Give Battle: A Study of Linear Warfare & Grand Tactics

The Welcome Address

Welcome, Gentle Friends, to Give Battle! A Study of Linear Warfare & Grand Tactics.

Q: What is it?

A: It's a blog for me, by me, where I can record and attempt to organize some of the volumes of information I've learned about 18th Century Linear Warfare, Grand Tactics, Operational Strategy and The Cost of Campaigning.

Q: Why a blog?

A: Because blogs are bright and colorful and can be inspiring.

Also, I think tagging might help.

Q: Why "Give Battle!" as a name?

A: Because war gaming is often battle gaming, and when we read histories of wars, they're generally written as histories of campaigns, made up of a series of battles, (or possibly commanders who sought to evade or harass their opponents, and refused to give battle).

In any case, the field commander needs to know how certain formations performed under actual battlefield conditions, and how practice compared to theory, and therefore battles become our chief concern.

Q: Why the concentration on the Seven Years War?

A: The period of the Seven Years War is often considered the culmination of the period of linear warfare (and grand tactics of the Frederician school), and it also lies very much in the middle of the flintlock musket and socket bayonet era.

It falls between the earlier, "Marlburian" school of multiple lines of attack (like, say 4 lines at Blenheim - the Baroque), and the later "Napoleonic" school of attack columns and "revolutionary" impulse formations (the Romantic).

It's also considered the "Last Argument of Kings" or the end of the era of the Ancien Régime, the last big war purely prosecuted for "dynastic" reasons (before the revolutionary and nationalist eras).

It's the Rococo period in the Age of Reason, when philosopher-kings strode about the land with their small corps and Royal Armies and kicked giants in the knee. The actual details are even more interesting than the legend.

Q: What next?

A: See list:

A list (of course) of the applicable Osprey titles (with pictures of the covers, arranged by series).

A list (as well) of some of the well-known artists who've chosen the period (with lots of pictures, and the occasional war gamer quibble about the veracity of the pose or the equipment).

A couple of pages of dimensions, with discussions of formations, frontages, unit depth, space per soldier/trooper and the like.

A couple of pages with organizational information, how many platoons to a company, or troops to the squadron, leaders, support, supply and things of that nature.

Some discussion of campaigning, from an operational point of view. Some discussion of the basics of military missions, infantry operations, cavalry operations, artillery operations, siege operations, bridge-building, encampment, fortification and et cetera.

Some discussion of the particulars of the soldier's personal equipment and weapons, as well as those of his unit and his army.

A very general discussion of the uniforms of the era, with reference to current fashion and practice, as well as the utility of said garments for the intended military purpose.

Ditto grooming, queues, wigs, powder, drawing a mustache on one's face, tall guys in the front rank and other such relevant minutiae of the soldier's life.

A list of the "recommended" books to read on the subject, about the key commanders, their military careers, campaigning in the 18th Century, and the specifics of Linear Warfare and Grand Tactics, from the point of view of the occasional war gamer and Armchair Field Marshal.

A list of the horse-and-musket rulesets that I happen to own or have access to, and later on, some reviews of said rulesets, complete with my own personal attempts to distill an "ultimate set" of House Rules for the Solo Campaign.

Possibly, a list of some recommended listening to accompany the study of the era and the science of the campaign.

Q: Updated often?

A: There are other things in life, better sources for the information and many beautiful blogs which already cover the information in much greater detail.

When I find a factoid I want to write down and access later, hopefully I'll remember to post it here and tag it properly.

Q: What's up with the moustaches?

A: I'm really not sure. We'll see what further research reveals.

Q: What happened to those other blogs?

A: Ooh Shiny!

(Small unit tactics led me to the origin of small unit tactics led me to grand tactics led me to linear warfare led me to operational strategy led me to campaign management... Ooh Shiny!)

So, Welcome, Fellow Gamers, Fellow Scholars, Fellow Historians, Fellow Art Lovers.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you find it useful.