Warhammer Ancient Battles by Cry Havoc - The Italian Wars: 1494-1534 - Introduction

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 d’italia

Italian Wars Campaign Lists Playtest V4.1

Italian Wars Campaign Lists Playtest V4.1

Army Lists Contents Introduction

3

History

4

Special Rules

5

The Army Lists:

The French The Spanish Tudor England The Italian States:

The Imperialists The Swiss

Florence Milan Venice The Papacy Naples

8 13 17 20 23 25 29 32 34 37

Modelling The Armies

38

Bibliography

39

Italian Wars Campaign Lists Playtest V4.1

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 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 Empirins George “Father Georgi”Moraitis