Montebello 1859

I will run a game of the 1859 Battle of Montebello on Saturday May 18 from 2 through 6 PM at the Huzzah 2019 Convention in South Portland, Maine. Huzzah! The game will be an introduction to the Bloody Big Battles (BBB) rules. BBB is grand tactical and designed to allow battles such as Gravelotte-St. Privat or Gettysburg to be played in an evening. This much smaller battle can usually be played in an hour or two. A player or two per side seems right. The goal is to play at least two games in the available time.

Here’s a picture of a game played last July.

A report of that game can be found here  Montebello AAR

The scenario can be found here:  Scenario

Some folks report problems downloading the scenario, so here it is in jpeg format. I hope that works.

Here is a copy of the scenario map:

And here is the canvas mat that the game will be played on. I think it is done, though I may be compelled to add a few more touches with the brush.

Final iteration of the mat, after applying some paint with a sponge:

Here is a translation of the first line in the Austrian Order of Battle:

4 S       Trnd ML         I/Regt 39 & 39^th Jager

4 S: the unit has 4 bases, including one skirmish base. Trnd ML: the troops are trained (instead of Veteran or Raw) and armed with muzzle-loading rifles. That is the info needed for game purposes. I/39 Regt & 39^th Jager: historical unit designation, interesting but not required for game play. This unit consists of the 1^st battalion of the 39^th Infantry regiment and the 39^th Jager battalion. (Yes, I can’t figure out how to type umlauts.)

All the infantry in this game is armed with muzzle-loading rifles, so I will omit that from the unit labels. Labels of veteran units will have a red stripe, those of raw units a green stripe and trained units have no stripe. My label for the above unit will be 4 S  I/39, with no stripe (a trained unit). French units will also have colors on the label edge indicating what brigade they are part of.

Since the poorly commanded Austrians have no (effective) generals on the table, they don’t need brigade indicators. Due to terrain, visibility and all ranges are limited to 9 inches, for rifles and artillery alike.

The scenario features two very different armies. The Austrians are all passive, which means units have a 10/36 chance of not moving at all, an 11/36 chance of making half a move and 15/36 chance of a full move. French units have 6/36 chance of not moving, a 9/36 chance of a half move and 21/36 chance of a full move. Being within 6” of a general in their chain of command changes the odds to 3/36, 7/36 and 26/36 respectively. Being in column of march increases the odds of moving, though it is not a great combat formation. The French infantry are also aggressive, which gives them an edge in assaults (cold steel). Some of the Austrians are fragile, which is a deficit in assaults.

The French do best when commanded very aggressively. Every turn that they attempt an assault (even if stopped by fire), the Austrians do not roll for optional reinforcements. Audacity is the French watchword. "De l'audace, encore de l'audace, et toujours de l'audace!" - Danton

The Austrians cannot depend on bold moves. They must shepherd their troops over the bridges and into combat, relying on numbers beat the French. Keep calm and lumber on is the Austrian slogan.

If you want a deeper look at the rules, my 2014 review of the rules is here:  Review