Austria invaded Italy on April 9th and pushed through scattered French detachments. The French were initially caught unprepared and it took time for Eugene to bring his troops together. By April 15 1h Eugene had around 36,000 men at Sacile of which only about 2,000 were cavalry. Although inferior in numbers to John, Eugene expected reinforcements on the 16 1h and also believed that his own troops could overcome the numeric disadvantage by virtue of superior elan. As a result he decided to attack. Map Notes All streams had marshy banks so they are impassable to artillery except at bridges. Infantry and cavalry may cross while in column/march column formation at the cost of 2" inches of rough terrain (total). The Meduna River is uncrossable except at bridges for all units. A lot of the area was covered by vineyards and drainage ditches. Treat these areas as rough terrain for movement for all units. Cavalry that move to contact in this terrain are immediately disordered before the resolution of combat. It costs +1 inch to ascend any hill. All buildings have a +1 combat modifier except for Porcia and Pordenone, which have a +2. The villages of Palse and fontana--Freda can hold no more than a single infantry stand. All other towns can hold no more than a single infantry brigade plus one artillery battery deployed. The Austrians setup first followed by the French. Sacile Order of Battle (3) Army of Inner Austria (A): John: 11"G(10)+0 [9M] (1) Advanced Guard Division(AG): Frimont: 3"G(8)+0 [2F] 1B/AG: 16AsGRZ 1[10D], 2B/AG: 24AsLN [12D], 3B/AG: 12AsLC [6D], AG: As3# (2) VIII Corp (VIII): Albert Gyulai: T'A(5)+0 [3F] 1B/VIII: 16AsGRZ [10D], 2BNIII: 20AsLN [10D], 3BNIII: 20AsLN [10D] 4B/VIII: 16AsLN [8D], 5BNIII: 20AsLC [10D], VIII: As6#, VIII: As6# (2) IX Corp (IX): Ignaz Gyulai: 8"G(6)+1 [217] 1B/IX: 20AsGRZ [12D], 2B/IX: 20AsLN [10D], 3B/IX: 20AsLN [10D], 4B/IX: 16AsLN [8D], IX: As6#, IX: As6# (1) Reserve Division(R):Wolskeel 4"G(5)+0 [1F] 1B/R: 24AsGN [10D], 2B/R: 16AsLC [8D], R: As6# N.B. Both Austrian corps had been denuded of divisional commanders because of detachments. Thus the Corp commanders act as divisional commandersfor their corps. (3)Army of Italy(I): Eugene: 13"G(10)+1 [8M] (1) 1st ItalianDivision(1I/I):Severoli:3"G(4)+0 [217] 1B/II: 28ItLN [14D], 2B/11: 16ItLN [8D], 3B/II: 16AsILT [10D] (Dalmation) (1) 1st French Division (IF): Seras: 3"G(5)+0 [IF] 1B/IF: 24FrPLN [14D], 2B/ I F: 24FrPLN [14D] (1) 2nd French Division (2F): Broussier: 3"G(6)+1 [2F] 1B/2F: 24FrLN [12D], 2B/2F: 24FrLN [12D], 3B/2F: 16FrLC [8D] (1) 3rd French Division(3F): Grenier: 5"G(8)+1 [IF] 1B/3F: 28FrLN [14D], 2B/3F: 28FrLN [14D] (1) 5th French Division (517): Barbou: 3"A(5)+0 [IF] 1B/517: 20FrPLN [12D], 2B/5F: 24FrPLN [14D] (1) Light Cavalry Division (LQ: Sahuc: YG(5)+1 [IF] 1B/LC: 12FrLC [613], LC: Fr4# Army Artillery(1):1: Fr8# Special Rules: Game Length: 0900-1700 (16 Turns). The French are the first side. Arrival Times: French 1I: 0900, Enter deployed at E4 board edge. 1F: 0900, Enter deployed at E5 board edge. Austrian R: 0900, Enter deployed at C9 board edge. Victory Conditions: To win, the French must hold the town of Porcia and also hold either the towns of Pordonone or all other towns on the map. The Austrians win by holding all towns on the map at games end. The game can also be won by breaking the enemy army's morale. Historical Sacile: Because of his inferiority in cavalry Eugene chose to launch his main attack in the south where the broken ground reduced the value of cavalry. The divisions of Severoli and Seras would be the principal attack force while the other divisions would support their advance. Seras and Severoli advanced north and drove out the Grenzer battalion holding Palse. John ordered VIII Corp to support Frimont but still thought this attack to be a feint. Seras and Severoli continued their attacks and pushed into Porcia. Positions seesawed as Frimont launched a strong counterattack to regain his position. Around noon with the infusion of reinforcements, the French finally pushed the Austrians back out of Porcia. The supporting French divisions now all moved forward to support the attack. The Austrians counterattacked with troops from VIII Corp and again retook Porcia. John now realized Eugene's weakness in cavalry and decided to attack the French left. He moved to commit IX and elements of VIII Corp against Grenier and Broussier with Wolskeel in support. Around 3pm the Austrian attack hit and pushed the French center back. Though Eugene fed what reserves he had into the center to support Grenier the pressure was to much, forcing him to call for a retreat. By 7pm all French forces were retreating. Sahuc's small cavalry division suffered heavy losses covering the French retreat from the more numerous Austrian cavalry. The field was left to the Austrians but John decided not to pursue Eugene, knowing that several more French divisions were joining Eugene and would thus allow the tables to be turned against him. Back to MWAN #113 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2001 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com