The Last War You Can Fight With Toy Soldiers

In 1877 the Russian Empire attacked the Ottoman Empire, ostensibly to save Christians in the Balkans from massacre, but in reality to extend her own empire and gain a Mediterranean port. 

This was the start of a remarkable, but now largely forgotten war. it saw the first use of the Red Crescent organisation and drew the borders of the Balkans we still have today. It also occurred at an interesting time for the development of military weapons and tactics.

The armies of 1945 and 1995 looked superficially pretty much the same, and mostly used similar tactics. However between 1845 and 1895 the nature of warfare changed dramatically, and it was only the absence of a major European war that stopped people noticing.

Turkish Cavalry by Balkandave

In 1845 infantry were armed with a black powder musket that loaded at the front and which would be
lucky to hit a barn door a 200 yards. As a result shooting was really just the preliminary to the more important business of trying to stick a bayonet into someone. The rifles of 1895 by contrast were more than just glorified spears. Lethal at a mile, they could fire ten rounds a minute. Almost as importantly they now fired smokeless ammunition, so it was very hard to even tell who was shooting at you. Barbed wire, portable machine guns and quick-firing artillery were also coming in, meaning that by the end of the century all the ingredients of the trench warfare of the First World War were in place.

Plevna by Balkandave

The increase in the lethality of firepower changed what armies looked like. In 1845 uniforms were designed to be seen. Helmets made the soldiers look taller, cross straps made them look beefier and bright colours allowed them to see who was a friend. By 1895 the more sensible armies were adopting uniforms that made the soldiers more difficult to be seen. They also no longer fought in the parade ground manner of Trooping the Colour, but spread out and using the terrain to hide. Soon men would start learning to live in holes in the ground. We were entering the world of Empty Battlefield, where the enemy were usually only seen when they were dead or prisoners.

At the same time industrialisation was increasing the size of armies exponentially. In 1845 you could probably watch the whole of a battle from a conveniently sited hill. By 1870, when armies of over 100,000 on each side fought on battlefronts seven miles long, you'd need a small mountain. By 1895 the Great Powers of mainland Europe were each capable of putting over a million men into uniform. Even a Zeppelin wouldn't let you see the whole battlefield.

A skirmish in the Shipka Pass by Balkandave

1878 though was the mid-point of this revolution. Rifles now loaded at the back, and could kill at half a mile, but they fired slowly and inaccurately. A determined enough charge could still get through, as the British Army was about to find out in Zululand and the Sudan, so troops still stood shoulder to shoulder. They also still fired black powder, so there was no hiding, and - with a few exceptions - still went into battle in their Sunday best.

If stood on the proverbial hill you could still, therefore, see lines of brightly coloured soldiers fighting each other in neat little lines. And is this not wargamers like to do with their toy soldiers? In 1878 it is possible to set out your armies on the tabletop in a way that resembled what the real generals would have seen.

This makes the Great War of 1878 the last war that can be realistically fought with toy soldiers.