Das Wiener Schnitzel Kreig, 1848 - Clash On The Grundberg

The Background

Reports had reached 2nd Leutnant Radetsky that Italian Legion troops had been seen near the frontier posts in his area of the Slavonian Military District. Why, he was not sure, as most Italian troops were fighting on home soil, but some had crossed into Hungary according to letters he ahd received from his grandfather. Locals had been reporting on thefts of cattle that were for destined for the Wiener Schnitzel market in Vienna, something that could not be allowed to be disrupted! So one late Spring morning he set of with his troops to patrol the border to see for himself what, if anything, was going on... 

The Action

To kick things off, I used the 'Lament Ridge' scenario, as it makes for a good start to the campaign and is easy to tie into the narrative. Both sides had the forces as outlined in the previous post, which are roughly 24 points each. This is a photo heavy post, so as is the norm some annotated photos will hopefully give you an idea of how the action unfolded...

An overview of the table, with the Grundberg in the centre. The Austrians are on the left, the Italians the right.

The watchtower on top of the Grundberg, which has not been needed to be manned, until now?

A gratuitous shot of a stone circle, purely for decoration!

The swineherd and his herd of pigs, a possible reason for Il Cacciatore's raids...

The Austrian right and centre...

... and their left, with the Jaegers at the far end.

Italian Light Cavalry and Dragoons on their left flank.

Troops move through the woods.

The Italian right with Skirmishers at the end.

The end of Turn 1. Both sides moved, with only a few units left behind, with the Italians going first.

The Italian Light Cavalry move onto a small hill (and slide off, the downside of 'realistic' hills!).

Il Cacciatore leads his men forward.

These Light Infantry are not keen to follow the Skirmishers...

The Austrian Light Cavalry move carefully forward as they spot the enemy.

Radetsky orders the swineherd back as his troops advance in line.

The end of Turn 2. Both sides move onto the Grundberg, as the Italians get into better positions first, leaving the Austrians to be careful as they advance, especially as once again their Jaegers fail to move.

Some shooting erupts along the road.

Il Cacciatore is currently 'King of the Castle'.

The Italian Light Infantry play catch up.

The end of Turn 3. Firing erupts across the Grundberg, but to little effect, despite the Italians getting the first shots in. Il Cacciatore despairs as his unit fails to inflict a single hit! The Austrian shooting is marginally better, but again the Jaegers are noticeable by their absence.

The Austrian Light Cavalry come under fire from the Italian Dragoons.

The Austrian Light Infantry force the Italian Skirmishers back...

... as they are Broken (that should be a red dice).

The Grundberg is the scene of much shooting and much missing. The Fog of War or shocking die rolls...?

Italian Skirmishers skirt round the Grundberg to threaten the Austrian flank...

... which should be protected by these Jaegers!

The end of Turn 4. With little movement on and around the Grundberg, the Austrian Jaegers finally enter the fray, as the Italian Light Cavalry retreat to cover their left flank as the Broken Skirmishers fail to Rally and retreat once more. Seeing an opportunity, the Austrian Light Cavalry charge the Italian Dragoons, who manage to shoot them as they evade, causing hits on the Austrians, who only manage to draw the combat and are lucky to do so.

The Austrian Light Cavalry retreat Broken.

The Italian Dragoons are forced back but have had the moral victory.

The Italian Light Cavalry come under fire as they cover the Broken Skirmishers.

Neither side can gain the upper hand, not helped by Radetsky failing his command roll to shoot!

The Jaegers move at last, but will it be too late?

The end of Turn 5. Things begin to happen, turning the tide slightly in the Austrians favour. The Italian Light Cavalry are forced back Broken by shooting and yet again the Broken Skirmishers fail to rally and retreat into the woods. The Austrian Jaegers make up for lost time, forcing their Italian opposite numbers back, Broken. One glimmer of hope for Il Cacciatore is that Radetsky's unit is Disordered and fail to Rally.

Things aren't going well here for the Italian troops, who are Broken.

Likewise for the Skirmishers.

Il Cacciatore on one side...

... and Radetsky on the other, but neither can force the other off the Grundberg.

The end of Turn 6. Despite the Italian postion looking vulnerable, the Italian Light Cavalry and Skirmishers in the woods, Rally, but are at half strength and so have a permanent Disorder marker. Sadly the Skirmishers on the right flank fail to Rally and retreat again. Despite this Il Cacciatore forces Radetsky back off the hill Broken, but this is only a temporary reprieve, as he immediately rally's!

The Italian line is not in an ideal position, but it has stabilised after a fashion.

The Italian troops on the Grundberg are Disordered.

Radetsky rallies after being forced back and at least he still has a unit on the hill and his right flank.

The end of Turn 7. Suddenly things begin to unravel for the Italians, as a unit of Light Infantry retreats off the Grundberg after a failed Rally order and 'Radetsky's March' Attack forces Il Cacciatore's unit off the hill as they make a Skirmish move to avoid contact, leaving the Austrians for the moment in control of the Grundberg! The only light for the Italians is that the Light Cavalry and Skirmishers in the woods finally Rally, so manage to form a semblance of a defensive position.

The Austrian Light Cavalry wisely retreat and move out of firing range.

Radetsky takes the Grundberg!

The Italians begin to form a defensive line to the rear of the Grundberg.

The Italians forced back off the Grundberg.

The Italian Skirmishers once again fail to Rally and retreat back.

The end of Turn 8. With the Italian position untenable, Il Cacciatore orders a general retreat, but not before firing a parting shot at Radetsky's unit and in one of those cinematic moments, Radetsky is hit and falls from his horse! With their commander down and the Grundberg secure, the Austrians hold their positions, thus allowing the Italians to retreat unmolested.

The Italian left flank as it pulls back.

The Italian Light Cavalry prepare to cover the withdrawal.

The Italian right flank Broken and in retreat.

Il Cacciatore delivers a devastating parting shot, stunning the Austrians at their moment of victory!

The Grundberg remains in Austrian hands, but at what cost?

End of the Game

The Austrians could have tried to pursue, but without their commander and having seized the objective of their mission, there was little point in risking further casualties. Afterall they, like the Italians, needed to play the long game.

The Butcher's Bill, the Austrian losses on the left, the Italians the right.

The Campaign

For Radetsky, the wound turned out to be only a slight one, but it has left him with an impressive scar, with which he will be able to dine out on for many years to come, as well as en trance many a lady at the balls in Vienna, should he be able to survive long enough in his current posting.

Honour: 17

Il Cacciatore meanwhile was happy to have remained unscathed and as yet is unaware of what befell his opponent. He has made a tactical withdrawal as he sees it and awaits news of Austrian intentions from his spies amongst the local population. If chance permits, he hopes to return to the offensive, rather than wait upon the Austrians...

Honour: 10

Post Game Thoughts

An action that took time to really get going, then suddenly it happened in the last 2-3 Turns, with the twist at the end as Radetsky fell at the head of his troops! A perfect way to start the campaign. So as always, a few thoughts in no particular order;

• The Skirmish action is proving to be very useful in these opening games played, whether offensively or defensively.
• Light Troops are perfect for the more open terrain that befits this scenario. I can see them making plenty more appearances, until more 'static' actions would see the benefit of having Line Infantry instead. 
• I really liked the feel of R&P compared to TMWWBK for this game, as with the latter I feel the action would have been more bloody and probably over more quickly due to the way firing works. Certainly I'll be sticking with R&P for all these 1848 or thereabouts games.
• Both sides had some good Morale and Rally rolls as well as some real shockers. I did feel for the Italians as Turn after Turn they kept having to fall back.
• Skirmish troops are useful but having only 6 models, they are all too prone to becoming half-strenght all too quickly and thus of limited value.
• I did feel like calling the game at the end of Turn 7, given the relative positions of both sides. If it had been a one off game I'm sure I would. But I'm glad I played that extra Turn as it is part of a campaign afterall and that fall of Radetsky just made it worthwhile, if nothing else! Certainly something to add to the narrative for sure!

What Next?

Well I need to have a look at some scenarios to see what I fancy playing next and that fits in nicely with the narrative too. I have some ideas though, but need to have a few days to think things through.

To go with the above, it would be nice to paint up some more units, as well as maybe coming up with some names, rather than just 'Skirmishers' for example. At least I have plenty of stuff primed for the former and some ideas jotted down for the latter.

Terrain wise I want to make some more bridges for engineering type actions, along with a scratch built pontoon wagon and pontoons. Pretty easy to do given I have plenty of spare wheels and horses, it's just a matter of finding time as always.

Alongside this campaign, my mind is moving to doing a BKCII and AVBCW one in the Spring, as it's been ages since I had these figures on the table. At least no painting is required which is a big bonus! Naturally I still need to paint some WWII units for my stalled South Glos campaign, but the Muse is not upon me to do this, so I'm focussing on other stuff until she appears.

The only fly in the ointment is that as the days are getting longer and the plants are growing, the call to go outside and garden is getting stronger day-by-day! So many things to do, so little time!

Well I hope you enjoyed that and as always any comments greatly appreciated.

TTFN.

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.