Snappy Nappy

The Austrian Invasion of Italy 1809
Archduke John vs. Prince Eugene

Memoirs of Gen. Jellacic:
Austrian Perspective

by Matt Fritz

Turmoil in the Tyrol

Looking across the table at my opponent I was filled with sympathy. Tom is a friend, after all, and I was about to abuse him rather badly. I wondered what the 2-hour drive home with him would be like after the battle.

"Tom, I apologize in advance for what is about to happen," I said. Fortunately he is a good sport and we are still friends. But at that moment, looking over the mountains and rivers of Tyrol, and reading over the special rules for Tyrolian rebels, I feared for our friendship.

Those were my thoughts as we prepared to play Snappy Nappy in Russ Lockwood's basement. The campaign was set in 1809. John, Charlie, and I were on the Austrian side. Len Millman and Tom were with the French. Our objective was to seize as much territory as we could. We received our briefings and I volunteered to be the Tyrolian commander. We all trooped down to the basement and I found out Tom was in command of the Bavarians garrisoning Tyrol.

The terrain was a nightmare. Impassable mountains covered most of the board. Only a few narrow valleys criss-crossed the landscape. An abundance of unfordable rivers were a particularly sadistic touch. Tom had a Bavarian division, parceled out all over the valley, and I had some Austrians. I also had two units of Tyrolian militia. Although poorly trained the special rules allowed them to fight like tigers in their homeland and I had no intentions of leaving the comfy confines of the Tyrol. I was also allocated six bands of Tyrolian rebels. They didn't have any real fighting abilities but they could appear anywhere, cut lines of supply, and then melt back into the mountains.

On turn one, Tom quite sensibly began to consolidate his command and march towards my force. When it was my turn to move I unveiled the first rude shock. I was permitted to place the two Tyrolian milita units anywhere I wanted, and move them. Of course I put them behind his lead brigade and charged it into oblivion. I delivered the second low blow by placing my Tyrolian rebel bands in the villages around Tom's command. He was instantly out of supply. It was all downhill from there for the poor Bavarians. The supply problem bled them white while I made good use of my 6pdr battery. Tom withdrew to the far side of a narrow valley to make his stand. It was so narrow that I could only advance one unit at a time, in column, to attack.

In fact during the whole battle neither of us was ever able to deploy into line. The 6 pdr and some lousy dice rolling sent Tom's units into rout. The annihilation of his division was accomplished without a single casualty or failed morale check on the part of the Austrians. While Tom trooped off to the other table to replace a departed French commander I had other fish to fry.

An Austrian division, under Davidovitch (Wally Simon) had entered from the East. Two French divisions (Pat and Keith) were approaching from the South. Wally moved into a mountain pass to fight them while I was mopping up the Bavarians. Keith sent his division down a narrow valley to the East and Pat deployed to fight Wally. It was a bloody debacle for the Austrians. Wally pressed the attack through a narrow pass. Pat wisely waited for him on the other side. The result was a piecemeal Austrian attack that was attacked at a 2-1 or 3-1 French advantage. I sent the Tyrolian rebels to cut the French supply lines. This worked well for one turn. Then a French cavalry division thundered onto the board, treating one rebel band like a speed bump, and the supply line was cleared.

By the time I got to the pass to help Wally, his divison was a ruin. A single brigade was left to rout eastwards. The situation was precarious. If Keith could close the ring my supply lines would be cut and my division would waste away in a hurry. Only a single militia unit in a village was in his way. I went onto the defensive. I sent my best unit to guard the back door against the cavalry while I tried to break out to the east. Pat caught me at the pass and I decided to fight him rather than continue my flight. If I could beat his division the tables would turn in my favor.

It was an even match. Both of us had units that had been emboldened by routing the enemy. We each had a 6 pdr battery. The one ace I had up my sleeve was a brigade of elite cavalry, but this was hardly good terrain for cavalry. Meanwhile the French cavalry was setting up for a lengthy siege to open up my back door and Keith was pounding the militia garrison to the East with his artillery. A well placed band of Tyrolian rebels cut off Keith's supplies for a few turns and bought me some valuable time.

In the final turns of the game Keith stormed the militia and took the village and Pat formed up and charged me. The clash between my Austrians and Pat's French was inconclusive. I think that if the game would have continued I could have beaten him and escaped the French trap. But he had shown his tactical skill in dismembering Davidovitch's division and it would have been a close thing. Any delay in resolving our fight would have allowed the French cavalry, or Keith, or both to join the fight.

At the post game BBQ, I was glad to hear that Tom had found a more level playing field on the other board. Free from rebel bands and sudden ambushes he was able to fight up a storm. The drive home was a pleasant one after all.

Some Thoughts on Snappy Nappy

We all had a good time at the Snappy Nappy game. Indeed, there was talking of organizing a game of our own. The rules are simple. Each brigade is represented by one or two stands. Units are given a training rating. There are no casualties. The whole game is based on seven morale steps. When you fail a morale test you lose a step and keep rolling until you pass. When you get to the last step the unit is removed. Sometimes a streak of bad luck can eliminate a unit in a single turn.

The campaign is played on several tables simultaneously. No attempt is made to keep the action synchronized, which keeps the game running smoothly. Commanders must write messages and give them to the referee (Russ Lockwood). In due time Russ delivers them to the correct person (usually). This adds to the fog of war. In fact the action I was involved in was something of a sideshow to the more important battles to the south. I didn't have an inkling about what was going on down there until the game was over. Information flows up the chain of command, but it rarely flows back down. A series of messages between the Austrian commander and me went something like this:

Me: Bavarian division is in rout. French infantry and cavalry from the South have engaged Davidovitch.
Me: Bavarian division has been eliminated. Davidovitch is hard pressed. The road to Innsbruck is open. Send orders.
Austrian Commander: Try to help Davidovitch. March on Innsbruck.
Me: Davidovitch is doomed. Supply lines in peril, send assistance if it is available. We hold Innsbruck.
Austrian Commander: No help is available. Help Davidovitch's division.
Me: Davidovitch has no division. I am attacking to the East to escape the noose.

(For a full transcipt of all the orders sent, see Commanders' Communiques under link: French and Austrian Messages in Chronological Order--RL)

More Snappy Nappy: 1809 Austrian Invasion of Italy

Back to War Lore: The List
Back to Master Magazine List
© Copyright 2000 by Coalition Web, Inc.
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