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Blenheim
2004
Wargaming
the 300th Year Anniversary
of
The
Battle of Blenheim, August 13, 1704
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Select
an army from the portraits list below for further details.
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The
Army of Captain General John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough.
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The
Imperial Army of Prince François Eugène of Savoy
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The
Army of Camille d'Hostun de la Baume, Duc de Tallard, Marshall of France
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The
Army of Prince Maximilian II Emanuel Wittelsbach
Elector
of Bavaria
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August 13, 2004 was
the 300th anniversary of the battle of Blenheim (known to the Germans as
Blindheim and to the French as 2nd Hochstedt - yes - there was a battle
here the year before - though not quite so large). This project re-fought
this battle as a Military Miniatures Wargame at the annual gaming convention
ENFILADE
hosted by NHMG. This is held every Memorial Day weekend in Washington
State and this project was held at the Enfilade 2004 convention.
Read about
Ramilles 2006
In preparation for this project,
we prepared the game and rehearsed it over three separate 12 ft wargaming
tables, utilizing 28mm miniatures. This site documents these preparations,
list the information we have used to get here, and shows photos of the
full size game as it was played.
This
is a shot of a preliminary test game taken by David Mebust. It shows the
intense action around Oberglau that in our game deviated slightly from
history.
In the foreground can be
seen the top of Marshall Tallard's coach as he attempts to pull back from
the action slightly.
You can click on the image
for a larger view
THE
GAME PLAYED AT THE ENFILADE CONVENTION 2004
If you would like to follow
along with the discussions, or even join in and opine, please JOIN
THE YAHOO BLENHEIM 2004 E-MAIL GROUP The group is likely to be
around for quite a while as we are already talking about Ramillies 2006. |
The Game Table.
This is the projected game table, each
square representing 1 square foot.
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Click
on the map for a full size image.
This is version 10 of the battlefield
layout that we used for the game. Ideally, to be historical, we would need
to arch the table across the front. When we first play tested the left
flank, we did not have the town of Lutzingen on the small lower left add-on
table, but as the game progressed historically, the Bavarians needed somewhere
to fall back into - and that was the purpose of their deployment in front
of that village. |
The ground rises steadily
from right to left - some 25 meters. As this gentle rise across the 7 km
or so of the battlefield does not play any tactical role in the battle,
it makes the terrain much easier if it is simply turned into a constant
- and left flat along the length of the Nebel Brook. The gentle slopes
up from either side of the Brook ( 5 meters overall) are not sufficient
to hamper movement or give any movement bonuses or detriments and with
2 exceptions are for aesthetic purposes only. The exceptions are the hill
on the left of the map which is a steeper hill, and the rise outside of
Blindeim village which provided the "blind spot" for attacking troops to
reform before assaulting the village.
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THE ORDERS OF
BATTLE
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SEE
PHOTOS OF THE WHOLE GAME PLAY TESTED HERE
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Other Materiel Concerning the War of
the Spanish Succession
Game Testing - Download the Rules
Go to the WSS Campaign Game
1st Hochstedt
Artillery Batteries
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This
site documents the attempt of my friends and I to wargame the Battle of
Blenheim (2nd Hochstedt) in the year of its 300th Anniversary, 2004
The
game was played on a 36 ft wargame table at the Pacific Northwest's Largest
wargame convention, Enfilade. In order to prepare for this mammoth task
we enlisted the help of wargaming friends from all over the world to assist
in painting and preparing figures to represent all the battalions and squadrons,
representing the 120,000 men or so that fought the battle on the Bavarian
plains on the north bank of the Danube river, near the villages of Blindheim,
Oberglau and Lutzingen on August 13, 1704.
The
game was planed and gamed in various sections prior to the 2004 convention
by breaking the game into three sections of 12 feet. We we developed our
own set of fast play rules that capture the feel and flair for this colorful
period.
The
rules have been posted on this site when this link is active.
The
game was so successful, the site will be kept and plans are afoot to game
other 300 year anniversary battles of The War of the Spanish Succession.
Wargamers
interested in this period are also encouraged to try the following rules. |
GåPå |
Captain
General |
Warfare
in the Age of Marlborough. |
Warfare
in the Age of Reason |
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Copyright
1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Ian Croxall
Salem,
Oregon. USA
SIC
TRANSIT GLORIA MUNDI
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