Yesterday evening the Fencibles played a scenario of the
first 6 days of Bonaparte’s 1796 campaign in Italy , the Dego phase. This
scenario is unusual, with 8 turns representing 6 days of combat and some
modifications to represent the much larger scale. Some may say it is more like
a board game. That didn’t bother us at all. The figures are 15mm; the French
are in correct uniforms. The Austrians are wearing the pre-1809 dress with
leather helmets. No, I don’t plan to buy and paint Austrians with casquets. The
Sardinians are actually Seven Years War Hungarians. If that offends you, read
no further. We figure close enough is good enough. Allied units and leaders are
in italics in the photos. The sharp-eyed may notice the houses move around during the game to villages not currently occupied with troops.
The first game started just after 4 PM .
And our lousy dice against hot enemy dice made their first
appearance.
Now both sides rolled poorly.
Actually, the brigade wandered for one day (low movement
dice). It felt like more at the time.
And then Dego fell in a nasty series of fights.
As the game wound down…
Wukassowitsch had spent days lolling around the Riviera coast. Beaulieu
arrived had them form up and then they struck with a vengeance.
The game took about 2 hours to play 8 turns. It was a tie
but almost an Allied victory. The game saw lousy French combat dice against hot
Allied combat dice, though Allied marching was abysmal and the French marching
was quite speedy. French losses (higher than actual) were 7 stands of infantry
with 1 run off, an artillery unit and La Harpe. Our house rules for officer
casualties determined that he lost his left leg and was out of action for 4
months. Allied losses (slightly less than actual) were 7 stands of infantry
with 2 run off and 1 artillery unit. Andrew arrived to see the last turn and we
broke for dinner.
After dinner we switched sides and played again.
Andrew commanded the Allied offensive along the Riviera , no doubt
battling hordes of paparazzi along with the French.
The Austrian threat to Montenotte was squashed.
The drive on Ceva continued.
And along the Riviera …
Captions are wrong in next picture, Dego was contested by
both sides.
Now the town was recaptured from the French.
I missed getting photos of the action around Ceva. Two
assaults were launched. The first frontal attack failed, driven back at bayonet point. The second attack was weaker and stopped by withering musket fire. Had the French captured Ceva (a
long shot) it would have been a French victory. The French did have two attacks. We only managed one in the first game. As it was, the Austrian
recapture of Dego gave us an Allied win.
The game took two hours and three minutes to play. French
losses (much higher than actual) were 10 stands of infantry with 1 run
off. La Harpe was badly wounded and out
of action for 6 months. Massena was stunned badly when struck by a piece of his
aide’s head and not really quite right for 4 days. Allied losses (less than
actual) were 7 stands of infantry, 2 run off and Beaulieu badly wounded, hors
de combat for 3 months.
My analysis of the second game isn’t as clear. Perhaps this
was a feature of wine Bill brought for dinner. Jay also brought a bottle. It
will keep until next time. Thanks to both.
All enjoyed the game. It was a series of small fights, much
depending on who actually arrived in a timely fashion. There are rumors of more of these in the works from Chris Pringle, designer of BBB rules. We look forward to them.
We won’t be having
another game until three weeks hence. Tickets to see Mark Rylance are worth the delay.
