By Garry David Wills
History
‘Throwing Thunderbolts’ was born at Salute in London, November 2021, where I met Charles Singleton the Helion Wargames series editor. We discussed the potential for a guide to wargaming the French Revolution. I was initially sceptical because of the work involved in creating a representative set of scenarios. However, by the time my son James had driven me home I had decided that I had enough material, gathered in the 10 years since I published my first book, Wellington’s First Battle, which was about the battle of Boxtel in 1794. In drawing up the proposal it was clear that confining the book to the War of the First Coalition (1792–7) would give a natural end point and a focus on the most exciting period, involving the largest number of participants.
Where does the title come from?
Maximilien Robespierre was very much a creature of the War of the First Coalition, who followed King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette and 84 generals to the guillotine, in 1794. However, his quote ‘Peoples do not judge in the same way as courts of law… they throw thunderbolts!’, succinctly captures the spirit of the age. The thunderbolt features strongly in the iconography of the French Republic, representing the ‘will of the people’. The excellent cover by Giorgio Albertini depicts Grenadier Pierre Marie Carroux as he prepares to employ his bayonet, the preferred weapon of his political masters.
Why the War of the First Coalition?
Four key factors should attract the wargamer to the War of the First Coalition:
1. The War of the First Coalition offers a largely untapped reservoir of potential wargame scenarios. The war involved some 280+ battles and actions on land, all of which offer the potential for some interesting scenarios for our tabletop battles. Similarly at sea, some 74 potential scenarios have been identified.
2. The war also involved a wide range of participants with the new French Republic declaring war on all its neighbours, including Austria, Great Britain, Naples, Piedmont, Portugal, Prussia, Spain and the United Provinces.
3. The war saw a continuation of the evolution of military thought that had been accelerating throughout the eighteenth century. During this war the armies were getting to grips with the tactical features that would dominate the later Napoleonic Wars: the more aggressive use of light infantry, the wider use of horse artillery and the greater articulation of the battle line brought about by the introduction of mixed arms divisions.
4. The famous generals of the Napoleonic era were, during the War of the First Coalition, making their way through the ranks and can more credibly appear on the average wargamer’s table. For example, Ney leading a cavalry regiment across a river to outflank the Austrians, Napoleon leading two battalions at Toulon, Wellington leading a brigade at Boxtel or Augereau leading a division at Castiglione.
What is in the Book?
The table of contents is the best way to explain what is in the book:
The book combines a mixture of the military history of the war with a beginner’s guide to wargaming the period. The military chronology gives an overview of the war in sufficient detail for the wargamer to begin the development of their own scenarios and to provide the wider context for the scenarios provided in Chapter Seven. In Chapter Four the armies of each of the major protagonists are described in some detail, guiding the wargamer in organising their own miniature forces and the focus on the war of the First Coalition helps avoid some of the simple beartraps presented by sources focused on the wars of the later coalitions. The scenarios included are Lincelles (1793), Pirmasens (1793), Toulon (1793), Boxtel (1794), the ‘Whiff of Grapeshot’ (1795), Mondovi (1796) and Castiglione (1796). These scenarios involve all of the major participants in the war and as a body demonstrate how to specifically wargame this war. In addition, three naval scenarios are included Glorious 1 June (1794), a frigate action in the East Indies (1796) and Les Droits de l’Homme (1797).
Finally, the book is a source book, summarising the resources available to the wargamer as they begin their own projects in this exciting period. There is also a painting tutorial designed for 15mm figures.
Throwing Thunderbolts comprises 302 pages, including 6 black and white illustrations, 7 colour illustrations, 19 colour photos. 25 maps, 2 diagrams, 55 tables. The colour photographs feature Colin Ashton’s excellent 28mm collection.
In Summary
The War of the First Coalition is an underexplored and exciting period and Throwing Thunderbolts is a unique guide for wargamers, enabling them to bring that excitement to their own tabletops. The book can be purchased directly from Helion Wargames here.
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