Command and Control – The Great Italian Wars

 

Command and Control was problematic in the Great Italian Wars.

The Spanish Army probably had the best of it.  Mostly Spanish soldiers obeyed orders and acted on instruction. For them greatness beckoned. 

Not so the French majoring as they did in Gendarmes and Swiss infantry.

The aristocratic Gendarmes found it difficult to follow orders that prevented them immediately setting about the foe. 

Likewise, the distinctly non aristocratic Swiss infantry.  The Swiss knew they were battle winners and often got bored with the elaborations of Generals.  Sometimes they had already made their own battle plans. On other occasions they simply decided to hurry things up.  Consequently, the excellent and expensive French artillery often found itself to be redundant.

Italian armies could produce surprises too.  The Italian states famously employed professional mercenary companies. They also experimented with arming and raising soldiers from their own populations.  This progressed into arming, training and paying the men involved. 

Such troops could be volatile.  Sometimes, they ran early and fast.  They could also move immediately to charge and fight fiercely against the despoilers of their patrimony.  Other times they simply did their best and obeyed orders.

Here is an extract from the current “Command and Control” section of draft 1 of Gonzalo.

“This is a card activated game for the Italian Wars. It is intended for solo or two player games, or multiples of two.

To play it you need to make a card, or cards, for every unit and commander you intend to field.  The resulting card deck will contain a card for every unit and commander, two cards for each Swiss unit and some special cards.

The special cards are called Artillery, Rally, Run and Charge.

When the Artillery Card is turned both sides may fire their artillery at any available target they choose.  All deployed guns may fire twice on each Artillery Card.

The Rally Card enables both players to attempt to rally any of their units that are in trouble(define). To rally a unit, throw a D6 a score of 4 will rally the unit.  Should you have a commander within 6 inches of the unit add 1 to the dice score.  If the Army Commander is within 6 inches add 2 to the dice score.  A unit that fails to rally will withdraw from the battle line moving backwards at half speed in each turn until it reaches its start line.  Whenever the Rally Card appears again during the unit’s retreat another attempt to rally can be made.  If the unit reaches its start line that is no longer possible. There it will halt only fighting defensively for the rest of the game.

The Run Card only effects newly levied troops that may have been shot at but are not yet in hand- to- hand combat.  Throw a D6 a score of 5 or 6 is a panic. The unit turns and runs and doesn’t stop. On a 4 it moves immediately to close combat with the nearest enemy.  On 1,2 or 3 it continues to act as the player wishes.

The Charge Card applies only to French Gendarmes. Throw a D6 for each Gendarme unit facing an enemy. On a score of 5 or 6 the unit will charge the nearest enemy.  If it does so, its supporting heavy cavalry will follow in support and also charge in the next turn.

Should you have a commander within 6 inches of the unit you may add or deduct 1 to or from the dice score.  If the Army Commander is within 6 inches you may deduct 2 from the dice score.”

Now, I ask myself will this all work?  There is only one way to find out.  To that end I have begun making the Cards and shortly hope to have enough units painted to try an experimental game.