The Battle of Marsaglia

 It has been a while...

It is about 9 months since I posted anything here. Work, play and continuing exploration of New Zealand has kept me busy.

But anyway, today I am about to embark upon a game based upon the battle Marsaglia. This was a battle in the Nine Years' War, fought in Italy on 4 October 1693, between the French army of Marshal Nicolas Catinat and the army of the Grand Alliance under Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy. Wikipedia - Battle of Marsaglia

The armies:

Catinat's French army was about 35,000 strong and the army of the Grand Alliance was about 30,000 strong.

I have used the map below and the OOBs listed on the Nafziger site linked below:

Catinat's French army
The Grand Alliance army

For the game I have given the French 30 units of foot and 25 units of horse, this is split into 2 lines:

1. Left wing: 8 horse in 2 brigades. Centre: 18 foot in 3 brigades. Right wing: 7 horse in 2 brigades.
2. Left wing: 5 horse in 1 brigade. Centre: 12 foot in 3 brigades. Right wing: 5 horse in 1 brigade. 

The Grand Alliance army has 33 units of foot and 18 units of horse, this is also split into 2 lines:

1. Left wing: 5 horse in 1 brigade. Centre: 18 foot in 3 brigades. Right wing: 5 horse in 1 brigade. 
2. Left wing: 4 horse in 1 brigade. Centre: 15 foot in 3 brigades. Right wing: 4 horse in 1 brigade. 

The map:

My interpretation:

The French Army:

The Grand Alliance Army:

Looking over Marsaglia:

The game:

It is now August 2017, it has taken me an age to get round to updating this page. I had played the game over two days during the Christmas holidays in 2016. 

The battle panned out in pretty much the same way as the real one had done, with a French victory.

I used Warlord Games Pike and Shotte rules, I find they give a quick, fun game.

Some photos from the game: