I. MONTENOTTE TO RIVOLI – THE ITALIAN CAMPAIGN OF 1796-97

Derived from Fire & Movement No. 146. Design by Tom Cundiff

A. INTRODUCTION

Unable to rest Belgium from the French, Austria turned her eyes upon a campaign to clear the French from the seized provinces of Savoy and Nice. England also pressed Austria for action, supporting their offensive with money. The King of Piedmont, of course, was more than willing to join with the Austrians, ancient enemies though they were, if it meant his resumption of rule in these two provinces. Thus, Austrian General Beaulieu marched into northern Italy seeking a union with the Piedmontese General Colli, the purpose of which was to jointly push the French out of Savoy and Nice.

Bonaparte, following the Royalist Uprising of 1795, was an up and coming political force, and taking advantage of his numerous writings upon the failures of the Army of Italy commanded at the time by General Scherer, Italy was seen by the French Directory, and by Barras himself, as the perfect opportunity to relegate Bonaparte to an obscure and failing operation. General Scherer was replaced and Bonaparte, a 26 year old newly minted general with no real experience commanding armies was given command of the Army of Italy. The Army of Italy was probably the worst army France possessed at the time. It hadn’t been paid, it had very little in the way of clothing, food was forage only for all intents and purposes, and ammunition was scant. Artillery and cavalry were also in short supply. Morale, needless to say, was abysmal. Little was expected of Bonaparte, at least as far as the Paris politicos were concerned, and in fact his failure and discredit was desired.

But, what the Paris politicians didn’t know was that Bonaparte, better than anyone else, understood Italian politics. He was a Corsican himself, not really a Frenchman. He understood well the true feelings of the Italians regarding the Austrians, and he also knew that deep in their heart of hearts all men believed in personal freedom, at least they knew what they had and any change had to be for the better as far as the simple peasant understood and came to enthusiastically support. Thus, Napoleon banked upon his ability to smash the Piedmontese Army and infuse his own men with the grandeur of their own success. Success would breed further success and an army beaten by the parsimonious effects of the Paris penny pinchers could be welded into a victorious juggernaut.

Note: This scenario was designed for the original mapboards, with heavy modification by the designer. I have attempted to modify it for use with the new Third Edition mapboard. This required some research and is limited by the design decisions inherent in that mapboard. The designer’s original statements about this scenario are still true: no attempt has been made to balance it. This is history. Play as you may.

B. GAME EQUIPMENT

1. The scenario is played map boards 2 and 3.

2. The scenario requires Austrian, French and Piedmontese Army units.

C. VICTORY CONDITIONS

1. France wins automatically if it occupies Genoa, Turin, Milan, Venice, Florence, Leghorn, Innsbruck, and Munich.

2. France wins automatically if it occupies Vienna regardless of the status of any other city on the board.

3. Austria wins automatically if it occupies Genoa, Turin, Milan, Leghorn, Florence, and either Toulon or Lyon.

4. Austria wins automatically if it occupies Toulon, Marseille, Lyon and Avignon regardless of the status of any other city on the board.

5. If none of the Automatic Victory Conditions listed in 1 to 4 above have been met by the end of the January 1797 turn, then Victory is determined according Victory Points gained by the occupation of the specific cities as listed below. The player with the greater number of VP’s is the winner. If both players possess the same number of VP’s then the game ends in a draw.

City

French VP’s

Austrian VP’s

Turin

1

1

Leghorn

1

1

Florence

1

0

Milan

1

2

Genoa

1

2

Toulon

0

3

Lyon

0

3

Mantua

2

1

Venice

2

1

Verona

2

1

Innsbruck

3

1

Munich

3

0

6. The scenario begins April 1796 and ends January 1797.

D. SPECIAL RULES

1. Alliance Phase

There is no Alliance Phase, ignore it.

2. Austria and Piedmont

Consider any city occupied by Piedmontese troops as Austrian occupied for VP purposes.

3. Piedmont

Piedmont was a small Kingdom on the border of France existing between Austrian held territory in what is now northern Italy and the French. Its capital is Turin. If Turin is occupied by French units, the Piedmont government sues for peace. Any Piedmontese army units and leaders are immediately removed from their current locations on the map and placed in Turin. In order for the Piedmontese to again declare war on France and take part in the war, the Austrians must occupy both Genoa and Toulon. The Piedmontese get no replacements or reinforcements for the duration of the game. The Piedmontese forces are represented by their commander General Colli and 5 infantry strength points. Their supply source is Turin. If forced to retreat after a battle, they must retreat toward Turin by a path consisting of the least number of movement points. The Piedmontese army Morale is Zero. They may attack for one round of combat only and then are forced to withdraw from combat (regardless of the result). (The Piedmontese people generally sided with France, not because of any great love for the revolution or its principles, but because the French were fighting their mortal enemy the Austrians, and the Piedmontese were not happy about being allied with the Austrians, thus, they were not inclined to put up much of a fight on behalf of their Austrian ally.) If Turin is taken by the French, and the remnants of the Piedmontese Army is relocated there, consider the city to be French occupied. The only way the Austrians can again re-take Turin is to declare war on the Piedmontese by attacking Turin and the Piedmontese army therein. If the Austrians attack the Piedmontese, then the Piedmontese Army units possess an upgraded Morale of 1. If after the Austrians declare war upon the Piedmontese they take Turin, the remains of the Piedmontese army will continue to fight with the French as French satellite units.

4. French Morale

France begins the war with a Morale of 1. Any time after they defeat an Austrian or Piedmontese Army of 5 or more Strength Points, their Morale increased to 2 (Two).

5. Austrian Morale

Austrian Morale begins at 2 and drops to 1 (One) if at any time Napoleon defeats an Austrian army of 5 or more Strength Points, or Turin is captured and the Piedmontese Army deserts the cause and returns to their capital (Turin).

6. Bavaria

Bavaria is considered to be part of Austria for all purposes.

7. Switzerland

Switzerland is a Neutral country and no one can enter it. The French May 1796 reinforcements that appear at Geneva must leave Switzerland by the end of their May 1796 movement phase.

8. Playing Area

The playing area is restricted to that area bounded by the Rhone River in the West, Switzerland in the North, the Bavarian border (with the exception of Munich, and the Austrian border. The northern areas will not be used, which is a line roughly from Nantes to Warsaw. When in doubt, settle the dispute with a friendly roll of 1 die.

9. Beginning Set Up of Bonaparte and Colli

The units commanded by Bonaparte and Colli begin the game set up outside of the unlisted city of Montenotte and in the same hex. This is the only time units of opposing armies may occupy the same hex (exception, see sieges and city assaults). After Turn 1, all armies must be located in hexes occupied only by units of their own alliance (French, Non-French).

10. New Leaders

There are new leader counters introduced for both the Austrians and the French. The Piedmontese leader has already been introduced.

FRANCE:

Bonaparte 2, Augereau 1, Kellerman 1 (introduced by the Marengo Scenario), and Joubert 1

AUSTRIA:

Beaulieu 0, Wurmser 0, Davidovich 1, Quasdanovich 0, and Meszaros 0

PIEDMONT:

Colli 0

SUPPLY SOURCES:

France: Lyon or Toulon

Austria: Munich or Vienna

Piedmont: Turin

E. INITIAL DEPLOYMENT

1. French Player (deploys first)

At Montenotte (Hex P23): Bonaparte, Massena, Augereau, Leader (0), Leader (0), 11I, 1C * At Hex P22: Leader (0), 2I, 1C.

2. Non-French Player (All units are Austrian unless designated “Pm” for Piedmontese)

At Montenotte (Hex P23): Colli, 5I (Pm), Leader (0), 1I, 1C * At Turin: Beaulieu, 5I, 1C * At Hex P25: Leader (0), 1I, 1C * At Milan: Leader (0), 1I, 1C * At Hex P27: 1C

F. REINFORCEMENTS AND REPLACEMENTS

1. French Reinforcements:

a. May 1796-At Lyon: Kellerman, 3I, 1C * At Toulon: 1I * At Geneva: Leader (0), 1I

b. July 1796-Joubert place with Massena * At Lyon: 1I

c. August 1796-At Lyon: 1I

d. September 1796-At Lyon: 2I * At Toulon: 1I

e. November 1796-At Lyon: 2I

f. January 1797-At Lyon: 3I

2. French Replacements:

Every Turn-At Lyon: 1I

Every time a named leader is killed, he is immediately replaced in place by an unnamed Leader (0).

3. Austrian Reinforcements:

a. July 1796-At Innsbruck: Wurmser, Davidovich, Quasdanovich, Meszaros, 9I, 4C * REMOVE: Beaulieu

b. August 1796-At Innsbruck: 1I

c. September 1796-At Munich: 2I

d. November 1796-At Munich: 1I

e. January 1797-At Munich: 3I

4. Austrian Replacements:

Every Turn-At Munich: 1I

5. Reinforcements and Replacements

If a location is occupied by the opposing nationality, then the units that are supposed to appear in that location are instead placed in the closest friendly held city within the area described as within play.

G. OTHER SCENARIO NOTES

Notes by the Designer Tom Cundiff

This scenario represents Bonaparte’s first command as a General in charge of an entire campaign. You will find he has been downgraded from a 3 to a 2 rating. This is because the original W&P game begins in 1805, a good 10 years following Napoleon’s arrival on the battlefield as Europe’s preeminent tactician and strategist. His command staff hadn’t been formed and most of the cadre of field marshals upon whom he relied from Austerlitz and beyond were mostly low ranking battalion officers at the time of the First Italian Campaign. Some have even argued that the mystique of Napoleon was due to the indomitable spirit of the man in this earlier period, and not due to his skill as a combat commander. Thus, his command rating has been lowered. You will also find no French Guards in this campaign. They didn’t exist at this time, even the vaunted French Guard Cavalry existed only as a nebulous company sized unit with their leader Bessieres ranking only as a Captain and later in this campaign promoted to a major. There has been no attempt to balance this campaign. This is a historical recreation of the event. It concentrates only upon the Italian Campaign of 1796-97, and does not concern itself with the French Army of the Rhine and Austrian Archduke Charles’ armies in the region of Strasbourg – Ulm.

Conclusion

The First Italian Campaign solidified Bonaparte as not only a field commander of great expertise, but he also became a political force that was able to remove the ineffectual Councils and Directories that had been France’s fate since 1789. Italy made him the rising star in France and it was inevitable that, although there were other men of perhaps greater political savvy (Bernadotte, Suchet, and St. Cyr) they had not the desire to seize power. But, Italy had only wetted Bonaparte’s appetite and had set the stage for 20 years of warfare across the fields of Europe and indeed the world. Ω