What you are holding in your hands is a set of army lists, in period flavour rules and a brief guide to a fascinating period in history, which, sadly is badly documented in English. The development of these lists has so far entailed nearly a year of research and playtesting.Admittedly, this has entailed a certain degree of educated speculation, given that much of the source literature is not available in English (if I had only learned Italian and French). Now, it should be appreciated that during this period, tactics were in a state of flux, with new developments arising. The first major battle, Fornovo, with its cavalry charges, was in many respects a typical Medieval battle, but Ravenna in 1512, showed a whole new set of tactics; mobile artillery, artillery enfilades, assaults on an entrenched position and the use of an experimental gun wagon. This has meant that the development of the in period flavour rules has been something of a challenge, but hopefully, the rules strike the right balance to make them interesting and varied. The astute reader may well comment that the Italian Wars did not formally end until the treaty of Cậteau-Cambiesis in 1559, when France formally surrendered her claims to Milan and Naples; so why then do the lists end in 1534? The simple answer is that 1534 saw the emergence of the Spanish Tercio; I remain dubious that the WAB game mechanism can accurately model this formation. Additionally, from 1543, the Man at Arms began to discard the lance in favour of the new wheel lock pistol. These weapons, could be used either as part of a caracole formation or discharged at point blank range against infantry to create gaps in the line. Again, to simulate these factors would entail more special rules and a great deal of research. That said, the history of the later stages of the Italian Wars is characterised by the marked reluctance of the protagonists to commit to a field battle; in fact, no significant engagement occurs until Ceresole in 1546.I am greatly indebted to those who contributed to the development of these lists; Clive Mcloud for his contributions to the Tudor list and for loaning me his copy of Charles Oman. Dr S Moore for helping with the playtesting, and more importantly, for keeping the tea flowing whilst wargaming (an essential prerequisite for a long gaming session), John ”The Commisar” Kersey for his support. My thanks also to Dave Scully and Ben Osbourne for playtesting and pointing out errors in the text, as can be seen from “The Ben Rule.” And to Tom and Tony Staffard, Andrew and Mathew Dodderidge, my adversary in the “Great Hirsute War”: Guy Bowers, Graham “The Grande Turk” Wallis, the French connection: Mattiu Batiste and Alex Burchel, and finally, all the guys on the Cry Havoc Yahoo Group. Je Lay EmpirinsGeorge “Father Georgi”Moraitis
The Italian Wars
Italian Wars Campaign Lists Playtest V4.1
The Fury of Chivalry
The Italian Wars: 1494-1534
The King entered Asti on September 9, 1494, bringing with him
into Italy the seeds of innumerable disasters, terrible events and
changes in almost everything. His invasion was not only the origin
of changes in government, subversion of kingdoms, devastation of
the countryside, slaughter of cities, cruel murders, but also of
new habits, new customs, new and bloody methods of warfare,
disasters, unknown until that day; and the instruments of peace and
harmony in Italy were thrown into such confusion that they have
never since been able to be reconstituted, so that other foreign
nations and barbarian armies have been able to devastate and
trample wretchedly upon her .
Guicciardini, istoria ditalia
Army Lists
Contents
Introduction
3
History
4
Special Rules
5
The Army Lists:The French
8
The Spanish
13
Tudor England
17
The Italian States:Florence20
Milan23
Venice25
The Papacy29
Naples32
The Imperialists
34
The Swiss
37
Modelling The Armies
38
Bibliography
39
Introduction
With these little models you can carry out and explain how to
draw up companies, squadrons, and main forces, and demonstrate the
storming of breaches, charges, retreats.
Jean de Tavannes, 1596.
Referring to the use of toy soldiers of pikemen and arquebusiers
to educate children in military matters.
What you are holding in your hands is a set of army lists, in
period flavour rules and a brief guide to a fascinating period in
history, which, sadly is badly documented in English.
The development of these lists has so far entailed nearly a year
of research and playtesting.
Admittedly, this has entailed a certain degree of educated
speculation, given that much of the source literature is not
available in English (if I had only learned Italian and French).
Now, it should be appreciated that during this period, tactics were
in a state of flux, with new developments arising. The first major
battle, Fornovo, with its cavalry charges, was in many respects a
typical Medieval battle, but Ravenna in 1512, showed a whole new
set of tactics; mobile artillery, artillery enfilades, assaults on
an entrenched position and the use of an experimental gun wagon.
This has meant that the development of the in period flavour rules
has been something of a challenge, but hopefully, the rules strike
the right balance to make them interesting and varied.
The astute reader may well comment that the Italian Wars did not
formally end until the treaty of Cteau-Cambiesis in 1559, when
France formally surrendered her claims to Milan and Naples; so why
then do the lists end in 1534? The simple answer is that 1534 saw
the emergence of the Spanish Tercio; I remain dubious that the WAB
game mechanism can accurately model this formation. Additionally,
from 1543, the Man at Arms began to discard the lance in favour of
the new wheel lock pistol. These weapons, could be used either as
part of a caracole formation or discharged at point blank range
against infantry to create gaps in the line. Again, to simulate
these factors would entail more special rules and a great deal of
research. That said, the history of the later stages of the Italian
Wars is characterised by the marked reluctance of the protagonists
to commit to a field battle; in fact, no significant engagement
occurs until Ceresole in 1546.
I am greatly indebted to those who contributed to the
development of these lists; Clive Mcloud for his contributions to
the Tudor list and for loaning me his copy of Charles Oman. Dr S
Moore for helping with the playtesting, and more importantly, for
keeping the tea flowing whilst wargaming (an essential prerequisite
for a long gaming session), John The Commisar Kersey for his
support. My thanks also to Dave Scully and Ben Osbourne for
playtesting and pointing out errors in the text, as can be seen
from The Ben Rule. And to Tom and Tony Staffard, Andrew and Mathew
Dodderidge, my adversary in the Great Hirsute War: Guy Bowers,
Graham The Grande Turk Wallis, the French connection: Mattiu
Batiste and Alex Burchel, and finally, all the guys on the Cry
Havoc Yahoo Group.
Je Lay Empirins
George Father GeorgiMoraitis
