Risorgimento 1859
Why 1859?
This is a very important year for european history and modern warfare as a whole. During the Franco-Austrian extremely brief war that saw emperor Napoleon III march against Franz Joseph's forces, the first basis for a whole new kind of firing doctrine was born. Many were the factors that made the war go how it did; France had agreed to a secret pact with Piedmont, one that would give her, if successful, the former territory of Savoy while Piedmont would start the process of annexation of Northern Italy to form the Kingdom of Italy later in the years to come. Piedmont-Savoy wouldnt be able to beat the massive numbers of the Austrian Empire by itself, France therefore could affirm its supremacy over central Europe once again. But the external forces of Britain and Prussia were watching. Napoleon III was pressed with time constraints, he had to act quickly and gain a decisive victory or it's role would be severely compromised. During the campaign, many mistakes would pile up between the belligerents; Piedmont didnt possess the numbers and the former quality of the Napoleonic times, France had to press on with melee tactics due to the aforementioned time constraints and an aggressive politic centered around the use of the bayonet, while logistic problems and lack of proper scouting from both sides led to embarassing and deadly clashes. The Austrians were no less unprepared to face the French as their italian counterpart was in their own respects; they advanced slowly, made use of old, inaccurate artillery pieces dating back to the Napoleonic Wars, and were not trained to aim. But their weapons were much more accurate than those used bi the French and italians, so the casualties for both sides would be massive; seeing as the carnage was much more brutal than the decades past, Napoleon III encouraged the all out assault with the bayonet even more. In short, it was a bloody mess, hastily brought to a halt when France was victorious, much to the disappointment of the italian government.
In this overhaul I've tried to depict the essential components of that brief conflict that would later lead France to adopt new powerful and precise firearms, directly affecting the training and modernization of the slumbering Austrian army, and to an extent a better organization of the italian army itself later on. The conflict marked a decisive need for improvements over the old tactics adopted in the Napoleonc Wars and, shortly before the American Civil War, made it apparent that the old age of musketry and dense formations had to be brought to an end.
In this conflict, the key factors were as follows:
- France had superior artillery pieces, more accurate and with a longer range than the Austrian's';
- Austria had better firearms than France and Italy combined, but its troops were still trained to shoot in the general direction without aiming;
- Austrian sharpshooters were deadly at very high distances and they picked up officers like flowers in a grassy field. For the first time after the Crimean War, casualties were enormous for such small arms;
- Austria had terrible artillery pieces, far less accurate and barely working in some cases.
I have tried to calibrate the stats and accuracy to make sure that the French player has to use melee tactics while retaining the old muskets as a defensive action or last resort to cover an ally. Special light units such as Zouaves and Chasseurs are still able to do some decent damage if used correctly. The italian player is in a very difficult position on its own: he hasnt the numbers nor the power to defend himself against the Austrians, but with desperate charges and aggressive play he can push his enemies away while waiting for the French to finish the work.
The Austrian player has the easiest time, since the accuracy and loading times of his weapons are considerably higher and the numbers at his disposal are high too. Although a good cannonade from the enemy may prove fatal.
I would like to make a campaign out of this, but the Italian Campaign is very difficult to open and tweak. So I'll try my best but I cannot guarantee anything unfortunately. At least the multiplayer campaign could be modified if there is enough interest. I'm also planning to make some battle maps to encourage tactical play for each faction.
Some screenshots below. All models are new, I thank Beethencourt for letting me use his Austrian Cuirassiers and Grenadiers to save time. This mod was done in approximately 3 months as a personal challenge.
Zouaves
Cacciatori delle Alpi
Camice Rosse (Garibaldini) in their classic red shirt (Garibaldi's Red Shirts) this is more for flavour than anything else
Bersaglieri
Chasseurs à Pied
Italian Line Infantry
French Line Infantry
Savoy Heavy Cavalry
Italian Granatieri della Guardia
Hussars modelled after the ussari di Piacenza
For some uniforms I had to make a compromise between campaign dress and parade dress to make them more interesting, this was the period when fancy uniforms started their decline.
Installation:
Go to you "C:\Users\Name\AppData\Roaming\The Creative Assembly\Napoleon\scripts" folder and add the pack files to your user.script.txt. If there is no user.script.txt, create one and add the following:
Add the relevant packs to your main "common\Napoleon Total War\data" folder and that's it. You are good to go. Remember to do this on a clean install.mod "risorgimento_main.pack";
mod "risorgimento_media.pack";
Download Main files HERE
Campaign HERE
As always feedback is appreciated.
LAST UPDATE 16-08-2018 + CAMPAIGN RELEASED
Make sure to backup your campaign files when overwriting the existing NTW installation