Zouaves Through the Ages...Well as they appear in my armies from 1830 to 1914 at least...

An exchange of comments with Stew about zouaves in my last post got me thinking about the colour and panache these troops brought to the military forces of the world from the 1830s to 1962. It also made me think that there are quite a few units represented in my wargames armies.

The Zouave, painted by Vincent Van Gogh 1888

In 1830 the French invaded and conquered Algeria under the pretext of a slight to its consul, but by October 1830 much of the invading force had been withdrawn to France and local sources of manpower were sought. The first troops raised were recruited from a Berber tribe, the Zwāwa or Zoudaoua, that had provided soldiers to the previous rulers. From these two battalions of zouaves were formed, each of ten companies, eight of the Zoudaoua and two from French settlers, all under French officers and NCOs. A third battalion was raised in 1838.

In 1840 another type of zouave, the tirailleurs algériens (they were never called zouaves, but the uniform was pretty much the same in all but colour), were formed from the Berber and Arab tribes again under the command of French officers. At that same time the basis for enlistment of the zouaves changed and they were universally recruited from French settlers. In 1852, under the Second Empire, the three battalions of zouaves were expanded into three full regiments, each of three battalions. The tirailleurs would also be expanded to three regiments in 1855.

For twenty-three years after their creation the zouaves developed a solid reputation as hard fighters in the colonial conflicts in North Africa, but it was not until they went to the Crimea in 1853 that they gained real fame. Their flamboyant uniform - volumous red pants (these guys pre-empted MC Hammer by 155 years), short blue jackets piped with yellow, a red fez and white turban - plus their ferocity in battle and the bloody big sword bayonets on the end of their rifles caught the attention of the war correspondents and military observers alike. 

My first zouaves, in chronological order, are the three battalions in my Crimean army, but could easily be used in the 1830s and 1840's.

The Zouaves and Tirailleurs further enhanced their reputation in the Italian War of 1859. It was from the wars in the Crimea and Italy that they captured the imagination of the American militia of the late 1850s. In the Civil War more than 70 regiments fought for the Union and some 25 companies served the Confederacy.

For my ACW armies I have done the 5th and 146th New York.

My next zouave unit is the Bahia Zouaves, a unit of the Brazilian Army in the Great Paraguayan War recruited from freed slaves in Bahia State that served briefly in the Great Paraguayan War.

I created a regiment of three battalions of Tirailleurs algériens that for use in the Franco-Prussian War. These chaps along with the zouaves above can be used in the Crimea, Italy and France although technically the models are all armed with rifled muskets rather than Chassepôts, but I can live with that.

My final unit is a small company of zouaves for use in the opening stages of the Great War.

Zouaves continued their fine reputation through the Great War and fought in the opening stages of the Second World War. Disbanded in 1940 they were reformed in 1945 and continued in French service until the end of the Algerian conflict in 1962.

All in all I have ten units of zouaves and tirailleurs algériens that I use in five conflicts and could be used in many other French colonial conflicts...if I choose to game them.

ANZAC Day

Today is ANZAC Day in New Zealand (and Australia for that matter), our Remembrance Day. In recognition of the day today’s regular Sunday wargame took place in Palestine where a small force of  British and New Zealand troops were assigned to assist T.E Lawrence (of Arabia) and his band to destroy a section of the German-Turkish railway. 

Defending the line was a Turkish force, supported  by a howitzer and two MMGs. A reinforcing German contingent was expected by rail.

Now I need to say up front that none of these figures and models are mine.

The train bringing the German reinforcements “chugged” onto the table. 

The British, supported by  a howitzer, an armoured car and a couple of MMGs arrived at the far end of the table

The New Zealand Mounted Rifles, supported by several light vehicles carrying LMGs, arrived shortly after. 

Meanwhile Lawrence’s Arab contingent, with a truck loaded with explosives, made for the railway.

The Turks were quick to deploy

They were soon engaged by the New Zealanders...

...whose light vehicles opened fire with their machine guns

As the first shots were exchanged the Germans disembarked at the Ali Baba railway station

Meanwhile Lawrence directed his explosives expert to prepare the charges

The Kiwi machine gunners blazed away from their vehicles...

...and “Johnny Turk” said “stuff this for a game of soldiers” and retreated back through the advancing Germans.

The arrival of the Germans had an immediate effect, immobilsing one of the New Zealand vehicles and destroyed this Model T Ford on its first outing on the table!

Then with a mighty “KERTHWHUMP” Lawrence’s man blew the tracks...

...and Lawrence, with pistol in hand, surveyed the damage.

Then together the Kiwis and Lawrence’s lads pressed the Germans (while Johnny Turk sought shelter behind the railway embankment). The New Zealanders were helped on no small part by the appallingly bad dice rolls of the German MMGs

For the briefest moment the British tried to steal the glory, but the Kiwis stepped forward an drove off  the last of the Germans

Larry then rode forward and thanked the  “Colonials” for their assistance...

...as a Kiwi vehicle trundled past him on its way to take out the last Axis resistance.

Here it all came to an end and was all a good bit of fun.

Weekend Wrap Up

Our wonderful week of gaming (well a little less for me) has come to an end for another year. I am back at home now over-fed and a little tired.

Below are a few images from the two other games that I participated in. I take pains to mention here that none of the figures shown here are mine. My contribution was a few burned out woods and some ruined buildings. All of the rest was created by the game organiser.

If you check out Keith’s blog (http://1808534.blogspot.com/) in the next day or so, I am sure he will have a broader range of images than I have here and will cover the two games I missed.

The WWI on 1918:-

The view across the lake, from the deck, on Friday afternoon, a few moments before the bottle of Calvados was opened -  emptied shortly thereafter.

The Western Gunfight game..just a few shots through the town.

And the planning for next year has commenced.

Late WWI Game

Today’s regular Sunday game was a WWI battle set in 1918.

The scenario was set in northern France with a French brigade, supported by an American Regiment, in pursuit of the retreating Germans. While the French troops paused for morning coffee and croissants in a ruined village, the Germans turned back with two infantry regiments and a company of storm troopers to slow the pursuit.

The German plan was to go hard on the right with the storm troopers and the weaker of the infantry regiments, while the stronger Westphalian regiment supported by an A7 tank would hold the French right until the stormtroopers made some headway, then turn that holding action into an assault if there were prospects for success.

Things started well for the Germans with their artillery having good effect, but the stormtroopers failed to break the French and retired in disorder.

On the German left the French managed to drive one, then a second company of Westphalians and their  FT17 tanks became entangled in a slugging match with the A7, which the A7 eventually won.

Meanwhile on the other flank the German artillery and machine guns took their toll on the French and one regiment quit the field while the second regiment retired. This left the Americans to carry the fight on their own on this flank and they too began to suffer from the German gunfire and ground to a halt.

Here the game fight ended. The Germans, despite taking heavy losses had stalled the Allied pursuit.

I didn’t take a lot of photos, being too heavily engaged in the game, but lots of fun as had busy all.