Battle of Mortadella

Napoleon in Italy Campaign

Introduction

The new project is officially underway. I finally decided to go with Irregular's 2mm miniatures. I think there will be less work that way.

In the interim, I was hankering for a battle so I threw one together using my travel set. In fact, I decided to make it the start of a campaign. Since I'm playing French vs. Austrians, it makes sense to begin in Italy.

Campaign Rules

I want to keep it simple so I am using the One Hour Wargame "campaign." Play 5 battles and whoever wins the most is victorious in the campaign.

I did not use OHW for the scenario. Instead, I used some random charts of my own devising. I rolled "Breakthrough," which indicates that one army needs to get past the other. I haven't determined details but let's assume that 2-3 units need to reach the enemy back line.

I will play battles with my MicroBattle rules, although I have modified them somewhat from the last posted version.

Background

Historical Note: Campaign details are loosely inspired by real events, but I am in no way simulating actual history. Therefore, events may take a decidedly unhistorical turn.

It is 1796 and Napoleon has been appointed command of the French Republican forces in northern Italy. He swiftly invades the Kingdom of Sardinia and besieges Turin.

Marshal Wurmser, the Austrian commander in Italy, rushes west to break the siege. However, Napoleon receives word and plans to intercept the Austrians.

Set Up

Napoleon positions his army just west (west is up on the board) of the town of Mortadella. He has 3 line infantry divisions, 2 light infantry divisions, and a battery of artillery.

Wurmser enters the battlefield from the east. He has 2 cavalry divisions (shown above), 3 line infantry division, and a division of Grenzers light infantry.

Napoleon moves his forces to block the road to Turin. An Austrian cavalry division (right) advances but gets shot up by cannon and light infantry. The division beats a hasty retreat.

An Austrian infantry division advances from Mortadella but it gets wiped out.

The French press forward aggressively, wearing down the Austrians.

Until disaster strikes for Wurmser. The cavalry divisions rout from the field.

Then French lights rout the Grenzers.

Wurmser realizes he cannot achieve his objective so he calls for the retreat.

Analysis

The French did not really need to attack like they did. I just figured that Napoleon was not one to sit back and wait for the enemy. It was a good call.

Wurmser committed his forces piecemeal and paid the price. He should have gotten all his troops on the battlefield then advanced as a whole.

Napoleon now as a 1-0 lead in the campaign.

MicroBattle Tweaks

For this battle, I instituted some changes from my fast play experiments.

• Activation - I rolled a single die to determine how many divisions could act. I used a D6 instead of a D3.
• Close Combat - Adjacent enemies are considered in Close Combat and make opposed rolls
• Long Distance fire - Artillery can fire from afar. For this game, I also allowed light infantry to fire from 2 spaces.

I used the original casualty rolls so units could shake off hits.

I'm also considering some tweaks to make the battles seem more Napoleonic. At this scale (1 stand = a division), I don't think I need to worry about formations. I can assume that the division commander does his job and deploys appropriately. So how do I make things more Napoleonic?

For this battle, I gave Napoleon

• +1 for initiative.
• +1 for activation rolls.

As a result, Napoleon usually acted before Wurmser, and more French units tended to activate than the Austrians. That seems right. Of course, it helped that Wurmser's dice rolling was atrocious.

Are there any other changes I should apply for a grand tactical wargame?