Siege of Rome 1849

 Another Friday, another trip to Tapton Hall to play some more of Tim's 54mm toys. This time we were off to a very early stage of the Italian Wars of Unification, the Siege of Rome in 1849. Although I'm reasonably au fait with the later period (Solferino etc al) I'm singularly ignorant about this period.

The walls of Rome. Apologies to anyone prone to epilepsy, the Masonic Lodge carpet is a bit psychedelic! We couldn't use our normal room as it was being set up for Christmas. 

A magnificent model of the Vatican. The general situation was that the Pope, who in 1849 still ruled the Papal States and Rome, has fled the city after a popular uprising which installed a more liberal "Italian" government. Nationalist revolutions were all the rage in 1848, unleashed by the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars as the dynastic ancien regimes became ever more anachronistic in the face of the strange new concept of the Nation State. Of course that led directly to the catastrophes of 1914 and 1939, but that is another game, another day.

The Palatine and Aventino. Imagine these are scenic Roman hills. The are scattered with various interesting buildings and local inhabitants, who have varying degrees of interest in the proceedings.

The Pope had fled to Naples and seeing an opportunity, the French and Spanish had weighed in to restore order. The French were in a slightly odd position in that they were currently a republic led by Louis Napoleon, the future Napoleon III so were only really happy to install the Pope into a separate Vatican City, something the Pope was violently opposed to. The Spanish under de Cordoba, were just along for the ride, having a vague interest in things of Bourbon origin in Naples. The Austrians wer very keen to intervene, but there were an awful lot of neutral states between Rome and  the Austrian holdings in the Quadrilateral in the Po Valley.

The French army was commanded by General Oudinot, son of Marshal Oudinot, and played by John, while the French diplomatic service was represented by Lloyd.

Here is my chap, Saffi,  a member of the Triumverate ruling the new Roman Republic. We had a senate and everything. My co-senators being Mazzini (played by Dave) and some other bloke who I can't recall (played as required by the umpire) . Floating around we also had another rival leader (Antonini?) played by Russell and of course that rabble rouser Garibaldi (Pete) was there with his anarchic Red Shirts. 

The Papal Guard parade in the Vatican. They had all deserted to the Republic as they were jealous of the privileges offered the Swiss Guard. These were our best troops.

We also had a unit of National Guard who were fairly reliable, and various contingents of volunteers of very variable reliability. Each character had a different chance of mobilising the various contingents, my best chance was with the Popes boys.

We each had individual aims and objectives, some of which coincided with other people and others which conflicted. Tim ran the game as a mixture of role playing and toy soldiering. The French expeditionary force had landed at Civitavecchia and it would take several turns of marching to reach the city walls, so plenty of time for diplomacy and other stuff.

Garibaldis rabble launch a surprise expedition out of the city walls! Well Garibaldi obviously had a different objective. We were frantically trying to avoid the French attacking the city and inviting the Pope back to be king of the vatican, which apparently the French wanted too. The Pope was intransigent though, wanting Rome and the surrounding area too.

My main role was to attend meetings of the Triumverate and ensure the Republic survived, so between meetings I didn't really have a lot to do, and developed a pleasant routine of walking the streets of Rome. First up a cappachino, brandy and cigar outside the Castel St Angelo, then over to the Palatine for a long lunch then off to the Aventino for a long dinner and a visit to my favourite house of ill repute hosted by the red clad lady in the picture. Then back to the Castle for a good nights kip.

Our brave soldiers manned the defences with varying degrees of enthusiasm as Oudinot got closer.

While I went to visit the Vatican and marvel at the Sistine Chapel.

Garibaldi siezed this farm complex next to the main road just as French cavalry picquets came trotting along. A full French infantry division was up the road behind them.

The head of another column (just the lead units are on the table) was approaching the northern gate. It was garrisoned by city militia, and the French were obviously completely unaware that it had been bricked up about 20 years earlier! This was the closest portal to the Vatican though.

Shots ring out in the New Jersey night... (sorry Bob Dylan). Garibaldi starts taking pot shots at the leading French units and they ponderously deploy from march column into combat formation.

Meanwhile Avellino has taken another farm outside the walls and declared himself leader of the Republic while standing on top of this impressive tower. His men are distinctly unimpressed, and the rest of us looking on from the city walls are rather non plussed. At least he is out of the way I suppose.

By now I have a US journalist in tow as  I go about my daily perambulations (the lady in the yellow skirt) and her descriptions of the delights of Rome's gastonomic scene are so delightful that I'm joined by a Nun toting a large rifle as an escort.

Oudinot has finally deployed his main column, so Garibaldi ups camp and retires to the next farm complex down the road. The French storm the empty farm anyway and send off great proclamations of victory to Paris.

The other column has finally deployed as well and starts shelling the gate. By now we have some rather better troops in position (the Papal Guard) and our own cannon is in range, so the matchsticks start to fly, inflicting very little damage on either side, although 'overs' from the French guns land all over the city. The French atrocities are widely reported by the international press, and to everyones amazement Britain expresses extreme displeasure at the French actions and even sends some (small) warships to observe the coast. I rolled really high for that one!

Back outside the walls, Garibaldi falls back to the main gate while Avellino is still standing on the top of the tower gesticulating wildly.

Meanwhile it is time for another coffee, brandy and cigar with my new best friend.

We'd held the French off for now, mainly through a complete indolence and confusion of the military units on both sides. As Clausewitz observed, "the natural state of all armies is intertia."

In the real campaign Oudinots first attack was repulsed as the small Republican army was supported by a mass of citizens in arms, much to his surprise. Further French reinforcements let them carry the rather ramschackle city walls and install the Pope back in the Vatican. In fact they imposed a very liberal settlement (for the time) - the Pope got to rule the Vatican as an independant state, and the Roman Republic had to abide by the Code Napoleon, so the Republicans ended up with pretty much all they wanted. Later in  the wars the French repeatedly interceded on behalf of the Italians, mainly to do down the Austrians, and a unified Italy was finally created in 1860.

That was a very entertaining game, and I enjoyed its mixture of role play, diplomacy and toy soldiering. Probably the only way to manage such a complex situation.