French Reinforcements for Rivoli?

While work at the painting desk has tended to focus on a few 28mm projects of late, I have been trying to get more of the 15/18mm projects into the painting queue before year-end.  A couple of units for the 1799 Napoleonic project have crossed the workbench this fall and today another regiment (or demi-brigade) musters off the table.

Marching out of the recruitment center is a three battalion regiment of French infantry.  Each battalion contains a dozen foot from 19th Century Miniatures led by an AB miniatures' mounted colonel.  

This project has not been out onto the table in a very long time.  My recollection is that the Battle of Montebello 1800 may have been the collection's last appearance on the gaming table.  To remedy the long hiatus and to commemorate an upcoming battle anniversary, the Battle of Rivoli is being studied for a winter refight.  Rivoli was last fought on my gaming table way back in 2004 (see Rivoli: A Progress Report).  This time, I will be using troops in the proper uniforms with French in bicornes and Austrians in casquet.  The OBs have been modified slightly based upon new numbers dug up recently and cross-checking of various published sources.  Still, the OBs contain some uncertainty.

One of the recent additions to the study is the boardgame Rivoli 1797.  The game has a detailed OB, a very helpful map, and sources listed for all of the published troop strengths.  

The battle has been laid out on the game table with slight adjustments made to the battlefield allowing a smaller footprint.  I decided to constrict the footprint of this playing of the battle to fit into a 6'x'6 playing area.  The earlier battle shown in the link above consumed much of the 12' length of the table.  By lopping off a little bit of distance from both of the north and south ends of the battle, the important sections of the battlefield will fit into a smaller area.  This small concession allows half of the gaming table for other battles. 

With my State going back into a more rigorous, 30-day lockdown beginning today, no chance of fighting this battle out F2F.  This will be another solo game.  I am considering refighting Rivoli as a multi-player game similar to the Battle of Raab fought in 2015 (see Battle of Raab).  In this format, players submit orders and then I try to implement those orders to the best of my abilities and within the spirit of the orders and rules.  As Raab showed, this can be a multi-month commitment.  If any readers have an interest in this undertaking or simply want more information, please read through the Raab playthrough and leave a comment.  Enough interest may push me into that direction.  I know that I enjoyed the Raab refight since it removed some control from my hands.  I believe the players enjoyed the experience as well.

Last but certainly not least, below is a teaser photo from Rebels and Patriots Widow Creek Bridge action fought out on Matt's (Wargames in the Dungeon) table on Sunday.  I am sure Matt will provide a full battle account once all of the dispatches have been received.

Colonials advance upon British breastworks