Battlereport Dutch revolt / 80 years war

[ErikG]

For many years I've had the wish to make armies of this period, finally I did and just finished them. For us Dutch folks, this is a pivotal moment in our history, the Habsburg chains were definitely broken, and it was a war of Independence, religion (ish) and a civil war. The small and very young Dutch republic fought against mighty Spain, a war that lasted 80 years (with a 12 year truce in the middle) and it brought not only independence but extreme wealth, turning the Dutch into a (mainly) maritime world power for over 150 years. The Prince William of Orange became our leader, followed by his sons after he was murdered, followed by many more members of the house of Orange until they were finally awarded by a crown, turning them into our royal family and thereby making the colour orange a colour of national defiance and pride.
Before the battle we all kept our fingers crossed, who would be allowed to play with the Dutch and who would fight with Spain.
Abe was awarded with leadership of the Dutch army, supported by Joost, Roland and Claus (his real name is Alexander but we have too many of those already).
Spain was led by Erik, he was supported by Sander, Alex and Justin.










Abe is very happy that he was selected as the general of the Dutch troops


The two opposing armies

The Dutch had the first turn, troops moved forward, three divisions moved forward in the centre, they had here a numerical majority, Spain only had two divisions in the centre. The Spanish remained out of reach of the Dutch weapons. Claus moved his infantry forward, around the windmill the Dutch Cavalry moved towards the troops of Justin. Joost, on the right flank, saw the numerical superiority of Spain on that flank and decided to send his cavalry to support in the centre.




Spain also moved forward, or at least, a part of the army. On the right flank there was some limited movement from the troops of Sander, the movement on the left flank was much worse, the troops of Justin had to cross a small stream but the cleanliness that Justin normally enforced in its troops backfired, the troops refused to get their shoes and socks dirty and they refused to enter the water. During the subsequent battle, Justin would make many frantic attempts to get his troops to move through the 30 centimetres high water but in the end his Division refused to cross the water. The Cavalry of Justin moved very slowly forward, step by step with raised legs moved slowly through the water towards the enemy. In the Centre the divisions of Alex and Erik moved forward, Erik saw the flank of the Cavalry of Claus that was splashing through the water and decided to attack, the Spanish Cavalry stormed into the water but this slowed the attack and the Dutch Cavalry could not be reached.
 



In the Centre the Dutch troops moved towards the Spaniards, the centre Division could not wait and stormed forward, they could now see the white of the eyes of the Spaniards, the enthusiasm increased steadily. On the right flank the Cavalry of Joost moved back to the position from where he came, there was strong doubt whether or not attacked the Spanish troops from Sander. Claus however, had no doubt, his Cuirassiers moved forward, they drew their weapons and stormed through the water towards the Spanish Cuirassiers that opened fire and shot a single Dutchman of his horse, that turned out to be little. Full of hate the Dutch Cuirassiers rammed into the enemy formation, man and horse went down and were trampled in the rippling water. Fear formed in the eyes of the Spaniards, they had not expected such an aggressive attack, and fear turned into panic and while the formation broke the Spanish riders were eliminated by the Dutch Cuirassiers. The first victory was for Netherlands, the Spaniards looked shocked as this elite unit was destroyed.




Now it was up to Spain to attack, in the centre opposite the disciplined Dutch troops were Spanish veterans that moved forward with great enthusiasm. The pikes were brought down, Don Erik de la Parma dropped his handkerchief, this was the signal where the Pikemen had been waiting for, as a steam roller they moved forward, the Dutch troops braced and formed "hedgehog" formation and the two formations became locked in a bloody combat, soft spots were sought and on both sides men were killed on the spot. The experience of the Spanish veterans finally began to bear fruit, the Dutch troops were slowly driven back, not much later a hole formed in their line, the Spaniards saw this and put additional pressure on the hard fought Dutch, this was sufficient, the Dutch pike formation was broken and destroyed.
This was not the only Spanish attack that round, from the same Spanish tercio swordsmen charged a unit of Dutch Musketeers that hadn't formed hedgehog with the pikemen, the musketeers fired a salvo onto the swordsmen but this hasty shot caused no casualties. Swords were drawn and heads were removed from their bodies, it was a short but extremely bloody combat, the few remaining Musketeers tried to bring themselves to safety but they were ruthlessly put to the sword. The centre of the Dutch army was split, the centre Division was completely eradicated.
Spanish Lancers had witnessed the massacre of Spanish cuirassiers, now they were bent on revenge, they brought their lances down and dashing through the shallow water they stormed towards the Dutch Cuirassiers whose closing shots did little damage. With great violence they hit the Dutch Cuirassiers and the once peaceful water coloured red by troops on both sides, after a deadly fight both units remained and the fight would continue.
Alex opened fire on the troops of Roland that were now in range and they managed to do great damage on a unit of musketeers. Justin's infantry again refused to enter the water, especially now that a red glow was mixed in with the water that would be quite tricky to remove from the clothing. The cavalry from Justin had arrived on the other side of the stream and was moving slow to offer support the Cavalry of Erik but they moved too slowly to be of any help this turn.
Sander made the decision to split his units, a single tercio was kept behind to protect the flank, the other was sent to the Centre to force a victory there. He gave an order to the Tercio on the flank to move forward, this was misunderstood and his troops marched back to the place where they had started the battle.






The Dutch generals looked full of disgust towards the carnage that had taken place in the Centre. They decided to move back and both divisions anchored themselves next to the artillery that would give additional support, here they formed a line of Musketeers and artillery that would stop the Spanish.  The Dutch firepower was greater, they decided to use this quality against their enemies. On the right flank Joost moved "back and forth" and thus sowed further doubts about his ultimate intention. On the left flank the Dutch Cuirassiers of Claus fought back hard against the Spanish Lancers of Erik, here the fight remained undecided. The Dutch Harquebusiers from Claus turned to face the cavalry from Justin that they expected to attack the next turn.
 




The Spaniards had not yet had enough, while the last severed limbs were thrown away by the Spanish swordsmen, they stormed forward and themselves onto a unit of Musketeers that were still in range, red coloured swords struck towards the Dutch Musketeers, in a disciplined way they managed to deflect the power of this attack and in an unexpected moment they struck back hard at the swordsmen, the Spanish were completely surprised and the grins on their faces disappeared like snow from the Sun by the time that musket butts shattered their bones, ingloriously the Spanish Swordsmen went down.
The veteran Spanish Pikemen from Erik, also had not yet had enough and they charged towards a Musketeers unit of Roland, the Musketeers had previously suffered heavy casualties from the shots from Alex, this second attack was too much, the unit of musketeers was destroyed. The Spanish Pikemen moved back towards the protection of their Musketeers, these could provide some cover for the exhausted pikemen. The Cavalry of Justin had arrived and charged the mounted harquebusiers from Claus that did not survive the violence of the Spanish attack, they broke and left the battlefield. Meanwhile the Lancers from Erik and Cuirassiers from Claus fought on, the Cuirassiers were driven back but did not break.
Sander decided to attack on the flank, he moved his troops forward with great speed in the direction of the troops of Joost, his other units moved rapidly towards the Centre and they now arrived and entered the centre behind the troops of Alex.

[ErikG]

The Dutch Generals decided to fully use the available firepower of their troop, they ordered their troops to concentrate mainly against the Spanish veterans. Abe's artillery opened fire, the cannons thundered and smoked but did not do much more, was it poor maintenance or bad production? At that time the Gunners did not know what happened but the big guns no longer functioned, this battle they would not be able to do much more. Musketeers in the Centre opened fire on the Spanish, more Spaniards were mortally wounded but it was not enough to break any enemy units. The artillery from Roland did fire a volley into the Spanish ranks but they inflicted little damage.  The Cavalry of Justin supported the Lancers of Erik, three Spanish cavalry units now attacked a single unit of Dutch cuirassiers and as the water coloured redder by the minute, the Dutch Cuirassiers held. Joost decided to send his cavalry to thee centre, he wanted to support his troops there so that the centre could be held.



Don Erik de la Parma saw that his Spanish veterans had had to endure too much, these troops were slowly brought to the rear so that they could recover from the heavy fighting, they marched backward onto a hill behind which they wanted to find some cover so that they could rally and reorganize. Spanish Musketeers opened fire on the Dutch nut they did little damage.
On the flank one unit of cavalry from Justin left the fight and two Spanish Cavalry units fought against a single unit Dutch of Cuirassiers, the pressure finally became too much, tired and severely weakened the last Dutch Cuirassiers were killed and fell into the water that by now was dark red in colour. After much effort the Spaniards had won that fight. A third cavalry unit (by Justin) decided to charge a nearby infantry unit from Claus, the infantry quickly tried to form hedgehog but they did not succeed. In the confusion that arose they had no chance to recover, mercilessly the Spanish cavalry destroyed two units of Dutch Musketeers. 
On the other flank Sander moved his infantry with great speed towards the troops of Joost, it wouldn't be long before these units also clashed.










The Spanish veterans that stood weakened on the Hill were a perfect target for the Dutch Musketeers, these opened fire on the Spaniards, a wave of joy went through the Dutch lines, and the so hated Spanish Pikemen broke under the pressure of this deadly dire and left the battlefield. Further fire caused some additional casualties amongst the Spanish Spaniards but they did not sustain heavy damage. Joost moved his cavalry further towards the units of Alex in the centre.









The mercenaries from Sander flocked into the Centre and took position next to the troops of Alex, the Spanish veteran Musketeers of Erik that still held out on the right flank formed part of this line and a deadly fire was opened on the Dutch troops that caused multiple victims.  Justin decided to give up the hope that his infantry would ever cross the dirty water and he gave the order to move along the waterfront towards the Centre, finally his troops moved, although they did not move fast through the muddy banks along the stream. The cavalry from Justin charged cavalry the artillery from Abe by whom still were taking frantic efforts to get guns operational again, they were completely surprised and wiped out.
Sander finally had arrived and his troops charged the troops from Joost, Joost ordered his troops to form hedgehog and both became entangled in a bloody combat. Despite the bloody losses Joost's troops held their ground and fought on. In the Centre Alex decided that the cavalry of Joost had to be driven back and a unit Pikemen charged towards the cavalry that ran off as fast as it had arrived.
 






Now it was all or nothing, the Dutch troops fought back with everything that they had, musket fire could not break the Spanish Centre and artillery inflicted too few victims amongst the Pikemen from Alex that were nearby, the centre was about to burst but they could do nothing to turn the tide. On the right flank stormed a unit of Dutch Musketeers from Joost that were not in hedgehog charged Spanish Musketeers from Sander both divisions remained locked in combat but here to Spain slowly got the upper hand.




Spain decided to increase the pressure, Justin's cavalry assaulted the troops of Abe that quickly formed Hedgehog and were then fired upon by Spanish Musketeers, and victim after victim was suffered. Spanish Lancers moved towards the Centre and were ready to assist. Sander managed to win the fight with from Joost, Joost saw his division break and they went down ingloriously. The only remaining Musketeer unit from Joost was driven backwards, they came within reach of the Spanish Pikemen from Alex, and caught between two units the last infantry troops from Joost were crushed.
 




This was the final blow for the Dutch Army, Abe decided that fighting on would be madness, he ordered the army to pull back, and it was a Spanish victory.

While the captured leaders of the Dutch troops suffered their deserved punishment.

The Spanish wounded could rely on the most advanced medical techniques

[Sparrow]

Great to see this too long neglected period being gamed. Brilliant!!!!

[senormeek]

Looks fabulous! This was my specialist period when studying history at uni in the UK (did my thesis on the 1576 Spanish Fury at Antwerp). But it had never crossed my mind to wargame it. Now I'm genuinely tempted to pitch the Dukes and Alba and Palma etc vs the Princes of Orange and co! What make are the miniatures?

[Marine0846]

Wonderful photos.
Thanks for the detail battle report.
One does not see many units of such size.
They look great.

[Paul Richardson]

Marvellous report and photos. I've never really understood why the 80 Years War isn't more popular with gamers or manufacturers. The only bespoke range I'm aware of for the war is the Essex range which is suitable for the earlier part of the war. Excellent figures in their day but dated now. Hopefully the new Warlord Games Wars of Religion range, if it ever gets properly going, will re-kindle interest in the period. 

[ErikG]

Thanks.

The miniatures are from warlord. It was difficult to find the right figures, most are ECW and those troops have different helmets etc. For years I've been wanting to do this but couldn't find the right figures in a "complete" range (that were sulpted to my liking and indeed not "outdated") and of course not just Dutch but Spanish too(and their allies, mercenaries etc.).

Warlord has a 30 years war range and those figures match well with the "later" period of the war, so unfortunately I could not do the early war with Alba (the Iron Duke) vs William of Orange. So I've based it on the Dutch army after the reforms of Maurice (Maurits) at the time of the battle of Nieuwpoort and the following years.
To my surprise Flags of War had some very good flags so for me this was a (wargamers) dream come true!
Who knows if a good complete early war range ever becomes available..... might do that too

The Dutch had smaller pike blocks/units, based more on the Roman manipular system (worked well against the Macedonian Pike so why not vs Spanish pike) that gave them more flexibility, this was combined with more linear tactics and more firepower. I've tried to represent this on the table with "large" Spanish pike blocks vs "normal" Dutch blocks, the Dutch were also more manoeuvrable and had more firepower. It played well (we used pike & shotte) but want to tweak a little bit because the additional firepower didn't really work out the way we planned. The battle was great fun though, with the exception of me having to kill so many Dutch (and being an "Orangist" that did hurt a bit)

[smirnoff]

Excellent
Did a bit of the 80 years war years ago, but great to see that table groaning under so many lovely figures.
Which rules did you use?

[pocoloco]

Thank you for the wonderful pictorial AAR! Quite a battle! 

Will you have more games in a form of campaign or was this the end of the revolt?

Sadly in this case, as in many other in our hobby, if there were no English or later US involvement, it remains a bit of an "obscure" history for miniatures companies.

[marianas_gamer]

Really nice  I have always been interested in the Dutch Revolt.
LB

[smirnoff]

if there were no English..... it remains a bit of an "obscure" history for miniatures companies.

There were troops from England.
See the (Welsh) Sir Roger Williams 'The Actions of the Lowe Countres'
Granted they were not in huge numbers...

[ErikG]

In all truth, a great many of the soldiers that fought for the Dutch were not Dutch, indeed English fought there as well, as did many from other countries. On the Dutch ships that sailed the globe for the years to come, most also were not Dutch (it's a small country so there just weren't enough people to supply everything that was needed, but they also had a lot of money and payed well and regularely and that is usually enough to "fill the ranks"). The difference is that they did fight for the Dutch Republic and it is very true that if Enland itself (and indeed later USA) is not fighting that in many cases it becomes a more "obscure" period and that is a shame is suppose. But luckily we always have places like these to set that straight!

We will definately play more games, the revolt will continue! Unfortunately some of us (myself included) have quite busy jobs so we can only play 5 or 6 battles a year (we've been wanting to increase the number of battles for years but that proves difficult) and we have many different periods and armies to play......

We don't play a real campaign but do try to "connect" the battles we play. We plan to play this period again, hopefully in March because we did all enjoy it very much and want to have another go at it.

We've played pike & shotte from Warlord, we have a lot of armies from many different timeperiods, the advantage of the Warlord rules are that they are quick to play and learn and with Hail Caesar and Black Powder we do not have to learn new rules for every period that we play. we feel that if the armies are a bit "larger"these sets work well, not too much detail that slows it down but fast play and a lot of manouvering. We do "tweak" the rules a bit to give it more of a flavour of the period because we feel that sometimes the rules are too universal and armies need to "act" as they did.  but that works great with these rules.

[Daeothar]

Squee!  

You sir, are a Dutchman to my own heart. This is exactly the sort of thing I've been pondering about the last half year or so. So much in fact, that I played a game of Pike and Shotte at Poldercon last weekend, just to get a feel for the rules. To be honest, I did not really warm to the rules, but maybe that was because of the necessary pace of the game (1.5h was all we had)  and the fact our opponents were quite well versed in the system and the dice rolling was rather insane.

But still, I'm very interested in gaming this period now. It's pretty odd that the Eighty Year War is so underrepresented in wargaming. There's a lot of interest in Swedish, French, German and Spanish exploits, but very little love for 'our' struggle for independence, even though this long conflict caused changes in army tactics, composition and strategies, as well as stir up the entire existing European political landscape.

To be honest; even though I've always loved history, and even majored in archeology, I could never find myself loving this period either. I don't know why; must have been because at school, it was everywhere, and I always was a bit of a non-conformist...

But as I'm growing older (and older), I find myself drawn to it after all. And then especially the Sieges of Breda, which are of interest to myself, since I was born and raised here and eventually returned and settled in the city too. There are so many bits of history scattered about here, linking directly back to this period, that it's only natural, I presume.

More specifically, I'd like to game either the breaking of the 3rd siege (with the Dutch trojan horse peat ship), or the 4th, in which the city again fell into Spanish hands.

I'm still debating what scale to use. because ultimately, I'm more into skirmish games (always have been), so the 'turfschip' would be perfectly suited for 28mm. But the larger open battles or sieges, I think, would be better suited for gaming in 15mm or maybe even smaller (10mm?).

At any rate; I'm keen to model terrain to match ((a very small) part of) the city in the period of choice for whatever scale or siege I decide on.

And then the troops of course. I must say that I'm very impressed by the armies in your battle report; they're awesome, especially waving those huge banners around, obviously. And correctly armed, dressed and armoured too; great stuff!

Do you guys just play pitched battles, or do you also do historical setups? And is Pike and Shotte the only rules set you use, or could you recommend other ones? I'd be especially interested in smaller scale battles/skirmishes actually.

Keep it up; please post more battles when you play them, if only because of the wonderful eye candy...

[Eric the Shed]

Stunning Sir !

If my ECW project comes out half as good I'll be very happy...

[wolfkarl]

I can only repeat the many compliments above. Thanks for posting this great game.