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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
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Milan 1470-1534
In 1396, Giangalleazo Visconti usurped his uncle, Baranabo, and established himself as the ruler of Milan. He “acquired” the title of Duke from the Holy Roman Emperor and began to recruit the most accomplished condottieri in Italy. His ambitions to rule a unified Italy came to an end when he died prematurely in 1406. For the next thirty years the Visconti dominions descended into chaos as the three sons of Giangalleazo fought amongst each other for the Duchy. Eventually in 1450, Francesco Sforza supported by Florence and Venice seized power and established the Sforza dynasty.
For much of the 15th century, Milan could boast a large and well-equipped army, comprised of condottiori men at arms employed on a semi-permanent basis, feudal contingents (comprising the retinues of Sforza cousins and half brothers) and the permanent militia: the Provisionati. Milan also embraced the handgun and later the arquebus, at one stage one-fifth of the infantry were equipped with firearms.
During the initial French campaign, Milanese forces assisted the French, but the success of the French campaign had alarmed Lodovico, who now feared the Duke of Orleans (encamped at Novara and with a claim to the Duchy of Milan). The Venetians were able to play upon this fear and persuaded Lodovico to join the anti-French alliance
With the French army out of Italy, Ludovico besieged Novarra, with Venetian aid, which eventually conceded.
Louis XII, inherited the Orelanist claim to the Duchy of Milan and invaded the Duchy in 1503, conquering the Duchy with the aid of Venice. Lodovico fled to Vienna where he obtained aid from his son-in-law the Emperor Maximillian. Maximillian provided the financial backing and Lodovico returned to Milan at the head of a Mercenary army, containing Swiss, landsknects and Burgundian men at arms, to recover his Duchy.
Nonetheless, Milan was reacquired by France and held until the Swiss drove the French out of Lombardy following their victory at Novarra. Milan now became a vassal of the
Swiss cantons, with Massimillio Sforza, the Duke, little more than a Swiss puppet.
In 1515, Francis I recovered Milan, following the battle of Mariganano.
Early List 1470-1503:
Characters: Up to 25%Cavalry: 35-75%. You must take at least one unit of either Armigeri or Feudal Men at ArmsInfantry: Up to 50%. At least one unit with aequebus/handgun must be taken.Allies /Mercenaries: Up to 25%. May take either French or Venetians (but not both), may take 0-2 units of landsknects and/or 0-2 units of German Cavalry from the Habsburg list.
Late list 1503-1534:Characters: Up to 25%Cavalry: up to 50%, All cavalry choices. You must take at least one unit of either; Armigeri or Feudal Men at Arms.Infantry: Up to 50% At least one unit with aequebus/handgun must be takenAllies /Mercenaries: At least 25%. May take Swiss allies, landsknects from the Habsburg list, and Burgundian lances from the Habsburg list.
CHARACTERS0-1 Army General
M WS
BS S T I W A Ld
Pts
Condottieri Generale
8 6 3 4 4 6 3 2 9 150
Feudal Generale
4 5 3 3 3 5 2 2 9 120
The Condottierii General rides a warhorse and wears full plate armour, he carries a lance. He may take barding (+4) or plate barding (+6).
The Feudal Generale rides a warhorse and wears full plate armour, he carries a lance. He may take barding (+4) or plate barding (+6).
Special: Army General.
Capi di GuerraM W
SBS S T I W A L
dPts
Condottieri 4 5 3 4 4 6 2 2 8 89
The Condottierii Captain rides a warhorse and wears full plate armour, he carries a lance. He may take barding (+4) or plate barding (+6).
One Capi may exchange his lance for the Army Standard at +25 points.
CAVALRY
M WS BS S T I W A Ld
Pts
Armigeri 8 4 3 3 3 4 1 1 8 34
Equipment: if mounted: Lances, Warhorses, Full plate armour, hand weapons. May take plate barding(+6) or cloth (+4).Special: First Charge. May claim a rank bonus of +1. One unit may be upgraded to Famiglia Ducale at +2 points per model, Famiglia have WS5. Each unit may be made Lanze Spezzata at +1 points per model. Lanze Spezzata are veterans.
Feudal Men at armsM WS BS S T I W A L
dPts
Feudal 8 4 3 3 3 4 1 1 8 32
Equipment: Full Plate armour, lance, warhorses. First Charge. Impetuous. May take plate barding(+6) or cloth (+4).
Feudal SerjeantsM WS BS S T I W A L
dPts
Serjeant 8 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 7 20
Serjeants have heavy armour, and thrusting spears. May Take Partial Plate Armour (+2),
Mounted Crossbow M W
SBS S T I W A L
dPts
Crossbow 8 2 3 3 3 1 1 1 6 14
Equipped with light crossbows. May have light armour, (+2). Mounted crossbow are Skirmishers, Every second unit may replace their crossbow with arquebus.One unit may be upgraded to Guard at (+2), the Guard are Veterans and have Ld 7
INFANTRYMilitia:
M WS BS S T I W A Ld
Pts
Militia 4 2 2 3 3 3 1 1 6 4
May be Equipped with spear, large shield and light armour at (+4) points. Or may carry crossbows and light armour (+4). Militia with spear and large shield may only count a rank bonus of +2 on the turn in which they charge. Militia with Crossbow may be open order (free) or skirmishers (free).
Militia Schioppetto
M WS BS S T I W A Ld
Pts
Militia 4 2 2 3 3 3 1 1 6 8
Equipped with handgun, light armour and hand weapons. May take Field Fortifications at +20 points per unit. May be designated as Open Order (free)
Swordsman
0-1 per 1,000 pointsM WS BS S T I W A L
dPts
Sworsdman
5 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 7 8
Equipment: swords and bucklers.Open order. May have light armour at (+2) or heavy armour at (+3). They may take javelins at (+1).
Special: Swordsmanship: the swordsman are adept at using their swords and shields to parry blows, in close combat their bucklers give a basic save of 5+, rather than the normal 6+. This can be combined with either light or heavy armour.
Provisionati M WS BS S T I W A L
dPts
Provisionati
4 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 7 7
Provisionati wear light armour and carry either; a large shield and thrusting spear (+4), or a crossbow (+3) or an arquebus (+3). Provisionati with an arquebus may tale halbards (+2). Arquebus equipped Provisionati may be open order (free)
Condotta SpearmenM WS BS S T I W A L
dPts
Condotta 4 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 7 11
Are equipped with spear, large shield and light armour. May exchange their spears and large shields for pikes in which case they become a medieval pike phalanx.
Skirmishers
M WS
BS
S T I W A LD
Pts
Skirmisher
5 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 6 6
Skirmishers carry light crossbows, they may take either crossbows (+2) or handguns (+2).
Artillery:May take 1 artillery piece per 1,000 points at 50 points per gun. Each gun may have up two extra crewmen at +10 per crew.
