A return to the Po Campaign

It's been nearly 3 weeks since I last dealt with the rival dynasties fighting in northern Italy. That was partly down to an outbreak of "Real Life" - a family holiday, busy-ness at work and football watching. The football hasn't calmed down yet (another trip beckons this evening, this time to Cambridge). But plans are being made to re-start the campaign for the last month or two of the campaigning season. After that, I'll probably call a halt to it whilst I pursue other wargaming interests.

[Post Script: got back late having driven to Cambridge. Was catching up with 'content' when I got home and noticed on the head coach's interview that he is sponsored by Grimsby wargamer, Dave Tuck. https://gtfc.co.uk/firstteam/david-artell/ Cracking end to the game and a great atmosphere, packed in on a covered terrace. Proper old school.]

The holiday included a return to Dénia on the headland halfway between Valencia and Alicante, and another visit to the castle there (again at the suggestion of the Margravina). Then later a day trip to Valencia itself, when we were completely out of sync with local timings. A late arrival meant we lunched without thinking about siesta time, and missed the museum opening hours (8:00-14:00 and 18:00-20:00). Schoolboy error!

Looking south towards Mont Gó which broods over the town of Dénia

Estacio del Nord, the main station in Valencia city

As above but with the bullring to its left

Part of a display around the outside of Valencia CF's ground, Camp de Mestalla.

Nice touch!

The SW corner of the Mestalla. Walkable from the main station, so the eldest and I are planning a trip to catch a home game next season.

One of the closed museums.

Central post office

The city hall.

I love the attention given to design of even manhole covers!

Information board at Dénia castle including pics of guerittes.

Lope de Vega was one of those fighting poet-playwrights Spain seemed to produce in the late 16th century. He gets referenced a lot in the Captain Alatriste novels along with Cervantes and Francesco de Quevedo. I'm in danger of disappearing down a rabbit hole with this subject (I'm halfway through a book on Lepanto, the battle where Cervantes lost use of one hand). Vega was one of the chaps who tried to invade Olde England in 1588 but was seen off by a 'Protestant wind'.

Meanwhile back in the 18th century.

Right, back to the campaign. I screenshotted part of a map of the area around the city of Cuneo in northwest Italy. I'll use this as the scene for a rearguard scenario whereby the Gallispans have to get to the safety of Cuneo before they are overhauled by the combined armies of Piedmont and Austria. There's a couple of river crossings over a watercourse to the north and a couple by the city in the south.

Environs of Cuneo showing approximate locations of bridges over the Stura river in the 1740s, and the location of Madonna dell Olmo, scene of the real battle in 1744 and the action earlier in my campaign (1742). North is in the direction of the top right corner.

The map flipped round so it fits on an 8ft by 4ft board. North is now bottom right!

I probably won't get this battle done until the weekend, as I still need to work out the order of entry on the table and set the table up.

Po Valley Campaign - From June to September

Twists and turns followed the retreat of the Gallispans outside Cuneo in late June. The defeat was by no means a rout and with a siege force as strong as the field army there were enough troops available to give the tired Piedmontese pause for thought.

King Charles Emanuel and his army remained outside the Gallispan camp for four weeks and recalled the militia brigades he'd sent to garrison Ivrea and Turin. His presence in the immediate aftermath of the battle caused the besieging army under Ponti to pause its digging and allowed the Piedmontese to send supplies into the city. Whilst Charles Emanuel waited the Gallispans dug in outside the siege works.

Whilst the two sides eyed each other at Cuneo, Traun with his Austrians prosecuted his siege of Piacenza. Aspremont with his Piedmontese detachment helped provide cover for Traun. Two weeks after the Battle of Cuneo, Piacenza capitulated. Then Traun headed east towards Guastalla to put that city under siege. The Bourbons (Spanish, Neapolitans and Modenese) in the Parma region forestalled Traun by packing Guastalla with a strong reinforcement, and then sent the remainder of their army to threaten Piacenza. The plan worked and Traun beetled back to Piacenza abandoning the attack on Guastalla.

Aspremont was recalled by Charles Emmanuel and the Piedmontese concentrated at Novara. The Gallispans under the Infante Felipe and the Prince of Conti marched to Alba in a move that threatened Alessandria whilst remaining within reach of Cuneo and Turin. July had turned to August and the  Piedmontese King realised that he could not leave Cuneo in the hands of the Gallispans. This would give them a secure base on the Italian side of the Alps over winter and a base of operations for the Spring.  Charles Emmanuel was not strong enough to face the Gallispan army so he cooked up a plan with Traun to combine their forces.  Receiving word of the Austrians march westwards the Gallispans read the runes and retired to Salazzo where they began to dig in.

Meanwhile, in Traun's absence the Bourbon's pounced on Piacenza again and re-opened their lines outside the city.

Then in early September news arrived that Felipe V, King of Spain, had finally died. The Spanish and their allies waited for news of which way policy under the new monarch would go. [I rolled a double 5 on the monthly Events check. I then rolled a 7 on the Events table: death of Felipe: the Spanish and Neapolitans prevented from offensive action for 3 months. I decided 3 months was too harsh and reduced it to 6 weeks.] The siege of Piacenza was paused and the Gallispans at Alba decided to retreat to Cuneo with the enemy close behind.

The Gallispans aim to cross the Stura and re-occupy their old camp outside the city. The river would be a formidable obstacle to the enemy. The question is, would they have time to cross? 

At this point there are a few options:

• The Gallispans get across in time
• They get caught crossing
• There is a rearguard action

I will ponder this some more and roll a dice to decide. The second option isn't attractive from a game point of view. Not because it's one-sided, but because it risks effectively ending the campaign quickly. A rearguard action appeals as a game.

Panning out a bit, I've got through 23 map turns and 3 battles in 2 weeks. There are 12 map turns left for 1742 after this. 8 if Winter comes early (on a dice roll).  I don't think I will keep up the momentum at this pace indefinitely. So at the moment I'm tempted to pause the campaign after completing this 'year' and come back to it (for 1743) at a later date.

Po Valley Campaign - The Battle of Madonna dell Almost

The Piedmontese attempted to break the Gallispan siege of Cuneo and attacked a force of Spanish and French a short distance northwest of the city.

This proved to be a small scale action. Once I'd transposed the map of the battleground of Madonna dell Olmo onto the table it fitted on a space 100x60cm. Representing an area 3 miles by less than 2.

The table before troops positioned. Madonna dell Olmo is the churchy thing on the right edge. Cuneo would be off to the bottom right corner.

Looking east from Madonna dell Olmo

Now with the troops positioned. Piedmontese to the top. They have elected to send a powerful cavalry force on a flanking move from their right (columns about to cross the road top left. Their infantry would assault the village east of MdO.

The Piedmontese concentrate their artillery on the left to batter the enemy in the village and walls opposite.

The Spanish right looking from MdO

The field looking from east to west. Piedmontese to the left. Spanish on the right.

Piedmontese flanking force

Spanish centre.

After 19 turns the Piedmontese infantry has chased the Spanish out of the village, threatening the Spanish route back to the city

View of the same from the Spanish point of view

Piedmontese cavalry has pushed the French cavalry (assigned to the Spanish for the day). At the end the Piedmontese still had 4 brigades of cavalry left. The Gallispans just the one.

At this point I decided the Spanish would retreat rather than risk a total collapse. Campaigns do make you think differently. Losses weren't too heavy for either side after I diced for recoveries.  Now to decide what the Gallispans will do. Their siege is definitely under threat, although they still outnumber the Piedmontese when taking the siege force into account.

Interlude - the Battle of Leuthen

I bring you a short break in the War of the Austrian Succession, and lead you forward to the Seven Years War. I came across this fabulous video on You Tube today about the Battle of Leuthen, 1757.  There's so much 'military history' out there these days that is half-baked. Much of it has AI produced pictures or animations that are just so ahistorical that you have to wonder if a knowledgeable human being was involved at all (or just didn't care). 'AI slop' is the appropriate phrase.

The following video isn't that. It has great contextualisation, beautiful animated maps, and, most strikingly, the presenter walking the ground. Together, this gives you a great sense of how things unfolded.  Hope you enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bh-4Zn5we0&t=18s

Po Valley Campaign - the Gallispans return!

After the Battle of Piacenza the combined forces of Montemar (Sp), Carlos (Naples) and d'Este (Modena) retreated to Parma to lick their wounds. The Austrians under Traun, assisted by the badly battered Piedmontese under Aspremont, got to work with their siege of Piacenza.

Unfortunately for the Austrians they were hit by delays. First they didn't have sufficient timber, tools and other materials to prepare their lines. This took two weeks to get in order. [In game terms they rolled a 6 in two successive turns, which meant an unspecified delay. At the last minute I felt that there wasn't enough jeopardy in my 'back of a fag packet' siege 'rules'. It also later occurred to me that I had no provision for attrition during sieges so I need to sit down to work that one out.]

Over in the west, King Victor Emanuel (Piedmontese) realised that he needed to adopt a more central position to cover Turin, Ivrea, Cuneo and Alessandria (the 4 fortresses of the province of Piedmont). He moved south to Saluzzo, meaning he was no more than 3 marches [less than one turn] away from any of the 4 cities. En route he told off one of the militia brigades in Turin to garrison Ivrea. [This is in addition to any local forces assumed to be in the fortress as permanent garrison].

It was a fortuitous move, for the Gallispans under the Infante Felipe and Prince de Conti erupted from the southern Alps to invest Cuneo. They calculated that they had enough troops to envelope the city and hold off any relief sent by Victor Emanuel. Would the Piedmontese King (technically King of Sardinia) regret sending detachments hither and thither?

The map after the moves of w/c 18 June 1742. Cuneo is bottom left: the big M is the militia garrison, R is Carlos Emanuel (il Re), I is the Infante and P is Ponti. Aspremont and Traun are at Piacenza whilst Francesco d'Este (F) Montemar and Carlos (the other King) are at Parma. S is the as yet inactive Genoans under Sale.

The Gallispan siegeworks were progressing according to the timetable. Naturally, since they were being led by French engineers, and they had ensured that they came fully prepared with timber, brushwood and all manner of supplies when they came down from the mountains. Victor Emanuel was close at hand to attempt a relief of Cuneo and marched south.  The Gallispans were not going to be deterred by the King, so by late June 1742 we were facing the third battle of the campaign. [I ummed and ahhed before deciding that Victor Emanuel would attempt a relief of Cuneo. The deciding factor was the fact that, under the rules, after 2 weeks there was a chance that a fortress will fall].

The forces available to each side (after deducting sufficient French to invest Cuneo) were as follows:

	French	Spanish	Gallispans Total	Piedmontese
Cuirassiers	2	2*	4	4
Dragoons	2	0	2	4
Hussars			0
Grenadiers/Guards			0	2
Musketeers		11	11	8
Militia			0
Skirmishers			0
Artillery	4	2	6	4
Total	2,500	15,000	17,500	17,500
Cavalry	2,500	1,250	3,750	5,000
Infantry	0	13,750	13,750	12,500

The numbers against each troop type are bases, where 2 bases equals a brigade in the tactical rules. Fairly evenly balanced forces overall, with the Gallispans having an advantage in artillery and a slight advantage in infantry. * All the Gallispan cavalry will in fact be French since the Infante had none and was leant some by Conti in this game.

Naturally as Cuneo was the location of a real battle connected to the relief of the city, I will be looking to that battle (Madonna dell Olmo, 1744) for inspiration for the table layout. This time the rival forces are in their historical roles Gallispans covering the siege and Piedmontese relieving the city. Lightbulb moment. Should I dice for a sortie as happened in the historic scenario?

Meanwhile!! News had not reached this corner of Italy yet, but in Great Britain the Jacobites had risen up against the Hanoverians. This could prove a disadvantage to the Austrians and Piedmontese as it would be a distraction for their Maritime ally.

[On the first June turn (2 weeks/turns before) I diced for Events and rolled a double 1! So I had to roll on the Events Table. A roll of a 3 on a D12 meant that the Jacobites had launched an uprising against George II. This is like a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card for the Bourbons. It can be used to cancel another of Event: 'British Descent on Bourbon Coast', which itself would normally cause the Bourbons to remove some bases from the map. Throughout the War of the Austrian Succession, British naval power in the Mediterranean proved useful for the anti-Bourbon cause, so I made provision for it in the Events table. Incidentally, the 'Jacobite Card' can only be played once. If its number comes up again, it will mean an outbreak of plague affecting the Austrians or Piedmontese.]

Po Valley Campaign - The Battle of Piacenza

After rattling through April and May map moves and the Battle of Parma last week, I was slow getting down to the Battle of Piacenza. Finally I got it done today.

This was another hard fought contest in terrain with lots of obstacles and cover. It was mostly an attritional slog in which the superior numbers of the Austro-Piedmontese prevailed.

3 turns in and the opposing columns are still marching up to compete for advantageous ground. (Bourbons from the left, Austro-Piedmontese from the right)

On the Bourbon left, infantry from Modena have occupied the Cascina and line of the stream. To their left Spanish dragoons have bounced Austrian cavalry who had crossed through the tree line.

Austrian foot in the centre have occupied a built up area with enclosures. Their brethren to their left have been battered by the Spanish guns in the foreground.

Turn 14. The Piedmontese (on the left of the Austrians) have finally formed up opposite the Neapolitans and both sides slugged it out for SEVERAL more turns.

Also turn 14. The Austrian advance in the centre has been shredded (note more the casualty markers on the right compared to those on the left of the picture). Despite this the two units centre right were to survive until the end. Across the tree line the combined Austrian grenadiers slug it out with Spanish infantry all game.

Another contest without decisive result. On the Austrian right repeated cavalry attacks fail to dislodge the Modenese infantry from the stream. I think I might upgrade the Modena troops following their experience.

After 25 turns the Neapolitans have broken. It was touch and go. Despite being outnumbered they made good use of the enclosure, inflicted as many hits on their Italian cousins from the north. The Piedmontese were the first to face a Wing Morale test but passed. Alas, King Carlos' men failed theirs. With stalemate in the centre and other wing, I called it a day and decided the Bourbon forces would retire in reasonable order and due to the terrain and losses on the Austrian cavalry, there would be no pursuit.

Following the game I diced for recovery of lost brigades and hits. The net outcome in terms of permanent losses are given below.

Bourbons

Neapolitans: Lost 1 brigade and 2 further hits on the remaining brigade.

Modenese: No hits

Spanish: lost 2 brigades inc the guards plus 2 further hits, no further hits on the cavalry

Austro-Piedmontese

Piedmontese: Lost 2 brigades and 3 further hits.

Austrians: 2 hits on cavalry, lost 1 infantry brigade, and 1 further hit. No further hits on artillery.

I'll work out what happens next in the campaign. I'm slightly concerned at the rate of attrition, especially for the Bourbons. Will they make it until the end of the year? Maybe the Bourbons need to lick their wounds and wait for winter for reinforcements. But can they do this without giving the Austrians a free hand to mop up Bourbon-aligned fortresses? It certainly looks like the Austrians are free to continue their siege of Piacenza. Will the Infante Felipe and Prince of Conti show their faces east of the Alpine passes again before the end of the campaigning season?

Po Valley Campaign - Late April and May 1742 - the Road to Piacenza

I played out several more weeks of map turns after the Battle of Parma. Not much happened for a few weeks. The Infante (Sp) and Conti  (Fr) remained a march from Ivrea on the edge of the Alps, blocked by an equally strong Piedmontese army under the guns of the fortress. Outside Parma the rival forces (Austrians on one side and Spanish-Neapolitan-Modenese on the other) stood warily watching each other, gathering in supplies from the countryside and recovering their wounded from the battle.

With a stronger force than the Habsburgs opposite him, Traun sent his Austrian hussars (most likely Hungarians) off to raid Bourbon supply lines. After further time he despatched his 4 battalions of Croat Grenzers to garrison Cremona (nearest of the Austrian controlled fortresses in Lombardy). His opponents could not agree what to do: Montemar wanted to remain at Parma and King Carlos and d'Este voted to return to Modena. [I diced for the decision of each of the 3 commanders each turn and without unanimity they remained put. Each turn the odds of moving increased.]

Up in Piedmont, King Charles Emmanuel, sent his militia brigades to garrison Turin and Cuneo, whilst despatching his own light troops to raid the Gallispans' supply lines.  He felt strong enough in Ivrea to defend without the detached troops. Traun's and Charles Emmanuel's decisions to despatch raiders paid off very quickly. Both Bourbon armies' supply trains were badly hit by the Pandours/Partisans, reducing the strength of their forces.

[Surprisingly on the first Event check I rolled a double 6: a double meaning an event has occurred. I then diced for the type of Event and it was 'Supply Train Attacked' and 10% was deducted from both Bourbon armies.]

This encouraged both the Gallispans (Franco-Spanish) in the Alps and the combined Spanish-Italians at Parma to move, falling back to France and Modena respectively.  The Infante and Conti will decide which of the routes back into Italy they will take, but they will be off the map for a month (unless they come back the same way!). Charles Emmanuel (Piedmont) despatched 4 infantry brigades under Aspremont to aid Traun. Traun moved west to attack Piacenza (a city controlled by the Spanish-leaning Duchy of Parma). He had siege lines constructed - 3 of his brigades were committed to this. Montemar, King Carlos and d'Este all agreed to attack Traun before he could establish batteries at Piacenza. They arrived from the east as Aspremont arrived from the north. A second battle is in the offing not 2 months into the campaign. Aspremont's arrival was crucial as his force could make up the shortfall in Austrian troops due to them having to man the siege trenches.

General situation before the Battle of Piacenza. The larger beads are the garrison forces referred to above. 

The Battle of Piacenza - Deployment

The forces deployed are:

Austro-Piedmontese

Austrian brigades: 1 grenadier, 4 line infantry, 3 cuirassiers, 2 dragoon, 2 artillery

Piedmontese brigades: 4 infantry

Bourbon Forces

Spanish brigades: 2 Guard/grenadiers; 3 line infantry, 1 cavalry, 1 artillery

Neapolitan brigades: 3 line infantry

Modenese brigades: 2 line infantry

The city is off to the north east of this map. I opted to have the opposing sides enter in columns in a race to secure advantageous ground. I'd considered using the dispositions from the actual battle of Piacenza in 1746 but that did not make much sense as the Bourbons started in the city.

Here are a few photos of the table set-up.

As before, the table is 1.2 x 1 metre representing just shy of 4 by 3 miles.

The Piedmontese

The powerful Austrian cavalry wing. But will they be able to operate effectively in the terrain criss-crossed with streams and trees? As with the Parma game, roads will count as linear obstacles when traversing them.

The Bourbon forces looking north. The Modenese in the foreground are being represented by Saxons, as other than the Piedmontese, I don't have any models painted specifically as Italian armies. In practical terms the difference between them all are the flags.

The Bourbon northern flank, made up of King Carlos' Neapolitans. I'm 'proxying' the Reichsarmee for these.