Tag Archives: austria

August 5th 1796 Second Battle of Castiglione Wargame Scenario

Yesterday, we played with moving forces around to prepare for the main action today. Had the actions of August 3rd and 4th not been successful. The French would have been outnumbered in today’s battle by at least 10,000 soldiers.

France
Napoleon Bonaparte
30,000

Austria
Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser
25,000


Wargame
2 Players
Use General D’Armee or other Napoleonic ruleset
The battlefield had several large hills on the French left flank and a large plain to the center and right. The most intense action took place in the mountains; having a position to overlook the field with artillery would have likely ended the battle.

France, 35 Battalions, 25 Squadrons of Cavalry, 10 Artillery Batteries
Austria 30 Battalions, 22 Squadrons, 8 Batteries

Approximately 1 division of French should be left on the table to be brought on the table at a random roll of the dice, maybe a 10+ with 2 D6. This simulates Seruier coming to the flank of the Austrians.

Deployment should be along the long diagonal, with the Austrians having the hills to their right and possessing most of the mountains.

The French win if they seize the mountains and establish artillery positions. The Austrians win if they successfully withdraw without losing more than 20% of their force, or hold the hills.

August 4th 1796 Battle of Lonato Wargame Scenario

From August 3rd to 5th, it was a crucial week of action for Napoleon in Northern Italy. Nearly a dozen actions were fought, and at Lonato, Napoleon was almost captured. On August 4th, Napoleon was positioned near the rear with approximately 1,200 men. Austrian forces were moving to reinforce their positions when 3,000 stumbled upon Napoleon’s position. With a successful ruse, Napoleon forced the Austrians to surrender.

The actions of August 3rd and 4th allowed Napoleon to put his full force of 30,000 against the smaller Austrian force of 25,000.

France
Napoleon Bonaparte
20,000

Austira
Peter Quasdanovich
15,000

The actions at Lonato were spread over several miles, with divisions facing divisions rather than the whole Corps.

Table 16×4
French Forces 20,000 24 Battalions, 20 Squadrons, 4 Artillery Batteries
Austrian Forces 15,000 18 Battalions 16 Squadrons, 3 Artillery Batteries

The purpose of this battle is to know which objectives to secure or which to abandon. The map above is how the table should be set. There are 7 cities on the map; France must own 5 to win the battle and consolidate its forces for tomorrow’s battle.

The table should feel substantial, and it should be a challenge for different brigades to support each other on both sides.