Scale and Notes

The scale is 1 stand = 300 men and 1 model gun = 12 real pieces for this scenario.

The battle is very large and is spread over 3 large tables. It may be played in 3 different ways. Firstly, of course, you can play the entire battle on one very large table, assuming the figures, time, space, etc available permit this. Unfortunately few of us are lucky enough to possess all, or indeed any, of these things so I propose to alternative methods of recreating the battle. The first of these is fighting each individual sector as a separate battle, converting the game into 3 'mini' battles. The size of the battle is such this should produce a good days gaming for most people. The second alternative is to fight the battle as 2 separate battles, i.e. the French at Solferino and the Piedmontese at Solferino. For the two allied armies had little contact with each other on the day and effectively fought separate battles. This also has the advantage of largely eliminating the potential of cross table combats which may occur if the two 'wings' of the French army are separated.

Length of the battle: The battle starts with the 07:00 Allied phase and finishes with the 21:00 Austrian phase, or with the mutual agreement of both sides. The whole battle may be brought to an end or a sector / table. The Allies move first each turn. Units on the southern sector / table may not move until the 08:00 turn. During the 17:00 turn the Thunderstorm rules are in effect (see 'Special rules' below). While the 'Post Thunderstorm' rules (see 'Special Rules' below) apply in all turns after 17:00, i.e. from 17:30 onwards.

Orders of Battle

The Piedmontese Army

* = unit armed with MLR, the rest armed with SM. All artillery is smoothbore, SA.

Army Commander: King Victor Emanuele II (see Special Rules below)

Army Reserve Artillery: 2 Foot Batteries

The French Army

Corps Garde Imperiale: St. Jean D'Angely 1 Ldr

Corps Artillery Reserve: 1 Foot Battery, 1 Horse Battery

1er Corps: Baraguey d'Hilliers 1 Ldr

Corps Artillery Reserve: 2 Foot Battery

2e Corps: MacMahon, Duc de Magenta 1 Ldr

Corps Artillery Reserve: 2 Foot Battery

Corps Cavalry Reserve: 4e & 7e Chass a Cheval Brigade 3 / - / 2

3e Corps: Canrobert 1 Ldr (P)

Corps Artillery Reserve: 2 Foot Battery

Corps Cavalry Reserve: 4 / 3 / 2

4e Corps: Niel 1 Ldr (E)

Corps Artillery Reserve: 2 Foot Battery

Corps Cavalry Reserve (2e & 10e Chass a Cheval): 3 / - / 2

The Austrian Army

All troops are armed with MLR, except those marked with a * which have SA. All guns are SB. See Weapons Notes below.

Commander in Chief: Emperor Franz Josef I (see Special rules below)

First Army Artillery Reserve: 2 Foot Battery

III Corps: Prinz v. Schwarzenberg 1 Ldr.

Corps Cavalry Reserve (10th Hussars): 3 / 2 / -

Corps Artillery Reserve: 2 Foot battery, 1 Horse Battery

IX Corps: Graf Schaffgotsche 1 Ldr (P)

Corps Artillery Reserve: 3 Foot battery

XI Corps: v. Weigl 1 Ldr

1st Army Reserve Cavalry Division: Zedtwitz 1 Ldr (P)

• 1st Hussar Brigade: 5 / 3 / 2

• 2nd Dragoon Brigade: 5 / 3 / 2

• Divisional Artillery: 1 Horse Battery

2nd Army Artillery Reserve: 2 Foot Battery

I Corps: Graf Clam - Gallas 1 Ldr (P)

Corps Reserve Artillery: 3 Foot Battery

V Corps: Graf Stadion 1 Ldr

Corps Reserve Artillery: 3 Foot Battery

VII Corps: Baron v. Zobel 1 Ldr

Corps Reserve Artillery: 3 Foot Battery, 1 Horse Battery

VIII Corps: Benedek 1 Ldr (E)

Corps Reserve Artillery: 3 Foot Battery

Corps Cavalry Reserve (1st Hussars): 3 / 2 / -

2nd Army Reserve Cavalry Division: Graf Mensdorff 1 Ldr (E)

• 1st Dragoon Brigade: 5 / 3 / 2

• 1st Uhlan Brigade: 4 / 3 / 2

• Divisional Artillery: 1 Horse Battery

Deployment and Reinforcements

07:00 Game Starts or 08:00 if doing the Southern board only - French / Piedmontese move first.

Austrians

Deployed at the start

Northern Board:

• VIII Corps: In squares F4, F5 and G3. Troops are in Skirmish, Unlimbered, Supported Line or Column of March

Central Board:

• I Corps: In squares F10, F11, G11 and Cassiana. Troops are in Skirmish, Unlimbered, Supported Line or Column of March. All units deployed on high ground have defensive works, they receive a -1 when fired at and an additional +1 in close combat

• V Corps: In squares E8 and E9. Troops are in Skirmish, Unlimbered, Supported Line or Column of March.

• VII Corps: Deployed with the head of the column at the road junction J10. All units in road column or Limbered. They may not make any action until the 08:00 Austrian Phase.

• 2nd Army Artillery Reserve: In squares F9 and G9, they are Limbered.

Southern Board:

• IX Corps: In squares D14, D15 and E13. Troops are in Skirmish, Unlimbered, Supported Line or Column of March. May not make any action until the 08:00 Austrian Phase.

Reinforcements:

Central Board:

• 2nd Army Cavalry Reserve: Arrives 08:30 in Column of March or Limbered. Along the road that enters the table at J9, behind the VII Corps.

Southern Board:

• III Corps: Arrives 09:00 in Column of March or Limbered. Along the road that enters the table at H16.

• 1st Army Artillery Reserve: Arrives 09:30 Limbered. Along the road that enters the table at H16, behind III Corps.

• XI Corps: Arrives 10:00 in Column of March or Limbered. Along the road that enters the table at H16, behind the 1st Army Artillery Reserve.

• 1st Army Cavalry Reserve: Arrives in Column of March or Limbered. Along the road that enters the table at H16, behind XI Corps. It needs to roll a D6 to arrive. The scores needed to arrive on the following turns being:- 10:30 6, 11:00 5, 6, 11:30 4, 5 or 6, etc. A throw of a 1 is always a failure.

Piedmontese

Deployed at the start:

Northern Board:

• 1st Division: In square D5 in any desired formation.

• 2nd Division: In square D3 in any desired formation.

• 5th Division: In square D1 in any desired formation.

Reinforcements:

Northern Board:

Starting with the 12:00 Allied Turn the Piedmontese player or players may chose one of the following formations to attempt to bring on as a reinforcement. 3rd Division, 4th Division, Cavalry Division or the Army Artillery Reserve. They state which unit they are rolling for and which of the 6 squares in the D row they will appear in. Place a marked in the square to indicate that the unit, if it arrives, will arrive there. This marked may not be subsequently moved if the unit fails to arrive that turn, the unit is committed to arriving there when it does arrive. A single D6 is then rolled and on a 6 that unit may make a move onto the table. Only one unit a turn may be rolled for. Any units appearing will be in column of March or Limbered.

French

Deployed at the start:

Central Board:

• 1st Corps: In squares C7, C8 and C9. May be in any desired formation.

Reinforcements:

Central Board:

• Corps Garde Imperiale: Arrives during the 08:00 Allied turn. Enters the board at square C9 in any desired formation.

• 2nd Corps: Arrives during the 09:00 Allied turn. Enters the board at squares C10 and C11 in any desired formation.

Southern Board:

• 4th Corps: Arrives during the 08:00 Allied turn. Enters the board at square A13 in any desired formation.

• 3rd Corps: Arrives during the 10:00 Allied turn. Enters the board at square A15 Column of March or Limbered.

Terrain

Weapon Notes

In reality a percentage, 30 to 40%, were armed with muskets. While similarly some of the French artillery was still smoothbore. I have chosen to count all the Austrian's, except the Grenzer, as being rifle armed and similarly all the French artillery.

Tactical Doctrine

General: Units marked L are in skirmish formation

French: All units marked with A, get all the benefits and disadvantages of Assault tactics if they are in Supported Line or Attack Column. In addition units marked with a I, receive all the benefits and disadvantages. All French Infantry receive a -1 on the manoeuvre chart if they are in Unsupported Line formation.

Piedmontese: All infantry units receive a -2 on the manoeuvre chart if they are not in Assault Column, Column of March or Skirmishing. They DO NOT receive the bonuses, etc, of being in Assault Column.

Austrian: All non skirmishing infantry receive a -1 if they are in Unsupported Line.

Special Rules

The Emperors: Normally commanders higher than Corps level are not represented in Fire and Fury games. In this case they have a limited role on the battlefield. The Emperors may act as a higher, additional, commander in the chain of command. They have a command radius of 2" only. Victor Emanuele is a Exceptional Leader, while the other Emperors are ordinary leaders. The allied Emperors may only effect units of their own nation.

Decaen (2nd Division, 2nd French Corps): This commander showed notable aggression during this battle. Therefore units under his command may not voluntarily move away from the enemy. Although they are still allowed to withdraw the minimum distance required to replenish ammunition. In addition they must comply with any result obtained on the movement table or from close combat that requires a retreat, withdraw or rout.

The Thunderstorm: At 17:00 there was a thunderstorm which effected the rest of the battle. During this turn all fire combat involving Infantry suffers a -2 dice roll modifier and all other combat a -1. In the post thunderstorm turns Infantry fire combat receives a -1 dice roll modifier, other combat is not effected. Plus all movement is at 3/4 the normal speed.

Victory Conditions

The normal victory point can be earned for enemy units being worn, spent, etc. With the exception that skirmishing infantry units (those marked with a L) and cavalry are worth half the points of a normal unit.

Death of an Emperor: Strictly speaking the death of any of the Emperors present would have brought the battle to an end. So that the battle may continue the following rules may be used. If one of the Emperors dies during the game the opponent gets the following victory points, 50 if the Piedmontese Emperor dies, 100 if the French and 150 if the Austrian. They also automatically get the victory points they can gain on the sectors of the battlefield that the effected nation occupies. The nation that has lost its Emperor must move its forces off the table as quickly as possible. Units of that nation must make at least a half move each turn (if allowed to by the movement tables) towards exiting the board from the side they originally occupied. For each unit that they exit off the table within 4 turns of the Emperors death they receive 1 victory point, within the 5th to 8th turns after a death they receive half a victory points per unit. For example if the Piedmontese Emperor is killed during the 13:00 turn the following things would happen. The Austrian's would receive 50 v.p's for his death and 50 v.p

Northern Sector

Occupying San Martino (G3) at the end of the game: Austrian's 20 v.p's, Piedmontese 10 v.p's.

Occupying Pozzolengo (I5) at the end of the game: Austrian's 5 v.p's, Piedmontese 40 v.p's.

Occupying Pozzolengo (I5) at any time during the game: Piedontese 10 v.p's.

Having an unspent, non skirmishing Infantry unit on the ridge I6 to K3 at the end of the turn: Piedmontese 1 v.p. per turn

If there are no unspent, non skirmishing Piedmontese Infantry units in this sector at the end of the game: Austrian's 25 v.p's.

Central Sector

Occupying Barche (C7) at the end of the game: Austrian's 5 v.p's.

Occupying Solferino Tower (E9) at the end of the game: Austrian's 10 v.p's, French 5 v.p's.

Occupying Solferino (E8 / 9) at the end of the game: Austrian's 20 v.p's, French 10 v.p's.

Occupying Casa Marino (C12) at the end of the game: Austrian's 5 v.p's.

Occupying Cassiano (E10) at the end of the game: Austrian's 10 v.p's, French 5 v.p's.

Occupying Caviana (G11) at the end of the game: Austrian's 20 v.p's, French 20 v.p's.

Occupying the road junction (J10) at the end of the game: French 40 v.p's.

Southern Sector

Occupying Medole (A13) at the end of the game: Austrian's 20 v.p's.

Occupying the bridge (A15) at the end of the game: Austrian's 20 v.p's.

Occupying Baste (D14) at the end of the game: Austrian's 10 v.p's, French 10 v.p's.

Occupying Rebecco (D15) at the end of the game: Austrian's 10 v.p's, French 10 v.p's.

Occupying Guidizollo (F14) at the end of the game: French 40 v.p's.