This article is my personal interpretation of the battle. Any mistakes are my own.
Through Political chicanery, the Piedmontese Monarch Charles Emmanuel and his Ministers had managed to wrest control of their territory from Spain and fool the French.
The Austrians, having been forced into a Peace Agreement with Frederick of Prussia, were now free to concentrate on their holdings in Northern Italy. Having lost Silesia, the Empress was in no mood for any peace talks with the Spanish.
The Spanish troops made for Piacenza, because General Gages was under strict orders not to give up the City-State. The younger son of the Spanish Monarchy should not loose his Kingdom.
The French were still tied to the Familial Treaty and the French General Maillebois had been given orders to second Don Philippe.
Camped south of the glassis of the Piacenza defenses, Gages knew that battle was imminent. The defensive walls of the city were in a bad state of repair.
Therefore he bent all his efforts into fortifying the camp. The Spanish troops under his command numbered 25,000 men. Disease and desertion had taken its toll.
When the French Army arrived, its numbers diminished in a similar fashion, Gages could muster about 40,000 men in total. There were 10,000 Piedmontese trailing the French with a distinct lack of enthusiasm for direct battle.
With this in mind, Maillebois persuaded Gages to go on the attack rather than sit on the defensive. Battle commenced on the morning of 16th June 1756 with the rising of the sun illuminating a Franco-Spanish advance………..
AUSTRIAN ARMY OF ITALY ; 45,000 = 45 Points.
C-in-C Joseph Wenziel, Prince Lichtenstein @ 1 point.
( Lichtenstein was ill on the day therefore General Browne took charge.)
General Ulysses Von Brown. @ 1 point.
3 stands of Light Artillery @ 1 point = 3 points.
5 stands of Line Infantry @ 2 points = 10 points.
2 stands of Grenadier Infantry @ 3 points = 6 points.
General Antoniotto Botta d'Adorno @ 1 point.
2 stands of Light Artillery @ 1 point = 2 points.
5 stands of Line Infantry @ 2 points = 10 points.
1 stand of Grenadier Infantry @ 3 points.
The Cavalry; General Bernklau; @ 1 point.
3 stands of Dragoons @ 2 points = 6 points.
1 stand of Hussars @ 1 point.
FRANCO-SPANISH ARMY ;
THE FRENCH ARMY; 15,000 = 15 points.
Jean-Baptiste Francois Desmarets Marquis of Maillebois @ 1 point.
1 stand of Grenadiers @ 3 points.
4 stands of Line Infantry @ 2 points = 8 points.
1 stand of Light Infantry @ 1 point.
1 stand of Light Artillery @ 1 point.
1 stand of Light Cavalry @ 1 point.
THE SPANISH ARMY; 25,000 = 25 points.
Jean Bonaventure Thierry du Mont 1st Count of Gages @ 1 point.
1 stand of Grenadiers @ 3 points.
7 stands of Line Infantry @ 2 points = 14 points.
1 stand of Light Infantry @ 1 point.
2 stands of Light Artillery @ 1 point = 2 points.
2 stands of Cavalry @ 2 points = 4 points.
Note: After I wrote up this article,I found a paragraph online that said that there were 3000 Spanish Cavalrymen on foot with the army. This would not be unusual as the Spanish Mounted arm suffered from a constant lack of horses. Therefore one stand of Spanish Cavalrymen can be replaced with two stands of dismounted Cavalrymen at 1point each. They would still have the yellow Coat and trousers and may have replaced their riding boots with leather gaiters ( French : boutines?). They are classed as Light Infantry for movement etc
THE BATTLE;
* The Franco-Spanish army moves first and fires first on every Game-Turn.
* The French and Spanish artillery can move but must stay within the defenseworks.
* The Austrian stands controlled by Browne can move forward over the Refudo from the start of Game-Turn 4. Those stands commanded by Adorno and Bernklau can move but must stay behind the defenceworks.
* The Austrians keep the Initiative Point for the entire battle.
* The hedges along the river bank do not impede movement or firing.
* Any stands being moved into any of the rivers must stop moving. They can be moved out of the river on the next Game-Turn.
* Any Spanish or French stands firing whilst standing in the River Refudo must deduct two points from their firing die in addition to a 2 point deduction when firing at a target behind the defenseworks.
* The French and Spanish Infantry stands have one point added to their Close Combat die roll. ( to reflect their bravado born out of desperation and despair).
The River Po can only be crossed by moving through Piacenza.
* All the field defenses count as " Trench" for Firing and Combat.
VICTORY;
The Spanish and French have it all to do in this battle as they are on the attack. Therefore;
* The French and Spanish must attack for the entire Eight Game-turns or until their morale points reach Zero.
* Should their Morale points reach Zero before the Eight Game-Turns are complete, the game ends.
*If the Franco-Spanish army has 12 stands left on the battlefield including both Generals at the end of the Game. it is a draw
Historical Note.
This is a hard Game for the Franco-Spanish Army. The Austrian Generals seem to know what Gages had decided to do, and let the terrain and the numerous drainage ditches do the work for them. Gages maintained that the Austrians had spies in his camp.
At one point General Maillebois himself was in the front line, fighting with his men to try and maintain their morale.
The Austrians did not follow up their victory with a pursuit, letting the Franco-Spanish army retreat through Piacenza and across the Po River. The victory assured any potential enemies that the Austrian Empress was still prepared to fight for her realm!.
