Battle of Arcole

I have a problem with this. I foudn it hard enought to take Arcole but after the long melee battle, I rested my troops in Arcole, and brought my cannon and general into the town awaiting the next body of enemy troops from the west, and they stopped and walked back up to the west side of the map. As my troops awaited the assault, it never came. The enemy ( with a superios number (( although I knew i would win due to the bridge's defence )) ) never budged, they just sat there. I waited until the end of the round and I lost. Despite the fact I would have won if they had attacked me

I am quite annoyed, anyone else get this?

Maybe it was the AI being smart.

Originally Posted by Super Sea Otter

Maybe it was the AI being smart.

Well that's a first...

I tried it again and the same ing thing happened.

Then attack them? Cut off their line of retreat? Bombard their rear with artillery?

If I'm thinking of the right battle, you just get in between the two forces, wipe out the one that is moving through the center and then destroy the lot across the bridge.

"The Battle of Arcole, or Battle of Arcola (15–17 November 1796), saw a bold manoeuvre by Napoleon Bonaparte to outflank the Austrian army under József Alvinczi and cut its line of retreat. This French victory occurred during the third Austrian attempt to lift the Siege of Mantua during the French Revolutionary Wars."

Taken from the source you should never cite: Wikipedia. You are meant to be the attackers in this and outflank them, thus cutting off their retreat. I find this surprising, considering this the first time I've heard of the AI doing what it's supposed to.

Originally Posted by Eazyrider

"The Battle of Arcole, or Battle of Arcola (15–17 November 1796), saw a bold manoeuvre by Napoleon Bonaparte to outflank the Austrian army under József Alvinczi and cut its line of retreat. This French victory occurred during the third Austrian attempt to lift the Siege of Mantua during the French Revolutionary Wars."

Taken from the source you should never cite: Wikipedia. You are meant to be the attackers in this and outflank them, thus cutting off their retreat. I find this surprising, considering this the first time I've heard of the AI doing what it's supposed to.

Was it to cut their line of retreat? I always thought it was to cut them off from reaching Mantua... Anyways capturing the bridge of Arcola was the strategic route in question so the Austrians would have to attack it to get through to Mantua.

Edit: I checked around a bit and it seems you are correct. But the Austrians would still have to attack, really its just a poor AI issue.

Oh...

Historically, a rather crucial element of this battle was Napoleon sending a detachment across the river downstream of the bridge and having it march North along the East bank to attack Arcole. Without that possibility I'm not sure it is feasible to force your way into Arcole before the main austrian force arrives from the West. So far, with the Austrians in Arcole have nothing to concern themselves with other than defending the bridge, it's always been a bloodbath, with multiple units being completely wiped out. That said, I'm new to the game, so I probably have to figure out the best way to execute such a manoeuvre.

Ok, managed to execute according to plan and got my troops across the bridge. Captured two buildings there...................but what else am I supposed to do to win? Control the bridges? But how do I do that. Just placing a unit on it has no effect.

You guys shoud play ntw3 historical battles with real objectivs and real players and much more men on the field.

Not really an answer though. What do I do to get control of a bridge?

Flank,art spam, charge?

Hmm, perhaps the bridges had nothing to do with it. Perhaps I "lost" last time because the Austrians under Alvinczi wouldn't come out of Belfiore before the timer ran out. This time they did and after beating them I was given victory. Yay....

As for mods, I may try them some time. For now I'm just a beginner trying to get to grips with the game. Battles have a nice feel to them, I think. Not the campaign though. Something feels wrong there.

Here's what I did in this battle (at normal difficulty). I double-quicked all my infantry units, sending 2 grenadiers to cover the ground between the swamps to the far left, and the rest near the bridge--using the 2 chasseurs facing east to fire across the river at the small Austrian force on the other side. Simultaneously I moved my artillery up a bit on the initial deployment hill and had them knock out the Austrian artillery in the town, which they quickly did--Then I re-trained the guns to soften up the other enemy units on that side of the river.

Then I maneuvered my other infantry so as to block the other two approaches against the Austrians coming from the west. The thing to remember is that, because of the ground, the Austrians will have a hard time launching a large coordinated attack on you. Right after their first attack on me had been blunted, I quickly attacked across the bridge against the softened-up enemy and took the town, using my remaining grenadier unit, 2 rev infantry, and Napoleon for morale.

I then rushed all my infantry across the river, deploying 2 units to cover the approach to the north and the rest covering the bridge. The Austrians attacked in both places and were repulsed, losing their general. They then tried to attack my unprotected artillery. I probably made a mistake here, but corrected it somewhat, lining up my chasseurs to fire across the river as the Austrians moved in a disorganized mob toward my artillery. They ate my artillery, canister, and rifle fire all the way and were butchered. Once they routed, that was it--game over. Next time, I'll post a unit to protect the arty after taking the town.

All I did was post 2 units at the front of the town, then I surrounded it and stormed the place.

Originally Posted by money

All I did was post 2 units at the front of the town, then I surrounded it and stormed the place.

That would work, too! As long as you rout all the enemy units on the map, you win the battle. Did you use the ford behind the initial deployment area to cross?

Oh crap I was actually referring to Lodi and not Arcole.
Here you go.
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divide your army into 3 and keep 2 units on the side you started from

do the first part and take the two largest parts of your army as I did in the map and hold the position across the little stream

take the artillery in between both large parts to destroy the enemy if he comes in close, hopefully this movement will cause the enemy to attack you. If you see that the enemy has moved all the enemy forces on the left to attack you then attack with the two large armies
if the enemy does not move then attack with one of these large armies, preferably the one in the middle and this may cause the enemy to attack

take about 2 units and take them to the far left corner to attack the enemy from behind which is hopefully attacking your larger armies

hold the enemy on the right with that large force on your right

destroy the enemy in the centre and left and then take that force to attack the retreating enemy on your right from a small path at the far edge of the map, take your force on the right and attack the bridge.
This should give a two pronged assault and hopefully finish the job.