Radetzky's March Battle Report

After the short review of Radetzky's March, I played the main historical campaign.

It was really fun. The Piedmontese kept 4th Div (Ferdinando) east of the Ticino, threatening Abbiategrasso and Magenta, and this forced the Austrians to send the full I Corps (Wratislaw) north to face it. Appel's III Corps also went north, but then turned west and crossed the Ticino at the ford (then bridge, thanks to pontooners) near Bereguardo.

The few units from Ramorino's 5th Div actually performed admirably, slowing the Austrian advance and allowing Piedmontese reinforcements to get to Mortara and Vigevano, with Bes' 2nd Div actually getting as south as S.Siro (roughly as historical). Perrone's 3rd Div followed Bes as support, while Solaroli's Independent Brigade reached Vigevano to both act as rearguard and protect the nearby Ticino crossing (to ward off any attack from Wratislaw who was fighting Ferdinando on the other side).

After finally eliminating the delaying units, the Austrian organized their advance west of the Ticino in this way: Appel's III Corps on the right aiming for S.Siro and then Vigevano. D'Aspre's II Corps in the centre aiming for the main road to Mortara, but helping Appel's Corps with some troops (this ended up slower than planned, with almost 1 division being held up by Piedmontese troops near S.Siro for almost one day), Thurn's IV Corps on the left, making a wide flanking march to reach Mortara from the south and, in the meantime, screen Ramorino's off-map Div. In the rear, Wocher's Reserve Corps moved late and slowly to support the attack. It then detached some troops to mask Ramorino (freeing IV Corps troops) while the Cavalry, Grenadiers and Artillery supported the main effort, especially towards Vigevano.

West of the Ticino

East of the Ticino

In general, the slow Austrian advance allowed the Piedmontese to concentrate, slowing the Austrian advance considerably more, but the Piedmontese, in turn, were forced to feed more and more troops, especially in front of Vigevano where the battle was fierce around Borgo S.Siro. Both Bes and Perrone had to be put in first line. Ultimately, the arrival of Wocher's Reserve Corps Grenadiers and more focused attacks by Appel's III Corps allowed the Austrians to break the enemy line and defending units became interspersed. Solaroli's brigade was moved south to check the enemy advance on Vigevano, while a Reserve Div brigade of cavalry held the town. Rest of the Reserve held the center in front of Mortara, blocking D'Aspre's II Corps, but ultimately Benedek broke through at the end of the 2nd day.

Austrian breakthrough

At this point, third day, the battle became one of survival for the Piedmontese. 2nd and 3rd Div lost many troops and Solaroli's Brigade too. Austrian troops advanced towards Vigevano. It was a slow crawl, as defenders held on with all their valour, but ultimately couldn't stop the enemy, superior in number.

Finally, Appel's III Corps surrounded Vigevano and it fell. As the third day closed, the Austrians prepared to march towards Novara, sending some cavalry north to try to cut enemy supply lines (I probably did a gameplay error, not checking their supply status - you can't move a unit voluntarily out of supply). Both Bes and Perrone were able to rally one brigade each to re-establish a sort of line north of Mortara which still held, dspite Durando's 1st Div (reinforced by some units of Vittorio Emanuele's Reserve Div) being ultimately hard pressed by Thurn's IV Corps.

Austrian have almost surrounded Vigevano

General situation at end of battle. Austrians took Vigevano,
while Mortara still holds

Detail of situation at Mortara, with Durando still holding on
and remnants of Piedmontese units rebuilding line of
defense just north of it

Detail of situation near Vigevano. Austrian units swarm
north, pursuing the remnants of Bes' 2nd Division

East of the Ticino Ferdinando, good like his real counterpart, fought a brilliant action against Wratislaw's I Corps. 4th Div repulsed the enemy advance, took Abbiategrasso and sent one brigade (two full-strength units) east towards Milan. Even without these troops, Ferdinando was able to keep Abbiategrasso until the end, even if after the fall of Vigevano probably he would have had to return to the west bank of Ticino to protect his lines of communications. Wratislaw however was still able to send one brigade towards Vigevano across the Ticino.

Across the Ticino: Ferdinando vs Wratislaw

End of battle across the Ticino: Ferdinando still controls
Abbiategrasso, even without two units that had marched
towards Milan

It was the end of the 22nd, and I chose to end the battle. Actually, counting losses I think the Austrians had won earlier than this, due to difference in casualty levels. But it was fun to go on until darkness. The Piedmontese army was defeated, with 2 divisions shattered and one independent brigade destroyed, and losses to several other units. General tactical situation was compromised too, with Ferdinando's successes the only bright spot, and not enough to change the main battle. There had been no battle at Novara proper, and this would probably go down in history as the Battle of Vigevano, something more similar to the original historical Piedmontese plan: stop the Austrians at Vigevano and Mortara (historically, the unexpected loss of Mortara then forced the Piedmontese to redeploy near Novara)

In summary, the main action saw roughly 3 Austrian Corps (II, III and Reserve) facing off against 3 Piedmontese Divisions (2nd, 3rd, part of Reserve and Solaroli's brigade), with side battles at Mortara and around Abbiategrasso.

As in history, this time too King Charles Albert would abdicate to his son Vittorio Emanuele. This time too, Marshal Radetzky triumphed. This time too a rematch would be seen in 1859... but in the meantime, I'm sure to play this again! Great work on this game Sergio!

Radetzky's March

I recently purchased "Radetzky's March: The Hundred Hours Campaign", a board wargame by Sergio Schiavi on the 1849 campaign of Novara between Piedmontese and Austrians. It's the final campaign of the 1st Italian Independence War and Marshal Radetzky's final victory: defeated King Charles Albert decided to abdicate and further hopes of Italian reunifications were crushed until 1859.

Radetzky's March box content - not shown here there are
also counters with soldiers' silhouettes,
which help recognition

The game has a simple chit-pull mechanic, where each player has a number of command points each turn that allow him to select a certain number of unit formation chits (Corps for Austrians, Divisions or independent Brigade for Piedmontese). Each chit is pulled at random and all action done, then a new chit is pulled. Special "overall commander" chits (Radetzky and Chrzanowski) are available to activate up to 3 previously selected chits together, as if they were a single unit (very useful for combined attacks), but they can be used only every other turn. A free "independent" chit is alway available to move a few units even outside their normal command structure, as long as they weren't already activated (and they can't be activated again in that same turn).

Combat mechanics are fast and mostly intuitive, with an added "charge" mechanic that isn't as complex as in many other similar games and makes Cavalry a useful asset despite its lower combat value (as historically). After a few turns, I was checking the rulebook less and less often, until I didn't need to check it again, also thanks to a useful Quick Reference Sheet.  This is always a good sign, because it makes for a faster gameplay and is a mark of a game design that "makes sense". Combat tables are printed on the map, allowing a fast reference during combat rolls. In other words, players really can concentrate on what to do, and not on "how the mechanic to do it works", which both speeds up play and keeps it fun.

The action is fast, tense and both players have lots of choices to make: should the Piedmontese push across the Ticino towards Milan, in order to threaten it (and get victory points)? Or would they just concentrate on protecting Piedmont, especially the key towns of Mortara and Vigevano, which are right in the path of advancing Austrians? When to commit reserves? When to retreat in order to avoid casualties and regroup? When is Ramorino going to enter and threaten the enemy flank?

How many troops should the Austrians send to counter the Piedmontese moves towards Milan, if any? Where to cross the Ticino and how to organize the advance north towards Mortara, Vigevano and ultimately Novara? Would sending troops west towards Casale, Vercelli (and ultimately Turin) be useful due to the linked victory points, or would that weaken the main effort too much? How many troops to employ to screen Ramorino's division, a small but not-to-be-overlooked threat?

In addition to the main campaign, there are several smaller scenarios, useful to learn the rules. At first I tried 2 of them: "La Sforzesca" (which deals with action at Vigevano, roughly 1 Austrian Corps vs 2 Piedmontese Divisions) and "21 Marzo. La Risposta Piemontese" (which is the situation during March 21st, basically the Sforzesca scenario with the action at Mortara added, so roughly 2 Austrian Corps vs 4 Piedmontese Divisions). They were fun and easy to play, and I think they gave me a good comprehension of the main rules.

I then tried the main historical campaign. You'll find the report here!