The Battle of Raab 14th June 1809 (Revised Scenario for ‘Napoleon’s Battles’)

Back in the mists of time, when dinosaurs roamed this blog (some say they still do), I posted a scenario for the Battle of Raab 1809, pitting Eugène de Beauharnais’ Army of Italy against Archduke John’s Army of Inner Austria in the heart of Hungary.  I also posted a game report from the time before this blog, when I refought the battle with my teenage Minions.

My original scenario was based largely on the account, orbat and map contained within Scott Bowden’s classic ‘Armies on the Danube 1809’ and proved to be a fun game, but damn-near impossible for the Austrians to have any chance of winning!  However, historical research has moved on since then and since reading John H Gill’s superb trilogy ‘Thunder on the Danube 1809’, I’ve been itching to have another go at the battle.

I won’t repeat the historical background again here, as it’s all in the original scenario if you just follow the link.

The main differences in this version of the scenario are some changes to the order of battle; particularly in terms of French unit strengths (which in many cases are rather weaker), French cavalry organisation (the original version had the majority of the cavalry grouped under Grouchy on the right flank), the Austrian cavalry group formed under Frimont, some additional units of Hungarian Insurrectio Hussars and a few ‘cosmetic’ changes, such as the names of brigadiers.

I’ve also added some optional reinforcements for the Austrians, in an attempt to balance things up a bit more and make it a better game for poor Archduke John.

We actually refought the battle at W.A.S.P. last weekend and it was a lot of fun.  That report will be posted here soon, but I include a few teaser photos here.

I should also add that the problems with WordPress seem to have been largely fixed, so normal blogging service should now be resumed…  And there was much rejoicing…

French Objective

You are to attack the army of Archduke John and destroy him or drive him from the field, with the intention of preventing him from linking up with Archduke Charles’ main army north of Vienna.  To achieve total victory, the Austrian Army must be pushed beyond its Army Morale rating.  A partial victory can be achieved if the Austrians suffer the loss of seven or more Morale Points.

Austrian Objective

You are to hold your ground and resist the assault of Eugène’s army, with the intention of inflicting sufficient damage on Eugène to force him to break off his pursuit of your army and allow you to link up with Archduke Charles north of Vienna.  In order for the French to claim total victory, the Austrian Army must be pushed beyond its Army Morale level before the end of the scenario.  The French may achieve a partial victory if the Austrians suffer the loss of seven or more Morale Points.  A partial Austrian victory may be achieved if the Austrians frustrate either French objective and a total Austrian victory will be achieved if the French Army is pushed beyond its Army Morale level.

Game Length and Sequence

The game lasts 17 turns, starting with the French 0900hrs turn and ending with the Austrian 1700hrs turn.  While there is still plenty of daylight left at that time of day, both armies will have ground to a halt due to fatigue.

Terrain

Each square on the map represents 1 square foot on the table, for a total table size of 6’x5′.

The Kis-Megyer Farm is strongly fortified with a +4 defensive modifier.  All other villages and farms have a +1 defensive modifier.

The Raab River is unfordable to all troop-types.

The Pandsza Stream is for the most part, deep, steep-sided, marshy and not fordable to artillery at any point.  Artillery is therefore limited to crossing at one of the four bridges.  Cavalry attempting to ford the Pandsza downstream (i.e. west) Kis-Megyer suffer a Fording combat modifier of -3 instead of the usual -2.  Infantry and Generals may ford the Pandsza at any point.  When fording, units class the Pandsza as 2 inches of Rough Terrain.

The Viczay Stream is fordable to all troop types, being classed as 1 inch of Rough Terrain.

The Szabadhegy Hill is high and reasonably steep-sided, though flat-topped and makes an ideal artillery position.  Artillery positioned on the hill may therefore fire over the Kis-Megyer Farm, Szabadhegy village and any units positioned on the lower ground.  Defenders gain a +1 combat modifier.

The eastern slope of the Szabadhegy Hill is described as being covered in vineyards, so I would class this area as Rough Terrain, providing infantry with an additional +1 combat modifier and a -1 cover modifier against musketry & artillery.  The extent of the vineyards is not shown on any map that I’ve found, so the shaded area on the map above is entirely arbitrary.

Note that there is a projecting spur or ‘knoll’ on the southern side of the Szabadhegy Hill, just to the east of Kis-Megyer Farm.  This actually had a small chapel on the crest, though this is too small to be represented at this scale.  This knoll was fiercely contested throughout the day, as it was in our refight.

Deployment

The position of troop-blocks on the map above is for illustrative purposes only and is only a rough depiction of each side’s historical deployment.  Each player may therefore deploy each division anywhere within the ‘deployment boxes’ shown on the map below.

If preferred, each side may opt for a ‘free deployment’, with the Austrians deploying their forces anywhere north of the Pandsza Stream and the French deploying their forces anywhere within 18 inches of the southern table edge.

French Order of Battle

L’Armée d’Italie

Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, Viceroi d’Italie
13”G(10)+1D
[5 Free Rolls]
[14M]

Right Wing (Corps Grouchy) – Général de Division Grouchy     8”G(5)+1 [2F]

1st Dragoon Division – Général de Brigade Guérin (vice Grouchy)     3”A(6)+0
Guérin’s Brigade (7e & 30e Dragons)     16 FrLC [8D]
Italian Dragoon Regiments     12 ItLC [6D]
Half Horse Battery     Fr4# (Half)

Reserve Cavalry Division – Général de Division Montbrun     4”E(8)+2
Jacquinot’s Brigade (1er & 2e Chasseurs à Cheval & 7e Hussards)     20 FrLC [10D]
Colbert’s Brigade (7e & 20e Chasseurs à Cheval & 9e Hussards)     20 FrLC [10D]
Half Horse Battery     Fr4# (Half)

VI Corps – Général de Division Grenier     9”G(7)+1 [3F]

1st Division – Général de Division Seras     3”G(5)+0
Moreau’s Brigade #1 (53e de Ligne)     16 FrLN [8D]
Moreau’s Brigade #2 (Légère IV Battalions)     16 FrPLT [10D]
Roussel’s Brigade (106e de Ligne)     24 FrLN [12D]
8pdr Foot Battery     Fr8#

2nd Division – Général de Division Durutte     3”G(6)+1
Valentin’s Brigade (23e Légère & IV Battalions)     28 FrLT [14D]
Dessaix’s Brigade #1 (62e de Ligne)     20 FrLN [10D]
Dessaix’s Brigade #2 (102e de Ligne)     20 FrLN [10D]

XII Corps – Général de Division Baraguèy d’Hilliers     8”P(4)-1 [3F]

1st Division – Général de Division Pacthod     3”G(5)+1
1st Brigade (1er de Ligne & III/8e Légère)     20 FrLN [10D]
2nd Brigade (52e de Ligne & IV/8e Légère)     24 FrLN [12D]
8pdr Foot Battery     Fr8#

2nd Division – Général de Division Severoli     4”G(4)+0
Bonfanti’s Brigade (2nd, 3rd & 7th Italian Regts and Dalmatian Regt)     20 ItLN [10D]
Teste’s Brigade #1 (1st Italian Regt)     16 ItLN [8D]
Teste’s Brigade #2 (112e de Ligne)     16 FrLN [8D]

Left Wing

Light Cavalry Division – Général de Division Sahuc     3”G(5)+1 [1F]
Debroc’s Brigade (6e & 9e Chasseurs à Cheval)     12 FrLC [6D]
Gérard’s Brigade (8e & 25e Chasseurs à Cheval)     16 FrLC [8D]
Half Horse Battery     Fr4# (Half)

2nd Dragoon Division – Général de Division Pully     4”G(6)+0 [1F]
Poinsot’s Brigade (23e, 28e & 29e Dragons)     16 FrLC [8D]
Half Horse Battery     Fr4# (Half)

Baden Contingent – Général de Division Lauriston     4”G(7)+1 [1F]
1. Leib-Infanterie-Regiment ‘Grossherzog’ & Jäger-Bataillon ‘Lingg’     16 BdLN [8D]
2. Linien-Infanterie-Regiment ‘Erbgrossherzog’     16 BdLN [8D]
Reitende-Batterie (-)     Bd6# (Half)

Army Reserve

Italian Royal Guard – Général de Brigade Lecchi     4”G(6)+1 [2F]
Italian Guard Infantry     16 ItGD [6D]
Italian Guard Cavalry & French 24e Dragons     8 ItGCV [3D]
1st Italian Guard Horse Battery     It6#

French Notes

1.  Colbert’s cavalry brigade arrives after the start of the battle (Game Turn 2).  They arrive in march column formation on the road at Point A and are assigned to Montbrun’s Division, Grouchy’s Corps.

2.  Marshal MacDonald (V Corps) arrived with Lamarque’s infantry division at around 4pm, when the battle had effectively finished, so these troops are not included in this scenario.

3.  A lot of the infantry brigades had various fourth battalions attached from various random regimental depots to beef up the numbers.  These were especially numerous in Moreau’s Brigade of Seras’ Division, so I’ve split them off as a Provisional Légère unit.  Elsewhere they are absorbed into the overall brigade strength.

4.  There was no designated overall commander for the Left Wing.

5.  Light and medium foot batteries are not normally represented in Napoleon’s Battles, being assumed to be an integral part of infantry brigades.  However, the 8pdr foot batteries deployed with Seras’ and Pachtod’s Divisions were critical in out-gunning the Austrian artillery at Raab and are therefore included here as separate batteries.  I’ve not included the 6pdr foot batteries.

Austrian Order of Battle

Armee von Innerösterreich

Feldmarschall Erzherzog Johann
11”G(10)+0
[5 Free Rolls]
[11M/12M]

General Wing Commander
General der Kavallerie Erzherzog Josef Palatin
9”G(6)+0

Reserve Cavalry Division – Feldmarschalleutnant (FML) Freiherr Frimont     3”G(8)+0 [2F]
Besan’s Cavalry Brigade (Dragoon, Chevauxleger & Hussar detachments)     12 AsLC [6D]
Paszthory’s Insurrectio Hussar Brigade     12 AsILC [10D]
Siegenfeld’s Insurrectio Hussar Brigade     16 AsILC [10D]
Cavalry Half-Battery     As3# (Half)

Right Wing Corps – FML Freiherr Jellacíc     4”A(6)+1 [2F]
Markus’ Insurrectio Brigade     16 AsILT [10D]
Sebottendorff’s Brigade (IRs 32 ‘Esterházy’ & 45 ‘De Vaux’)     16 AsLN [8D]
Grenze-Infanterie-Regiment 10 (1. Banalisten)     20 AsGRZ [12D]
Legisfeld’s Landwehr Brigade     16 AsLW [11D]
Cavalry Half-Battery     As3# (Half)

Centre Corps – FML Graf Colloredo     4”A(8)+1 [2F]
Infanterie-Regiment 27 ‘Strassoldo’     16 AsLN [8D]
Lutz’s Brigade (IRs 61 ‘St. Julien’ & 62 ‘Franz Jellacíc’)     16 AsLN [8D]
Ghilyani’s Insurrectio Brigade     20 AsILT [12D]
Ungerhofer’s Landwehr Brigade     20 AsLW [14D]
Cavalry Half-Battery     As3# (Half)

Left Wing Corps – FML Freiherr Mecséry     4”G(7)+1 [3F]
Husaren-Regiment 2 ‘Erzherzog Josef’ (Andrassy’s Brigade)     12 AsLC [6D]
Andrassy’s Insurrectio Hussar Brigade     16 AsILC [10D]
Gosztony’s Insurrectio Hussar Brigade     16 AsILC [10D]
Husaren-Regiment 5 ‘Ott’ (Gosztony’s Brigade)     12 AsLC [6D]
Hadik’s Insurrectio Hussar Brigade     12 AsILC [10D]
Elements, Mesko’s Insurrectio Brigade     12 AsILC [10D]
Cavalry Half-Battery     As3# (Half)

1st Reserve Line – Generalmajor (GM) Gajoli     3”A(6)+0 [1F]
Gajoli’s Light Infantry Brigade     16 AsGRZ [10D]
Infanterie-Regiment 19 ‘Alvinczy’     20 AsLN [10D]
12pdr Position Battery     As12#

2nd Reserve Line – GM Kleinmayrn     3”A(5)+0 [2F]
Kleinmayrn’s Grenadier Brigade     16 AsGN [6D]
Infanterie-Regiment 16 ‘Lusignan’     16 AsLN [8D]
12pdr Position Battery     As12#

Right Flank Corps (Optional) – Feldzeugmeister Freiherr Davidovich     4”A(5)+1 [2F]
Mesko’s Insurrectio Brigade #1     16 AsILT [10D]
Mesko’s Insurrectio Brigade #2     16 AsILT [10D]
Mesko’s Insurrectio Brigade #3 (Hussars)     8 AsILC [5D]
Cavalry Half-Battery     As3# (Half)

Austrian Notes

1.  Erzherzog Josef (Archduke Joseph) is a general Wing Commander and may command any division.

2.  Although Frimont was commander of the Reserve Corps, on the day of battle he took command of the reserve cavalry on the right wing.  I’ve therefore designated the two reserve infantry brigades (Gajoli’s and Kleinmayrn’s) as independent formations and have split the army reserve position batteries between them.

3.  A large part of Mesko’s Insurrectio Hussars had been transferred from Davidovich’s Corps in the Raab entrenchments to reinforce Méscery’s Left Wing on the morning of the battle.

4.  This is a very tough scenario for the Austrians to win.  As a balancing option, FZM Davidovich’s Corps, which spent the entire battle guarding entrenchments on the opposite bank of the River Raab, may be brought on as reinforcements from Turn 8.  They will arrive in March Column formation, on the road at Point B or Point C.  The Army Morale level becomes 12M once Davidovich arrives.

5.  The Austrian ‘corps’ are divisional-sized formations and are treated as such in game terms.

Unit Labels