As trailed in a previous post, I've been thinking about getting another campaign going. The options were both to be set in the War(s*) of Austrian Succession: Italy or the Austrian Netherlands. I plumped for Italy, and specifically, the northern theatre, as I want to make more use of the Piedmontese and Spanish armies I painted. I realise I could say the same about the Dutch, but it's 2:1 The Austrian Netherlands can come later.
* I prefer "Wars" as I see it more as a, sometimes loosely, connected set of conflicts. The Habsburgs and Bourbons continued to fight after the end of the Prussian-Austrian conflict (1st and 2nd Silesian Wars). The Spanish Bourbons were already fighting the British when the Silesian Wars kicked off, and for a couple of years, the British were 'auxiliaries' of the Habsburgs in the Low Countries. Similarly the Anglo-French colonial conflict had a life of its on.
This campaign will be different from my previous foray into the WAS in Italy as that was for the whole of the war and the whole of Italy. Also it was really a hex map game with figures for counters. This new campaign will be more like the recent Saxon campaign with point to point map moves and actions fought out as table top games with figures.
My first step was to map the map. I've basically traced modern Italy, mostly the Po valley from west of Turin to the Gulf of Venice. As well as the Po and other major rivers, I have marked in key roads and towns. Each town being a day's march apart.
It's a bit rough at the moment. I intend to shade in the Alps and the Apennines and sea. Many towns (dots) have been left unnamed simply for legibility purposes. Actually, also because where roads cross the mountains I've spaced the towns closer together so the same distance takes twice as long to cross. There is very little scope to cross the mountains laterally as evidenced by the road network and my main focus is on the Po valley. There are different options for east-west movement - decisions will be diced for at each nodal point based on a rough assessment of probabilities.
Two key things to work out now:
- Orders of Battle
- Campaign objectives and scope
The Saxon campaign had a very limited window - based on the weeks leading up to the end of 1745 and it had to be completed within my time off at Christmas and New Year. The Po campaign will have more time, both in historical setting and in playing time. My immediate thought on objectives is the Spanish aim to recapture Milan and Parma from the Habsburgs. But it will be more complicated than that as there are 3 (possibly 4 or 5) other parties:
Austria: obviously wanting to keep Milan and Parma
France: generally helping Spain (as they were ruled by the same family firm) and weakening Austria in the context of France's struggle for hegemony in the Low Countries and Germany
Piedmont-Savoy (aka the Kingdom of Sardinia): to remain independent and to stop Spain taking Milan and avoid being surrounded by Bourbon territory.
Naples: part of the Bourbon family firm. The ruler owed Spain a favour for help in recovering the Naples for them in the War of the Polish Succession
Britain: traditional foe of France and Spain, and ally of Austria on the basis of my enemy's enemy....
The hard part will be setting an end point. If Spain captures Milan and Parma, will the game be over or will Austria have a chance to grab them back as they wouldn't have just given up, unless they reached exhaustion point. And that would at least partly depend on what was happening north of the Alps.
Other bits and pieces to ponder:
Sieges will be abstracted - I'll probably adapt the siege section from my previous Italian campaign. Though I might be tempted to try Siege Works.
Intelligence: who knows what and when. Some simple scouting points maybe.
I will also have to adopt a mechanism for ensuring rest days are taken, and a way of tracking these.
Battles will be played out using Twilight of the Soldier Kings or WRG 1685-1845 depending on the scale.
Last but not least, I will think about some simple supply rules.
So more thinking to be done!
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