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Tuesday, May 31, 2022

San Martino BatRep - Don't Throw a One!

After a week's intermission, I was back to the table with the Rejects to resolve the final act in the Battle of San Martino.  For a battle refresher, please visit, Battle of San Martino - Part 1

For the battle's concluding session, we lost Ian and David but gained Ray.  David even made a brief appearance from a pub during his travels.  Now, that is dedication!  Ray picked up Ian's Sardinian command.  Lee took over command of David's brigade.  Having grasped the rules quickly in the first session, I was curious to see if strategy and tactics may have evolved over the weeklong hiatus. 

We pick up the action at the start of Turn 6.  

When we left the battle, the Austrians were advancing cautiously upon San Martino and the heights.  Having dispatched the Sardinian light cavalry causing havoc on the Austrian left, Lippert orders his brigade to bypass the heights and concentrate on covering the vital bridge near San Donnino.  Morozzo still maintains four battalions of the 13th Infantry Regiment protecting the Sardinian right.  Would Morozzo drive on the Austrian positions at San Donnino or remain content to screen the Sardinian right?  With a change of commanders from Ian to Ray, a change of approach may be forthcoming. 

Start of the action on Turn 6.
On the Austrian right, Philippovic and Watervliet continue their cautious approach toward San Martino.  Knowing that a small chance exists to end the battle abruptly at the end of Turn 8, the Austrians may need to press on if the objectives are to be in Austrian hands before battle ends.

Austrians advance on the right toward San Martino.

Facing the white-coated juggernaut on the Sardinian left is King Victor Emmanuele, himself, leading the 14th Infantry Regiment.  Knowing the 14th IR suffered monstrous casualties in the opening stages of battle, its combat effectiveness may be in question.

With a cautious approach upon San Martino, Mollard is allowed time to ready defenses for the attacks he expects to come.  Having his recon column cover the central position astride the main road and defend the heights, Mollard orders Arnaldi to deploy half of his brigade into the vineyards to the east of San Martino while supporting Mollard's Bersaglieri in Contracania and Ortaglia upon the heights.

Mollard consolidates the central position.
Lippert completes his redeployment to protect the bridge by covering its approaches by three of his four battalions. Benedek, near San Donnino, oversees this maneuver while bringing up the reserve artillery and hussars.  Morozzo slowly advances south toward Lippert's position with skirmish fire breaking out in places. With the longer range of the Austrians rifled muskets, Morozzo is hard-pressed to win this uneven contest.

Lippert shifts left.
Skirmish fire, likewise, breaks out across the battlefield as Philoppovic and Watervliet move on the enemy.  Still, progress is slow and methodical.  With an advantage in both quality and quantity, a quick drive by Watervliet upon the Sardinian left may see that flank collapse under the weight.

View behind Austrian lines, Turn 7.
Having primarily deployed to the east of the road, Philoppovic moves off to the west to pin the Sardinians on the heights.  Is Philoppovic the anvil to Watervliet's hammer?  Still, skirmish fire and artillery bombardments intensify on this front as two Austrian batteries pound Sardinian positions at Ortaglia and San Martino.  One of Morozzo's batteries deployed in front of San Martino is driven off by artillery fire.  The path to San Martino could be opening up.

Philoppovic presses on in the center.
In the center, Philoppovic advances up onto the heights to support Lippert's guns and challenge the defenders of the fortified farms.  In a dashing charge, the 1st Hussars scatter the Bersaglieri below Contracania.  With Austrian small arms' greater range and a cautious approach, Austrian casualties are light.

Hussars scatter Sardinian Bersaglieri
near Contracania.
As noted earlier, the battle has a variable number of turns.  With a one-in-ten chance, the game may last only eight turns.  Probability of ending increases on each successive turn.  At the beginning of turn 8, I roll one D10.  On a '1' the battle will end with the conclusion of Turn 8.  Holding onto the objectives of Contracania and San Martino, the Sardinian players are hoping for a '1'.  For the methodical Austrians, they hope to see anything but a '1' to continue their systematic advance.

Dispositions beginning of turn 8.

To use Ray's blog name, the Austrians hope I "Don't Throw a One!"  I make the roll.  It comes up a

'1'!  

The Sardinians are elated.  The Austrians not so much.

The Austrians advance toward San Martino
Despite the deflation of hopes to securing the objectives, the Austrians press on for the final turn.  Fighting intensifies on the heights while vigorous attacks go into the vineyards in front of San Martino.

Close combat at the vineyards.
In last ditch efforts to take the vineyards and almost reach the outskirts of San Martino, the Austrians are bloodily repulsed.  The Sardinians have hung on to claim a minor victory.  Hooray for the Sardinians in their quest for throwing off the Austrian yoke of oppression!

Sardinians hold San Martino for victory
For the Sardinians, this was a jubilant resolution to battle.  For the Austrians, they really required a few more turns to bring their might to bear given their battle plan.  Well played by all. 

That was good fun and a terrific way to meet wargamers whose blogs I have followed for a long time.  A good discussion followed the session with more thoughts and comments coming in via email.

The Rejects unanimously and generously agree to tackle another Franco-Austrian war battle another day.  Much to consider for another game.  The rules seemed to work well with little ambiguity, I think.  Players caught on to most game attributes very quickly.  A game, decision-making, and rules retrospective I leave for another day.

For a superb, full battle account of the two-session game of San Martino told from the Austrian commander's perspective, please visit Richard's blog at,

The Battle of San Martino

Thanks to all players participating over the two-session game.

47 comments:

  1. For the very short time I actually played the game, I thought it was brilliant. The dice rolling all round was pretty superb as well. There were a lot if hits and nearly the same amount of saves. I only caused 2 casualties!
    Gotta say though Jonathan it was a crackin game, and I look forward to the next one!

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    1. Thanks, Ray! It was great finally meeting you. Too bad you missed out on Session #1 and only saw abbreviated action in Session #2.

      The dice rolling was above average all around, I think. Seemed like Morale Tests were rarely failed.

      I look forward to next time too. Planning begins...

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  2. An excellent battle report of an excellent game. We all really enjoyed the rules and the period - which we haven't played before. Thank you for running the game and inviting us to play!

    From the Austrian perspective, we sort of ignored the objectives in favour of 'holding the line' and that probably cost us the battle in the end. We knew we had a better army with better weaponry so from the beginning we decided to use the longer range of our guns to our advantage. But in so doing we ignored the objectives of the game, to take Contracania and San Martino. We didn't want to waste our men's lives by throwing them at those well-defended towns on the heights but consequently were never really in a position to take the objectives required for a victory, even if the game had gone on longer. I like to think that makes us better human beings than generals!

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    1. Thanks, Lee, and you are welcome!

      You are a model human being, no doubt.
      Remember lead soldiers leave no orphans or widows. As someone once said, you need to break a few eggs to make an omelet.

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  3. Sounds like a lovely game and a great result! Well done to the Sardinians in their war of Independence !
    Best Iain

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    1. Iain, I thought the game produced a viable result given commanders' battle plans. The Rejects are fun group to umpire. Yes, well done to the Sardinians.

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  4. Thanks for another fine AAR here Jon and I thought the Austrians had manouevred into a good position to win the battle, but the fickle nature of the dice put pay to that. Glad that everyone had a good game and I look forward to another such outing as and when.

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    1. You are welcome, Steve! Glad you enjoyed it!

      Had there been more time on the Game Clock, the Austrians would likely persevere. Two or three turns may have made the difference but perhaps not. The difficulty is that given a game with no time limits, the Sardinians would not have much chance at victory, I think.

      I look forward to another outing too!

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  5. Excellent battle report over the two sessions Jonathan. I thoroughly enjoyed the game and the manner in which you organised and conducted it. Despite losing, I still feel like a winner.

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    1. Thank you, Richard! You are a worthy adversary, a thoughtful participant, and very kind in your assessment of my game presentation.

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  6. A wonderful looking game as akways Jon. Just as well you rolled the die to decide what turn the game ended....if Ray had been doing it, he probably would have rolled six 10's in a row!

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    1. Thank you, Keith! These fellas were rolling plenty of '9's and '10's. If I allowed the Austrians to roll the continuation die, there may have been howls from the Sardinians.

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  7. A fine job you did Jonathan in preparing the game and running it. I'm sure it was entertaining with the rejects!

    Christopher

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    1. Thanks, Christopher! Well, the game was certainly entertaining for me!

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  8. That looked like a lot of fun all round. I was confident that the Austrians would prevail in this one, so a Sardinian win was an interesting outcome.

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    1. It sure was a lot of fun, Lawrence. Hosting and umpiring the remote game for the Rejects was an honor.

      I was concerned early-on that the Austrians were not moving as swiftly as needed to contest the objectives. At the Turn 5 break, the Austrians still had time to reach the objectives and throw the defenders out by the end of Turn 8 but they needed to get a move on. Unfortunately for the Austrians, the game ended at the first opportunity.

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  9. An excellent report and a great job organising it. Well done.

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  10. Impressive remote gaming, Jonathan!

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  11. Welll done conclusion to the game. People seemed to have enjoyed themselves and the victory probably sweeter with the delay and anticipation. Course that could make defeat more bitter. lol. 😀

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    1. Thank you, Stew. The players did mention that they enjoyed additional planning and plotting sessions in the intervening week between the games. Planning and plotting for an upcoming game, I love it!

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  12. Truly some great work in remote gaming and AAR's. Sounds like everyone enjoyed themselves.

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    1. So far, seems like the players enjoyed themselves.

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  13. Another great looking game sir!
    Best regards

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  14. A splendid battle, fine narrative and photos. A close game U thought and that the players that came second enjoyed it speaks volumes for the scenario and rules choice.

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    1. PS. Plus the host of course 🙂

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    2. Much appreciated, Phil! Both armies had a chance at victory and all players had meaningful commands to maneuver into action. For hosting a remote game (hosting any game, really), I find it beneficial to keep the rules toward the less complex. That way, players can pick them up quickly and focus on tactics rather than game mechanisms. Also, I am less likely to forget them during the stresses of battle!

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  15. Your hex terrain is certainly getting a work out over the last year or so with all your remote wargaming.

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  16. Victory from the jaws of defeat! Sardinia reprieved ;) Sounds like a ripper of a game, and you seem to have managed the Rejects quite well.

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    1. It was a good game, Markus. The Rejects were a pleasure to manage.

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  17. Kudos to you and the Rejects for a lovely game. Seems to me a few more turns would have seen Austrian success on the right as they were superior in both armaments and numbers. Shame the game had to end when it did, especially when it seems to have been so much fun.

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    1. Thanks, Mike!

      I figured the game needed a turn limit in order to prompt the Austrians to attack and complete the game within a reasonable time. With better weapons and no time limit, the Austrians could attrite the Sardinians until there was nothing left. While the game ended on the earliest possible turn, a few more turns may not have been enough for the Austrians to take the positions.

      The game is still on-table if you want to take a crack at it. I could round up players, I bet.

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    2. Sure. Time zones are not very friendly but I'm sure we can find a slot somehow.

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    3. Mike, if you send me a private email, we can discuss details.

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  18. Great to see this colorful era put on the tabletop: especially so that you were able to tackle a major battle with multiple players in a relatively modest space--I'm a fan of the possibilities that miniatures mixed with hexes/grids can deliver: bravo!

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the 19thC diversion! I really would like to see these armies out on maneuvers more often.

      For remote play, grids really shine, and I am using gridded games more and more.

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  19. Great looking game and report, Jon!

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  20. Variable turn endings make a lot of "gaming" sense for battles where one side has weight of numbers, and while the Sardinians were fortunate with the "1" rolled, their spirited defence and use of terrain clearly buttressed their luck. Congrats to all who played. If you're looking for another remote player some day, I'm in. I am an Honorary Reject, after all. Well played all.

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    1. Exactly right, Michael! With unlimited time, the Austrians can afford to stand back and reach out and touch the Sardinians without recourse. With variable time limit, the Austrians are pushed into attacking and not messing about.

      If you are interested in joining in a remote game, I will be delighted to have you take a seat at the table.

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