Battle of Montebello, 20 May 1859 - AAR Part 1

The excellent Jonathan of Palouse Wargaming Journal fame, hosted the Rejects in a remote game of the Battle of Montebello from the  Franco-Austrian War of 1859.

This will now take more than one sitting.  Rather than one very long report, I thought that I'd split it in two.  So here is Part 1.

As usual the preparations were impeccable.  Jonathan had been asked to increase the fog of war and he certainly did a great job of that.

Background

In short, and using part of Jonathan's briefing:

"On 9 May, Austrian FZM Gyulai’s uninspired offensive in Piedmont ground to a halt without ever contacting the enemy.  Concerned that the French would attempt to turn his left flank by advancing upon Piacenza, FML Stadion’s V Corps was ordered (20 May) across the Sesia River and move on Casteggio and Voghera. This reconnaissance-in-force was determined to discover French dispositions, interdict the Voghera-Piacenza Road, and thwart these perceived threats.  As the Austrians approached Casteggio, they ran into Sardinian cavalry screens. The Sardinian mission, deployed east of

Voghera, was to act as an early warning system to prevent surprise attacks from the Austrians. The Sardinian light cavalry were to hinder any enemy movements westward buying time for the French army to come up, if needed. The only means of crossing the River Coppa in this area are via two bridges: the bridge at Casteggio and the railroad bridge to the north of that town. Running from Genestrello north, the Fossa Gazzo can be crossed everywhere but with difficulty. The railroad bridge at Casina Nuova and the bridge near Genestrello are the best places to cross the Fossa Gazzo."

The Austrians pushed on to Genestrello and Montebello.  The French arriving from the west now took up the fight.

This was the photo of the battlefield that Jonathan supplied.  The Austrians and Sardinians are there somewhere.  This induced a wonderful level of uncertainty and surprise.

Sides

The Austrian army were commanded by Lee, Steve and David.

The French/Sardinian force were controlled by me, Ray and Surjit

Victory conditions

There were different conditions for each side.  Neither were made aware of the other's 

Rules: amended Fields of Honor on a grid

Figures: 15mm

Victory Conditions: Assessed at the end of the battle based upon army objectives.

Break Points assessed at Brigade level. No Army Breakpoint Sudden Death.

The Battle

This was to be our first sight of the table occupied with troops.

This first screen shot is from the northern end facing south.  The scattered Sardinian cavalry can be seen milling around.  

This second image is from the south facing north.  This shows the Austrians in occupation of the towns along the Piacenza road.

With the Sardinian cavalry commander (me) not quite knowing what to do other than get in the way, he put all onto reserve orders.

Meanwhile, Beuret's brigade arrived from the west along the road just as the Austrian's positioned themselves more aggressively in the centre.

In the north, Austrian reinforcements arrived around Lungavilla and from the north-east along the road.  Looks like it could be a bit of a squeeze for the Sardinians!

The Austrian commanders were doing a good job in pushing forward and hemming the arriving French in place, and in reducing the Sardinian cavalry.

And with the reinforcements spreading out from Lungavilla, both the cavalry and Blanchard's brigade arriving along the railway line looked to be facing a dire situation.

Meanwhile, in the south Beuret's brigade saw multiple assaults against Genestrello and the Austrians around it repulsed.  This was not looking promising for the French.

However, the commander of Blanchard's brigade (Ray) injected some "furia francese" into the proceedings (with the help of good initiative and dice rolls) by pushing back at the Austrians in the centre on the railway track.

Alas, by this point Beuret had another assault checked at Genestrello and the Sardinian cavalry in the north had been annihilated (my poor handling and dice).  The Austrian's were playing well and aggressively.

Then, an odd initiative call by the Austrians left their centre vulnerable by not deploying their infantry in column and leaving some artillery exposed.  Blanchard was keen to take advantage of this moment of Austrian madness, and promptly destroyed one unit, 2 artillery batteries and sent another infantry unit reeling back.

view from the south looking north

view from the north looking south

With the Austrian centre pushed back, The French now had more space.  

Beuret, inspired by the French show of arms, took the fight back to Genestrello... and took it.

However, with Austrian reserves continuing to arrive they were able to form a line from Montebello to Lungavilla.

After four and a half hours of fighting, we called it a night and agreed to meet again next week to complete the battle.

In order to maintain the fog of war, we all agreed to not receive updates, maps showing unit positions or casualty rosters.

From a very shaky start by the French and good moves from the Austrian, everything was now to play for.

No analysis yet.  That would give too much information to the enemy... shussssh!