Friday 21 June 2019

Battle Cry and the Risorgimento

The date for our next game had been in the diary for a couple of months and we talked about trying something different, but as the day drew nearer one of my cats broke a leg, which rather changed the dynamic in our calm and peaceful household.  Rather than postpone we opted for something easy to set up and play, but still wanted something a bit different.  A quick search through the scenarios on the Command and Colours website gave us Garibaldi's invasion of  Sicily in 1860 and the Battle of Calatafimi.

Garibaldi has landed and declared himself dictator of Sicily, as he marches on the capital, Palermo, the Neapolitan General Staff send General Landi to block him and put down the popular insurrection.  As usual we were playing a wargame with 54mm toy soldiers, here's how it went:

The opening positions find Garibaldi and Bixio with their 1,000 Red Shirts (the "Mille") occupying the village of Vita on the left, Major Sforza has rushed the Neapolitan infantry forward to occupy the hills of Pianto dei Romani in the centre.  On the hills beyond we can just make out the Picciotti, local militia, who have turned out to support the uprising.  On the right we find General Landi in Calatafimi bringing up the rest of the Neapolitan troops.

The Neapolitan troops have been pushed forward to occupy the hills, the artillery is served by seasoned professionals, the infantry are well trained and armed but are raw recruits, if they lose a morale check they will fall back two hexes.

General Landi in Calatafimi rouses the Chasseurs and reserve infantry, but they won't move out until after the fourth turn.

Garibaldi's Mille advance on the hills from the village of Vita.  Garibaldi himself can be seen leading the unit on the right, his second in command, Bixio is with the units on the left.

The Picciotti, poorly trained and armed, sit in the hills waiting to see what will happen, the scenario prevents them from taking any part in the action until after the fourth turn, their combat effectiveness is also reduces by 25%

The Neapolitan infantry wait apprehensively, overlooking the well cultivated valley, they can hear the Red Shirts approaching but their line of sight is blocked by the woods on the hills opposite.

Both sides move into contact in the centre

The action in the centre flows back and forth attack being met with counterattack and both sides giving good account of themselves.

A few well placed rounds from the Neapolitan artillery on the right flank has pinned down the Picciotti in their hills and things are looking desperate for the Red Shirts

The Neapolitan reserve finally get under way but it's too little, too late and the game will be over before they arrive.

Through shear force of personality Garibaldi leads his men in one final charge and breaks the Neapolitan line, as the enemy fall back in disorder the game is suddenly over.

The game played out in very much the same way as the actual battle 169 years ago, I guess that's the mark of a well designed scenario.  The figures are nearly all conversions from various American Civil War figures and the practised eye should be easily able to distinguish their origin, I counted seven different manufacturers making up the Red Shirts.  The game involved a lot of different terrain features, which took a while to set up and get acquainted with, but after that it moved very fast and we were done in about two hours. 

13 comments:

  1. Nice to see something different with lots of simple conversions to give it flavour. This looks great and like a fun game.

    As for variety, I spot 7 manufacturers amongst the 7 Piciotti on the hill alone! (inc headswaps). (Accurate/Revell ACW, CTA ACW, Hat Nap Jaegers, AIP ACW, Marx Mexican, Timpo Nap, BMC Texan heads.) One of the oddest figures is probably the pikeman who began life as a home cast Dickensian Christmas village lamplighter with tophat, muffler and a ladder over his shoulder. Good to see them in action again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the ID's Ross, and I should have mentioned that the Piciotti were your handiwork, they work well for militia across a range of periods.

      Delete
    2. No need to mention it. I was just pleased to see them again. They were part of one of my first major, obscure, 54mm games for Cold Wars. 1838 Battle of the Windmill, 90% conversions. Good memories.

      Delete
  2. That is a nice use of figures. It isn't too hard to repurpose ACW figures when world fashions in uniforms were similar, just like today we can see armies around the world following American leads in helmet and uniform design.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right James, most of the Red Shirts are just paint jobs. I'm a strong believer that figures from different manufacturers can go together well if they have the same basing and style of painting.

      Delete
  3. Excellent game Brian with a wonderful blend of figures! The paint and basing make it all come together in a cohesive whole that looks perfect on the table. I hope that all is going well with your cat and that you can return to your calm and peaceful status sooner than later!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Brad, the cat is recovering well, my wallet less so.

      Delete
  4. Lovely stuff! Your public demands close-ups of the toys !

    ReplyDelete
  5. As ever Brian you were a great host and except for the sad sight of shaved Esme it was another splendid day of gaming. Those online scenarios make a great change from the official ACW ones-Previously I knew almost nothing about the Italian Wars of Unification so I can now tell everyone that wargaming is educational:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I also knew little about the Italian wars of Unification, and I'm not sure why I made these figures, it's not like we're short of projects to work on!

      Delete
  6. Great stuff Brian,interesting to see a non-mainstream period too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I quite like the challenge of using one lot of figures for different periods.

      Delete