crews and raised all the Batavian squadron, except Vrijheid, to elite for firing but, again excepting Vrijheid, to average for all other occasions such as sailing and morale.

The Vrijheid, already being an elite ship, didn't gain from the change but given her flagship status and the more robust morale rating that implies already makes her less likely to succumb to British firing than other ships within her squadron, and better able to stay in the fight as she did historically whilst also very capable of dishing out a lot of hurt to any British ship that comes alongside.

The British van squadron are ready to advance.

The two games were quite different in that in the first game the British got the rub of the chit draw often managing to get their fire chit out first and before their movement whilst also succeeding in getting slightly over half their ships to break through the enemy line and issuing raking fire as they did so.

In the opening exchanges of our first game, extraordinarily, the Venerable has failed to break the Batavian line and has turned away to begin a short range exchange of broadsides with Rear-admiral Story's Staten Generaal. Closest to camera the 74-gun Triumph opens up with bow-chasers on the 64-gun Wassenaer.

However this British success was offset by an unfortunate roll for 'Getting Choppy' that was later reversed but that caused these successful British attacks to be reduced to partial broadsides and thus much less damaging than they might have otherwise been.

Similarly the choppy waters didn't do the Batavians any favours, with their fire to leeward already reduced to partial, recreating the comments of many of their captains reporting that the conditions forced them to close their gunports on that side, perhaps related to their ships being of much shallower draft, but with the choppy rolling conditions rolled for further reducing their firing to partial, partial broadsides.

The typical rolling attack of a British breaking the line manoeuvre in line of bearing pinning any attempts for forward units to wear and come around in support of those behind.

We only had a morning and afternoon session to play each game and with firing reduced, the battle in the first game was going in favour of the British but more likely after a much more prolonged fight than might otherwise have been. Knowing what I know now, I might leave 'Getting Choppy' out of the chit draw if time to play is limited.

The Wassenaer has her angle of broadside template out to assess when to open fire on the approaching Triumph.

In the afternoon game the chit draw was not so kind to the British and they to managed to get choppy conditions, but this was coupled with an inability to combine their movement and firing into raking passes, later inclining their command to attempt to close, to board opposing Batavian ships, that had not been adequately softened up with broadsides, and not unsurprisingly seeing British boarding parties driven back by stalwart Batavian crews.

Further along the line the first British ships have broken through and are engaging to leeward whilst also returning the salute from the smaller Batavian ships.

A fire has broken out aboard the British flagship Venerable, that was extinguished in the next turn

That said despite the problems imposed on the gunnery attacks by the weather, KMH still produced its drama with the odd fire breaking out here and there and several high officer casualties suffered that would eventually cause a successful strike test to result on one Batavian ship of the line.

Venerable, extreme right is in the thick of the battle with Staten Generaal, now having put out an earlier fire but dealing with a shot away helm as the 'Out of Control' marker suggests.

Even some of the Batavian frigates corvettes, and brigs opened fire as the British broke in among their lines, and were in the main saved by the choppy conditions.

The Lancaster 64-guns, Isis 50-guns and Belliqueux 64-guns, bear down on the Batavian line having successfully rolled to break it and pass through to leeward.

These battles within a battle make for great ways of exploring these historical actions and make for great club games for several players to take commands within each group of opposing ships, and I will likely take this one along to club and attach a copy of the briefing I prepared in the wake of Clotted Lard adding the alterations based on that play test, together with the ship record cards for printing out to get playing straight away, provided you have your models ready to go.

There is a link below for the scenario PDF.

JJ's Wargames - Kiss Me Hardy Scenario, Nailing the Colours

In terms of victory conditions, I include the usual break-off rules to assess win or loss, but in the actual fight, the Batavians put up strong resistance with the flagship Vrijheid fighting for about an hour and losing several masts in the process, only striking with the arrival of the British reinforcements relatively fresh from their fight with the Batavian rear.

If you translate the approximate time scale of KMH to two minutes per move this equates to thirty turns, however I tend to work with a four minute battle time scale, incorporating ideas about a sliding time scale based on varying winds and ship movements that averages the move time to about a four minute move.

If you have the luxury of fighting over a longer time, then I would work to fifteen turns as a maximum scenario length in which time it is assumed the British reinforcements have arrived. If the Batavians are still fighting with no break-off inflicted then they have matched De Winter's result and a game victory, if they have caused a British ship to strike and are still fighting that should equate to an outright victory otherwise the British should be accorded the win at their end of the line, probably after a hard fight if history is anything to go by.

As a postscript I only had one battle damage casualty from our two games, my little 32-gun Batavian frigate Heldin.

The 32-gun fifth rate Heldin undergoing repairs in the riggers yard following Clotted Lard

The loss of the fore jib resulted in the model being manoeuvred by holding the bowsprit and causing the stay to break. Nothing to worry about as these are wargaming models not museum pieces.

'Ship-Shape' and 'Bristol-Fashion'

I've run lots of games now with these models, and generally they prove very robust to handling, and like their historical counterparts are amenable to repair to rigging as required as seen here twenty-four hours later and ready for the NWS meeting at the FAA Museum, Yeovilton next Saturday, and, as they say 'the show goes on'.

I'm off on my travels again soon and this coming weekend in the next run-out for the Camperdown Collection we will have the whole thing out on the table as we prepare to play The Battle of Camperdown with all fifty models at the NWS Meeting at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, this time using David Manley's rules, 'Far Distant Ships', so if you fancy a day out seeing the fantastic collection and displays in the museum, your access will also enable you to come along and see the naval wargames on show as well.

As always I will post an AAR with plenty of pictures of the day together with a look at the other naval games on show.

Plus I will be looking back to this time last year and my Bantry Bay scenario with another post looking at the Bantry Bay cannons at Cardiff Castle, courtesy of Ollie after Carolyn's and my trip up to the Welsh capital last week to visit her and Will, so more to come here on JJ's.

As always more anon

JJ 

Battle of Camperdown - The Leeward Division Attacks, Kiss Me, Hardy at the Devon Wargames Group

Last weekend I took the Camperdown collection to the Devon Wargames Group's first March meeting to run The Leeward Division Scenario, I played last month at Chez JJ with Mike and Jack using Far Distant Ships (FDS).

If you missed our playthrough of this scenario using FDS then follow the link below.
JJ's Wargames - Battle of Camperdown - The Leeward Division Attacks, Far Distant Ships

The initial plan had been to do something similar at club with a few additional ideas I had had since that game, but as always the plan changes on first contact and with more folks wanting to play than I had planned for and FDS, being a fleet level game better suited to fewer commanders, I opted to play this time using Kiss Me, Hardy (KMH) better suited to handle multiple players and offering an opportunity to compare and contrast with the FDS game.

My KMH Ship Record Cards (SRC's) have become my standard way of 
recording ship damage during my KMH games and are fairly easy to
pull together and store in a laminated format so they can be used again any time
I want to play a given scenario or big-battle.

It just so happened that during the odd evening when on holiday in Madeira, the previous week, I had time to sit down and pull the Camperdown Ship Record Cards together and thus they were ready for this game and so with a quick bit of printing and laminating when I got home everything was set up to go. 

The chaps all set up to play with their KMH Ship Record Cards seen along the table edge ready to record the firing and damage results.

Needless to say much fun was had by all, and all six players had plenty to do managing their various commands during the game.

The difference in play between KMH and FDS is very noticeable, with the former very good at capturing the feel of a naval battle from this period at the level of ships captain's, commodores and commanders of small squadrons such as this, with lots of narrative and individual ship drama that has become very familiar with the multiple games I have played using them.

FDS on the other hand gives a much better simulation of commanding one or multiple squadrons from the point of view of a flag officer looking to put his command in the optimal position to best allow his captains to fight their individual battles, only enhanced with more squadrons and bigger fleets on the table.

Both rules and the games they produce are in my opinion only enhanced by playing them with these larger models, seemingly emphasising the drama of the battle being portrayed no matter at what level of command the players are involved with.

The battle gets going at last weekend's DWG club meeting

I have put together an AAR of our game on the Devon Club Blog, link below, with thoughts about the comparison between KMH and FDS, where you can follow the drama of our play and during which produced an interesting twist that enhanced the performance of the Batavians versus our first run through of this scenario.

Devon Wargames Group - Camperdown, Attack of the Leeward Division, 'Kiss Me, Hardy'

All in all, I came away thoroughly content that I think I've found two sets of rules that allow for the sweet spot for a particular size of game with multiple players to be catered for as required allowing me much more flexibility around player numbers and time to play any given scenario or big battle, without losing the drama and narrative I look for in a good game.

More anon

JJ

Bantry Bay 1796 for Kiss Me Hardy - Preparations (Cliffs and Troop Transports), Part One

Geoff Hunt's picture of HMS Indefatigable battling through heavy seas in pursuit of the French 74-gun Droit's de l'Homme, homeward bound following the failed attempt to land troops in Ireland in December 1796.

With Clotted Lard 2023 and the next Naval Wargames Society Meeting coming up next month, I was keen to get planning something new for both shows and following my recent book review looking at Britain's Last Invasion, The Battle of Fishguard 1797, by Phil Carradice, see link below, I felt inclined to follow that thread of an idea to look at the naval aspect of the whole French plan to principally invade Ireland in the December of 1796 and develop a 'What If' scenario around the failed French attempt to land troops in Bantry Bay.

JJ's Wargames - Britain's Last Invasion

My game plan was primarily based on the scenario from the Lardies Christmas Special of 2014, link below, 'The Irish Question' by Nick Skinner, but with a few changes to incorporate up to six players, should the need arise.  

https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product/2014-christmas-special/

The map I put together develops on the suggested 'What If' in Nick's original game plan, by presupposing that the French arrived and established a guarded anchorage in Bear Haven a few weeks before they arrived historically and that because of the weather and the dispersal to the French fleet that it caused, Commodore Bedout has been forced to round up those remaining scattered transports, and bring them in to bolster General Grouchy to commit to the French landing, despite his undoubted reservations.

A French map of Bear Haven and the approach to Bantry Bay

Additionally the scenario proposes that unlike the historical event, the Royal Navy managed to get a small force of frigates and third-rates out to the south-west coast of Ireland to oppose the arrival of these French troops and thus sets up this hypothetical engagement fought in the approaches to Bear Haven, Bantry Bay.

The map above provided the impulse to rearrange my table, taken from a French account of the invasion attempt and with some slight liberty taken on distances I decided to use Sheeps Head and Black Ball Point illustrated on it as my coastal gateway, before which my encounter would take place.

Cliffs like these from the west coast of Ireland and similar to those in North Devon and Cornwall formed the inspiration for the look I wanted for my game.

I should also add that the cliff terrain I decided to model will also be standing in for other encounters I have in mind around the Northern European mainland and so they would incorporate some generic features such as coastal paths, to allow for the addition of the occasional coastal fort or battery as the need might be.

Looking around for suitable inspiration to fire up my own imagination for the look of my planned table I came across some videos made by Mel Bose, a.k.a The Terrain Tutor whose Terrain Book I have a copy of and whose videos have helped on other previous projects, and specifically his Dover Cliff Headland build, link below, with suitable adaptions to go for the granite look I was after, together with a larger scale for the 1:700 models being used.

Mel's videos convinced me of the need to invest in a better hot wire cutter and I had plenty of high density foam in the loft left over from my Oporto table built for my 18mm Peninsular project a few years ago, and so I got stuck in with PVA glue and plaster with the two headlands carved and plastered in no time at all.

I recently purchased most of the Brigade Models range of 1:700th buildings, which will join the collection going forward, but here are some of their forts and houses atop the cliffs to give a better appreciation of scale and the imposing look I wanted for these headlands, that hopefully will scream to players, 'stay away, there are big nasty rocks close to these which you can't necessarily see and don't want to go anywhere near!!'

https://www.brigademodels.co.uk/1-700/index.html

My first plan was to copy Mel's original idea of using foam board as a base, covered in Artex to create the waves crashing on the rocks effect, but in the end decided on a different approach, to better fit in with the look of the model ships and the sea cloths I use.

The next step was the painting process and this involved getting out the craft shop acrylics, mainly greys, burnt umber and other brown assortments to get the base coat colours done followed by the dry and wet brush shades, following Mel's suggestions on weathering, involving running diluted dirty brown streams along the channels in my cliffs and also creating the tide line at the bottom.

Also I decided to seal the backs of my cliffs with extra strong Gorilla Tape which was plastered over near the edges and given a coat of grey paint to match the cliff colours, thus providing protection to the foam and plaster work and neatly sealing everything down, with the whole paint job given a spray of matt car lacquer or varnish from Halfords, following Mel's recommendation to use car varnishes, because of their higher spec, and I was very pleased with the result.

Before moving on to the final stages of flocking the tops of my cliffs, I bought a sheet of 2mm acrylic that is used for glazing garden sheds and marking out a pattern around each cliff section, before getting  my son Tom to take his power saw to it to cut them out to the appropriate shape.

Below you can see each headland fixed on to its acrylic base, simply using PVA, and the flocking has been done with slightly dilute PVA painted on the top of each cliff, followed by a sprinkling of grass flock, then a light sprinkling of faded summer grass flock to add some contrast before sealing the whole effect with a spray of diluted 50/50 PVA to finish.

I used a small brush to make sure the paths were clear of flock so that they stood out appropriately.

To finish off the acrylic bases I put a bead of PVA glue around the base of each cliff to seal it to the base and then applied a coat of Modpodge over it and the base once it had dried, applying bits of kapok stuffing to create the sea spray effects.

My new cliff sections made their debut at club last weekend and will form the backdrop to the game with their imposing height and implied threat of disaster should they be approached with contempt.

In addition to my first pieces of terrain this project also brought a requirement to create some specific models that captured the look of troop transports, most of which were former French East India Company vessels taken over for the job, with most of their defensive armament removed to better cater for accommodation of soldiers, horses and stores.

Thus I was looking around for something that would create the look of these ships, still similar in appearance to the accompanying warships, with strakes and gilded galleries and beaks but somehow different as well.

Then it occurred to me to use a model I wasn't quite sure of how to make use of when I first saw it, namely Warlord's Sixth-Rate Battened Down, that is with all its gun ports closed and its quarterdeck guns lashed to the bulwarks, a perfect look for a small former East India Company merchant now requisitioned naval transport, with in addition a suitably modified plastic brig to bring some variety to the look of the squadron and represent the many brigs that were used for mercantile and transport purposes.

The model hulls are shown below with the guns removed from the brig and filler applied where needed prior to base coating and I will follow this post with a look at them once they are done.

If you haven't seen the game AAR for the debut role-out of this scenario then just follow the link below 

to the DWG Club blog.

Devon Wargames Group - Bantry Bay 1796 Kiss Me Hardy

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JJ