Das Wiener Schnitzel Kreig, 1848 - The Night Of The Hunter

Background

After the raid on his baggage camp, 'Il Cacciatore' was determined to regain his ill gotten goods, and so planned an ambush for the following day. Bouyed up by the arrival of a unit of Line Infantry, he made his plans and by a series of forced night marches, got ahead of the Austrians just before dawn.

'Fighting Joe' Radetsky was pleased with his loot, but wished he had gotten more. Not sitting on his laurels, he set of in the night to try to get back to the safety of Trauberk and its environs, where he and his troops could get a well earned rest. 

Austrian OOB

Kapitan 'Fighting Joe' Radetsky

2 x Line Infantry

1 x Light Infantry

3 x Jaegers

1 x Light Cavalry

Italian OOB

2nd Tenente 'Il Cacciatore'

3 x Line Infantry

1 x Light Infantry

1 x Dragoons

1 x Light Cavalry

Scenario J - A Long Way From Home

I took this as the basis for the campaign scenario, but made a few tweaks to fit in with the background:

• The first two Turns are early dawn, with visibility limited to 12". 
• The Austrians get to move first.

The Action

As always, the captioned photos will hopefully give you a feel for how the action unfolded. So without further ado:

A view of the battlefield. The Austrians are arriving from the NE corner, with the Italians equally split on the SE and NW corners.

The Austrians have the flanks well covered with Light Troops and Cavalry.

One part of the ambush force, consisting of Line Infantry and Dragoons.

The other half of the Italian force, with Line Infantry, Light Infantry and Light Cavalry.

Russell and Fenton from the Trauberk Thunderer are on hand to record events.

The long road which the Austrians need to traverse to reach safety.

The end of Turn 1. As dawn began to break, the Austrians moved down the road, but one unit of Line Infantry lagged behind. In the early morning light, the Italians could only hear the Austrians moving, but not see them to engage. They moved towards the sounds, but the Light Cavalry and Dragoons failed to advance.

Italian Line Infantry move forward to try and pin the Austrians in place, making out some dim shapes in the dim light of dawn.

Austrian troops on the left flank cover the baggage train.

The baggage train and guards.

As the Dragoons fail to move, the Line Infantry pass them to try and reach the road to seal off the Austrian escape route.

The Italians on the other side of the road move to try and ambush the Austrians.

'Il Cacciatore' strikes a pose on the ridge to encourage his troops forward with the cry of 'Avante!'

The end of Turn 2. The Austrian troops on the flanks began to engage the Italians, but to no effect due to the dawn light making it hard to target the enemy. The Italian response was patchy, but at least they had given the Austrians a surprise, even if not all of their troops moved forward to battle.

The Italian Line Infantry form Close Order to make the most of their first volley, if they can.

The Italian Line Infantry continue to try and advance to cut the road in the distance.

The Austrian left flank moves to engage the threat from the Italian troops formed up in Close Order.

On the Austrian right flank, the Jaegers come under fire and are Disordered as a result.

'Il Cacciatore' fails to make his troops move, despite repeated cries of 'Avante!'.

The Italian Light Infantry open fire on the Austrians.

The Italian Light Cavalry strike a pose.

Russell and Fenton capture them in all their glory!

The end of Turn 3. As morning arrives in all its glory, the Austrians make the most of the good light, causing the Line and Light Infantry on either flank to become Broken. The Italian Line Infantry manage to rally but the Light Infantry fail and Rout off the table! Once again the Dragoons fail to move, which is really hampering the Italian plans.

At least it looks like the Italians will be able to close the road soon, as their Light Cavalry is already there.

Austrian Light Infantry move forward to threaten the Light Cavalry by the road.

The baggage train is yet to halt.

The Italian Light Infantry rout!

Russell and Fenton on hand to record 'Il Cacciatore' as he moves his troops quickly forward and into line.

A 'position magnifique'.

The end of Turn 4. As the Austrians move to try and flank the Italian positions, they reply with some effective fire, but the Austrians hold firm. It is all in the balance at present...

The Italian Dragoons finally move, but the Line Infantry falter at a crucial moment!

The Italian Line Infantry are now at half strength and have little offensive capability.

The Italians form Close order as a tidal wave of Austrians move towards them.

Russell and Fenton see the tide possibly turning...

... and so capture 'Fighting Joe' leading his troops!

The end of Turn 5. As the Austrian right flank all miss with their shooting, the left flank steps up to the mark, causing the Line Infantry and Light Cavalry to rout! The Italians advance but quickly realise that the game is up and that discretion is the better part of valour.

The Line Infantry rout.

"Sod this for a game of soldiers!"

The Dragoons arrive too late to affect the game.

Russell and Fenton capture on the hill...

... to capture the moment of Victory!

End of the Game

All too quickly the Italian position become untenable and once again poor old 'Il Cacciatore' had nothing to show for encounter with 'Fighting Joe' Radetsky, who on the other hand had his star in the ascendent!

The Butcher's Bill, with Italian losses at the front, Austrian the back.

The Campaign

It is hard to see how 'Il Cacciatore' could come back from such a string off losses, most of which were all too one-sided. So he left the theatre of war to go and liase with Garibaldi and chums to see how, if given the chance, he could cross swords with his foe in the future. Time would tell...

Post Game Thoughts

Well I thought 'Il Cacciatore' would have a real chance in the game, but for multiple reasons, it just never worked out for him. So a few thoughts on why as follows:

• It's a funny old scenario upon which to base out action. All the Italians would need to do would be to deploy their troops as close to the bottom edge of their deployment zones, giving them a very good chance of sealing off the road in the first Turn or two. Not much of a game then, as the Austrians would be fighting a fairly static line of troops, losing all the narrative etc.
• Even with the 'free' Line Infantry unit, the Italians suffered from a lack of troops to close the road, hampered in no small part but the Dragoons failing to move for 3 Turns in a row. I think this is a tough scenario for the Italians to win, but didn't feel this when setting it all up, quite the opposite in fact.
• Allowing the Austrians to move first felt right, as moving second would have meant a great chance of a simple 'break the line' type game.
• The Italians did suffer more from poor command rolls and certainly some pretty bad Morale saves, which cost them the game early on. With the loss of the Light Infantry early on, they were very much on the back foot from then on.
• I completely forgot to use Radetsky's extra move allowance and the 'Fortuna Belli' which if I had remembered, might have made things even harder for the Italians.

What Next?

I had another scenario up my sleeve, dependent upon the outcome of this game, but in all honesty it feels the right place to end the campaign here and now. I've learnt a lot from these games and they have given me plenty of ideas to take forward for future narrative driven campaigns. I may do a post on my musings in due course, but let's wait and see.

I have been painting up some ECW units for another possible campaign, either set purely in the ECW and based around where I live, or re-visiting the 'Camberwick Green Chronicles' again with Dragon Rampant. After so many games of R&P, games wise something completely different is in order I think.

As mentioned previously, this is likely to be some AVBCW action or maybe even getting enough units painted so I can start my mini-campaign based around the Canadian landings, but with my fictional Regiments. Lets see what grabs me the most over the coming days.

Anyway, thanks for reading and I hoped you enjoyed the campaign and as always, any comments are greatly appreciated!

TTFN.

Das Weiner Schnitzel Kreig, 1848 - Raiding The Baggage Camp

Background

'Il Cacciatore' having rapidly retreated from Trauberk, had fallen back to his temporary camp by the church of Our Lady of Brezje, located in a small valley. Leaving a small guard for the camp, he had set off to reconnoitre the surrounding countryside, looking for any opportunity to raid and disrupt the Wiener Schnitzel trade.

Things were rather different in the village, where the local newspaper, the 'Trauberk Thunderer', had been full of nothing but praise for Leutnant Joseph 'Fighting Joe' Radetsky and his troops. Whilst the celebrations were still going on, news reached 'Fighting Joe' that the Italian Legion's camp was not too far away and lightly guarded. As he gathered his forces together, the villagers pleaded to be able to come along and liberate some stolen goods, to which he assented and the 'Trauberk Terratorials' were formed.

Austrian Freikorps OOB

Leutnant 'Lightning Joe' Radetsky - 28 Honour

3 x Line Infantry

2 x Jaegers

1 x 'Trauberk Terratorials' (Skirmishers)

1 x Dragoons

1 x Light Cavalry

Italian Legion OOB

2nd Tentente 'Il Cacciatore - 10 Honour

4 x Camp Guards (Small Line Infantry, but no Line Infantry special rules)

2 x Line Infantry

2 x Skirmishers

1 x Dragoons

Scenario D: Bullets & Beans

The scenario is the same as per the rulebook, with the Austrians needing to sack the enemy camp as quickly and thoroughly as possible, before 'Il Cacciatore' and his troops return. Naturally the camp guards need to hold on as long as possible, in the hope that helps arrives at the earliest opportunity...

The Action

As always, the annotated photos will give a flavour of how the game played out, so without further ado...

An overview of the table, with the Austrians coming on from the left, the Italians from the right. the baggage camp is in the centre of the table.

One of the camp quarters, with some quick knocked up carboard tents.

The church of Our Lady of Brezje.

More camp guards.

The last of the camp quarters.

The Italian Legion, with Dragoons and Skirmishers on the flanks, Line Infantry in the centre.

The Austrian Light Cavalry and Dragoons.

Line Infantry and Skirmishers.

Jaegers and the Trauberk Terratorials.

The end of Turn 1. The Austrians got off to a patchy start, with partial movement and 'Fighting Joe's' unit suddenly finding itself low on ammunition (Double 1 rolled). The camp guards managed to Disorder a Line Infantry unit as the main Italian Legion force all arrived on the table.

The Austrian Light Cavalry move to the flank to cover the advance.

Line Infantry come under fire.

The Jaegers and Trauberk Territorials move up to threaten the church quarter of the camp.

The end of Turn 2. As the Austrian advanced, the Jaegers and Trauberk Territorials poured fire into the camp guards by the church, reducing them to half strength. There was some return fire, but to little effect, whilst the main force continued to move forward to support the camp guards.

The Italian Dragoons (top right) move forward to cover the Austrian Light Cavalry.

Austrian Skirmishers close in on the camp.

The Austrian Line Infantry try to move forward.

The Austrians come under fire.

The camp guards by the church are at half-strength and disordered.

The Italian Line Infantry struggle forward too.

Italian Skirmishers line some rocky ground, from where they can shoot the Austrians.

At the start of Turn 3, the Trauberk Territorials charge the camp guards by the church...

...wiping them out, as another unit is Broken from shooting.

The end of Turn 3. The Austrians have managed to clear half the camp of their guards, as the Line Infantry continue to press forward. A poor Turn for the Italians as they fail to shoot when it was urgently needed.

Italian Dragoons engage the Austrian Light Cavalry.

Combined firing allows...

... 'Fighting Joe' to close up to the camp outskirts.

Italian Skirmishers arrive to try and support the camp guards.

The Italian Line Infantry are still not close enough to provide support.

The end of Turn 4. As the Trauberk Territorials sack part of the camp, the rest of the Austrian force presses their advantage and try to clear the rest of the camp. One unit of camp guards Routs after a failed morale test, but fortunately does not cuase major problems to the rest fo the units. The Austrians have a slight advantage...

Jaegers enter the camp ready to try and sack it, as the Trauberk Territorials sack the camp by the church.

Camp guards Rout (red & yellow dice) as the Line Infantry finally arrive and begin to form up to provide support.

At the start of Turn 5, the Austrian Skirmishers charge their Italian counterparts and Rout them!

The end of Turn 5. As the Austrians continue to sack the camp, the Austrian Light Cavalry Break the Italian Dragoons. The Italians continue the fight and suddenly there is welcome news that a unit of Line Infantry has been sent as reinforcements!

The Italian Dragoons retreat Broken (top).

The Austrian Jaegers and Skirmishers come under sustained fire, but all manage to pass their Morale tests.

The Italians still hang on to their camp and its baggage.

Welcome reinforcements await to arrive on the table.

The end of Turn 6 (note I forgot to change to Turn number!).  Both sides suffer units retreating Routed or Broken, with the Italians having the worst of it! the Italian Line Infantry reinforcements fail to arrive and both sides hold their positions as their flanks are exposed as the Skirmishers retreat or Rout.

The Italian Dragoons Rout after a failed Morale test.

Camp guards Rout...

... as does another one.

Austrian Skirmishers Rout too.

The Trauberk Territorials retreat Broken.

A view from the Austrian lines, as the camp is empty of troops.

A similar view from the Italian positions.

End of Game

With both sides having lost their Skirmishers and having little opportunity to sack the camp or save it, without great risk to their troops, both sides withdrew leaving some baggage to the Italians and some being taken away by the Austrians. Quiet descended upon the battlefield, as both sides counted the cost of the action.

The Butcher's Bill. The Austrians lost two units of Skirmishers, the Italians the equivalent of two Line Infantry units, a unit of skirmishers and one of Dragoons. A heavy price paid by the Italians at the end of the day.

The Campaign

Another successful action by 'Fighting Joe' Radtesky saw him promoted to Kapitan and another chance to roll on the Traits table, giving him 'Fortuna Belli', a very useful Trait indeed. Once per game he can re-roll one set of dice rolls by either side.

Honour - 31

'Il Cacciatore' finally managed to put up a decent defence, but at some cost to his troops, but at least he has been sent some much needed reinforcements.

Honour - 11.

Post Game Thoughts

A closer game this time round and certainly one that could have gone either way, but the Dice Gods once again favoured Austria. In no particular order, some thoughts on the game and campaign in no particular order:

• Playing solo and with a narrative campaign does give me a lot of flexibilty in terms of driving the campaign forward. A case in point being the 'Trauberk Territorials', which I added 'free' to Radtesky's force, keeping them with 'Native' stats, but using them as Skirmishers. Likewise the Italian Line Infantry reinforcements will be added to 'Il Cacciatore' next game.
• I keep forgetting the Light Cavalry do have the ability to shoot, which i did remember half way through this game!
• I'm getting more used to using Skirmishers, as they make for a very useful 'screen' for the line Infantry as they advance.
• As before, 'First Fire' & 'Volley Fire' really can be game changers, if you can get them into the right position early on.
• The Double One's & Sixes cropped up a few times this game, affecting Radetsky's unit adversell as it ran low on ammo at the start.
• The game took about 90 minutes to play, give or take, but would be much quicker if I didn't take notes or photos.

What's Next?

I'm going to take a slight pause in the campaign, as I don't want it to feel all too rushed. I certainly have ideas for the next scenario, but want to take my time to decide upon which course to take.

In the meantime some painting will hopefully carry on and possibly some one off games using other rules, such as 'Honours of War'. It's been a while since I used them, ditto the Commission Figurine mdf figures and the OHW scenarios. Plenty to keep me occupied.

Thanks for reading and as always any comments greatly appreciated!

TTFN.