Rivoli is the most professional-looking SimTac Napoleon game yet, with a gorgeous Philippoteaux painting gracing a white box. The map is hand-drawn as usual, but now SimTac has sprung for heavy, glossy paper for a longer-lasting map-sheet. Like Rick Barber's work, the map can occasionally be confusing when trying to read elevation lines or when a tree strays onto an otherwise clear hex, but the overall effect is quite artistic and gives a good period feel.
The standard rules for the Battles of the Peninsular War series haven't changed since Los Arapiles, and since I discussed them in some length in that review (PA94) I won't repeat them here-- if you have been unwise enough to miss that issue, it is reprinted on Magweb (www. Magweb.com, plug plug).
Suffice to say that this is a very tactical, infantry battalion, cavalry regiment, and artillery battery level game, quite similar to the La Bataille series in scope and appearance. Rules clarity is not designer Jose Luis Arcon Dominguez' strength, so the rules can be a bit daunting at first but contain some very clever wrinkles.
Of all the games in the series, I found Rivoli with its smaller number of counters (at least at first) much more accessible for learning the system rules. Rivoli's special rules give us details for the Austrian (lots of raw troops) and Revolutionary French armies as well as some special abilities for Napoleon, who makes his series debut. Fully half of the Special Rules booklet is made up of excellent historical background material, including modern photographs of the battlefield.
We've got three scenarios: an Introductory scenario on Massena's Counter-attack, a historical Battle of Rivoli scenario, and Alvinczy's Battle, an alternative scenario where the bulk of both armies begin the game on the field, ready to tear into each other. I prefer the historical scenario, as the situation is extremely fluid. Napoleon begins with three divisions on the map, ready to whomp on one poor, measly little Austrian brigade (Wolf's of Liptay's column) huddled around Lubiara village. But not so fast, Bonaparte; the Austrians have five columns lurking off-map, and they enter the battlefield from all directions. One Austrian column even enters on the wrong side of the Adige River and must build a pontoon bridge to join the fighting!
At this point I should note that the Historical Scenario set-up instructions are very poorly written. Rather than list which units set up, followed by chronological reinforcement schedules, the designer lists the various combat formations in a jumbled order with their set-up hexes and/or map entry times. So, if you don't read far enough along you may completely miss the instructions that you must set up half of Massena's command on the map (as I did the first time I played it). Or find that you've skipped the entry of a key Austrian column. I finally had to draw up my own set-up/reinforcement timeline for both armies, a workable solution but isn't that what the designer should be doing?
The French historical situation is quite exciting. The French command structure gives them four infantry divisions at the start of the game but only two generals to command them, Joubert and Massena. A key rule requires that the commander be present for a division to move and fight effectively, so Joubert and Massena spend the game doing their best Barry Sanders impressions, zipping back and forth between divisions to deal with the crisis of the moment. A special rule allowing Napoleon to take command of any one unit becomes vital for the over-taxed French player. Rey's division finally shows up in the afternoon to help the hard-pressed French, accompanied by some very welcome cavalry- the 8th Dragoons of Boyer's brigade- setting the stage for the historical last-minute cavalry charge that won the battle for Napoleon.
The Austrians, meanwhile, must whether an initial French onslaught - Liptay's column normally being hammered quite soundly- before bringing their eventually superior numbers to bear. The converging columns are widely dispersed, and it's tricky to co-ordinate their attacks properly. Further handicapping the Habsburgs is the significant inferiority of their troops. The Designers Notes tell us that "a good many Austrian battalions at Rivoli were mainly composed of conscripts; they distrusted their officers after their long series of defeats suffered at the hands of the French and were at the edge of exhaustion." This is reflected in the morale ratings of the Austrians, which are normally 10-15 points worse (on a 1-100 scale) than the French ratings. They must also form "Brigade Groups" to move adjacent to French units; Brigade Groups are units from a brigade that gain a morale benefit from being arranged in one continuous line. The result of this is to require the Austrians to attack using the long battle-lines that they used historically.
Yet the Notes also say, "In spite of all the Austrians fought remarkably well." This is not reflected, at least in my experience. Both times I played the historical scenario I found the French able to take advantage of their morale rating advantage to hustle the Austrians out of any position, no matter how strong. I'd say the Austrians are a little under-rated, although nothing as serious as tends to creep into Vae Victis' stuff. The men in white are stronger on the attack, especially if they eschew the morale-comparison based bayonet charges.
This does seem to mirror history, where the early assaults by Joubert and Massena roughed up the Austrian defenders and drove them out of strong positions at Lubaria, San Giovanni, and Mt. Zovo. The Austrians did much better on offense, routing the over-extended Joubert at the Incanal road and capturing the Dogana entrenchments, threatening to envelop the French army before Leclerc's sudden cavalry charge routed the Austrians on the Rivoli Plateau and saved the battle for the bluecoats. Do we need further evidence that Napoleonic tactics favoured the attacker? How unlike the American Civil War!
Although it lacks Los Arapiles' slam-bang opening, Rivoli is my favourite game in the series. The lower number of at-start units considerably cranks up the initial accessibility, and the wide variety of avenues of approach available to the Austrians allows many different strategies. Compare this to Los Arapiles, where the historical battle scenario begins with the two armies eyeball to eyeball and Marmont's turning movement about to come a cropper - not many options here. If you are looking for that one game to introduce yourself to SimTac's work, this is the best one to choose.
Neither Napoleonic tactical system- La Bataille nor SimTac- receives my full blessing. Both suffer from opaque rulewriting with some knotty bits-La Bataille's command control rules, SimTac's formations and cavalry charges. Both can be bridged with suitable rules modifications- I tend to add a chit-based activation system to everything- and between the two we are receiving a remarkably complete coverage of Napoleon's battles. Perhaps my tactical system by GMT will fill their gaps? Let's hope so (I know one person who will like it, anyway).
(CHV: Gross Sales Plug, 35 yards, loss of down)
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© Copyright 1999 by Charles and Teresa Vasey.
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