The Battle of Caldiero, 30^th October 1805

While the main area of conflict in the campaigns of 1805 took place to the north, a much more even contest developed in Italy, between the Austrian army lead by Archduke Karl, and a mainly French army under Marshal Andre Massena. Infact, it could be argued that the Austrians had had the better of the campaign up until now, aided by a numerical superiority. However, with news of the disasters that had befell the main Austrian army, the Archduke Karl had to look for a way of extricating his force, and march north. Equally, Massena would seek to turn an Austrian retreat into rout if at all possible. The two forces met north of Verona, near the village of Caldiero, in a major battle, which took place over 3 days. Only the main action, that of the middle day, is covered by this scenario.

The Battlefield

 

The shaded area is rich in copses, bushes, undulating hills and hamlets, and is classed as Difficult Terrain. Other marked villages are Built Up Areas, each holding a maximum of 1 battalion, and all have the standard defence value of +2. The area marked by the River Adige is swampy, and therefore counts as Difficult Terrain.

The game starts at 10.30am. All forces may start the game on any orders their commanders see fit, on blinds which are deployed, semi-deployed or in column of march. Both commanders should be reminded that they intend to attack.

Verdier appears on move 1, at point X with the 62^nd Ligne, but the rest of his command stays on the other side of the river on blinds- no more troops will come across the river, as Devidovich is making a demonstration attack towards Verona, and Verdier will move to cover that flank. Therefore on move 2 inform Massena that a courier has arrived from Verdier, with a message relaying that information, and that the 62^nd Ligne will be left with a Detached commander, with Attack orders for the Redoubts.

All other French troops are able to move at will on move 1.

No Austrian forces will move until 11am , when the fog lifts (move 3 in LFS). If they insist on moving, all their forces count as Disordered when contacted. Once the fog lifts, all forces are released.

The game continues until 5pm (move 28 in LFS), or if the players agree to finish.

Special Rules

The Fog causes very poor visibility until 11am. Therefore, for the first 2 moves, all troops count as in Difficult terrain for Spotting purposes.

Victory Conditions

Major Austrian Victory                         Take and hold Caldiero and Gambion, and inflict 20% casualties on the French

Minor Austrian Victory                         Take and hold Caldiero, and inflict 15% casualties on the French

Minor French Victory                           Take and hold Caldiero, and inflict 15% casualties on the Austrians

Major French Victory                           Take and hold Mount Nanfari  or the Redoubts.