Battle of Nachod – 1866

In this month’s update I am pleased to report another scenario has gone on-line. This time for the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and specifically, the Battle of Nachod. While Nachod would be one of the early battles of the war, it was not the first. Indeed, the first major action of the war was not fought in Bohemia but rather in Italy where the newly formed Kingdom of Italy clashed with Austrian forces at Custoza on the 24th of June. Now, just three days later the Austrians and Prussians would clash at Nachod.

Prussian dragoons engaged against Austrian cavalry at Nachod, by Knötel

The war is fascinating on several levels, not least being that of changing technology and tactics. Prussian infantry are armed with the breechloading Dreyse needle gun which could fire three times the rate of the Austrian Lorenz rifled musket and, unlike the Austrians, allowed the Prussians to reload while prone. Interestingly, Austrian tactical reforms, a result of the Franco-Austrian War of 1859, included the adoption of aggressive infantry attacks which would see them close the range rapidly. Austrian artillery was all rifled and as such was superior to Prussian smoothbore cannon but inferior to the new Prussian Krupp breech-loading cannon. Yet Prussian artillery tactics in 1866 were poor, something that would be redressed before the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Combined these changing weapons and tactics create interesting tensions both historically but also on the table.

As to the battle, it begins with the advance guard of General Karl Friedrich von Steinmetz’s V Corps occupied the high ground near Nachod as part of a Prussian advance into Bohemia. Elements of the Austrian VI Corps under General Wilhelm von Ramming arrive and attack the Prussians but are repulsed. As more Austrians arrive, they to are ordered forward. A more detailed overview of the battle is provided within the scenario, as well as map, order of battle and arrival times. The scenario can be found in the Austria at War 1848 to 1866 scenario section of this website, or directly here. Finally, to support this scenario and indeed the War of 1866, special rules for Prussian artillery can be found here.

Battles in the Peninsular

Following a request I am pleased to report two orders of battle for the Peninsular War have been uploaded over recent days. Specifically they are for the battles of Fuentes de Oñoro and Vitoria. Both are presented in Volley & Bayonet terms. While insufficient information is provided for a complete scenario I trust these articles are of use to readers. While neither battle needs much of an introduction it would be remiss of me not to provide a basic one.

At the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro (3–5 May 1811), the Anglo-Portuguese Army under Wellington checked an attempt by the French Army of Portugal under Marshal Masséna to relieve the besieged city of Almeida. Wellington fielded around 37, 000 troops while Masséna something in the vicinity of 45,000.

Fuentes de Oñoro by Turner

Two years later at the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) an Allied Army of British, Portuguese and Spanish under Wellington, broke the French army under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain. Wellington’s army contained between 81,000 to 90,000 troops while the French fielded just under 60,000. The allied victory at Vitoria would eventually lead to victory in the Peninsular War.

The original orders of battle were compiled a number of years ago by Jeff Glasco. I have updated them to align with “Volley & Bayonet – Road to Glory”. You can find both orders of battle here.

Battle of Kralkov, April 1757

My Seven Years War armies are relatively small and currently consist of Austrians and Prussians. I am slowly supplementing them to eventually allow me to refight the Battle of Kolin. Despite their numeric restrictions I have managed to play several excellent games using these armies. The recent Battle of Kralkov is one such game where determined advances, dramatic charges and equally gallant counterattacks provided plenty of drama on the table.

Now, I regularly post game reports on my “On Campaign with Volley & Bayonet” blog. Every so often I post a video of a game. As this battle was such a stirring engagement I felt it warranted a short treatment on YouTube, which can be found here. I hope it is of interest to a few of you.

If however you wish to read a more traditional report, and you haven’t seen it already, it can be found here.

Second Italian War of Independence Campaign

The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, Austro-Sardinian War, Austro-Piedmontese War or Italian War of 1859 was fought by the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia against the Austrian Empire in 1859. The campaign resulted several battles including Montebello, Palestro, Magenta and Solferino.

The Battle of Montebello by Philippoteaux

A recent request for the reinstatement of an old campaign scenario has today resulted in the Campaign of 1859 being posted on-line again. It’s aim is to allow battles generated by a boardgame to be refought using Volley & Bayonet. The campaign uses as it’s base the boardgame “Napoleon” by Columbia Games. It is therefore not a standalone system. However, I imagine that the document could be reasonably easily converted to a standalone campaign with some additional work. The suggestions for refighting the Campaign of 1859 using Volley & Bayonet can be found here.

For those looking for something smaller there is already on-line a scenario for the small Battle of Montebello. I do need to complete the the conversions of scenarios for Palestro, Magenta and Solferino. Do keep an eye on future updates.