Friday, May 9, 2014

Battle of Campaldino Play Test!


To get prepared for Enfilade I ran a test battle with my gaming group to see how the scenario for the Battle of Campaldino would work.  The first thing I found to be difficult was the size of the table.  The table was a little too narrow at the game shop.  This shouldn't be an issue at the convention.  I hope!  While looking at the battlefield as a whole, I left off the extraneous pieces to leave the playing area the main focus. 

The forces were setup as close to historically as possible.  This was based on my reading and a board game I have on the battle. 
The battle was fought using Piquet's Band of Brothers 2.  To recreate the initial charge of the Ghibelline Knights they moved first on any Move card that appeared and would continue to move until they connected with the Guelph first line.  Those units would also melee without the need of a melee resolution card.  This would be the only time they had these special rules.  Once contact was made and the first melee resolved, the main rules would then apply.
The initial charge was met and the Guelph front line routed.  Historically accurate so far. 

The second line of Ghibelline Knights wait for their chance to charge.

The Guelph archers sit in the tree line waiting to fire.

Novello's command that historically left the battlefield once the battle started, moved down the road to attempt to flank the Guelphs.

The Guelph Knights charge into the waiting Ghibelline Knights.  The fight was bloody.

The center of the battlefield locked in a deadly melee for most of the game.

The forces locked in melee, the Ghibellines routed soon after.  Their moral getting dangerously low.

The Guelph infantry wait for orders.

The Ghibelline infantry waiting to move forward.


The Guelph forces move forward.

The Guelph Knights hit the Ghibelline infantry line.  At this point the damage has been done with the routing Ghibelline Knights sucking up moral chips.

The Ghibelline Knights routing away.  The battle is over with the Guelphs winning the day.  A historical result overall.

The Guelph Infantry refused their flank to receive Novello's advancement.  The battle ended before they could be put into play.

Over all I was happy with the way the rules and the scenario worked.  I hope all goes as smoothly at Enfilade in two weeks.  I will post the results of that battle when I get back.

5 comments:

  1. Nice looking game with beautiful lines of troops!

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  2. Looks great. Personal taste, but I think the 10's (as here) look so much better than 6mm. Did you use Eric's "Rule of 1/3 " for impetus?

    Peter

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    1. Peter,

      No I did not use the "Rule of 1/3". I do however use dominoes for impetus and the winner of the D20 roll gets the high side and the other side the full number of the lower side. If I pull a doubles the turn ends immediately. It works pretty well and keeps both sides in the game so to speak.

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