Battle of Campaldino 1289

While at Enfilade I ran two battles.  This one "The Battle of Campaldino 1289" was to full fill the Obscure Theatre and Battle theme for the weekend and to full fill one of my dreams of running the battle along with one WWI battle (which I will do a separate post for it).  I have to say that this battle has had a long fascination for me as it was the focus of my minor concentration for my masters degree in history.  I compared two written versions of the battle using one first hand account and the second written almost 50 years later.  Enough of my boring school stories.

As some of you know my group and I love using Piquet's Band of Brothers 2 for this time period.  We love the ebb and flow and the uncertainty of the battle once the game has started.  This is also the first time I've tried to run a Piquet game at a convention.  I limited the number of players to 4.  2 per side and as evenly as possible broke up the commands for each person.  In my last test battle the infantry didn't get involved until the very end and only because the Guelph knights broke through to the waiting infantry.  That entire game that night was one big cavalry fight.  

There are some adaptations that my group and I use when we play.  We use dominoes for impetus.  The two C-n-C's roll their d20's and the high side picks a domino.  They get the higher number of dots and the loser the lower number.  This tends to eliminate the big impetus swings and it keeps everyone involved in the game.  Second change, the game ends on a double domino being pulled or if  one side finishes their card deck.  If the double domino is pulled the end of turn is immediate.

My biggest concern is keeping everyone in the game and active, especially with a convention game.  I hate sitting around and not doing anything and I don't want others to feel the same way.

Now on to the AAR for the battle.  With this battle I wanted to create the historic charge by the Ghibelline front rank knights.  So the two gentlemen in charge of that faction were told that ANY move card would cause the knights to charge and melee immediately with the front rank knights of the Guelphs.  This was the only restriction for the scenario.  After that all rules pertaining to movement and melee reverted to normal. 

This is an over view shot of the battle field.  This view is from the Ghibelline side.

One of the Ghibelline battle groups on the hill waiting for orders.  This group historically left the battle field once the battle started.  Not this time.

The Guelph army awaits the Ghibelline attack.

Guelph archers in the woods.

The Ghibelline knights wait impatiently to charge.

The initial Ghibelline charge strikes home and routes most of the Guelph front line knights.  At this point I thought things were going to go very badly for the Guelphs.  The gentleman playing the Guelph C-n-C couldn't roll higher than a 3 on most of his rolls and was getting slaughtered.  I felt bad.

The Guelph archers and crossbow men open fire into the flanks of the Ghibelline knights.  Causing stand losses.  They helped slow down the Ghibelline attack.

The other side of the Guelph archers and crossbow men.

The second line of Ghibelline knights and cavalry waiting for their chance to move out.

The units up against the river were once the Guelph vanguard.  One routed unralliable and the others were eventually brought back.

The Ghibelline command recalls his front line knights so they can stop being decimated by the Guelph  archers and crossbow men.

The unit on the hill moves out and tries to out flank the Guelph army.  He gets close to doing it too.

The Guelph knights form up and charge into the Ghibelline knights causing large losses and routing many of the knights.  The Ghibelline infantry moves forward shielding the fleeing knights.  You can see in the back ground that the Guelph infantry swung to meet the Ghibelline unit on the hill.  The infantry would cause a unit of knights to rout by hitting them on the flank.

At about this time our 4 hour time limit was almost up for the gaming session.  The Ghibellines ended their quest to win and limped home.  The battle was a close one.  Both sides ended up with 4 morale chips left.  The Ghibellines started with 27 and the Guelphs had 24.  At one point the Ghibellines had 12 left while the Guelphs had 4.  In the span of a few minutes the Ghibelline army fell apart with some good dice rolling by the Guelph commanders (finally).

After the game I asked the guys playing what they thought and to gain some insight for future games.  The biggest complaint was too many charts to look at and use.  I had given each command a copy of the QRS sheets so they could follow along and eventually do the dice calculations themselves, which they started to do by the end.  Maybe next time I will just do it or only give them the important charts like Missile Fire, Melee and Morale.  I'll keep the others and do those for the players.  Over all the guys playing enjoyed themselves.  Which is what I wanted.

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.

The Battle of Campaldino, 1289 Enfilade Setup

It's that time of year again.  Getting ready for Enfilade at the end of May.  This years theme is Obscure Theaters or Battles.  I have decided to run the Battle of Campaldino which featured the Guelfs vs. Ghibellines.  I figure this is obscure enough of a medieval battle to run and to enter into the contest for the theme. I love medieval Italy and all of the factions that fought all over that country.  It is a very interesting time period and I used it as my minor for my masters degree in history.

I have a board game called Guelfs vs. Ghibellines which I'm grabbing the terrain layout and order of battle.  Like most medieval battles this one was fought on a wide open plain with a slight rising hill on one side and three rivers making up the boarders of the plain.  An Abbey sits in one corner of the hill and a road runs along the base of the hill.  There are only a few clumps of small woods in the area as well.  At the moment I'm not sure if the plain was a farmed field or not.  Most of the information about the battle tends to focus on the combatants and not the terrain.  While the game board for the game itself is useful, having an actual description from someone there would be beneficial.

For this battle I will be using Piquet's Band of Brothers.  I will be using the domino method for the impetus pulls.  This way each side will have a chance of moving and it will lessen the big impetus swings that can happen with the dice.

Below is a picture of the Ghibelline army that will face off against the Guelfs.  All of the figures are 10mm and are from Pendraken.  They were painted by DJD Miniatures.

This is the Guelf army also 10mm and from Pendraken.  They were also painted by DJD Miniatures.

I am hoping to run a test battle in April with my group.  All I have to do now is make up the terrain and the battle rosters for both armies.

The Battle for Sicily 1266

About two weeks ago I put together a Piquet: Band of Brothers game pitting the Angevin army and the Sicilian army in 1266.
The armies, when I drew them up, couldn't be more different.  The Angevin army came out on top with very powerful Knights and some really great infantry units.  Their CnC was average and the two other commanders were poor and skilled.  What really hurt them was getting only 20 morale chips.  The Sicilian army ended up with sub-par troops with 3 vacillating units (you have to roll them up upon first contact to know what they are).  Their commanders all ended up being average but they scored big with 36 morale chips.

The battle field was simple and well picked by both commanders.  The Sicilian's lined up on the right side of the battle field.  The Angevin's lined up on the left.  The hill at the far end provided the only obstacle in the entire battle.

Some of the Sicilian Knights prepared for battle.

More of the Sicilian army arrayed for battle.

The Angevin army pushed the infantry forward.  This would be a fatal mistake at first.

That hill at the far end with Angevin troops.

Saracen Archers setup to fire at the enemy.

The bold Sicilian Knights charge across the field of battle and slam home in the infantry.  Destroying them to the man.

The Sicilian Knights shift and stabilize their line.

  

The Angevin Knights meet the challenge and take on two of the Sicilian units and hold their own.  The Angevin training helped out in holding the line.

A routed Sicilian Knight unit.

A little confusion in the Sicilian rear.  A Angevin Knight unit charged into the flank of Sicilian knights routing them and were poised to flank another unit.

An Angevin reversal.  Their knight unit gets disrupted and falls back but the Sicilians don't follow up.

More routed Sicilian Knights.  The Sicilian commander was looking rather glum at this point.  Most of his knight units were routed or disrupted.  The teeth of the army was hurting at this point.

The far side of the battle field finally sees some movement.

A long look at the routed Sicilian units.

You will also notice that there is a lack of Angevin Infantry units left.

It what could only be described as a miracle the routed knights of the Sicilians passed their morale tests and swung around ready to fight.  The beating the Angevin infantry took was enough to wipe out their available morale chips.  The Angevin commander fled the field with his army following behind.

This is one of the reasons I love playing Piquet.  The games never play out the way you think they will go.  There are always some sort of reversal in the game that sends it in a direction you didn't think it would go.

We had a great time with this little battle and will probably journey here again.