Novi 15 August 1799
Suvurov is a legend in Russian military history. By the time of Novi he had already fought many successful campaigns for Catherine against the Poles and the Turks and was brought out of retirement by the new Tzar Paul when Russia joined the second coalition against Revolutionary France. Novi was the finest moment of the campaign for the Allies with the defeat of the French and the death of Joubert on the day. This momentum would be squandered at Zurich which Suvarov did not make it to in time, in the end the loss there drew Russia out of the coalition and made France safe until the Italian campaign of 1800. Russia would not threaten the Republic again and remained out of the fighting until 1805.
At Novi the exhausted French wings under Perignon and St. Cyr finally made it through the mountains to link up but the Austro-Russians under Suvarov were waiting for them on the plain of Novi. Watrin had attempted some preliminary attacks the night before which is why we rate him both as in dependant and hard to control as he did not have sufficient forces to deal with the threat in front of him.
Deployment
French
- Lamoine deploys around Novi.
- Grouchy Deploys north of the Bormida stream in the first column
- Laboissiere deploys south of Novi in the first column
- Avantgarde is a reserve force
Austro – Russian
- Defelden in the box around Pozollo
- Ott in column 6 rows A and B
- Bellegarde in column 6 rows C and D
- Melas is a reserve
Terrain
All terrain is considered a flat plain
The contour represents the cliffs around Novi. Climbing the cliff counts as rough going to movement
The Braghena Gorge is the impassable gorge behind Novi. It has the following characteristics
- Command radius may not be traced through it but must be traced around it.
- Brigades that can only retire into the gorge (usualluy due to enemy on 3 sides) are broken
- Unbroken troops may not cross the gorge
The Bormida stream (to the left) is rough going.
Victory Points
- Novi is worth 2 points
- All other towns are worth 1 point