Muskets at Montebello 1859?

[Chris Pringle]

Thanks, Chad. Yes, I think fair to say that skilled musketry was not a high priority for the Austrian army.

Chris

[getagrip]

I don't do historical but love reading all of this.

Just looked up Montebello 1859.  How the hell did the Austrians lose? 

Also, how do you play this as a decent game without:

a)  Hamstringing the Austrians to the point they can't fight;
b)  Making it a foregone conclusion?

[nikharwood]

b)  Making it a foregone conclusion?

That'll be the dice then...

Oh - and never underestimate the ability of wargamer's to make daft decisions / forget about flank forces / drink too much whilst playing etc etc etc 

[getagrip]

That'll be the dice then...

Oh - and never underestimate the ability of wargamer's to make daft decisions / forget about flank forces / drink too much whilst playing etc etc etc 

Yeah, but fundamentally you are aiming to create a battle that mirrors the original?  Isn't it then that all of the above takes over?

[Ithoriel]

There is some fun to be had trying to not lose as badly as your historical counterparts too.

[nikharwood]

There is some fun to be had trying to not lose as badly as your historical counterparts too.

Yep, I think that's the one - it's a decent challenge...

[Chris Pringle]

Well, my interpretation of the battle was that, apart from being spread out and uncoordinated and with a somewhat vague mission, the Austrians were deceived by Forey's aggression into believing that they faced far more French than they did (witness their AARs which I think speak of 30 or 40,000 French, not the <10,000 there really were).

So for my scenario, I decided to reward Allied aggression appropriately. Each turn that the Allies try to charge an Austrian unit, they deter the arrival of Austrian reinforcements. If on any turn the Allies do not initiate a charge, the Austrians get to bring on a reinforcement unit from Brigades Bils, von Hessen or Boer. In our games this did seem to capture the flavor of the battle and produce the right kind of results. The 3-page scenario is all on Flickr:

https://flic.kr/p/qAKhf1
https://flic.kr/p/qAKhis
https://flic.kr/p/qALjvd

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BBB_wargames/info

[getagrip]

Well, my interpretation of the battle was that, apart from being spread out and uncoordinated and with a somewhat vague mission, the Austrians were deceived by Forey's aggression into believing that they faced far more French than they did (witness their AARs which I think speak of 30 or 40,000 French, not the <10,000 there really were).

So for my scenario, I decided to reward Allied aggression appropriately. Each turn that the Allies try to charge an Austrian unit, they deter the arrival of Austrian reinforcements. If on any turn the Allies do not initiate a charge, the Austrians get to bring on a reinforcement unit from Brigades Bils, von Hessen or Boer. In our games this did seem to capture the flavor of the battle and produce the right kind of results. The 3-page scenario is all on Flickr:

https://flic.kr/p/qAKhf1
https://flic.kr/p/qAKhis
https://flic.kr/p/qALjvd

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
https://uk.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BBB_wargames/info

Awesome idea; I will be adapting this 

[Chris Pringle]

You're welcome, help yourself!

A similar approach worked nicely for Langensalza as well.

Chris