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Stonewall

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The Resurgence – Second War of Italian Unification

Following an assassination attempt on French Emperor Louis Napoleon III’s life in 1858, the French Emperor became a sympathizer for Italian Unification. To this end and in order to secure trans-alpine Nice and Savoy from the Piedmontese, the French and Sardinia-Piedmont engaged in a complicated scheme whereby they would provoke Austria into attacking Piedmontese possessions in Northern Italy, thereby allowing France to intervene on Piedmont’s behalf. The combined army would seize Milan and Venice from Austria for Sardinia and in return, Piedmont would cede their trans-alpine possessions of Nice and Savoy to the French.

In early 1859, the Franco-Piedmontese alliance provoked unification demonstrations and protests in Austrian controlled Northern Italy. Predictably, the Austrians issued a series of ultimatums to unification sympathizers and the Franco-Piedmontese alliance had its opening. The result was the Second War of Italian Unification.

Player Side: France/Sardinia-Piedmont
Objectives: Capture Milan and Venice
Scenario Duration: 15 Turns

ScenarioDescription.jpg


(AGEOD’s Scenario Description)




The Franco-Piedmontese Armies:​

The French Army under the command of Emperor Louis Napoleon III (3-1-0) himself is stationed in Grenoble. Napoleon has under his command 175,000 men including 24,000 cavalry and almost 900 guns. His army is divided into 5 Corps plus the Imperial Guard. 1st Corps is commanded by Achille Baraguey d’Hilliers (4-2-1). 2nd Corps is commanded by Marie Patrice de Mac-Mahon (4-4-0). 3rd Corps is commanded by Francois Canrobert (4-2-2). 4th Corps is commanded by Adolphe Niel (5-3-2). 5th Corps is the Reserve Corps of the Army and the Imperial Guard is commanded by Auguste Michel Etienne (4-2-0).

The bulk of the Piedmontese Army under the command of Vittorio Emmanuel II (4-1-1) is stationed in Turin. Vittorio has 85,000 men including 16000 cavalry and 275 guns under his command. Assisting Vittorio Emmanuel II are Generals Enrico Cialdini (3-2-1), Domenico Cucciari (4-3-1) and Guiseppe Garibaldi (6-4-3). General Givanni Durando (4-3-0) is in Allesandria with 20,000 men. Piedmonetese Reserves of 20,000 men commanded by Manfredo Fanti (5-3-2) are in Chambery awaiting orders.

FrenchOOB.jpg


(The French Army)




SardiniaOOB.jpg


(The Piedmontese Army)




Strategy:​

Quick combination of the two main French and Piedmontese armies is critical. The Austrians have local superiority over the Italians absent French help. I plan on using Alessandria as a forward base from which to strike and lay siege to Milan. I expect that the Austrians will sortie from Milan early to isolate and destroy the Italians before French help can arrive.

Orders:​

Initial intelligence estimates approximately 150,000 Austrians are based in the Austrian held Northern Italian city of Milan. Emperor Napoleon set out in Early April for Alessandria to rendezvous with Vitor Emmanuel II’s main Piedmontese force. He estimated it would take 11 days to arrive. Vitor Emmanuel II set out for Allesandria and was scheduled to arrive in 5 days. Both armies were given orders to advance cautiously and defend it attacked, but not to engage Austrian forces until the armies could be combined.

AustrianDispositions.jpg


(Intelligence on Austrians and Initial Movement Orders)
 
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Turn 1: Resolution

Turn 1: Resolution

Emmanuel Piedmontese Army arrives in Alessandria on April 5, 1859. The Austrians have sortied from Milan and sent a large formation under General Ludwig August von Benedek (4-0-4) to seize the fortifications at Alessandria. Emmanuel’s troops join General Durando’s 20,000 defenders and defeat the Austrian advance with horrific casualties on both sides.

40,000 Italians fall on the field out of 120,000 engaged. The Austrians suffer worse, losing 49,000 soldiers out of 99,000 engaged. Both Benedek and Emmanual begin to fall back. Emmanuel withdraws back to the Turin defenses and Benedek begins to withdraw towards Milan.

AlessandriaBattleApril1859.jpg


(The Battle of Alessandria)




Unbeknownst to the Austrian commander, Emperor Napoleon’s forces arrive on the field on April 11, 1859 and pursue the retreating Austrians. Another massive battle occurs and the Austrian force is all but annihilated under the weight of 180,000 Frenchman. French losses are 23,000 out of 184,000 engaged. Austrian losses are catastrophic with 43,000 losses from 51,000 engaged.


AlessandriaBattleApril1859-2.jpg



(The Second Battle of Allesandria)



The Austrians abandoned their supply train as well as anything their fleeing soldiers couldn’t carry. 3 dozen batteries of artillery including a siege train and tens of thousands of pounds of supplies are captured during the Austrian rout.


CapturedSuppliesAlesandria.jpg



(Captured Supplies and Tactical Dispositions)
 
:eek: The losses are massive. Nice AAR, gonna try this Battle Scenario myself. Until now i only played US-Spanish War and first turn of the Sepoy Rebellion.
 
Very interesting and helpful. :)
 
I got incredibly lucky on my first turn with the random number generator. It's normally not possible for the French to reach Alessandria on turn 1, thus preventing the early overwhelming of Austrians that I managed to accomplish. The thing to remember about casualties is that they only get bad when you start to lose elements. In the first battle, the Austrians suffered immensely, but they had potential to recover since they didn't lose many elements. Those will gradually fill back up over time. When they are lost, the only way to replace them is to build new ones or drain your replacement pool. Withdrawing battle worn troops is important to prevent their destruction.
 
So Austrian losses are dead + captured elements(can not recover) + wounded elements (can be recovered by replacements). And the French army can recover more quickly because they did not lose whole elements. Do i get it right? (excuse my gramar and spelling mistakes:eek:o)
 
So Austrian losses are dead + captured elements(can not recover) + wounded elements (can be recovered by replacements). And the French army can recover more quickly because they did not lose whole elements. Do i get it right? (excuse my gramar and spelling mistakes:eek:o)

Generally correct.

Example:

A French Infantry Brigade is made up of three regiments (elements). Two regiments of line infantry and one regiment of light infantry. The line and light infantry elements can each take 32 hits before they are destroyed. Each hit is worth 100 men got a total of 3200 men per element and 9600 men per brigade.

When these units take damage (hits), those losses are made up through siphoning replacements from your replacement pool. Each time the replacement poolis used to replenish a hit it has a small chance of being used up and disappearing, thus necessitating that additional troops be raised in the replacement pool. When an entire element is destroyed, it can be replenished, but the chance that an entire replacement pool point will be used is much much larger (not 100%). It's better to take 32 hits spread out amongst the three elements rather than all 32 hit destroying one element. Does that make sense?

If all three elements are lost from the infantry brigade, the actual brigade unit (the container for all the elements) is destroyed and can not be recovered except by rebuilding it using your stocks of money and supplies. For battle scenario purposes, once its gone, its gone.
 
Well you pretty much won the war on Turn 1 there but I do hope that you will still play it out. This is a very interesting conflict and it will be nice to see AGEOD's take on it, particularly on the politics of the matter and to see how they deal with Garibaldi and the issues with the Two Sicilies and the Papal States. I'd wish you good luck but it already seems that you have enough.
 
Turn 2: Orders

Turn 2: Orders

Following the masterful victory atAlessandria, Emperor Napoleon is faced with an important decision. The French Admiralty has requested permission to sortie and engage the Austrian fleet. Allowing the Navy to sortie will likely result in naval supremacy, but could also escalate the conflict and cause Austria to commit a larger part of her Army to the conflict. Napoleon decides against escalation and to proceed with the operation as planned.

NavalAuthorizationDecision.jpg



(The Decision and My Chosen Course of Action)



The French Army is ordered to move into Lombardia to lay siege to Milan. Austrian forces remaining there are estimated to be approximately only half as large as Napoleon’s force. He estimates that it will take him 7 days to arrive in Milan. Further, Napoleon has gained some military skill as a result of his thrashing of General Benedek last turn. His combat stats have increased to 3-2-1 from an original 3-1-0. Emmanuel’s Piedmontese Army is ordered to advance to Alessandria and provide support to Napoleon in the event he is attacked. Piedmontese reserves in Chambery are ordered to join Emmanuel’s main force. These moves will take approximately 12 days.

(Note: None of the Piedmontese Generals have activated this turn, which means they are useless for offensive operations and suffer massive penalties in combat.)


Turn2Orders.jpg



(Orders for Turn 2)
 
Turn 2: Resolution

Turn 2: Resolution

Not content on allowing a larger force to lay siege to the city, Austrian defenders sortie from the Milan defenses and meet the larger French Army on the field of battle. After a day of give and take, ultimately the French emerge victorious, with both sides suffering large casualties. French losses were 22,000 out of 168,000 engaged. Austrian losses were much heavier with 39,000 lost out of 128,000 engaged. Austrian forces retreated. The surviving Austrians fell back into the Milan works and Napoleon has laid siege.

Turn2-BattleofMilan.jpg



(Battle of Milan)



Touring the battlefields of Northern Italy, a Swiss man named Henry Dunant was horrified by the wounded lying in the fields. He created an organization designed to help wounded combatants on both sides, the Red Cross.


Turn2-HenryDunant.jpg



(Henry Dunant)
 
Generally correct.

Example:

A French Infantry Brigade is made up of three regiments (elements). Two regiments of line infantry and one regiment of light infantry. The line and light infantry elements can each take 32 hits before they are destroyed. Each hit is worth 100 men got a total of 3200 men per element and 9600 men per brigade.

When these units take damage (hits), those losses are made up through siphoning replacements from your replacement pool. Each time the replacement poolis used to replenish a hit it has a small chance of being used up and disappearing, thus necessitating that additional troops be raised in the replacement pool. When an entire element is destroyed, it can be replenished, but the chance that an entire replacement pool point will be used is much much larger (not 100%). It's better to take 32 hits spread out amongst the three elements rather than all 32 hit destroying one element. Does that make sense?

If all three elements are lost from the infantry brigade, the actual brigade unit (the container for all the elements) is destroyed and can not be recovered except by rebuilding it using your stocks of money and supplies. For battle scenario purposes, once its gone, its gone.

Very helpfull and clear explenation. Thank you Stonewall.
 
Turn 3: Orders

Turn3: Orders

Manfredo Fanti (4-2-1) arrived in Alessandria to news he had been promoted from 2-Star General to 3-Star General . This will increase the number of soldiers he can command without penalty. It will be effective next turn. None of the Franco-Piedmontese generals were activated this round, meaning that they could not engage in offensive operations. Emperor Napoleon took a defensive posture around Milan and continued with his siege. The defensive operations will allow his troops to rest and recover fatigue and cohesion. Emmanuel’s troops in Alessandria will share in the rest and recover lost strength as well.

Elsewhere, fortress units received replacements in the form of additional infantry regiments and artillery batteries.

The Piedmontese Fleet is ordered to sortie from its home port in Genoa and take up station off the coast of Trieste to blockade the Austrians and reduce their supply. Admiral Giuseppe Albini (3-2-1) estimates it will take 12 days to sail round Italy and emerge in the Adriatic. Dispositions and strength of the Austrian fleet are unknown.

Turn3-NavytoTrieste.jpg



(Piedmontese Fleet Sails for Trieste)
 
Turn 3: Resolution

Turn3: Resolution

The Austrian Army sortied from Milan in an effort to break the siege and met with a massive repulse from Emperor Napoleon. 105,000 men under General Franz Graf-Wimpffen (4-2-1) engaged 150,000 French under Napoleon III (3-2-1) and were soundly defeated. Austrian casualties were in excess of 58,000 while French casualties were low with only 13,000 dead and wounded. 7 regiments of artillery and 1,200 supply wagons were left on the field by the Austrians. French forces will gladly put these supplies and equipment to use against their former masters.


Turn3-BattleofMilan.jpg



(Battle of Milan) - Note the number 200 in the lower left hand corner icons. This represents 20,000 enemy prisoners taken.



Admiral Albini was delayed by 6 days in putting to sea and is scheduled to arrive off Trieste in late May.
 
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By Jove, you're slapping those Austrians around something fierce! Did you take Milan yet, or does the siege continue?

The more I read about PON, the more I fear I'll have to find the money and time for it... ;) Thanks for giving me another perspective on the game (after reading the Spanish-American War AAR going on).
 
By Jove, you're slapping those Austrians around something fierce! Did you take Milan yet, or does the siege continue?

The more I read about PON, the more I fear I'll have to find the money and time for it... ;) Thanks for giving me another perspective on the game (after reading the Spanish-American War AAR going on).

It's a fantastic game. I am hoping that by writing these AAR's, we, the people who enjoy the game and love the AGEOD developers, can inspire others to take a chance on it and fall in love like we did. I only wish we had more visitors to this forum so people can see what an exceptional game this is.
 
Turn 4: Orders and Resolution

Turn 4: Orders and Resolution

Uneventful turn. General Fanti is activated and is ordered to move on Venice via Parma. Parma is an independent Italian minor with whom we have a Treaty of Passage allowing us to move troops through their territory.
Fanti arrives in Venice and lays siege.
 
Turn 5: Orders and Resolution

Turn 5: Orders and Resolution

The Austiran army appears to have completely collapsed. No field armies have been spotted anywhere. Emmanuel will march on Venice to relieve General Fanti who will in turn march on Udine in the Friuli province. Our war objectives list Milan, Venice, and Udine as 20 point objectives and we intend on occupying them.