Great Paraguayan War Game

It has been more than two years since we were last in Paraguay (29 January 2023 to be exact) and I figured it was high time for those armies to see the light of day.

All of our games are multi-player affairs with three or four players a side. The negative of this can be that regardless of the scenario both sides  tend to line up on each side and simply play against the player opposite them. I decided to try something different to encourage manoeuvring. The problem here is that when using a regulated movement rate manoeuvring is difficult. Then I remembered that back in the 1980s we briefly played a set of rules called Empire. They used a concept of grand tactical moves that allowed for two movement rates - a relatively restricted rate for troops that were actually engaged, but a faster rate for those not engaged.

From what I remember the Empire system was quite complex, involving a flowchart. I wanted something simpler. Assuming that not being engaged was the prime factor to permit this free movement, what other factors could influence it? I came up with three factors: leadership, troop quality and whether the march column comes under fire. So my system is that brigades can test to make a March Move if the brigade is formed in a single march column and no part of the intended move will pass within 400mm of a visible enemy or within 200mm of a friendly unit that is engaged with an enemy. The test is pretty simple: roll 1xD6, add 1 for a bold general, subtract 1 for a cautious general, add 1 if half or more of the brigade is veteran or elite, subtract 1 if half or more is raw, subtract 3 if the brigade has been fired on in the immediate preceding player turn. If the result is 0 or less use normal moves, 2 or 3, make two March Moves, 4 or 5 make three March Moves and 6 make four March Moves. A March Move is 400mm for all types and ignores terrain except for rivers and impassable terrain. There are some restrictions around deployment, but a good command has potential to move 1600mm in a turn.

The game was set up with three Paraguayan brigades in a fortress in a gap between two rivers. Opposing them is a Brazilian and an Argentine division, each supported by a cavalry brigade, and a brigade of Uruguayans. The Allied start positions are shown on the map below. The Paraguayans could be positioned between the two rivers, but no further forward than the southern limits of the fortress.

So how did the game run?...well not at all as I expected! I thought that a successful strategy for the Allies would be to throw Argentine division to the west, across the western arm of the river to force the Paraguayans spread themselves and fight on two fronts while the larger Brazilian and Uruguayan force to struck the eastern arm. Meanwhile, the Paraguayans could not afford to sit back in the fortress - for one they couldn't all fit inside - so some sort of sally or spoiling attack was going to be a necessity.

The Paraguayans indeed planned a sally, but the Allies decided to consolidate east of the eastern arm and try to carry the fort from that direction.

The Argentine Division in its start position

A view up the table at the start of the game

One of the big guns

The Argentinians in their new position with the Brazilians beyond

The Brazilian guns in action

Above and below the Uruguayans keen to get into the fight 

Above and below, Brazilian guns beating back some Paraguayan cavalry

The Uruguayan artillery in action

The Brazilian infantry struggle to hold a position across the river

An Argentine battalion advancing

Above and below, in a desperate attack the Paraguayans drive back a Brazilian brigade

 

In the end the Allied attack ground to a halt. One Brazilian brigade was driven off, but their artillery broke up the Paraguayan attack. The other Brazilian brigade managed to hold on by the skin of its teeth, while the Argentine Division was roughly handled. The Uruguayans were hardly engaged, but used their march moves to switch from one side of the table to the other - twice - to cover collapsing Allied fronts. The Paraguayans took losses too, with three of their five cavalry units pummelled and four of their ten battalions either destroyed or in a bad way. The big guns, that looked so intimidating, had little effect, in part due to their forces masking their fire, and in part because they kept running out of ammunition!

Did the march moves idea work? I think so, if only to get troops into action quickly - although the Uruguayans dis use it very effectively to redeploy. Maybe there is a need to try it again.

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.

A Group Tour to Paraguay

As the ‘atmospheric river’ that dumped 240mm of rain on us on Friday continued to ruin our summer, on Sunday I organised a trip to Paraguay for seven of our group. We paid a visit to this nondescript location in the middle of South America to play a wargame. 

I stole the basic idea from the Perrys. The table design, in its very rough form, was as follows:

It was a game of objectives. There were three of them and to win the game one side needed to control two or more to win, otherwise the game was a draw. Two objectives are shown in the sketch as a solid black boxes and are relatively easily secured by the side nearest to them. One was a Brazilian hospital based around a church across the river the Alliance left, the other another camp around a small village on the opposite end of the table.

The third objective was a bit more difficult because it was a floating one. It was a Brazilian observation balloon carrying a Brazilian general that has broken loose from its tether and was drifting across the table on variable winds. At the beginning of every turn I rolled two dice (1xD6 and a GW hit dice) and the balloon would move in the direction indicated by the hit dice (a roll of ‘hit’ will force a roll again) the distance indicated on the D6 in increments of 100mm. The balloon could not leave the table and if it got to the table edge there would be an immediate re-roll to get it moving back across the table. The balloon began at an altitude of 300mm but was descending at the  rate of 50mm per turn. The first unit to make contact with the balloon base once it touches the ground could claim the objective. Shooting at the balloon risked killing the general and negating the objective.

The forces were:

Paraguayans 

• Ten standard infantry battalions
• Five standard cavalry units
• Three field guns

Alliance:

• Nine large Brazilian infantry battalions, two standard cavalry regiments and four guns
• Eight small Argentine infantry battalions, two small cavalry regiments and one gun
• Three standard Uruguayan infantry battalions and one gun.

Each side could deploy anywhere along their table edge and could hold up to half their force off table and bring it on at the beginning of any turn..

The Paraguayans had four advantages to represent to their historical aggressiveness:

• They added ‘1’ to any activation score if they are in good order
• The Alliance would deduct ‘1’ to any activation score if they were in good order
• In any close combat the Paraguayans could  count as higher grade troops and
• They would always count as shock troops if charging.

So how did it go?

The balloon started in the centre of the table 

The Paraguayans chose to put the bulk of their force, three cavalry regiments, eight battalions and on their right, opposite the church. They sent a much smaller force of two cavalry regiments, two battalions and a battery to their left.

The Alliance chose to put the Uruguayans on their left, with the Argentine division to their right, while the Brazilians took the far right. The latter were to make the main effort, to take the village then cross the river and swing left. The Uruguayans and Argentinians were to hold as many of the the Paraguayans in place as possible until the turning force was in position, at that point they would cross the river and enter the fight.

The Brazilians deploy 

With the Argentine and Uruguayan troops to their left.

The Paraguayans prepare to cross the river near the village 

While the main Paraguayan force deploys opposite the church

The Paraguayans quickly secured the to on table objectives, now they had to hold them.

The balloon shifts awkwardly in the variable winds, moving right, then back towards the Brazilian lines, then towards the Paraguayan side.

The Paraguayans take the church

Paraguayan cavalry

On the Alliance right the Paraguayan cavalry attacked the Brazilian troopers. The Paraguayans pushed the enemy back but fail to break them. The next turn the Brazilian guns came into action and mauled the Paraguayan cavalry.

On the Allied left the fighting was restricted to an artillery exchange while the Alliance troops waited for the Brazilians to secure the right.

The Paraguayan cavalry await the Alliance crossing  of the river 

Their infantry takes shelter from Allied gunfire amongst the vegetation along the river bank
 

A general view of the field from the Allied left.

On the Alliance right, the Paraguayan cavalry, under relentless Brazilian gunfire, had had enough and quit the field. The Brazilians then split their force, leaving a brigade of five battalions to capture the village, while four battalions and the cavalry moved to cross the river to turn the left of the Paraguayans in front of the church.

As the Brazilians approached the ford the balloon lurched toward the river at the rate of 600mm and landed mid-stream, but right on the ford. The Brazilian cavalry easily secured and repatriated their general, but at a cost as the Paraguayan artillery bit into them. Within two turns the Brazilian cavalry had had enough and quit the field. 

Meanwhile the Brazilian infantry brigade crossed the river and advanced steadily along the opposite bank while their artillery raked the Paraguayan infantry.

The Brazilian guns in action

The Paraguayan infantry feel the pain of Brazilian gunfire

The balloon lands

Finally the two Paraguyan battalions in the village on the Brazilian right were overwhelmed by Brazilian fire (armed with rifled muskets against the Paraguayan muskets the Brazilians could took advantage of their greater range and simply stood back and fired).

On the Allied left the Uruguayan and Argentine troops finally began to move and made an attempt to cross the river in front of the church. The first attempt was thrown back, but with the Brazilians now closing on the rear of the Church, the Paraguayans called “enough” and victory fell to the Alliance.

The Brazilians shoot it out with the Paraguayans in the village 

The game didn’t quite go as expected. I thought the Uruguayan and Argentine troops would contest the ground around of the church more.  But then wargames scenarios rarely go as expected.

A Game…at Last!

Today we played our first game since January…well the Sunday group that is.

The lengthy interruption had two causes: the arrival of the Omicron variant with its subsequent restrictions and then some health issues with the owner of our gaming venue.

The game was a Great Paraguayan War scenario, sn opportunity to see my newly completed armies on the table.

Due to travel travel commitments (for work, pleasure and family) we were reduced to five players, two on the Paraguayan and three on the Alliance sides. 

The scenario was that the Alliance forces have landed behind a small Paraguayan fort on the Paraguay River, but the Allied advance has been poorly conducted and the three forces, Uruguayan, Argentinian and Brazilian became separated.

The rough sketch map below shows the deployment zones. The blue dots on the right show the limits of the  Brazilians, the Argentine troops are within the red dots, the Uruguayans in the green area and the Paraguayans within the limits of the black dotted line. The Paraguayans counted ten infantry battalions, five cavalry regiments, three field batteries five fortress guns. The Alliance counted 19 battalions, four cavalry regiments and six field batteries.

The Paraguayans decided to try to pick off the Alliance forces in detail, before they could unite and deployed forward, with their cavalry to the fore.

The Argentinians prepared to receive the onslaught.

The Brazilians advanced with unexpected speed.

Fearing the Brazilians would trap them in the open, the Paraguayans decided to fall back on the fortress, but threw their cavalry against the Argentine and Uruguayan troops to gain time.

But the attacks were repulsed and the Argentine cavalry came forward to exploit the situation. They routed the Paraguayan cavalry and pursued them. But the pursuers went too  far forward and were badly shot up by the Paraguayan infantry.

With the cavalry out of the way the Argentine infantry pressed forward on the right while the Brazilians formed up in the centre.

The Argentine infantry were soon engaged with two Paraguayan battalions in the woods along the river and were initially roughly handled. Then in a few mad moments two Argentine battalions delivered a devastating fire and destroyed one of the Paraguayan units. In desperation the other Paraguayan unit charged to try to break two disrupted Argentine units. They drove the Argentinians back, but failed to break them and in the next turn three Argentinian battalions blew them apart.

Meanwhile the Brazilians made it into the frontline.

Despite some initial success on the right, a round of devastating fire followed by a successful Paraguayan charge routed and destroyed three of of the five Brazilian battalions on the left.

Here the game was ended. The Paraguayans had not been driven from the fort and although the Alliance  artillery was in tact and the Uruguayans were still on the field (despite the appalling dice luck of their commander) victory was given to to the Paraguayans.

To finish off the post here are some random shots of the game.