One-hour Simplicity - Bridgehead

[chalimacos]

A contested river crossing is one of the hardest situations in warfare. I played scenario 5 from the book One-hour Wargames, but resolved the battle with Simplicity in Practice. A thrilling scenario!

Battle rep at: https://wargamingescapades.blogspot.com/2025/07/one-hour-simplicity-bridgehead-scenario.html

[ChrisBBB]

Nice report of an exciting game.

It did set me wondering about the history. The example that sprang to my mind was the one you cite at the end, Aspern-Essling. Of course the OHW scenario only resembles that at the most abstract level. I tried to think of other Napoleonic or C18/C19 battles where the two sides were converging on a small bridgehead to either expand it or snuff it out, and I'm struggling. (Presumably because I haven't had my morning coffee yet.) Can anyone else come up with some?

[chalimacos]

I tried to think of other Napoleonic or C18/C19 battles where the two sides were converging on a small bridgehead

In Friedland it was not a small bridgehead, but the Russian trapped themselves with their backs against a river with only a few crossing points and steep banks behind. Curiously, this battle is also described in the book Three Napoleonic Battles.

I'm glad that you enjoyed the report! Thanks!

EDIT: The crossing of the Po near Piacenza in Napoleon's 1st Italian campaign could be an example.

[ChrisBBB]

Yes, it was a lively report, thank you, Chalimacos. I write a few myself so I know they take some work. I appreciate the effort!
I'm not sure how much I like WoFun figures in general, but they work very well for this kind of stylised and simplified game.

Friedland doesn't really count, does it? The Russians are all across the river already so there isn't the same desperate effort to reinforce the bridgehead.

But Piacenza is a great example, thanks for reminding me of it - deserves a game. Maybe Borghetto is another good example from the same campaign:
https://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2018/06/napoleon-crosses-mincio-borghetto-1796.html

Come on, people, can't anyone offer any others?

[chalimacos]

Maybe Borghetto is another good example from the same campaign

Chris, I've read your Borghetto scenario from the Bloody Big Battles groups.io files. I think it fits the pattern we are talking about and you provide a fantastic map and background text to understand what was going on. I like your focus on LOC issues. Fabulous!

[ChrisBBB]

Chris, I've read your Borghetto scenario from the Bloody Big Battles groups.io files. I think it fits the pattern we are talking about and you provide a fantastic map and background text to understand what was going on. I like your focus on LOC issues. Fabulous!

Thank you very much for your kind words! As you obviously saw, I got very into the 1796 Italian campaign because of translating Clausewitz's history of it:
https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700626762/
He goes into a marvellous disquisition on how to defend against river crossings, in which he comes up with a formula for how many corps to split the defending army into and what intervals there should be between them. Great stuff.