Description

The Battle of Magenta, June 4, 1859, was the first major clash between France and Austria during the Second Italian War of Independence. Magenta 1859 recreates it using the same rules as Solferino 1859 and Reichshoffen 1870, as well as the same scale (one hour per turn, 600 meters per hex, brigades). Unlike its siblings, the game has almost no special rules.

Napoleon III commands the French and, though scarcely comparable to his uncle, well overmatches the Austrians' sluggish and late arriving Count Gyulai. Unfortunately for the French, Napoleon enters far away from the bulk of his forces and takes a long time to get within command range. Until then, formations may move effectively only when their commanders make successful initiative rolls, and the largest French corps suffers from an initiative penalty for the first several hours. (Its commander, General Mac Mahon, moved slowly while waiting for a Sardinian division to come up to cover his open flank. This caution did not, however, prevent him from becoming the hero of the day. The Emperor rewarded him with the title "duc de Magenta".)

The battle starts at 10:00 a.m. and lasts 10 turns, with many brigades not arriving until the afternoon. The forces (and the map) are only about half the size of those in Solferino, and the victory conditions are simpler: Each side gets one Victory Point for each hex it holds in the town of Magenta (which has three) plus one for each demoralized enemy corps.