In the quarter-century after the fall of Napoleon, there were several wars in Europe, and this Spanish civil war was the lengthiest, and most varied. It was the first of a set of conflicts that split the nation and would continue to do so for a century and more. A Savage and Romantic War gives the wargamer all the information needed to play games set in Spain in these tumultuous seven years, and to make and paint the armies that fought.

The First Carlist War is one that is becoming more familiar to English-speakers, and can be gamed in any scale, with dedicated ranges available in 28 and 18mm. Although taking place only two decades after the latter stages of the Peninsular campaign, and sometimes over the same landscape, it has a quality all of its own. It was big enough to have full-scale battles with two dozen or so units a side, and small enough that games can be played with a brigade or two, and with no need to compromise on scale – every pair of guns or battalion can appear on the table. There were numerous skirmishes, with Carlists in their huge berets and irregular bands facing militia, guardsmen and everything in between. The sheer variety and picturesque appearance of the soldiers of four nations who fought, the involvement of larger-than-life generals on both sides, and the spectacular scenery over which it took place make this a perfect conflict for re-creating in miniature.

Those who play most Napoleonic rules will be able to use them for this war, and this work is not linked to any
particular set.

The book has a short history of the war, then full details of the Spanish, French, British and Portuguese forces, including organization, tactics, uniforms, weapons, equipment and flags. Then there are descriptions of 13 battles, each with the map and orders of battle that will make it easy to translate onto the table-top. Finally, there is a lengthy account of the Oriamandi campaign of 1837, culminating in the dramatic battle which saw the largest involvement of British troops in Europe since Waterloo.

Throughout, there is detail of which regiments did what and how they did it.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• 1 When, why, how
• That is how it started
• 2 A very short account of seven very bloody years
• The Spark
• The Army of the North
• The era of the Expeditions – June 1835 to August 1838
• The end in the north
• The Carlist Army of the Centre and the war in Aragon
• The War in Catalonia
• The Reckoning
• 3 The Government forces and their foreign auxiliaries
• Line Infantry
• Light Infantry
• Provincial Regiments
• Royal Guard Infantry
• Marine Infantry
• National Militia
• Paramilitaries and Volunteers
• Cavalry
• Artillery, Engineers and Sappers
• The British
• The French Foreign Legion
• The Portuguese
• 4 The Carlist Armies
• The Army of the North
• Infantry of the Army of the North
• Cavalry of the Army of the North
• Artillery and engineers of the Army of the North
• The Army of the Centre
• Other Carlist forces
• 5 The material of war
• Weapons and equipment
• Government Flags
• Carlist Flags
• 6 Battles for Wargamers
• Nazar and Asarta, 29 December 1833
• Viana, 4 September 1834
• Ormáiztegui 2 and 3 January 1835
• Mendigorría, 16 July 1835
• Luchana, 24–25 December 1836
• Huesca, 24 May 1837
• Barbastro, 2 June 1837
• Grá or Guisona, 12 June 1837
• Villar de los Navarros or Herrera, 24 August 1837
• Aranzueque, 19 September 1837
• Retuerta, 5 October 1837
• Maella, 1 October 1838
• Peracamps, 24 March 1840
• 7 A mini-campaign – Oriamendi, 10 to 21 March, 1837
• A good plan, but…
• Sarsfield’s column from Pamplona, 11 to 12 March
• Espartero’s column from Bilbao, 10 to 21 March
• Evans’ column from San Sebastian, 10 to 15 March
• The Thunderbolt – 16 March, Oriamendi
• I Glossary and Notes
• II Tactical formation diagrams
• Bibliography