Arcola, The Battle for Italy 1796

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Cover art of original OSG edition, 1979

Arcola, The Battle for Italy 1796 is a board wargame published by Operational Studies Group (OSG) in 1979 and republished by Avalon Hill in 1983 that is a simulation of the Battle of Arcola between French and Austrian forces in 1796. The game was designed to tempt players to purchase OSG's previously published and larger wargame Napoleon in Italy.

Background[]

In Italy in 1796, French forces under Napoleon Bonaparte had besieged the Austrian-held city of Mantua. Austrian commander József Alvinczi led a two-pronged attack to try to break the siege. Napoleon, in a risky move, divided his forces to try to meet and defeat both prongs of Alvinczi's attack.[1]

Description[]

Arcola is a two-player microgame in which one player controls French forces, and the other controls the Austrian forces.

Components[]

The original OSG edition, packaged in a ziplock bag, contains:[2]

  • 11" x 17" paper hex grid map scaled at 3.2 km (2 mi) per hex[3]
  • 100 counters
  • 8-page rule booklet

Gameplay[]

The game lasts for seven turns, each turn representing 2 days.[3] The Austrians move first each turn.[4] Only leaders are placed on the map, while units under each leader's command are placed on an organizational display.[5]

Movement[]

Each leader has a Initiative rating, and cannot move unless the player successfully rolls the leader's initiative or lower. The Austrians are given one free movement not requiring an Initiative check as long as the leader is within ten Cavalry Movement Points of a Dispatch Hex.[4]

Combat[]

As a result of combat, the losing unit loses strength points and is required to retreat a certain number of hexes. The victorious player rolls a die to see how far their unit may move in pursuit. The retreating unit must lose strength points equal to what the victorious unit lost or the number of hexes the victorious unit can pursue, whichever is greater. If the victorious unit catches the defending unit, the retreating unit is eliminated. In addition, units that lose too many strength points become offensively ineffective, although they can still fight defensively.[4]

Victory conditions[]

The Austrians win by if they are in possession of Verona at the end of the game and the French have not completely surrounded the city. Alternatively the Austrians can win by exiting 10 or more strength points off the south edge of the map. The French win by preventing an Austrian victory.[5]

Publication history[]

Arcola was designed by Kevin Zucker as a microgame using the same system as Zucker's previously published full-sized wargame Bonaparte in Italy (1975). The game was packaged in a ziplock bag and published by OSG in 1979.[2]

In 1983, Avalon Hill republished Arcola in a small box with a mounted map. The eight pages of the original rule booklet were reprinted on both sides of a single 8.5" x 11 piece of paper; the game mechanics remained unchanged.[5]

Reception[]

In Issue 26 of Phoenix, Peter Bolton was not impressed, writing, "The overall impression of Arcola is one of disappointment." Bolton felt the game could have been better, especially the leader-movement rules. On the plus side, he noted that "Certainly the feel that this is warfare Napoleon Bonaparte style is conveyed and to a greater degree that other games of the same period and same level." But he questioned whether playing this game would tempt players to purchase OSG's larger Bonaparte in Italy, saying, "To become more than just another game for the odd hour, more is needed. It is going to require a fair bit of imagination if Arcola is to succeed as a carrot to tempt gamers to go for Bonaparte in Italy."[4]

In Issue 52 of Moves, Ian Chadwick found the map area too small, and the rules did not work for a small game. He gave the game grades of B for playability, B for historical accuracy, and A for component quality.[3]

David Lent, writing for Centurion's Review, reviewed the Avalon Hill edition and found the original rules reprinted on a single sheet of paper were annoying, noting "Subsequent pages are not next to each other and you have to flip over and search the paper for the next page in the sequence. This makes looking up rules during the game a real headache." In addition, Lent found the rules "were not crystal clear." However, he admitted that the game played quickly once the players had learned the rules, often reaching a resolution in 30 minutes. Lent concluded with ambivalence, saying, "I had fun playing it, but not enough units activated per turn. There were not any occasions where anything exceptionally interesting happened because of that."[5]

Other reviews and commentary[]

References[]

  1. ^ Boycott-Brown, Martin (2001). The Road to Rivoli: Napoleon's First Campaign. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 0-304-35305-1.
  2. ^ a b "Arcola: The Battle for Italy, 1796 (1979)". bopardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  3. ^ a b c Chadwick, Ian (August–September 1980). "C'est la Guerre". Moves. No. 52. p. 14.
  4. ^ a b c d Bolton, Peter (July–August 1980). "Arcola". Phoenix. No. 26. pp. 25, 27.
  5. ^ a b c d Lent, David (2019-03-10). "Battle for Italy Review". Centurion's Review. Retrieved 2022-01-21.
  6. ^ "Index to Game Reviews in Magazines".
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