Das Wiener Schnitzel Kreig, 1848 - An Introduction

Having done a few trial games of Rebel & Patriots, I felt ready to kick off a narrative driven mini-campaign, set within the Austrian Empire during the tumultuous 1848 Revolutions, with the main conflicts in Hungary and Italy playing out in the background. But I needed to find that narrative spark and luckily for me, rolling on the Officer's traits table at the start provided it from the off.

The Austrian 2nd Leutnant rolled "Ballroom Darling", giving any infantry unit he is with +3" to the Move or Attack actions. Immediately, he became Radetsky and his movement known as the 'Radetsky March', purely because I love this piece of music, especially on New Year's Day as it ends off the sublime concert from Vienna. As luck would have whilst thinking of a name or tag for the campaign, I thought of Wiener Schnitzel, as I had had an amazing dish of this in Linz many years ago. A quick Google search showed that it was linked (erroneously it would seem) to Field Marshal Radetsky, so a perfect fit for his grandson, and thus my campaign had a name!

For the Italians, the 2nd Tenente rolled the 'Woodsman' trait, allowing any infantry unit he is with not be slowed by difficult terrain. I couldn't settle on a name, but went with the sobriquet of 'Il Cacciatore', meaning the 'Hunter', which seemed a good fit given his trait. With the Italian link (sort of) to the Wiener Schnitzel, this seemed a nice fit too.

The Setting

With trouble brewing in Italy and Hungary, the main Austrian forces have been sent to these theatres and have soon become involved in major conflicts. Pro and Anti Austrian troops have been arriving to support both sides as the fighting escalates. Along the Slavonian Military Frontier, things have so far been relatively quiet, which was one reason that 2nd Leutnant Radtesky, grandson of the famous Field Marshal, had been sent there, to keep him safe and to give him chance to gain some experience in small border clashes, before moving onto higher command.

'Il Cacciatore' was across the border in Bosnia, with the tacit approval of the Ottoman Sultan, after Garibaldi had made some vague assurances to him in support of the Bosnian cause. The Sultan saw it as my enemy's enemy is my friend, and so turned a blind eye for the moment...

Austrian Freikorps OOB

2nd Leutnant Radetsky (10 honour)

3 x Light Infantry

1 x Jaegers

1 x Light Cavalry

Italian Legion OOB

2nd Tenente 'Il Cacciatore' (10 honour)

2 x Light Infantry

2 x Skirmishers

1 x Dragoons

1 x Light Cavalry

So there we have it, the bare bones for the campaign. I hope and aim to flesh out the units and background as things progress, but for the moment I've gone with basic troops types to start with, to keep things simple. Units may get better or worse as the campaign progresses and my handle on the rules improves.

Hopefully you may find this of interest and the first battle is ready to go, so hopefully and AAR to follow in due course.

As always thanks for reading and commenting too.