1870 Anglo-French Naval Campaign Ideas

I've been having some tentative thoughts about a solo naval campaign using Broadside and Ram, loosely based on the campaign system used in different forms for the various Long Face Games supplements. The idea would be to set up a series of linked games for a fictitious but not entirely improbable conflict between the French and British navies, focussed on the English Channel and Western Approaches. This would be set in 1870, as an adjunct to the very real Franco Prussian War.

The cassus belli for this clash of naval forces would be an actual historical attempt by the French to destroy most of the Prussian navy at the start of the Franco Prussian War, which in reality failed dismally but in my counterfactual version of events, actually succeeded. This idea was inspired by a passage in the Broadside and Ram supplement for The Schleswig Holstein Question, which also includes the Franco Prussian War even though nothing very notable actually happened in nautical terms:

The French almost managed to eliminate the most powerful ships in the Prussian order of battle at the outset of the war. The ironclads Konig Wilhelm, Friedrich Karl, Kronprinz and the smaller Prinz Adalbert (originally built for the Confederate States Navy) passed through the English Channel to exercise in the North Atlantic. The French planned to cut off and destroy this force, but the Prussian intelligence service in London caught wind of the plan. A warning was sent from the ambassador in London to the Prussian squadron who eluded their pursuers and returned to Wilhelmshaven. In the event the French squadron sent to hunt down the Prussians did not sail until 8 days after their quarry had reached home, but the potential for an action in the Channel was there.(p7)

Of course, in my version of events, the Prussian spies did not learn of the French plan until too late and the French got their act together much earlier, so that the Prussian ironclad squadron was intercepted and heavily damaged by a powerful French sortie from Cherbourg. However, the big showdown just happened to be off the Lizard, with the remnants of the Prussian squadron limping into Devonport to escape it's French pursuers. This placed the British government in a tight spot as they were really interested in staying out of any continental 'entanglements'.

A diplomatic row ensued, in which the indignant French demand that the Prussian warships are forced to leave the sanctuary of the Hamoaze, whilst the obstinate Prussians appeal to the British to allow them to stay. In the end, Her Majesty's government decides to be pragmatic and declares that the patched up Prussian ironclads, escorted and protected by a Royal Navy squadron, will be allowed to return via the North Sea to Wilhelmshaven. To avoid any potential accusations of a lack of neutrality, this escort will be very light and composed of only a steam frigate or two, with strict orders to avoid any confrontation.

Unfortunately, the French navy isn't as reasonable and decides to seize the opportunity to finish off the Prussian naval threat once and for all. A battle ensues off Portland, in which the Prussian ships are destroyed by a powerful French ironclad squadron, at the cost of the unarmoured Royal Navy frigates being battered into matchsticks when they attempt to intercede. The French obviously claim that the Prussians fired first and that the British warships effectively 'took sides', firing on the French ironclads as well.

We are not amused

This doesn't wash with Queen Victoria, the government of Mr Gladstone or the Admiralty, let alone the electorate, so war is duly declared by Great Britain against the French Empire on 26th July 1870. However, this war in itself is largely conceived as a limited naval campaign rather than an intervention on land, given the relative weakness of the British Army and the strength of the Royal Navy. It is also considered by Her Majesty's government as a 'punitive war' designed primarily to punish the upstart French for their arrogance but not at the expense of the tax payer or to the obvious benefit of Von Bismarck and King Wilhelm I.

A good basis for a campaign map c1870

This leads to a good old fashioned blockade of the French naval ports along the English Channel and Atlantic Coasts, with the French effectively bottled up in Lorient, Brest, Cherbourg and Le Havre, so that they cannot themselves impose a blockade of the Baltic and North Sea. In the end, the war on land takes it's historical course and France is defeated by the Prussians, but not before the French make several attempts to break the blockade and launch 'cruiser warfare' sorties against merchant shipping in the Western Approaches.

I think this is not a bad basis for a solo campaign, without the need to have any complicated land actions or invasions, and only involving limited numbers of ships for either side.

It also has some specific objectives for both the French and British, which means that there will be a clear outcome based on how successful they are in achieving them. It also is clearly time limited, as the French surrender in May 1871 brings the campaign to an effective close after ten turns, each equivalent to a month, thus enabling the campaign to be linked by a series of individual scenarios. I will also be thinking up some random events and rules for repairs, to make things a bit less predictable and so that each game turn has consequences for the next.

(thanks to Matt H for the inspiration)