Testing Rules and Rivoli scenario

Napoleon at the Battle of Rivoli, by Philippoteaux (Galerie des Batailles, Palace of Versailles)

For the last couple of years I've been working on a project of recreating the Battle of Rivoli, 14 January 1797.  The aim was to do this in 6mm MDF miniatures bought from Commission Figurines, using Volley and Bayonet rules to replicate army level decision making.

Brief Information about the Battle of Rivoli
In short, the French under General Bonaparte had pushed the Austrians east out of Lombardy and back onto Tyrol.  A substantial Austrian army was besieged in the city of Mantua.  During the summer and autumn months of 1796, the Austrians had attempted to lift the siege and free Mantua... without success.  This was yet another attempt under the Imperial General Alvinczy.  Bonaparte, realizing what the Austrian plan was, decided to defend at Rivoli where Joubert's division was deployed and to send Massena's division to reinforce.

You can get a more detailed brief here.

With all the figures now painted and the scenery coming together, I thought it was time to do a rough set up and see how the game looked and played.

I knew that I wanted to keep an eye on the process because I would probably want to adapt the rules slightly to better fit warfare during the Revolutionary Wars.  But, I also wanted to see if the strength and morale ratings that I had given the various units worked and provided both sides with the chance to win.  So with notebook handy in order to jot down thoughts for changes, I played the game through.

The photos will show that I did not set up a finished table, as the unkempt felt bits for woods will reveal.

The starting positions of the Austrians just as they are about to attack the French positions on the Trombalore Heights on the right.

The battlefield as seen from the south looking north.  The eastern edge of the table showing the river Adige and the Adige valley/ravine.

A close up of the army command stand.  Simple paint work on these charming MDF figures.  There is a surprising amount of detail (belts etc.) burnt onto the figures.

The Austrian assault on the French positions.

Some French units have been pushed off the heights, but it remains contested.  In the meantime, Another Austrian column arrives from down the Adige valley.  Plus, French reinforcements march up from the south.

Looking from east to west.  The heights remain contested, though the French prepare for a counter-attack.  The Austrian divisions are becoming exhausted.

The French counter-attack on the heights exhausts the Austrian effectiveness.  However, the effort has exhausted Joubert's division that's been fighting over the heights.  The reinforcements have arrived just in time.  The newly arrived Austrians try to break out from the Adige valley and onto the Rivoli plateau - without success.

Austrian artillery arrived on the other side of the Adige.  However, I called it a day at this point as I could see no way for the Austrians to win and I'd seen enough to draw some conclusions.

Conclusions

1. Each game turn lasts an hour.  I started the first turn at 7am.  This meant that the contest for the heights was almost finished by the time the Austrian reinforcements arrived.  If I keep the timings the same for all the other arrivals and events, I could probably make the game closer and more tense if the first turn was 8am.

2. Each division in Volley and Bayonet has an "exhaustion" level, where once the division suffers a certain percentage of losses it's ability to act offensively is impaired, and it's morale may collapse entirely.  On the heights, I had massed all of Joubert's units into one large division, but the Austrians were in smaller divisions.  This made exhaustion come faster to the Austrians bit by bit.  So... either I treat the Austrian attacking the heights as one big division OR break Joubert's into three or so smaller brigades/divisions.

3.  Each unit is given a number of hits (strength points) it can take before destroyed.  This is usually linked to the number in the unit, normally 1 strength point per 500 men.  This led to some units having only 1 or 2 strength points, and therefore easily dispatched.  For game purposes I believe that I need to make this a minimum of 3 points per infantry unit.

Generally speaking, everything else worked well.  I'll see what arises when I next play test this scenario... hopefully with more of the finished scenery to adorn it.