I had the French, with the task of holding the passes against the more numerous Austrians. Russ had the task of crossing the bridges and breaking the French in front of them.
Napoleon saw this battle as one he had lost in the afternoon and won in the evening. Ours went pretty much the same way.
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| The two bridges that the Austrians had to cross. |
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| Wider view - with Lannes on the hill. |
The dice then misbehaved. Lannes and Victor both decided that discretion was the better part of valour and withdrew - leaving both bridges unguarded.
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| The Austrians can't believe their luck! |
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| The French forces gather for a counter-attack. |
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| Ott rushes for the other unprotected bridge. |
What didn't help at this stage was that Mark forgot that these were small bridges across a stream - not a 3 lane motorway - as the Austrians rushed forces across without hindrance! As a result, pretty much all Ott's forces were across the river in one bound (rather than coming across piecemeal as they should have done). This put me very much on the back foot - especially as Lannes didn't want to move anywhere near the enemy (he failed 4 times to move forward!).
Therefore Lannes plumped himself on the hill and the Austrians poured in - taking a small village in the process (one which Lannes should have taken had the dice been kinder).
Russ went through a host of 'try-it-on' situations - actually supplanting Mark at the top of the leader board. Frank had popped over to watch - and doled out advice left, right and centre (mainly to Russ).
My note taking tailed off as the action got more involved but the battle followed the following pattern. Victor engaged the Austrians and they retreated back over the main bridge. Marmont was forced to march sideways to support the reluctact Lannes on the hill and Desaix - when he arrived - was immediately directed to the hill as well.
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| The Austrians pile forward into the village and onto the hill. |
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| Battle is joined on the hill |
The Guards ploughed into the Austrians and casualties were heavy on both sides. The Austrians got more troops over the 3 lane motorway (including the powerful Grenadiers) however and soon the French on the hill were under severe pressure.
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| All Austrians over the river in no time at all. |
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| Desaix meets the threat to the flank. |
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| The Austrians make their move |
The French used their vertical advantage well, but Desaix managed to run away despite using 4 dice to move him - meaning Lannes got into the battle and performed well by whupping Russ' best unit with 6 hits to 0.
But the Guards were killed off and the Guard cavalry ran off with just 1 unit left.
At this stage, Russ decided to bring the rest of his troops over the uncontested bridge. Napoleon had needed to cross to the hill - leaving Victor in charge by the bridge. Russ had left just his C in C by the bridge - so Victor decided to not cross but instead withdrew again.
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| The rest of the Austrians cross the 3-lane motorway |
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| Victor sees the bridge is unguarded - so runs away. |
His grenadiers marched into Marengo to stop Victor moving - thereby allowing the rest of his forces to kill off the French on the hill.
It also didn't help that Desaix now became the new Lannes and Napoleon had to do more lapel grabbing to get him into the battle. Lannes himself was holding up the Austrians as well as could be expected. One unit was reduced to 1 strength and any type of contact would have killed them. Luckily, a lot of Russ' units were in a similar state.
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| Napoleon grabs Desaix. |
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| Lannes holds on against all comers |
Then a dramatic change in fortune. Lannes killed another unit of Austrians and they were forced to take a morale check each turn from then on. The first they passed but the pressure was on.
Amazingly, Victor also got a rush of blood and rushed headlong into the Grenadiers! Having so many units, they could flank both sides of the grenadiers and pushed them back out of Marengo and inflicted more casualties. As the Austrians couldn't get to grips with Lannes on the hill, another turn passed and the Austrians failed the morale roll. So they withdrew and France / Napoleon had truly lost by the afternoon but won by the evening!
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| Victor goes nuts and hits the Austrian grenadiers |
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| Desaix gets back into the fight - but its all over! |
Reflections
One hell of a battle. It truly could have gone either way and we both suffered from the dice at crucial times. Russ too had a '9 dice' moment - rolling lots and getting nothing - which could have turned events on the hill. Lannes played a blinder - but he could have done better having held the bridge in the first place! Of course, allowing the Austrians to move across so quickly was a big error (but it made for a heck of a battle). Had the French got to both bridges, the Austrians would have been severely hampered and probably killed off piecemeal.
It also shows the need to get above and on the flanks of the enemy and into a town. These positions are devastating in Grande Armee.
I like the idea of unpredictable commanders (although they really hampered me - Napoleon was like a firefighter rushing from one fire to the next). Victor and Lannes would have produced a completely different battle had they been anything like capable!
But great fun - fought with ferocity and passion - but as close a battle as we have ever fought.
Historical Background
The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. The French overcame Austrian General Michael von Melas's surprise attack near the end of the day, driving the Austrians out of Italy, and enhancing Napoleon's political position in Paris as First Consul of France in the wake of his coup d’état the previous November.
Surprised by the Austrian advance toward Genoa in mid-April 1800, Bonaparte had hastily led his army over the Alps in mid-May and reached Milan on 2 June. After cutting Melas’s line of communications by crossing the river Po and defeating Feldmarschallleutnant (FML) Peter Karl Ott von Bátorkéz at Montebello on 9 June, the French closed in on the Austrian army, which had massed in Alessandria. Deceived by a local double agent, Bonaparte dispatched large forces to the north and south, but the Austrians launched a surprise attack on 14 June against the main French army under General Louis Alexandre Berthier.
Initially, their two assaults across the Fontanone stream near Marengo village were repelled, and General Jean Lannes reinforced the French right. Bonaparte realised the true position and issued orders at 11:00 am to recall the detachment under Général de Division (GdD) Louis Desaix, while moving his reserve forward. On the Austrian left, Ott’s column had taken Castel Ceriolo, and its advance guard moved south to attack Lannes’s flank. Melas renewed the main assault and the Austrians broke the central French position. By 2:30 pm the French were withdrawing and Austrian dragoons seized the Marengo farm. Bonaparte had by then arrived with the reserve, but Berthier’s troops began to fall back on the main vine belts. Knowing Desaix was approaching, Bonaparte was anxious about a column of Ott’s soldiers marching from the north, so he deployed his Consular Guard infantry to delay it. The French then withdrew steadily eastward toward San Giuliano Vecchio as the Austrians formed a column to follow them in line with Ott’s advance in the northern sector.
Desaix’s arrival around 5:30 pm stabilised the French position as the 9ème Légère (9th Light Infantry) delayed the Austrian advance down the main road and the rest of the army re-formed north of Cascina Grossa. As the pursuing Austrian troops arrived, a mix of musketry and artillery fire concealed the surprise attack of Général de Brigade (GdB) François Étienne de Kellermann’s cavalry, which threw the Austrian pursuit into disordered flight back into Alessandria, having lost about 9,400 killed, wounded, or captured. The French casualties were considerably fewer, but included Desaix. The whole French line chased after them to seal une victoire politique (a political victory) that secured Bonaparte’s grip on power after the coup. It would be followed by a propaganda campaign, which sought to rewrite the battle three times during Napoleon’s rule.