Madonna dell’Olmo

Thursday saw the first outing for my Spanish and Piedmontese figures.  When I refought Bassignana some time ago, French stood in for Spanish and Austrians stood in for Piedmontese.  For Madonna dell'Olmo (Md'O), the little figures get to play themselves. 

What I expected to be a five-player game, through attrition, settled in as a three-player game.  David (The Ragged Soldier) volunteered to command the Austro-Piedmontese army while Mark (Mud, Blood, and Steel) and Chris (Horse & Musket Gaming) would divide up the Franco-Spanish Army between them.

Background and victory conditions are discussed in an earlier post (Assessing Victory Conditions) so I will not repeat those thoughts here.  For a brief visual refresher, the battlefield is laid out as shown in the maps below.

Madonna dell'Olmo Battlefield.

Madonna dell'Olmo Commands.

The battle begins with the Piedmontese holding the initiative.  King Emmanuele is content to open the battle with artillery fire against the Spanish near Md'O and the French guns in the center.  To prevent any thoughts of the Gallispans turning the King's Right and driving his army into the Stura River, his right his heavily occupied by most of the cavalry and all of his heavy artillery pieces.   

Spanish near Md'O.

Piedmontese artillery in center open up

while the King's Left remains vigilant.

Softening the French gun line is their objective.

The Piedmontese Right waits
 entrenched behind the sunken road.

Surprised that his position at Md'O was not attacked vigorously straight away, de la Mina brings up his Spanish brigade to occupy the ground around the church.  Before those maneuvers can be completed, d'Aix attacks toward the church with the Swiss as a diversion for an anticipated attack against the church by Corbeau to his left. 

The attack by the Swiss must have been the signal Corbeau needed to launch his own attack.  He sends forward one of the Grenz regiments and the Royal Cavalry.  As the Piedmontese cavalry approaches the redoubt, musketry from the earthworks drives the horsemen off.  Not wasting a moment, the Spanish counterattack the Swiss who find themselves unsupported in the open.  Overwhelmed, the Swiss scatter.  They are done for the day.

Spanish move up to support grenadiers in Md'O.

The Swiss attack!

The Royal Cavalry attacks!

d'Aix's Swiss are dispatched in a devastating counterattack.

Seeing that Md'O is safely held, de Conti orders de Courrier's Spanish cavalry brigade forward to remove the artillery threat to his front.  As de Courrier moves up, he masks the French guns.  He must not waste any time of coming to grips with the enemy's artillery in the center.  The King is not unaware of this potential threat to his center.  Quickly orders are sent to get his Right Wing into motion to converge on the center.  

Md'O is firmly in Spanish hands.

Spanish cavalry trot into the center of the battlefield
 while the Piedmontese Right Wing can be seen
 on the move in the distance. 

Shocked by the sudden appearance of massed horsemen to their front, the Piedmontese fail to halt the charge although the Savoy Regiment moves up to support the guns.  The Gallispans are not attacking with cavalry alone.  The Spanish Irlanda Regiment moves up to give the enemy a blast of lead.  Another devastating volley is delivered!  

Spanish cavalry will not be denied the taste of victory.  The battery in front of Valentino is overrun as is the battery to its left.  The Savoy Regiment dissolves.  With the King's Left breached, de la Mina attacks out from Md'O.  The Piedmontese Left begins to waver.    

Cavalry Charge!

Massed cavalry on the attack.

Piedmontese First Line is breached near Valentino.

de la Mina's Spanish attack out of Md'O.

Situation Turn 3.

Having held the initiative through the first three turns, the Piedmontese were able to reform and stabilize their lines with each setback.  Turn 4 saw the tables flipped as the Gallispans won the initiative.  There were cheers from the Franco-Spanish players and a sound of despair from the Piedmontese King.

Using two activations, the Spanish strike with both de Courrier's cavalry and de la Mina's infantry.  First, elements of de Courrier's cavalry smash through the Piedmontese Second Line and reach the Third Line.  The King's Army is being cleaved in two.  Close on the hooves, Spanish infantry follow up driving deep into the Piedmontese lines.  Not only has the King's Army been sliced apart but Corbeau's Far Left Wing is annihilated.

Spanish drive deep into the enemy line.

With the Spanish having smashed
 the King's Left, they drive east.

The King's Right Wing arrives too late to save the army.

With three Piedmontese Brigades broken and the enemy on the march, the King must concede defeat and retire.  With the King's Field Army out of the way, perhaps, de Conti can return to the immediate business of resuming the siege of Cuneo?

The outcome of this battle saw a resounding victory for the Gallispans.  Chris and Mark hit David's Piedmontese early, hard, and often.  David really never steadied his troops after those initial attacks.  

Looking at the rosters and casualty counts, while Chris' cavalry in the center suffered mightily, Mark's Spanish barely suffered a scratch.  Mark was able to dish it out, hard, without taking much damage himself.  David and his Piedmontese were completely the opposite.  The Piedmontese were unable to go toe-to-toe with the Spanish.  When they did, the Spanish passed morale tests while the Piedmontese more often than not failed.

Had the King gotten his Right Wing moving toward the center earlier, could that have tipped the scales?  What if the Piedmontese launched a determined attack against Md'O on Turn 1 and kept that pressure up?  We will not know the answers for this game but the next game may see a different approach.    

Thanks a lot for a very enjoyable game, fellas!  Congratulations to Chris and Mark.  My condolences to David.

The scenario, I think, is better balanced than the outcome of this game may suggest.  Looking forward to a replay soon to find out.

Game Time: a little under four hours.