Barry Hilton - Standing armies were a
relatively new concept and some countries such as France and Holland
had by the 1680s, much more practice than others. The British Army’s
performance under William III is not particularly noteworthy despite
the fact that individual regiments often performed tenaciously. It is
also important to recognize that from 1688 to 1697 and again during
the War of the Spanish Succession, the British Army did not take the
field as a distinct entity but worked mostly as part of a larger
Allied army dominated by Dutch troops, senior officers and doctrine.
The British had to win the respect of their Dutch Allies and this
happened but slowly. Although many famous British regiments were
present at Steinkerke (1692) and Neerwinden (1693), the first battle
honour carried by any unit in the modern army is Namur (1695) largely
because this was their first notable victory. The gritty behaviour of
the British infantry particularly, at these three battles did much to
create a positive impression with their continental partners. Ever
the arch - political pragmatist Willem’s somewhat negative view of
officers and men did not extend to his attitude concerning English
money which helped enormously in his war with France. Up until the Act of Union
in 1707 both kingdoms
maintained separate armies. The Scottish Army, although modest was a
distinct entity and so talk of a British Army before that date is
inaccurate. To further complicate matters Scottish regiments existed
on both the English and Dutch establishments before and after 1707.
The professionalism of the Dutch, Danish and Swiss troops of the
period is well documented. Louis XIV’s large Maison du Roi
(Household) is conspicuous throughout and recorded as a formidable
battlefield force deployed in a far more active role than Napoleon’s
Imperial Guard. A major bonus of collecting wargames armies of this
era is the absolutely stunning spectra of uniform colour and flag
design. It is a riot of colour and amazing fusion of geometric and
heraldic designs.
Tabletop Gaming
Part of the reason I was
asked to pen this piece is I have been studying, writing about and
gaming the period fairly continuously for 21 years. During that time
I have happily used different sets of rules and gamed in different
scales. Contemporary rule sets such as Black
Powder will, I am certain, give enjoyable
games. I have used adapted ECW rules such as 1644
very successfully with minor modifications.
WRG 1420-1700 cover
the period. I started with the WHC Marlburian
rules adapted by a friend for the period 1688-1697 and enjoyed those
very much for several years. Dozens of games steered me towards
developing my own rules which appeared in 2008 as Beneath the Lily Banners. Games are essentially
linear and the movement rates make infantry cumbersome but to get a
real feeling of the period you must get the proportion of Foot and
Horse correct in your force. A ratio of 2:1 is perfect. This gives
cavalry enormous significance and creates huge swirling melees all
over the table. Without these proportions properly dealt with the
games will be dull, the cavalry an insignificant irritant and the
infantry fire fights predictable.
I have alluded to many
scenarios from the smallest to the largest in the text so far but
part of the joy of this period is continually uncovering new
information about units, uniforms, actions and organization.
Wargaming is a hobby which allows us to flit from project to project
and this stimulates and keeps the enthusiasm bubbling over. I am as
prone to this syndrome as every other gamer but I must confess that I
have never at any time completely dropped my interest in this amazing
period of political change and military awakening.