Angus Konstam's Edinburgh Wargames
The War of the Grand Alliance (1688-97)
Beneath the Billy Banners
My pal Chris Henry talked me into gaming this period, but it took some doing. Years ago I had a 15mm Marlburian army, and I already do the Seven Years War in 28mm. Was this so different? Well, it took a visit to Ireland (and a tour of the battlefields of Aughrim and the Boyne) to tip the balance. Since then I've visited many of the battlefields in Flanders, including Neerwinden, Fleurus and Walcourt. Oh, another incentive was the lead - Dixons do a lovely range of Grand Alliance figures, modelled many years ago by Mark Copplestone. They really are lovely figures, and the variety of heads mean that every unit looks a little different from the rest.
We began by raising a brigade or so a side, geared up for the Williamite War in Ireland (1689-91), but recently both Chris and I have returned to the period, and are raising more units. A large reason for this fresh impetus was the release of Barry Hilton's Beneath the Lilly Banners rules, which were similar in origin to the Lillibulero rules concocted by Chris and I, only with a bit more chrome, and a lot more sexy colour pictures!
Louis XIV Click on the rules to link to Barry's site and shop William III
Since they came out, Beneath the Lily Banners has become the standard set for the period at the Edinburgh club - used by the guys who already have large 28mm Marlburian armies, Consequently Chris and I have adopted them too, rebasing our figures to suit Barry's rather tight basing system, and raising new units of a size suitable for Barry's rules.
In June 2009 we plan to test the rules to destruction by using them in a refight of the Battle of Malplaquet (1709). This mammoth Marlburian battle involved almost 200,000 men, and our 28mm refight will consequently be on a similarly lavish scale, involving about 3,500 figures! I'll post more information about our preparations and plans a little closer to the battle, and afterwards of course, I'll add a page giving a full account of the refight!
Barry and the League of Augsburg first put this period on the map with their superb demonstration games during the 1990's. they were also something of an inspiration to me in getting this project off the ground. Barry has pictures of his own grand Alliance era lead on the League's site.
The earlier Williamite and the later Marlburian periods are effectively one and the same - both major wars between Louis XIV's France and the same coalition of Allies - but mainly Holland and Britain. There were differences of course - in the earlier period the slouch hats then in vogue have been dubbed "informal tricornes" by wargamers, to distinguish them from the more formal tricorne hats of the later period. Otherwise the figures are pretty much the same. Therefore we have little problem fighting battles which involve figures from either or both periods, although my own collection is firmly anchored in the Williamite or Grand Alliance era.
Most of my figures are from Dixon Miniatures (beautifully sculpted by Mark Copplestone), with a few over-priced Foundry figures mixed in, to plug the gaps in the Dixon range. A new development is the launch of Copplestone's Sun King range, which would work well for the Grand Alliance era. They're also stunningly-good figures - sufficient to tempt anyone into the period!
There are also plenty of spin-off periods. The biggest is the Great Northern War, a conflict I've been fascinated in ever since I began research on Peter the Great's Russian army. In the early 1990's I was lucky enough to be paid to make a research trip to the Kremlin Armouries, and other Russian museums. The result was a trio of Osprey books:
I even had a 15mm Russian army once, designed for Koenig Krieg rules. It always seemed to be beaten handsomely by the Swedes, who were "super-troopers", so I landed up selling it. Who knows - some day I might return to the Great Northern War. The new 28mm Russian and Swedish figures by Musketeer Miniatures could tempt anyone, while Reiver Castings also produce a growing GNW range.
Another intriguing conflict of the period is the the Darien Venture, the doomed Scottish attempt to carve out an American colony on the mosquito-infested coast of Panama in the late 1690's. The idea of disease-weakened red-coated Scots fighting it out in the jungles with white coated Spaniards - with both sides supported by native allies - is darned appealing! I could be sucked into the fetid jungles of Central America at a drop of a hat... or does that take us back to pirates again? then there's the Monmouth rebellion and the Battle of Sedgemoor, the War for Tangiers, the Covenanter Risings - the period is laden with wargaming opportunities. All I need is the time, money and energy to indulge in them...
Free rules (but without Barry's shiny production values): Download Lillibulero (Word File)
Report of "Marlburian" and Grand Alliance games using Beneath the Lilly Banners - Journal 24 , Journal 34 & Journal 35
Refight of the Battle of Malplaquet (1709): Journal 35 and the Malplaquet page
A photographic tour of the Fleurus (1690) and Neerwinden (1693) battlefields can be found on my Belgian Battlefields page.
It also includes photos of the "Marlburian" battlefields of Ramillies (1706) and Malplaquet (1709).
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