Battle of Turin, September 1706

Background

Our game depicted the battle to relieve the siege of Turin, fought on 7 September 1706.  This was one of Eugene of Savoy’s greatest victories in the War of Spanish Succession.  The attached link provides an excellent description of the siege and the battle.  Our game saw Eugene with his ally (and cousin), Duke Victor Amadeus of Savoy, leading a relieving force of 58 infantry battalions and 27 cavalry squadron groups against a French force of 26 battalions, 18 cavalry, and 12 dragoon squadron groups defending the outer lines of contravallation.  Manning the inner lines of circumvallation facing the walled city of Turin were 12 more French and Spanish infantry battalions.  Late in the game (and coming as a surprise to the French), Piedmontese general Daun sallied out of the city with 12 infantry battalions and two cavalry squadrons.

http://www.spanishsuccession.nl/turin7.html

Figure Scale and Ground Scale:  Each base of infantry represents a battalion with an average strength of about 400 men.  Each base of mounted figures represents a group of cavalry or dragoon squadrons with an average strength of about 240 men.  Infantry and cavalry bases are grouped into brigades for movement and combat, and brigades are grouped into “divisions” for command and control.  Each gun base represents a battery of about 8 guns.  The ground scale is 100 yards per 1.5 inches (40mm) on the table. 

Imperial/Piedmontese Army:

Senior Generals:  Prince Eugene (rated 9 for command), Duke Victor Amadeus (rated 8).  Able to command any units in the Allied army.

Lieutenant Generals (all rated 8):

Anhalt-Dessau (left):  6 Converged Grenadier bn. (advanced guard), 5 Prussian bn. (1st line); 4 Prussian bn. (2nd line)

Wurttemberg (left center):  5 Imperial bn., 4 Imperial bn., 2 medium guns (1st line); 6 Imperial bn. (2nd line)

Rehbinder (right center):  6 Piedmontese bn., 1 medium gun (1st line); 4 Piedmontese bn. (2nd line)

Saxe-Gotha (right):  5 Imperial bn., 4 Saxon/Piedmontese bn. (1st line); 5 Imperial bn., 4 Wolfenbuttel/Piedmontese bn. (2nd line)

Visconti (1st line cavalry):  6 Prussian sdn., 6 Imperial sdn., 7 Piedmontese sdn. (behind infantry)

Langalliere (2nd line cavalry):  4 Prussian sdn., 4 Imperial sdn. (behind first line cavalry)

Daun (in Turin defenses):  4 Piedmontese bn., 4 Piedmontese bn., 4 Piedmontese bn., 2 Piedmontese cavalry sdn.

French Army:

Senior Generals:  Duke of Orleans, Marshall Marsin, General DeMurcey (all French generals are rated 6 for command).  Able to command any units in the French army.  All forces are French unless noted.

Lieutenant Generals and other forces:

D’Estang (right flank, in lines of contravallation):  4 bn., 2 heavy guns, 4 bn.

St. Fremont (center and left flank lines of contravallation):  1 heavy gun, 4 bn., 2 heavy guns, 5 bn.

In Castello Lucento:  3 bn.

Across Dora River:  3 bn., 3 bn.

Dragoons (behind left flank in two lines):  7 sdn, 5 sdn.

Cavalry (behind dragoons, behind center, and behind right flank):  6 sdn., 6 sdn., 6 sdn.

In lines of circumvallation facing Turin:  4 Italian/Spanish bn., 4 Spanish bn., 4 French bn.

Note on the forces used:  In order to accommodate 5-6 players, I made the forces in the game larger than what I believe were the historical forces.  There are some sources that support these larger orders of battle, but I don’t consider them as reliable as other sources that cite smaller forces.  If you want to play this battle with the historical forces, eliminate the French/Spanish battalions in the lines of circumvallation (who I believe had all been moved to the line of contravallation and who composed most of the French forces there).  Also reduce Daun’s sally force to 4 battalions and 2 squadrons (which would have been one-third of the 6,000 total defenders in Turin).

Terrain:  As the attached link to the map shows, the battlefield is bounded on the east by the Po River, on the north by the Stura River, and on the south by the Dora River.  These rivers are all impassible except via the bridges. The terrain on the western side of the French position is open, and is covered by the hasty line of contravallation that the French erected the day before the battle to inhibit Eugene’s advance from the west.  The southern half of this line was in a more advanced state of construction than the northern half, and provides a +1 cover and combat benefit.  The less-well-built northern half only provides a +1 cover benefit.  The southern terminus of the line is the Castello Lucento on the Dora River, which provides a +2 cover and combat benefit.  The two lines of circumvallation facing Turin and the defenses around Turin provide a +2 cover and combat benefit.  A narrow band of marshland runs along the Stura River, which disorders any units that move through it.  Critically, the French defensive works stopped at the edge of the marsh.  The church of Madonna di Campagna and a few buildings are the last of the terrain features.  Eugene and Victor Amadeus chose to attack this portion of the French siege lines precisely because it was the weakest and most isolated.

http://www.paperbattles.it/maps-of-the-battle.html

The Game  

The objective for the Allies was to match Eugene’s historic achievement and crush the French in this sector of the lines, which would force the French to lift the siege.  The French objective was to try to hold off the Allies and survive.

Both armies were placed in their historical starting positions, as stated in the above orders of battle.  The French commanders were informed that there was a Piedmontese force defending the city, but those figures were not placed on the table (in part because of the delayed arrival of the player commanding them!).  The French players thus discounted the possibility of a sortie out of the city, and they were surprised when it occurred later in the game.

The Allied line was angled so that the Prussian division on the left was nearest to the French lines.  The Allied player on the left, representing Victor Amadeus, lost no time in charging his converged grenadier brigade into the French defenses.  Miraculously, the grenadiers were not halted by the defenders’ musket and cannon fire, but then they narrowly lost the melee, despite having a +1 combat bonus for being grenadiers.  This assault left the defenders weakened, so that the next attack by the Prussian first line was able to capture the hasty works and drive back the defenders.  The Prussians then held this toe-hold within the French position while their cavalry began a flanking movement through the marsh along the river, followed by the rest of the Allied cavalry.

The French reacted to this small breakthrough by shifting one of their dragoon brigades to the right.  The French commanders also ordered all three infantry brigades facing Turin to move to the fighting, leaving the lines of circumvallation unmanned.

Meanwhile, the remaining Allied infantry divisions drew even with the French line and began to exchange artillery fire with the French.  The Allies got the worst of this, as the French guns were more numerous, heavier caliber, and protected by fortifications.  Eventually the Allies pressed forward with infantry assaults all along the line.  Somewhat surprisingly, the first part of the French line to fall was the Castello Lucento; however, French reinforcements from across the Dora River deterred the victorious Piedmontese/Saxon brigade from advancing further.

After the fall of the Castello, a large Piedmontese brigade breached the adjacent French lines.  The French countered this with what seemed to be a suicidal charge by their mounted dragoon brigade, which, amazingly, succeeded in driving back the still-disordered Piedmontese with heavy losses.  The dragoons then dismounted, remanned the entrenchments, and defeated two further attacks by Allied infantry.  Surely this incredible achievement will mark the apogee of the French dragoons in the WSS…!

Back on the Allied left, the Prussians, under the steady command of Anhalt-Dessau, persistently wedged open and turned the French position.  One Prussian brigade pushed along the flank of the French line, assisted by an Imperialist attack on the front.  Allied infantry and cavalry held off French counterattacks, and the breach widened.

Finally, on the Allied right, Eugene personally led his last fresh brigade of Imperialist infantry against the nearly spent French dragoons who were still holding the works.  Eugene narrowly avoided injury by defensive fire and in the melee itself (the required dice rolls to harm Eugene were both missed by one pip!).  With fresh troops and superior leadership, the result of the combat was a foregone conclusion and the last of the gallant French dragoons were forced to retreat.

With this action, the main French position was well and truly broken.  At this point, the player commanding Daun’s force belatedly arrived, and we played a few more turns so that he would see some action.  French senior generals Orleans and Marsin took personal command of two infantry brigades and one battery and turned them around to face Daun’s force as it marched out of Turin.  In a race between the two forces, the French were able to reoccupy part of the lines of circumvallation.  Daun sent his cavalry and one infantry brigade to outflank this position, followed by a second infantry brigade, while he led the third infantry brigade in a frontal assault.  This attack was met with devastating defensive fire (every shot hit!) and was brutally repulsed.  The defending French brigade, personally led by Marsin, then counterattacked and forced Daun’s stricken brigade to retreat.  This move separated the two French brigades and left the brigade led by Orleans isolated and facing three Piedmontese brigades.  The Piedmontese cavalry charge failed, but the two infantry brigades then attacked from two directions and swiftly destroyed the French brigade, which surrendered along with the Duke of Orleans.  The Piedmontese were then able to gang up on Marsin’s brigade, routing it and killing Marsin (who died in the actual battle).  

That brought the game to a close. Both sides fought hard.  The dogged French defense of their front line forced Eugene and Victor Emmanuel to throw in everything they had.  Considering that they were outnumbered nearly two-to-one in infantry, the French players did very well to hold for so long, and they enjoyed a few moments of glory  However, by pushing their smaller force to the breaking point rather than attempting to retreat while retreat was still possible, the French ensured that their eventual defeat would be a catastrophe.  Hemmed in by the rivers and the two Allied forces, most of the surviving French would have been forced to surrender, thus giving Eugene and Victor Amadeus their historic major victory!

• TJ