by Rob Morgan
I hope you found the questions intriguing, or at least interesting, and even, possibly, worth a little research. Here are the answers and, by the way, if you have any alternatives or want to add a comment ( or an insult- like the ones I get when I do the pub quiz) then feel free.
- This mutually destructive little lake battle appears in Don Featherstone’s Naval Wargaming. It’s probably the first account of a naval wargame in the modern age of wargaming.
- This was the Austrian fortress of Przemysl in Galicia, 1915. It fell after a siege of 130+ days, and was the longest siege in the Great War in Europe. It set the tone for Austria’s utterly disastrous war, with 120,000 men captured, along with nine generals.
- This was the motto of The Reiter, journal of the US Pike & Shot Federation. The words are those of the great Renaissance military and political writer Machiavelli.
- The formidable and deadly Macedonian pike phalanx.
- This was the Inherent Military Probability System devised by Colonel Burne of the Royal Artillery ( Apologies an ‘o’ crept into his name by mistake) in which the outcome of a battle ( in any historical period) can be determined by the application of a skilled military approach. Worth any solo wargamer taking a look at.
- This, of course, was Frederick the Great of Prussia, who in terms of battlefield victories wasn’t as ‘great’ as his biographers made him out to be!
- In these battles, the Commanders of the opposing sides were both killed. Wolfe & Montcalm are well known, but Braddock and Beaujeu in their 1755 clash less so. Anyone think of any others?
- It was of course Winston Churchill, and the book remains a colonial warfare gem for any solo wargamer. Not a text to miss, believe me! The Commander, incidentally, was General Sir Bindon Blood. Great name for a General, eh?
- The features were in fact windmills! I recall a quiz, oh, forty or more years ago, which asked for a list of ten battlefields on which windmills could be found. I couldn’t list them though! I still can’t.
- The Army of Northern Virginia in the last week of its final throes, marching towards Appomattox. Tough to the end.
- Pontoon bridges in each case. These pontoons were an essential part of any Napoleonic army’s train.
- At last, the seasonal question! Both of these battles were fought in raging snowstorms.
That’s it, and as I said earlier, comments are welcome. Sorry about the prizes. ‘Bonne Annee’ as General Bonaparte would say.
Got a very lucky 6/12…with a couple of ‘inspired guesses’ taking me above the 4 out of 12 I expected.
How did others get on? I thought it was a tough one!!
Imressive Martin!
I got one right 🙂
Very, very lucky guesses, tbh, Nangwaya….much inspired by my wife’s approach to pub quizzes and TV shows (..and she won a couple!), which is “never leave a space, always guess at anything even VAGUELY in the right ballpark” – eg if it’s a quote, say “Oscar Wilde” or “Winston Churchill” (!!). Amazing how often it’s right .
So that approach gave me:-
Q4- I do lots of Ancients, so Chaeronea answered itself (luckily). It would be either the Phalanx or the Companions.
Q6- German names and a hint in the question at ‘Great’ gave me a chance (I didn’t know the battles )
Q7- I remembered both commanders dying at or soon after Quebec (in a coffee table ‘great battles of history’ type book, acquired as a teenager) and took a prod at Monongahela having the same rare occurrence.
Q9- a vague recollection of a Windmill on an ECW print of a battle scene made me think of JIM ROHRER’s Thirty Years War solo clash – Lűtzen in Lone Warrior 223 p 25-26 and on his blog (I think?)…. I’d visited Lewes 30 odd years back, and the hill was prominent…so assuming a windmill probably topped it was another lucky strike.
Q11- another guess, but based on a vague recollection that Napoleon used pontoons in the campaign around the Danube near Vienna. (whereas Ridley Scott would have recommended he go for the teleportation option, I suppose….).
Q12- I went to Towton while en route collecting daughter from Newcastle Uni. The site has a great self guided walking tour, with evocative and informative sign boards. My recollection was ‘arrow storm in a snow storm’, and as Napoleon wasn’t known for toxophilite tendencies I had a guess on the La Rothiere reference.
50% score, but based on 90% guesswork
Well, Martin, if we were on the same pub quiz team, we would have got 7/12, as I got #2 right.
I am a bit of a WWI nut.
Yep, “teamwork makes the dream work” (apparently )…in fact, from my experience of playing in pub quiz teams, what would ACTUALLY happen is that we’d each talk the other out of the correct answers and go down in points . But it’s fun trying…
Rob Morgan writes:
“About the Christmas Quiz….
Now, I didn’t think the questions were all that difficult, I bounced them off a couple of grey-bearded wargames veterans here, and most managed over 50%-ish!
Anyway, I thought there might have been a few comments on some of the questions. From a member who could recall the names of ten battlefields with a windmill on, possibly? Or someone who would mention a few more battles fought in snowstorms. Or a military veteran who knows the Bourne system of battle determination.
I really did hope that out there, some member might have actually wargamed the last week or so of the Army of Virginia’s battles, which to me seems an ideal solo campaign…if campaign’s the right term to use. Could Lee have gone on? If so, where?”
G’day Rob,
I did enjoy your quiz but didn’t realise that research was allowed, so just went off memory! Unfortunately, I don’t have a grey beard (my wife won’t allow it), and also lacked sufficient familiarity with all the periods you based your questions on.
I think I hit about 50% of the correct answers, if I squint my eyes and stick my tongue out at the right angle!! Regret to inform that I don’t have any answers to your follow-on questions, but would be keen to hear any answers that do come back to you!!
Cheers
G