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Sunday, June 9, 2024

To Die in Piedmont

Although I paraphrase Giovanni Badone's book title of You Have To Die In Piedmont recounting the 1747 Battle of Assieta for my title, we were not fighting the Battle of Assieta.  Instead, we enjoyed another refight of Bassignana on Friday.

Four players attended Friday's remote game with Doug and Alan returning for an encore and Brian and Jennifer joining in to fill out the quartet.  While the three gentlemen have seen action at my table recently, Jennifer has not joined into a remote game for about two-and-a-half years.  I vaguely recall her last game was fighting the 1862 Battle of Brawner's Farm. 
Piedmontese defenders of Chiesa de San Germano.
For this game, Doug would switch sides from his earlier game and take command of the French while Alan would join him reprising his role as the Spanish command.  Brian and Jennifer would split the Austro-Piedmontese Army.  Player commands are illustrated in the game map below:  
Player commands and initial dispositions.
After the game concluded, Jennifer provided an almost instantaneous link to her blog post retelling the battle in a blow-by-blow account.  Amazing effort in detailing the action in real time along with relevant screenshots.  I could use a battle chronicler of this caliber!  Jennifer's detailed report can be read at, In Remotest Bassignana.   

Let's see what I recall from the game.

Holding the initiative at the start of battle, the two Spanish brigades advance toward the Tanaro River on the Gallispan Right.  On the Gallispan Left, the French step off toward the Tanaro.  The Piedmontese wait impatiently on the high ground to the north.  With the Gallispan Army in motion, artillery opens up across the battlefield.  Artillery from both armies find their mark early as men drop on both sides of the Tanaro.
Spanish advance toward the Tanaro River.
French, likewise, advance toward the Tanaro.
As de Gage's Spanish splash into the Tanaro, King Emanuele III and his command await near Bassignana.  All along the Piedmontese line, no unit has stirred from their starting positions.  Having reached the north bank of the Tanaro, de Gage leads a charge at the head of two cavalry regiments.  Their target?  The King's cavalry positioned on the heights overlooking Bassignana.  As the enemy bears down, the Austrian infantry in Bassignana form up and march south.  With the distance quickly closing, the Austrians let loose a first volley.  One of the two Spanish cavalry regiments scatter.  De Gage still leads the second horsemen forward.  The King responds.  In the countercharge, the King and his cavalry smash into de Gage and his Spanish.  Although de Gage began at favorable odds before seeing his righthand regiment blown away from accurate musketry, the King and his cavalry overpower de Gage and his horsemen.  The remaining Spanish cavalry are destroyed and de Gage falls.  The loss of their commander leaves the remainder of the brigade leaderless.  Seeing the calamity on his right, Maillebois, himself, rides over to personally take command of de Gage's Brigade.  To add insult to injury, Piedmontese light infantry pop up out of the woods and deliver some hot fire into the Spanish as they wade across the river.   

Not a good start to battle!  
De Gage leads the Spanish cavalry into battle.
The King responds.
Surprise in the woods!
De Gage falls in battle putting his command leaderless.
Maillebois rushes forward to take over de Gage's command...
and get the Spanish attack back on track.
With the Spanish attack on Bassignana seemingly stalled, The French take the fight to the enemy.  De Montal's heavy guns in the center pound the Piedmontese infantry supporting their artillery outside of Rivarone.  The French objective is to soften the enemy up before launching an attack with Senneterre's Brigade either against Montecastelle or Rivarone.
Senneterre advances with support from de Montal's guns.
De Grammont prepares an assault against San Germano.
The French leftmost brigade under de Grammont splashes into the Tanaro taking fire from the Piedmontese guard defending San Germano.  De Grammont's infantry stop midstream to return fire with musketry split between the guard on the heights and Liguane's dragoons below.  Seeing that the volleys are causing disorder among the cavalry's ranks, de Grammont leads his cavalry into the enemy dragoons.  Liguane attempts to spoil this attack by bringing up his second dragoon regiment but it refuses.  De Grammont and his cavalry plow into the wavering Piedmontese and they scatter.  With the loss of one of his two regiments, Liguane's Brigade breaks.
Hard fighting at San Germano!
De Grammont turns the Piedmontese Left!
To de Grammont's right, Senneterre crosses the Tanaro in force and presses on against Rivarone.  Packed densely in preparation for their assault, Senneterre's two French regiments are surprised when the Piedmontese Grenadiers, move out from the cover of Montecastelle and attack.  Fortunately for the French, the fire from the grenadiers causes few casualties.  The French go in!  After suffering from repeated bombardments at the hands of de Montal's guns, the wavering Piedmontese cannot withstand the shock of Senneterre's attack.  De la Chiesa's Piedmontese infantry are put to flight and his guns overrun.  De la Chiesa's Brigade breaks.  Senneterre's infantry suffer heavy casualties in carrying the position.     
French form up to attack de la Chiesa's Piedmontese.
Out of nowhere, grenadiers deliver
an opening volley into the packed French.
Still, Senneterre's attack goes in
 and carries away the Piedmontese.
With the Piedmontese Center collapsing, Liguane attempts to stabilize the right by charging into de Grammont's cavalry outside of San Germano.  The attack is bloodily repulsed and Liguane falls back to the north.  Seeing his right turned and his left hanging in the air, d'Aix orders his brigade to retire to the north.
Piedmontese Right is turned!
With Liguane's cavalry beaten,
d'Aix orders his brigade back from the river.
Seeing the French Left pushing the enemy back, Maillebois orders the Spanish back into action.  With the Piedmontese militia pinned in Rivarone, de Gage's infantry march on Bassignana.  As the Spanish advance, a firefight develops with the Austrians in front of Bassignana.  Having suffered heavy casualties in the firefight and feeling the pressure from the uneven firefight with the Spanish, the Austrians waver.  With word from Schulenburg that his Austrian infantry are beginning to cross the pontoon bridge, the King reacts in an effort to buy time.  In a desperate act, the King leads his cavalry into the Spanish foot.  The Spanish to his front are beaten but his cavalry has suffered mightily.  Before the King can extricate himself from his forward position, he is attacked by Arambou's cavalry with Arambou leading the charge.  The Piedmontese cavalry is defeated and the King is killed in the chaos.      
The King's desperate charge...
sees initial success.
The King falls fighting for his Kingdom.
With the King dead, his command eliminated, and two of his three brigades broken, the Piedmontese have lost their will to carry on.  De la Chiesa's militia lay down their arms in Rivarone while Liguane and d'Aix retire to the northwest.  Receiving word of the King's demise, Schulenburg orders his Austrian infantry to retrace their steps back over the Po to safety. 

This battle is over ending in another historical outcome.

Wow.  Another very interesting and engaging battle.  Congratulations to Doug and Alan for executing a well-considered battle plan.  While Alan and his Spanish got off to a rocky start, they ended the battle with panache. For Doug, what can I say?  He led his French straight into the enemy and forced them out of their defensive positions.

My condolences to Brian and Jennifer, the Austro-Piedmontese put up a good fight but the enemy seemed more active everywhere.  What might have been?

While this battle is in the books, one more battle of Bassignana remains on the schedule for next week.  At that time, we see the Rejects refight this battle.  The Piedmontese are hoping for a different result.

Thanks again, everyone, for another enjoyable and intriguing game.  Please visit Jennifer's battle account as she shares her side of the battle tale.

48 comments:

  1. Another superb encounter, well played

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    1. Indeed, the game was well-played and enjoyable to watch develop.

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  2. Another lovely looking game Jon but the same old result - its those tardy Austrians, I tell ya!

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    1. Yes, those tardy Austrians; just like the real battle! The Piedmontese have managed to pull out victories on this field.

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  3. Another interesting battle report, looked pretty grim at the start for the Spanish but they came good. Look forward to seeing if the last game can rewrite history, or will the historical outcome win out.

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    1. Thanks, Donnie! Alan and his Spanis started out on a rough note but ended up singing a beautiful hymn. If you look back at the battle reports, you can see that the Piedmontese have rewritten history at least once.

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  4. Another splendid gaming experience Jon, really enjoyed it. My battle was indeed a game of two halves with a disappointing start then an excellent second half. My Spanish got on with it and I am delighted you use the word “ Panache “ for their performance.
    Here’s to the next game and thanks for you all embracing hosting.
    Alan Tradgardland

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the game, Alan! At first, I wondered if "here we go again" will your well-demonstrated dice rolling handicap. You turned it around brilliantly for your end game!

      As for hosting, you are most welcome. You are an asset to have at the table.

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  5. Shouldn't that be Two dice in Piedmont?

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  6. Thanks for another excellent game Jon. At least I died gloriously! I think it's difficult to achieve an outcome better than the historical as Piedmont is so out-numbered (yes! it's those darned tardy Austrians) it isn't possible even to coverage the frontage never mind have a reserve. I'm tempted to set the game up using my 6mm with the Austrians arriving at the start of the game and possibly a couple of the Piedmont units slightly upgraded as they were quite a few veterans by then. It'll be interesting to see how the posties get on next time.

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    1. Thanks, Brian! Very happy that you could make this game. The Piedmontese have a very Big Ask in this battle. After replaying the battle, the historical outcome certainly seems the most likely to me.

      I hope you do set up the game on your table and play it out. The Piedmontese are already rated better than the Gallispans and the Guards and Grenadiers are much, much better.

      As for the next game with Postie's Rejects, I know the Piedmontese have been working hard on a plan to overcome the odds. We will see how it goes on Monday!

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  7. Isn't it a bit spooky that two different games with different players both de Gage and King Emmanuel end up dead?
    Kings have no place in vulgar brawls.....
    Neil

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    1. Seeing both de Gage and Emanuele go down in two games in almost the same fashion is uncanny, for sure. Kings should avoid vulgar brawls.

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  8. A good, if slightly frustrating, game for me - made up for by a fine and welcoming group of players and GM.

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    1. Too bad that the game was frustrating for you. Hopefully we can work out the tech issues so that you can see the correct side of the table with clarity.

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  9. Another glorious slam dance in tricorn and gaiters.

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    1. That was a pretty damn good phrase by Ed. I think Ed wins the comments section. I was trying to think of something to add but that simply covers it all. 😀

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    2. It's an image that is stuck in my head.

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  10. A grand looking game Jonathan. Nice to see some of the 1:300 scale buildings on the table that I designed waaaaay back in 1987!

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    1. Thanks, Mark! I picked these up at our local (well, 400 miles away) con back in the early ‘90s. I still have a box of them unpainted after all of these years. Great buildings that have seen plenty of active duty.

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  11. I love the surprise in the wood. I really much like all your refights. I hope that you can read our latest report too.

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    1. Thanks, André! One more refight to go today before moving on to consider another battle and/or period.

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  12. Good stuff Jon glad you are keeping up on the gaming 👍

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    1. Thanks, Matt! We ought to get back to the table.

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  13. Another cracking game with a spendid host and convivial players. Having played as the Piedmontese in the previous game, I had a very good idea of what I was scared of the French doing, and used that as the template.

    Alan and I also had a couple of critical pieces of luck, when the Piedmontese veterans unleashed a volley into the massed French infantry in the centre, the French got off very lightly!

    Secondly, and probably more importantly, the Gallispans won the inititative for a couple of crucial turns, and were able to use their numbers to get volleys in before the Piedmontese could respond. Rolling two natural 10's for initiative in those crucial turns was very fortunate.

    All in all.. great fun!

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    1. Thanks, Doug! You Gallispans may have gotten lucky at times but you helped in making your own luck and capitalized on those fortunes at every turn. Well played! You literally dodged a bullet with your densely packed formation in front of Rivarone.

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  14. Great looking game, excellent work on your AAR. The command structure certainly gets in trouble in this arena. Hide the King's horse?

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    1. Very much appreciated, Joe! Rank saw little privilege in this game.

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  15. A great report Jon, it certainly differed from our fight on Monday.

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    1. Thanks, Ray! You and Richard took a pounding in Monday’s game, no doubt about it.

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  16. Another great game and one full of action and the death of the King once more! I find it interesting when seeing these historical scenarios replayed to see how often they mirror history. Fascinating stuff!

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    1. Steve, it is fascinating to me as well that the historical result often resurfaces on the gaming table. In the case at Bassignana, perhaps the historical result was the most likely after all?

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  17. Another good one, Jon! Poor old de Gages doesn't seem to have much luck, does he? Congrats to the Gallispans again, they look to have had an easier time of it than we did!

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    1. Thanks, David! The King has not been feeling lucky of late either!

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  18. Great read as usual Jonathan. I'm off to read the others now.

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    1. Thanks, Richard! You have some catching up to do.

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  19. Another splendid outing for this battle…
    Not a good day for Piedmont though.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Not a good day for Piedmont but glad you enjoyed the report.

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  20. Another spectacular outing for the battle a tough one for the Piedmontese it will be interesting to see if history can be reversed just one more time.

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  21. A test I think my comment(s) are going to spam or blogger is back to hating me.

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    1. Not SPAM but I turn comment moderation on after three days post post.

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    2. I see, though I didn't get the usual "visible after approval" message pop up🤔

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    3. Blogger can be a fickle beast...

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