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Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Battle of San Martino - Part 1

As planned, the San Martino battle kicked off on Monday at 6:00pm GMT with five of the six Rejects taking their positions around the remote gaming table.  Ray, due to work commitments, could not make Monday's game.  With a little luck, perhaps, we will see Ray when the battle continues.

The Austrians had three players (Richard, Lee, David) commanding 26 BMUs.  The Sardinians, with two players (Steve, Ian), took command of 30 BMUs.  Both armies have opportunities to attack and defend.  The Austrians are slightly outnumbered but looks can be deceiving.  Austrian infantry battalions carry rifled muskets and field more manpower than their Sardinian counterparts.  The Sardinians mostly muster out with smoothbore muskets.  Cavalry contingents for each are small and artillery is not too numerous.

To win the battle, the Sardinians must hold at least two of the three objectives of Contracania, San Martino, and the bridge near San Donnino.  If the Sardinians also take Pozzolengo, they score a major victory.  

For the Austrians, they must hold Pozzolengo and hold at least two of the three objectives of  Contracania, San Martino, and the bridge near San Donnino.  Possess all four objectives by battle's end and the Austrians score a major victory.  As suggested by the victory conditions, the San Martino Heights which dominate the central position, figures to see heavy fighting.   

Battlefield and initial dispositions
The two teams had about one week to prepare their battle plans.  The Rejects quickly chose up sides and began to prepare.  Both teams got into the spirit of the battle planning phase by asking a number of very good questions about scenario and rules.  From the questions asked, I gained a sense of what each army might be planning.

The Battle Begins!

Let's see how the battle developed...

Armies converge.
Benedek's Austrian Corps begins the action by moving sharply toward the San Martino Heights.  Lippert, on the Austrian left, scales the heights and encounters the Sardinian Bersaglieri defending Contracania and Ortaglia. Lippert's men suffer some casualties from these long-range exchanges.  In the Austrian center, Philoppovic advances to keep pace with Lippert sending his jaegers out as a screen.  Watervliet, holding the high ground on the right, maintains his position.  Is Watervliet being held in reserve to discourage an attack toward Pozzolengo?  

Austrian move on San Martino.
With only Mollard's reconnaissance column on the battlefield when the shooting starts, Mollard is relieved to see Arnaldi and Morozzo's brigades come up in support on turns one and two.

Jockeying for position.
Lippert advances upon the heights while Philoppovic and Watervliet throw jaegers out in front of their two brigades.  King Victor Emmanuele reaches the battlefield with Arnaldi as Arnaldi advances along the main road.  Morozzo, however, splits his command.  Morozzo, along with half of his cavalry and the 13th Infantry Regiment, swings around to the west of San Martino making an apparent push toward San Donnino and the bridge to Madonna del Scoperta.  Interesting!  The King, himself, takes command of the 14th Infantry Regiment and two squadrons of cavalry and advances to the east of San Martino.  Anxious for action, the two squadrons of Monferrato's cavalry accompanying the King strike out toward the Austrian lines.  Is he attacking to delay the Austrian advance?  Monferrato's light cavalry, unsupported, are driven off by Austrian jaegers but not before inflicting light casualties.   

Monferrato Cavalry attack!
In a surprise to all players and umpire (well, except for Ian), Morozzo (Ian), releases two squadrons of the Monferrato cavalry from reserve and attacks IR 59/3 near San Donnino. The Sardinian light cavalry swings around the Austrian infantry and hits them before they can effectively respond. The 59th suffers heavy casualties before falling back into the village of San Donnino.

Attacks at San Donnino.
Seeing the threat to San Donnino and the vital bridge to Madonna del Scoperta, FML Benedek brings up the Reserve Artillery.  The heavy battery he orders to San Donnino while the medium battery he positions covering the gap between San Donnino and San Martino Heights.  The Austrian 1st Hussars are brought up in support for good measure.

Heavy fighting on the heights and near San Martino.
As fighting intensifies on the heights, casualties mount.  The Bersaglieri defenders of Contracania, suffering heavily from the fighting, are replaced by one of Mollard's infantry battalions.  The Sardinians stand firm. 
Sardinian cavalry overrun the guns!

Neither the heavy guns nor the 59th IR at San Donnino can drive off the Sardinian cavalry.  In fact, these actions may have annoyed the horsemen to the point of attacking!  Attack they do!  The two squadrons attack the heavy guns.  Despite valiant efforts, the Austrian guns are overrun before the Sardinian cavalry can be driven off by the Austrian hussars.

Sardinians broadly advance.
With casualties climbing in the advance upon Contracania and Ortalia, Lippert has seen enough.  He orders his brigade to fall back to safety.  Is he more concerned about casualties suffered or threat to his flank?

Philoppovic maintains steady pressure against the defenders positioned in front of San Martino.  The lengthy firefights are taking a toll.  One Sardinian battalion is destroyed defending the vineyard while the guns in front of San Martino are wavering.  The Austrians seem content to keep the Sardinians at a distance and attack from afar.  The Austrians must take the high ground.  When will the inevitable attack come?  

Austrians poised to attack.
Mollard still holds San Martino and the Heights.
After five turns of play, the battle is still undecided.  With the outcome still contested and time for only one more turn in session 1, players agree to continue battle in a second session rather than press-on for one more turn.  The follow-up session with be on 30 May.  Stay tuned for the conclusion of the San Martino battle.

Battle lines as seen from the east.
Players have been issued troops dispositions and casualty returns to plan for the battle's conclusion.

With the situation as given at end of play, how would you tackle the challenge of gaining a victory on this field of battle? 

Until next time...

51 comments:

  1. As always Jonathan you have provided a great looking table and a good game for the AAR to cover. Will be back for the conclusion.

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    1. Joe, your support and encouragement mean a lot. Thank you!

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  2. I am looking for rules for Hungarian Revolution 1848-49 in 15mm. What rules do you play?

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    1. For rules’ choice! You must answer a number of questions. A few questions to consider are what size battles you wish to present, what do you want as the BMU, and how much time do you have for a game?

      For remote games with a half-dozen players, I tend toward lower complexity rules that I can easily remember when umpiring. For this battle I am using the basic game engine from “Fields of Honor” with a few of my own twists to the process.

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  3. It is probably quite fitting to have a small pause before the grand finale. Nice to see the Rejects did so much pre-planning for both sides of the battle.

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    1. Yes. Better to fight to a proper conclusion in a second session than to fight one more turn and see the battle end in question.

      The Rejects are a very gentlemanly group. They are a pleasure to direct in a remote game.

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  4. A very fair, balanced and well written narrative of events thus far Jonathan. I am thoroughly enjoying the game, and most of my waking and non-working hours are spent pondering the next moves... i.e. an immersive experience. Kudos.

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    1. Richard, it is a pleasure to read your comments! "Very fair, balanced, and well written", I like that!

      Good to see those thoughts of game continuation are occupying your mind this week. I look forward to Monday's action.

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  5. Excellent report and good looking game, looking forward to part 2.

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  6. Excellent summary of the action so far. I've thoroughly enjoyed the game and am looking forward to continuing the fight on Monday. Like Richard I have found myself thinking about what to do next. Whatever happens, it has been a highly enjoyable experience.

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    1. Lee, very relieved to see that you are enjoying the game. Meeting and directing your group were great fun for me too.

      Good to see that you are considering the possibilities too. I wonder if your opponents, the Sardinians, are doing likewise?

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  7. Fantasric battle report. Look forward to part 2

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  8. A grand looking game in the grand Manner. Bring on part two.

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    1. Phil, you are most kind! Pleased to see you enjoyed Part 1 and await Part 2.

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  9. Quite thrilling thus far. Huzzah for the heroic Sardinian cavalry, I hope some survive to receive grappa and medals! Looking at the last photo, if I was the Austrian commander at this point I’d mask the heights and push hard on my right,. Great looking game Jonathan.

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    1. Excellent!

      Unfortunately, all four of the Sardinian squadrons fell in battle. Two were scattered on the Sardinian left in early attacks and the two squadrons on the Sardinian right were lost in the heavy fighting around San Donnino. Those two squadrons in those attacks did not go quietly. They made a bit of a mess out of the Austrian left.

      Good advice to the Austrian commander. We will see on Monday what he has in mind.

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  10. Outstanding game! Great figures and excellent terrain. The is a great looking period for colorful uniforms. Really enjoyed this very much and by u have me searching my figure box for 1859 Austrians which I know I have someplace! Well dine Sir!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the battle report and presentation, Mark!

      It is a great period for colorful uniforms. The French and Austrian uniforms of this period are two of my favorites among all of my armies.

      Thank you!

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  11. Looks like you were able to take enough pictures this time around despite managing 5 players remotely. Can you do it a second time? We’ll all be tuning in to find out. 😀

    From the player comments it looks like everyone is really enjoying the game as well. Great job! 😀

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    1. Stew - He's been practicing on us. If Jon can mange 6 of the MNG, I'm sure that 5 Rejects was a piece of cake.

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    2. I really should stop more frequently for more photo ops. Enough photos survived to just make a coherent narrative. Well, at least I hope the narrative is coherent!

      On player commentary, both Lee and Richard are gentlemen. I doubt they would make disparaging comments even if the game was a bust.

      Thank you for your comment!

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    3. Graham, yes, I have been molded into a seasoned veteran by your group.

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  12. Looks like things are hanging in the balance! Nice game your putting on Jonathan!

    Christopher

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    1. Thanks, Christopher!

      The battle looks to hang in the balance to me too. The Sardinians may have suffered slightly more but they still hold the crucial objectives near the heights.

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  13. Excellent looking report as always Jonathan!
    Best regards

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  14. Great breakfast read this!

    I concur with the padre. Seems to me the Austrian right is well poised for a big push. Sardinians seem weaker or equal on all fronts unless more reinforcements are coming up.

    Oh, and it should be Madonna della scoperta not ‘del scoperta’. That’s my daily Italian lesson done! :)

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    1. Mike, pleased to see that the report make good morning reading for you. Your plan is solid but the Austrians may run out of time before they can complete such a maneuver on their right.

      Thanks for the language lesson! I will go back to check my sources on the place name.

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    2. I don’t know the place itself but I know a bit of the language. In Italian the word ‘scoperta’ (discovery) is feminine so the aricle ‘la’ is added as a suffix to the preceding preposition. It translates literally to ‘Madonna of the Discovery’, whatever that might represent. Enough Italian grammar for today!!

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    3. It is a good day when I learn something new.

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    4. Yes, you just learnt what a hopeless nerd
      I am! 😅

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  15. Lovely looking and nicely balanced game, rooting for the Sardinians !
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks, Iain! The situation looks close to me. The Sardinians may run out of combat effectives before the Austrians do.

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  16. Late to the party somewhat, but a lovely game to look at and the action is nicely poised. A surprise to see the Austrians lose a gun to a cavalry charge, but one of the few uses of cavalry at this particular period of the 19thC. You really do need to keep your artillery protected as I've learnt to my cost before! Looking forward to seeing how the action unfolds.

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    1. Steve, it is never too late to add in a comment!

      Losing the gun was a surprise to the Austrians but equally surprising to the Sardinian cavalry!

      You are correct in that artillery must be supported to mitigate the chance of this "opportunity" from surfacing. Artillery really needs to do the damage before the cavalry can get in among the guns. Still, in this attack, the cavalry rolled very well, and the artillery rolled very poorly. C'est la guerre!

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  17. Gutted I missed the first part of the battle, but work really got in the way. I'm looking forward to getting my hands dirty on Monday!

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    1. Work. It can be so inconvenient. Looking forward to seeing you on Monday.

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  18. Totally agree with you Jon, work is very inconvenient and gets in the way of living your life! (Not for your good self any longer, of course!) It looks like you have privided an interesting tussle for the Rejects and as akways, table and figures look superb.

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    1. Hi Keith. As you see from Ray’s comment, work interfered with his participation. Hopefully, Monday’s session will see him at the table.

      Thanks for your encouragement for both game and table. We will see how Session #2 pans-out on Monday.

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  19. A splendid looking and sounding game Jonathan…as always.
    I’m looking forward to part two…

    All the best. Aly

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  20. I concur with others Jonathan, a great looking game in one of my favourite periods. I look forward to the final result.

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    1. Thanks! I ought to get this collection out on the table more often. One of my favorite periods too.

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  21. Another cracking looking battle Jonathan!

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  22. Interesting; not a period I often see games reports on. By this period, of course, the Austrians had become the Bad Guys with so many of the Italian States trying to secure their independence. And yes, it does look good too. :-) Look forward to the conclusion.

    Cheers,

    David.

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    1. Thanks, David! The Austrians are not the Bad Guys; simply misunderstood. Keeping an Empire together is tough work.

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    2. Ah - that comment would warm the cockles of Lord North's heart, not to mention George III! ;-)

      Cheers,

      David.

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