The Commanders Speak

After I posted my recap of the 1859 campaign a fellow gamer/mentor Peter G.(Blunders on the Danube) asked me to see if the two commanders would post what they thought about the campaign.  I thought that was a great idea.  Here are their comments on the campaign.

James the Austrian Commander:


I had a lot of fun with this campaign despite losing. I think that once we got past most of the learning curve it ran very well. The whole process will be familiar to anyone that has played Piquet rules. I especially liked the way battles and battlefields are generated. It is card driven and very fair to all players.
I can think of only one thing that I would improve upon. I would make counters for my own map to help me keep track of the current location of all my armies.

Garland the Italian Commander and Winner of the Campaign:

Where to start? In forty years of gaming I've taken part in a lot of campaigns that have fallen apart due to bad rules, judging, attitudes, and more. For the most part we stayed away from these and had a very entertaining campaign. The time we took to learn and become familiar with the rules was well worth the time. Having a campaign move separate from the battle night let us stay away from getting to hectic due to time constraints. The time it takes to set up at first seems daunting. With practice it became part of the fun of the game. The different layers to the set up give the battle meaning.That's not the proper word but i think it's close enough. Do I have strength advantage? Can I set up on my opponents flank? Will he take units away from me? Am I Bennigson at Freidland or Jackson in the Valley?
The flow of the game system itself is both nerve racking and fun. As Victor has already stated we use domino's after the initiative roll to determine initiative points. In our last battle this allowed James, outnumbered 2 to 1, to dictate where the main fight was to be on the table. In the you move I move systems this would have been almost impossible. The varying formations in the system allowed James and I to have two different tactical doctrines in the beginning. I was in open order most of the games trusting to the rifled musket, and it worked well this time. Next time will most likely be different.
Where to end? Now. Thanx, Garland

Risorgimento 1859 Campaign

This is an account of the campaign that my group and I ran using Piquet's Theater of War Campaign rules and Piquet's Hallowed Ground for the battles.  Our focus for the campaign was the Risorgimento of 1859 with 10mm troops representing the Austrians and Italians.  The campaign map used came from the GMT game Risorgimento 1859.

As you can see the map is area movement and this helped in keeping track of troop movements.

Here is the beginning setup spots for both sides.

The Austrians were commanded by my friend James

He placed his troops here under these commanders:
City/town                  Commander
Besate                        Clam-Gallas
Bereguardo                Zobel
Pavia                          Benedek
San Angelo                Scout
Brescia                       Stadion/Gyulai
Lonate Pozzolo          Scout
The Italians were commanded by my friend Garland

His troops were placed under these commanders:
City/town                   Commander
Casale Monferrato       Fanti w/scout
Valenza                       Camerana w/scout
Sale                             Mollard, Perrier w/scout

The campaign started in March of 1859.

Here are the starting positions for the units involved.  The top photo shows Austrian C in C and a Battle Group in Brescia which in relation to the bottom photo is off to the right.

Week 1:
With the political negotiations deteriorating rapidly between the Italians and Austrians.  Not waiting for the Austrians to come to them, the Italian commander moved out sending Perrier with a scout into Pieve del Cairo.  Grasping the initiative, the Austrians counter moved.  Zobel marched out of Bereguardo to Garlasco.  Benedek left Pavia and headed into Cava Manara.  The Austrian scouts left San Angelo and pushed into Belgiojoso and continued to Stradella. More Austrian scouts left Lonate Pozzolo to Oleggio.
Zobel pushed from Garlasco to Lomello.  The Italian commander continued to push his troops.  Mollard left Sale and moved into Castelnuovo Scrivia.  The scouts in Valenza to Torre Beretti.
The Austrians continued to push towards the Italians.  Benedek left Cava Manara and moved to Sannazzaro de Burgondi. The scouts in Stradella left the pubs and moved into Casteggio.  A bold move by the scouts in Oleggio and took the Italian city Novara gaining 2 VPs for the Austrians.  Benedek moved once more into Pieve del Cairo.
Wishing to strike first Benedek formed up his army and attacked Perrier.  Look here for a after action report.  La Guerra ha Cominicato: War has begun
Wounded but not out of the fight Perrier retreated to Sale.  Benedek did not follow up his victory by pursuing the Italians.
The first week of the war has ended with the Italians losing one city and one battle.

Opening moves of Turn 1

More moves from Turn 1

Positions after the battle of Pieve del Cairo

Week 2:
The weather turned ugly and slowed the pace of the advancing armies.  Commander Benedek finally decided to move his troops into Sale and waited for the weather to clear as he faced Perrier again.  The two armies sat staring at each other, waiting.

Positions after turn 2

Week 3:
With sunny weather appearing and drying out the muddy roads after a week of rain, the Austrians struck out first sending one of the Scouts from Casteggio to Voghera.  The Italians kicked up their heels and Mollard moved from Castelnuovo Scrivia to Sale where with orders from King Emmanuel combined his forces with Perrier.  Finally after little activity Fanti moved from Casale Monferrato to Stroppiana.  The scouts in Stroppiana to Vercelli and Fanti moved on to Palestro.
The Austrians had Fanti move from Lomello to  Torre Beretti and sat looking Camerana's army.  The Austrian scouts in Novara moved on to Vespolate.
Benedek finally realizing he had lost the upper hand and forced the battle of Sale.  The after action report for the battle can be read here. The battle of Sale

Positions before the battle of Sale

Week 4:
After the Austrian loss at Sale, Benedek retreated to Pieve del Cairo.  The Austrian scouts in Voghera moved on to Tortona.  Mollard followed up his victory by pursuing Benedek to Pieve del Cairo and arranged himself for battle.  The Austrian scouts in Vespolate moved into Mortara.  The Italian General Fanti moved his army from Palestro to Vespolate and then onto Vigeano.  The Italian scouts moved out of Castelnuovo Scrivia to Voghera.  The Italians attacked Benedek at Pieve del Cairo and the after action report can be read here. Battle of Pieve del Cairo

Positions before the battle of Pieve del Cairo

Week 5:
Badly beaten, Benedek's routed army fell back to Mortara and Mollard followed up and rested his army in Lomello.  Hearing of the defeat of Benedek's army, the Italian General Camerana finally attacked Zobel at Torre Beretti.  The after action report is here: The Battle of Torre Beretti. Another crushing defeat for the Austrians. The recent Austrian losses have sent a paralyzing shock wave through their armies and they failed to respond to any of the Italian advances.  Zobel retreated to Vespolate passing through Benedek's army.  As the columns of defeated and demoralized Austrians passed their comrades, the Austrian morale sank lower.  Following up his victory, Camerana pursued his defeated foe and now faced Benedek's army in Mortara.

The beginning of the end of the Austrian position in Italy.  Positions before the Battle of Torre Beretti

Week 6:
With two major defeats in recent weeks the Austrian commander Clam-Gallas moved his army from Besate to Abbiategrasso.  In a strange twist of luck the Italian commander Fanti moved his army from Abbiategrasso to Gaggiano hours before Clam-Gallas and his army arrived.  With the roads open and  with some local advice, Fanti moved into Milano without firing a shot.  A major victory for the Italians and a heavy blow to the already demoralized Austrians.  The Italian commander Mollard moved his army from Garlasco to Bereguardo.  To cover his forward pursuit Camerana sent his scouting party from Torre Beretti back to Valenza.  Bolstered by his recent victory Camerana set to strike Benedek's army in Mortara.  Sensing the upcoming attack and what can be described as an act of foolish bravery, Benedek took the initiative and attacked Camerana first. The after action report the Battle of Mortara is here: The Battle of Mortara

Positions showing Fanti moving towards Milan in the upper right.

Fanti takes Milan and the battle of Mortara seals the fate of the Austrians.

Campaign after thoughts:
While this campaign took "6 weeks" it lasted 6 months of real time, playing at times, 2 twice a month.  One weekend would be a campaign move and the other a battle.  Our little group has enjoyed playing Piquet in the past but this would be the first time where we used it exclusively.  So for a few months prior to the start of the campaign we ran battle after battle getting the rules down so we didn't have to spend time looking things up.  While this was going on, I spent time getting the layout of the campaign together.  I had never done anything like this before and once I started I had no idea the type of hill I had to climb.  Piquet's Theatre of War book was immensely helpful in sorting things out and making the campaign a reality.
After lots of questions by me to the Piquet group were answered, I started taking small chunks of the campaign process and practiced with the two commanders.  This helped in sorting out issues before we got started and allowed the process to sink in and no one was "surprised" by something while we were doing turns.
Once all of this was sorted out, the actual campaign turns moved along quickly and the battles usually wrapped up in a 3 to 4 hour period with a definite conclusion.
I am very happy with the way things turned out.  I learned a great deal and I realized I made things a little harder than it needed.
First was the map, it was too large for the area the campaign was going to revolve around.  In the Theatre of War book one has to label each area with number that tells you what type of terrain is contained therein and a victory point value, if needed.  I went a little nuts giving each space a terrain number. I should have selected certain spaces for special terrain points and allowing the other spaces to remain level 1, which in the rules is a light terrain and easy to move through.
Second was the keeping track of the players moving units.  Each time we did a campaign move, I set up a divider between the two and had to keep track of their map moves by moving back and forth to get  their units movements.  For me as the umpire it was very time consuming.
Third was the amount of paper work I generated for myself.  I should have been more tech savy and done things in a spreadsheet or some other word document.  I could have used my iPad or laptop too collect that data.  By the time I had thought of doing it, the campaign was moving along and I didn't want to screw it up by introducing something new.

Overall, I enjoyed myself and my friends Garland and James did too.  I will do something like this again but I will be wiser the next time.  :-)
I did take lots of notes on what we did and how we did it, so hopefully I can improve it the next time.

April and May 1859

After the minor battle of Pieve del Cairo the month of April swiftly passed by with little action on either side.  The Austrian General Benedek, after failing to properly scout out the adjacent areas moved through Pieve del Cairo and smacked into General Perrie's little force again at Sale.  General Benedek waited and waited to see if the Italians would retreat before him.
The closing days of April were rainy and that halted the campaign for both sides.  Roads turned to mud and the armies rested for a few days waiting for the weather to clear.
As the first days of May rolled in the Italians sprang forth and starting moving towards the north in the hopes of catching the army or armies that had taken Novara. The area around Sale bristled with life as more Italian troops poured in to bolster Perrier's smaller force.  The advantage General Benedek had in numbers quickly vanished.  While the Italians busied themselves with probing for the Austrians, the Austrians too woke up and moved also looking for the extra Italian forces.  Frustrated with his Austrian Generals lack of drive, Field Marshall Gyulai sent orders for Benedek to attack the Italians to his front.  In the meantime, the town of Vercelli rang it's church bells as Italian forces moved into the town.
Accepting his orders, General Benedek called a war council with his sub commanders and the planning for the Battle of Sale began.



 Referee Report: The turn for April only last two phases with little to no action between the two commanders.  The month of May, in contrast, witnessed 4 phases with the impetus winner being the Austrians but the Italians doing the most moving.  At this point the Austrian commander is taking his time and not pushing all along his line.  The Italian commander seems willing to take a few more chances.  It will be interesting to see how this all plays out and if the two commanders continue with their style of play.  The Battle of Sale will happen on July 28th.  I'll post the AAR as soon as the battle ends.

La Guerra e Cominicata! (The War has Begun!)

Campaign Turn 1-March 1859

A cool day in March 1859 the King of Piedmont, Victor Emmanuel gave his orders to his generals.  The War had begun to push the Austrians out of Italy once and for all.  The Italians gained the upper hand early and pushed out into the countryside looking for the Austrians.  Slowly mustering his forces Field Marshal Gyulai sent out reluctant orders to his forces with the increasing reports flowing into his headquarters of the Italian forces moving through the countryside.
Both sides gingerly moved looking for some clue as to where the other was and what they were coming up against.
A undisclosed Austrian force moved into and took the city of Novara sending refugees steaming out of the city.
While waiting for scouts to report back, the Italian Commander Perrie rested his army near the town Pieve del Cairo.  Much to his surprise a large Austrian force under the command of Benedek appeared prompting a battle.

The Battle of Pieve del Cairo


In what should have worked out to a tactical advantage for Perrie, the Italian General assembled his units to strike the flank of the attacking Austrians.  Benedek sensing a trap maneuvered his troops to negate the flank advantage and turned the battle into a straight up fight where his numerical superiority, he hoped, would win the day.

Perrie grouped his small force around a large hill and spread out against the Austrian left.

This small force of 10 units clung to the terrain hoping to stall the Austrian army long enough to retreat.

Seizing the momentum from the outset, Benedek and his 21 unit army moved swiftly to catch the Italians and to grab the small town of Pieve del Cairo.  Failing to get his orders across the Italians sat waiting for the Austrians to cross the open ground.

The Bersaglieri proved their worth as their accurate fire wiped out 2 Austrian units before they fell to volumes of Austrian rifle fire.
In a dramatic shift General Perrie's troops reacted quickly while the Austrians waited to close up their lines before delivering the death blow.  The Italians pulled back and began retreating.  They swiftly made it out of the battle area with only a few units down and the lost of the heroic Bersaglieri unit.


Wrap Up:
Even though the Austrians claimed the field of battle they failed to take their victory conditions and I as the umpire awarded them only 1/2 of the total victory points.

As for our first campaign turn, things went fairly smoothly and the practice battles we had prior to this really paid off in how quickly and smoothly the actual battle played out.
Turn 2 of the campaign will hopefully be played out at the end of this week.