The first clash of arms between the Allies
(Sardinia and France) and the Habsburg Empire during the Italian War of 1859
took place on 20th May near the town of Montebello in Lombardy. An
Austrian corps under Count Stadion conducted a reconnaissance in force and
clashed with an aggressively led French division under General Forey.
Historically the French captured Montebello and
the numerically superior Austrians, led to believe they had encountered the
French main force by their adversaries’ aggression, retreated from the field.
As a “Bloody Big Battles” game the Montebello
scenario is set for 7 game turns, each representing 30 minutes in a battle that
lasted from 14:30 to 18:00. The scenario features some interesting special
rules to simulate the historical situation and still provide for a balanced
game. Due to the decidedly passive, if not lethargic, behaviour of several
Austrian commanders in the vicinity, the Allies could drive away a much larger
force. However, this was only possible because the aggressive French advance
and determined attack overwhelmed and bluffed the Austrians. At a ratio of 500
men/12 guns per base the scenario places a high quality force of 18 allied
bases (including 2 cavalry and 1 artillery) against a numerically superior
Austrian force of 25 Bases (including 1 artillery), who are more mixed in terms
of quality and morale. But, importantly, the Austrians can receive potential
reinforcements of a further 23 bases, which would boost their numbers to become
virtually unstoppable. This can however be prevented by the French player, who
denies the Austrian player to dice for reinforcements in any turn that he
attacks at least one Austrian unit. This puts pressure on the French player to
behave historically aggressive.
The French troops are all classed as
“aggressive” and the Austrians are all “passive” in rules terms.
The victory conditions are very
straightforward, the 4 towns Montebello, Cascina Nuova, Genestrello and
Foliarina must be occupied. If the Allied player holds at least 3 of these
objectives after Turn 7 he wins, if he holds less than 2, the Austrian player
wins. If the Allies hold 2 objectives by the end, the game is a draw.
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| Scenario Map |
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| The Battlefield |
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| The Austrians are coming |
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| Close-up infantry and artillery approaching Montebello |
We used historical deployment as given in the scenario for our game. The Austrians got to deploy first, the French got the first move.
The French player placed a small force of
Italian cavalry on the Casteggio Road a short distance behind Montebello and
advanced a brigade of French infantry, the 84th Ligne, quickly in
road column towards Montebello, deploying in line after crossing the river.
The Austrian division Schaafsgottsche entered
the board at the beginning of Turn 1 in column along the Casteggio road and
diced for half moves. The Austrian player used this result to advance on the
road towards Montebello for half a turn and then deploy the troops into line. Since there were no French attacks in the
first round, the Austrian player could dice for reinforcements and an
additional artillery smoothbore battery arrived in the Casteggio road, joining
Schaafsgottsche.
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| Names and victory Points |
The second round started with the arrival of
the French C-in-C, Gen. Forey, accompanied by a subordinate commander, gen.
Beuret, and a second French infantry brigade (74th Ligne) as well as
a rifled battery on the Casteggio Road on the French table edge. These troops
advanced in march column towards Montebello. Then followed a valiant, or rather
reckless, frontal assault by the Italian cavalry on the Austrian lines, which
ended in disaster, as the Italians took crippling casualties in close combat,
removing them from play.
The Austrians received numerous reinforcements
in the shape of division Paumgarten, entering the board also on the Casteggio
road, but for dicing only half moves a “traffic jam” prevented Paumgartens
second unit (3rd Regt.) from entering the table. The Austrians also could
not dice for further reinforcements, due to the sacrificial Italian cavalry
charge. The Austrian player deployed his now very numerous force in echelon, taking Montebello (and the
first Austrian victory point) and advancing on the French north of the town.
In Turn 3 the final French reinforcements arrived,
once again in march columns on the Casteggio road: the subordinate commander
Gen. Blanchard with two units of French infantry, the 98th and 91st
Ligne. The French player once again resumed the offensive. The 84th
Ligne charged Schaafsgottsches lines, pushing back the 39th Regt.
and accompanying Jägers. Both sides
were disrupted by this. The 74th Ligne crossed the river and
deployed in line of battle, while the French battery unlimbered on their bank
of the river. The 98th Ligne advanced in column up to the bridge, securing
Genestrello and the first allied victory point in the process, while the 91st
left the Casteggio road and took Cascina Nuova, collecting another victory
point for the allies.
The Austrian player received the unit from
Paumgarten’s division that had been stuck off-table on the blocked road. These
troops were sent to Foliarina, which they reached still in march column, giving
the second victory point to the Austrians. Meanwhile Schaafsgottsche’s
reserves, a big unit of raw troops (40th Regt.), were sent in with
Schaafsgottsche’s first line to counter-attack the French in depth, succeeding
in driving back the French in disruption and securing their original position.
Now Paumgarten’s remaining troops were deployed in line as reserves. The
artillery unit that had been diced on the table was brought up the hill next to
the town of Montebello and took a suitable firing position to support the
Austrians below in the valley.
In Turn 4 both sides aimed for a consolidation;
the French once again resumed the offensive. The French infantry at Montebello formed
in depth and attacked unsuccessfully, only the troops still in column on the
bridge received heavy casualties through defensive fire from the Austrian artillery
on the hill and were stopped in their tracks. The 91st Ligne left
Cascina Nuova and advanced towards the river.
The Austrians brought their reserves forward
and had now everything apart from 1 unit aligned in two “wings” and two lines
next to Montebello. The troops in Foliarina diced for half a move only and used
it to deploy in line of battle.
In Turn 5 the 91st Ligne crossed the
river and joined a massed French attack, which pushed back the first line of
the Austrian right wing at Montebello.
An Austrian counter-attack took massive
casualties and was thrown back almost to their table edge. The break-through
move by the victorious French against the second Austrian line was however pushed back with heavy loss.
Finally the battered Austrian troops thrown
back earlier in the battle rallied and marched into Montebello, as everything
was now in place for an all-out attack by the French.
Now events quickly became increasingly
dramatic. The sixth round started with the French attacking the massed Austrian
center. This proved to be almost fateful, as the effective offensive fire in
combination with the dispersed and fragile as well as low on ammunition status of some of the units in the massed
Austrian left wing entirely routed both lines on the Austrian left and created
a huge gap through which the victorious French promptly struck in their
breakthrough move, took Montebello and destroyed its garrison as well as the
guns next to the town. As things stood right then, the French had won the
battle.
The Austrians desperately rallied and re-aligned
their remaining troops for a counter-attack. The Austrian right wing attacked
and gained some ground, while the troops at Foliarina were sent across the river
with a full move in the direction of Cascina Nuova. These troops faced no
French opposition, the victory point there could only be defended by
potentially unfriendly movement dice on Turn 7.
In the last turn the French player prepared to
defend what had been won the previous turn. And according to French philosophy
in this game, attack is always the best means of defense. The troops from Montebello
charged downhill, where the rallied Austrians were aligned for a last-ditch
effort to win back the town and the decisive victory point. This time, however,
the French were forced back by heavy defensive fire. Throughout the battle, the
Austrian infantry had successfully simulated their historical counterparts by “shooting
like pigs” (as a contemporary stereotype went), but now they made up for it.
Another French attack on what remained of the Austrian right wing north of the
town also failed. The French player knew that he was helpless regarding the
victory point at stake in Cascina Nuova.
The Austrian player rolled for movement- and
indeed, Paumgarten’s troops reached Cascina Nuova, making sure that the outcome
of the game would be at least a draw. Suddenly the situation had turned completely
around and victory was possible for the Austrians- if Montebello could be
re-taken. Schaafsgottsche’s raw troops, who had just before discovered their
marksmanship, attacked, but this time they shot badly. There were no more
massive casualties on either side, but they were beaten back. Montebello
remained in French hands and the game ended after Turn 7 as a draw.
Our game was actually a lot bloodier than the
historical battle, in which a few hundred French and ca. 1,500 Austrian
casualties occurred. In our refight each player lost 8 bases (each including 1
artillery), which means both sides lost each around 3,500 troops and a dozen
guns.
I would like to thank my worthy opponent for a
friendly, fair and fun game. He played the French with unfaltering optimism in
the face of superior numbers and in a fittingly aggressive style. Our
conclusions after the game are that in this era, before the use of modern
breechloaders, the decision must be sought in close combat, ideally prepared by
“softening up” the opponent in one spot with artillery and rifle fire. Lucky
and unlucky dice did play their part, but the decisive results always occurred
when factors were stacked significantly in one side’s favour (fragile, low on ammunition, disrupted etc.).
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| Situation at the end of the game |
