Agnadello, Game #4

Game #4 in the series of 1509 Battle of Agnadello refights took place a week ago and saw a rematch with the players of Game #1 (see BatRep: Agnadello 1509).  In Game #4, players switch sides with Tony (Carpi) and David B. (Alviano) commanding the Venetian Army while Mark (King Louis XII) and Chris (Chamont) taking command of the French Army.  On Turn 5, David C. joins in to take over Tremoille's reinforcing column.    

Armies arrayed for battle.

Recall that in Game#1, the battle ended in Tony and David B. scoring a decisive French victory.  Would game #4 even the score?  Read on to find out!

As both armies advance toward one another, Carpi moves his light cavalry forward in a charge against the King's exposed guns.  As an aside, in my two games with Richard, this ploy worked for Richard when he led the Venetians but failed for me when I was at the Venetian helm.  For Tony, this day sees the Stradiots sweep away both guns without hardly breaking a sweat!  The Venetians are off to a solid start.  Carpi's two pike blocks hold their positions behind the irrigation ditch as Chamont brings his troops forward. Gascon crossbowmen take up positions in the vineyards and harass the Italian pikemen.

Stradiots attack!

Both of the King's guns are destroyed!

The French Right Wing advances against the Venetian Left.

Venetians come under fire.

Annoyed by losing his guns at the start of battle, King Louis orders his wing forward.  Having overrun the French guns, the Stradiots briefly tangle with the Swiss before retiring in search of a way out of the bind in which they find themselves.  These horsemen make a long ride behind enemy lines!

The King sets his wing into motion.

Stradiots' long ride behind enemy lines!

In an effort to counter the King's movements against the Venetian Right, Alviano begins the laborious process of bringing his cavalry across the ditch.  Having successfully brought his light cavalry over the obstacle and while making its way through the woods, Alviano's light cavalry come up against enemy cavalry.  Before clearing the woods, the Venetian horsemen are attacked by the King's mounted crossbow and driven back.  Sticking with them, the crossbowmen scatter the enemy when pursuit leads to rout.

Having dispatched the Venetian light cavalry, headlong pursuit brings the pursuers face to face with Alviano leading his MAA over the ditch.  Still disordered from their fight with the terrain, Alviano easily sees the light cavalry off.  The French light cavalry retreat after having suffered heavy casualties.  Alviano takes up pursuit of the pursuers and continues forward into more French light cavalry.  By now, Alviano's attacks have run out of momentum, and he orders his MAA back into the woods to recover. 

Light cavalry clash in the woods...

the French pursue...

but are thrown back when Alviano brings his MAA up.

Exhausted, Alviano retires back to the safety of the woods. 

Carpi's Italian pike blocks continue taking crossbow fire as the rightmost block turns to face a potential threat from the King's French pikemen.  Carpi keeps his heavy gun in action by pounding the Gascons in the vineyard.  Neither army is anxious to cross the ditch to bring the fight to the enemy.

Looks like a stand-off in the center.

Back on the French Left, the King takes advantage of Alviano's reluctance to emerge from the woods.  If the Italians will not come out, the King will go in!  Given the difficulty of the ground, the odds are about even as the French Gendarmes move into the woods.  In a brief clash, Alviano is sent backwards into the ditch.  At the head of his Gendarmes, King Louis sets off in pursuit, but the nature of the ground prevents him from catching the fleeing Italians.  In fact, the King completely misjudges the direction of retreat and completely bypasses the enemy in the woods! 

Alviano attacked...

and driven off by the King!

In the confusion, King Louis pursues past Alviano.

After peppering the central Italian pike block with missile fire, the French pikemen enter the ditch to take the fight to the Italians.  In a lengthy pike scrum, the Italians are pushed back.  Losses mount.  

Over the ditch...

and into the Italians!

Like the King's heavy cavalry attack against Alviano on the Venetian Right, on the French Right, Chamont leads his Gendarmes against the Venetian Left into an attack on Carpi and his MAA.  In the swirling melee, Carpi and his Italians are driven off with Chamont in pursuit.  Both bodies of Italian heavy cavalry are in retreat!  The security of Alviano's flanks is crumbling.  

Chamont vs Carpi

Carpi is defeated and retreats!

Back in the center, the French victory against Carpi's pike block is short-lived.  Having finally come down from the high ground and crossed the ditch, one of Alviano's own pike blocks smacks into the French pikemen.  While the French suffer heavy losses, they stubbornly maintain their ground.  Alviano's Italians are tossed back into the ditch!  

Italian pike block attacks...

and are repulsed!

French pikemen hold their ground, worse for the wear,

much worse for the wear.

As the rain begins to fall with more determination, and the ground is getting heavy, the third French Battle of Tremoille arrives onto the battlefield.  On the Venetian Left, Carpi is coming under increasing pressure as missile fire is concentrated upon his pike block that remains positioned defending the ditch.  With Italian MAA dispatched and Chamont leading his Gendarmes off to the Italian rear, these pikemen could be in serious jeopardy.      

Tremoille and the rain arrives.

The noose tightens.

To relieve pressure on Carpi, Alviano's Provisionati pike block crosses the ditch and crashes into the remnants of the French pike block.  The French are pushed back to the ditch with the Italians in hot pursuit.  Not only are the French dispatched but an adjacent body of Gascon crossbow are driven back as well.  Immediate results are promising but success is fleeting.  The King's Swiss erupt out of the ditch and drive the Italian pikemen off.

Into the French...

scattering them before they can escape.

Swiss drive off the Italians!

The Venetian Army is wavering from setbacks all across the battlefield.  In rapid succession, the French decisively turn the tide of battle.  First Tremoille's Gendarmes ride down the Venetian light cavalry marauding in the rear.  Then, the King dispatches Alviano's MAA before they can get out of harm's way.  Finally, Chamont's Swiss come up out of the ditch to push the Italians back.  These final acts are just enough to break the Venetian Army. 

Finishing off the renegade light cavalry.

Scattering Alviano's MAA.

Swiss attacking out from the ditch.

Venetian Army ready to break!

This battle is over and Alviano must extract what is left of his army from the battlefield.  

Victory to the French, Mark, Chris, David C.!

Butcher's Bill

A glance at the Dead Pile shows that in terms of stands lost, casualties were about even.  What really cost the Venetians was the loss of both units of MAA.  Without losing the Venetian heavy cavalry, the battle may have lasted a turn or two more.  Alviano may have actually been able to hold on long enough to run out the clock before Tremoille could get his Battle firmly into the fight.  With rain coming down, getting Tremoille into battle would be no easy task.

Great job guys in a battle well-fought.  Midgame, it looked like the Venetians had a solid chance to overturn the historical result, but it was just not to be.

Very exciting battle to watch unfold.  As the Italian Wars armies are cleared from the table, next time, something completely different will show up for a few games.

Do Miniatures Wargamers Play Boardgames?

We begin the New Year with a new analysis of Wargames, Soldiers, and Strategy's 2024 Great Wargaming Survey (GWS).

On deck in this installment is a look at one of the new questions added into the 2024 survey. What is the new question?  

Do you play board wargames, including hex-and-counter or block wargames?

I have received comments regarding including this question in past years so very good to see that the topic of board wargame participation got the nod for inclusion into the 2024 survey.  Many of these comments came from wargamers who dabble in both tabletop miniatures games and board wargames and cross-over between the two mediums regularly.  Without giving some light to this section of the hobby, board wargamers felt that their interests were being either overlooked or discounted.  For many, this is an important component of wargaming, so time to give board wargaming some visibility in the survey!  For this question, boardgames include hex-and-counter and block wargames.

While I enjoy both wargaming mediums, many wargamers choose to follow only one path and stick to their lane.  For those wargamers responding to the survey with a "Yes" (Boardgame_IND="Yes" in graphics below) to the question, I label this group as cross-over wargamers with the assumption that both tabletop miniatures and boardgames are played.  What does the survey show?

When the survey results are tallied, nearly 61% of respondents stated that they play board wargames.  Now, even though the GWS is miniatures wargaming centric, the survey does not exclude those respondents that are purely board wargamers with no cross-over interest in miniatures wargaming.  Is a roughly 60/40 split a reasonable or surprising result?  From personal experience, I expected cross-over to be a little more.  From the social media (wargaming blogs predominately) I follow, I expected fewer cross-over wargamers. 

As seen in many of the past analyses, results are broken down by a few, select demographic attributes.  Group Size, and Age Group, Primary Interest, and Location are four of the attributes under examination.  Finally, Time Spent, while not a demographic attribute, hints at the time allocated between miniatures wargaming and board wargaming. 

Group Size

Why look at Group Size?  While I enjoy solo wargaming both with miniatures and board wargames, I know some wargamers struggle playing hex-and-counter wargames as a solitary exercise.  I read accounts of players getting out the game, taking hours to set it up, maybe playing a turn or two, and then packing everything back up, unsatisfied by the experience.  Well, from years of personal experience and reading about others' wargaming journeys, my hunch was that hex-and-counter wargaming might be less accessible to solo wargamers than for larger groups.

Survey results suggest that my hunch may be correct.  That is, 52% of solo wargamers play boardgames while 60% or more of larger groups play boardgames.

Age Group

What if the question is broken out by respondent Age Group?  Are age group differences present in the analysis?  Yes.  What the survey suggests is that cross-over wargaming sees the highest participation in the 41-70 age groups with a peak in the 51-60 cohort.  Is this blip up in boardgame cross-over due to family and work constraints and commitments?  Personally, while I still bring hex-and-counter wargames to the table, the percentage of actual playing time for board wargames has decreased with age. 

Primary Interest

When survey respondents are grouped by Primary Interest (entirely historical, entirely fantasy/sci-fi, or somewhere in the middle), do differences emerge with respect to boardgame participation?

Yes!  Wargamers in the Fantasy/Sci-fi group tend to play boardgames less than historical gamers and much less than gamers in the "Mixed" grouping.  Seeing that the Mixed group plays more frequently than either the Fantasy/Sci-Fi or Historicals is not surprising since that group's hobby interests tend to be broader than either of the two specialist groups. 

Location

Do differences exist between cross-over wargaming based upon player location?  To explore the answer to this question, look at UK/Ireland and USA/Canada.  Between these two groups, a large difference presents itself in the cross-over group.  For the UK/Ireland group, 55% of respondents play board wargames.  For the USA/Canada group, 66% of respondents play boardgames.  Why the wide chasm between these two groups of wargamers?  Is board wargaming a more North American centered facet of wargaming than in the UK/Ireland?  The survey suggests that this might be the case. 

Time Spent

The last attribute to consider consists of a follow-up question.  That is,

If you do play board wargames, do you spend more or less time with tabletop miniature wargaming than with board wargames?

Survey results show that nearly three out of four respondents spend more or much time with tabletop miniatures wargaming than with board wargaming.  Only about 14% of respondents spend less or much less time gaming with miniatures than with board wargames.  Given the nature of the pool of likely respondents, this result is not surprising.  Is it?

To summarize the findings of the survey:

• About 60% play board wargames.
• Middle-age wargamers tend to play more board wargames than other cohorts.
• Fantasy/Sci-Fi wargamers tend to play fewer boardgames than other groups.
• USA/Canada wargamers play more board wargames than any other country.
• 75% of wargamers spend more or much more time playing tabletop miniatures wargames than board wargames. 

Interesting takeaways from the survey.  Where do you fit into this mix?  Do you play board wargames and if so, does miniatures wargaming consume a larger proportion of playing time than board wargames?

Bavarians and the Current State

While I cannot speak for others, I occasionally fall into a period where there is so much on my wargaming plate that thoughts explode on possibilities and works pile up. Without concentrated focus, the wheels of progress wind up spinning with limited traction.  Anyone else suffer from too many ideas and not enough time or energy to tackle them all?

I notice this sense of falling behind correlates closely on the heels of hosting a game and tapping out a long battle report.  Both require a lot of work.  These two efforts can leave my energy levels depleted for a few days.  Last week's Agnadello game with Richard (see Agnadello, Rematch) is the latest such example.

Before I had a chance to catch my breath, another Agnadello battle played out on the table in a rematch on Tuesday.  Another interesting and exciting battle whose tale is yet to be told.

Battle of Agnadello

After today's task of clearing the gaming table of Great Italian Wars, the plan is to pull out the Old West gunfighters for a game or two.  Now, these figures have not seen action in more than 20 years.  

I will dig up my playtest copy of Bryan Ansell's The Rules With No Name to see what I remember from hosting gunfights all of those years ago.  I have been making character cards and a QRS and should be prepared to host a few remote games in a week or two.  Rather than historical, big battle scenarios, we will try our hands at something more lighthearted and Hollywood.  Tentatively, the plan is to host a few cross-group remote games.  I think it will be a fun change of pace for all involved.  Hopefully, I can get up to speed on the rules quickly enough to present a seemingly smooth game.

Besides gaming, there are two GWS2024 analyses in work.  Preliminary data wrangling is complete.  Now, just need to write up the findings.

Among the books arriving in-house over the holidays, one title delivered last week was Ford and Hutchinson's, The Fundamentals of Tabletop Miniatures Game Design.  While weighing-in at 241 pages, the book is a quick read containing a number of interesting ideas and thought-provoking commentary.  For me, the first section, Miniatures as Medium, especially deserves further exploration and counterpoints before delving into the remaining two sections.

What about Bavarians?  Oh yeah!  I ended 2024 with a satisfying flourish of painting activity that will be detailed once I get around to the Year in Review painting round-up.  Figures are stacking up at the photo booth but I managed to push out a 23-figure regiment of Bavarian infantry today.

Foot figures are Lancashire Games led by a Eureka mounted colonel.  Lots more SYW/WAS units mustering out soon including British, French, and Spanish.

Until next time...

Agnadello, The Rematch!

Reject Richard joined me on Monday for a rematch of our recent Agnadello battle (Richard's Battle Account and Jon's Battle Account).  In that contest, my French Army won a major victor against Richard's Venetian Army.  In post-battle discussion, we suggested that a rematch was in order.  We decided to swap sides and refight the battle looking from the other side of the table.  Now, Richard has already posted a superb account of our rematch (see Agnadello Rematch).  Really, if you have not already read Richard's account, pop over to his blog and read the battle through his eyewitness account and keyboard.  Great stuff!  While the game only lasted about two hours and ticked off only four turns, those four turns were packed with action from the opening salvo. 

Armies deployed and ready for battle.

Having re-read the historical battle accounts and watched on as Mark and then Richard commanded the Venetian Left Wing, I waffled over whether sending Carpi over the ditch on Turn 1 to confront Chamont was the prudent move.  After careful consideration, rather than standing behind the ditch and being shot to pieces by all of the missile fire from the French, the best strategy was to wade the ditch and bring the enemy to battle.  For the French on a time schedule, I figured King Louis would begin the battle on the attack.

On to battle!

Carpi waits behind the ditch
with Alviano in the background.

Venetian pike blocks at the ready.

The French Army prepares to advance.

As both armies are set into motion, Alviano sends his skirmishers across the ditch to take up positions in the vineyards.  Hopefully these skirmishers will slow the delivery of the King's blow against the Venetian Right.  Chamont, on the French Right, steps off toward Carpi's Venetians positioned beyond the ditch.  Taking missile fire from Gascon crossbowmen, Carpi sends his two pike blocks into the ditch in an effort to drive back the French.  As the leftmost pike block negotiates the ditch, the body of crossbowmen continues sending volleys into the Venetians.  Coming up out of the ditch, the pikemen attack into the vineyard to dislodge the enemy.   

Skirmishers occupy the vineyard as the King advances.

Venetian pike into the ditch!

Reminded of Richard's previous game success with his Stradiot attack against the French guns in the center, I opt for the same tactic.  Rather than seeing French guns overrun and crews cut down, Richard's French guns drop some horsemen and disorder the Stradiots before they can fully launch the attack.  I find no success in this attack and the Venetian Stradiots are driven off with great loss.  Sigh.

Stradiots repulsed!

With Carpi’s Provisionati Square coming up and out of the ditch and into the enemy positioned in the vineyard , the Venetians successfully eject the Gascons from the vineyard sending them to the rear in disorder.  Plowing ahead, the Italians run into a Swiss pike block and a body of supporting crossbow.  As the Venetians close, the crossbowmen manage to get off an ineffective shot before the two pike blocks clash.  Fighting through the Swiss dopplesoldners, the pikemen push forward as the dopplesoldners fall to the rear of the formation.  Despite putting up stiff resistance, the Swiss are pushed back toward the main road.  The now isolated Gascons retreat in sympathy.  The victorious Italians fail to pursue.     

Gascons fall back in front of Venetians...

as the Venetians contact the Swiss. 

Swiss fall back!

Perhaps a little embarrassed by being pushed back by the Italians, the Swiss regroup and then charge into the vineyard.  The Venetians are ejected and tumble back down into the ditch.  The Swiss pursue.  In an extended push of pike between the Swiss and Venetians, the Venetians are forced back once again.  Casualties are heavy with the Swiss losing about two-thirds of their strength.

The Swiss counterattack...

driving the Italians back into the ditch.

Carpi's Cernite Square, on the right, steps into the action by attacking out of a vineyard and into more Gascon crossbow.  While suffering light casualties as they close, the Italians send the Gascons scurrying for the rear.  The Italians do not let up.  In pursuit, many of the Gascons are scattered.  Not much of Chamont's command remains on the field.

Gascons under attack!

Pursuit and annihilation.

Chamont's command is tattered.

Seeing that Alviano is moving his pike blocks up to reinforce Carpi's success on the Left and sensing the battle is slipping away, the King counters by setting his French and Swiss pike blocks into motion.  Leading the advance, mounted crossbowmen clear the vineyards of enemy skirmishers.

Light cavalry move up to challenge enemy skirmishers...

and succeed!

King Louis is not the only commander sensing opportunity.  With thoughts of halting the King's advance, Alviano attacks!  First his Stradiots drive off enemy light cavalry as Alviano and his MAA emerge from the cover of the woods.  Alviano charges the nearest enemy light cavalry and they disappear under the Venetians' hooves.  Facing a French pike block, Alviano pulls up and does not pursue.  

Enemy crossbow are driven back as Alviano charges.

A second body of enemy mounted crossbow are dispatched...

but no pursuit.

While cavalry clashes are swirling on the French Left, Chamont, on the French Right, attacks in an effort to salvage the situation he faces.  Leading his Gendarmes forward, Chamont crashes into Carpi and his MAA.  The initial impact sends Carpi backwards.  Chamont pursues.  Catching the Italian MAA as they retire, Carpi turns around to face his opponent.  In a melee that seems to last forever, Chamont finally drives Carpi and his MAA off.  The Italian heavy horsemen are no match for French Gendarmes.  Watching as Chamont drives off enemy MAA, what is left of the Swiss pike block advances back into the ditch.  There it strikes the enemy pike block and drives the Italians back away from the ditch.

Chamont vs Carpi!

Carpi retreats but is able to regroup to face Chamont.

A lengthy melee, that is one for the record books,
 ends in victory for Chamont.

Swiss in action...

successfully drive back the enemy!

Returning to the French Left, seeing that Alviano hesitates, the King orders the pikemen forward.  In a quick clash, the French are repulsed, no worse the wear for their effort.  As the enemy retires, Alviano seizes this opportunity to pursue. Rather than targeting the pike block, Alviano is after the King!  Skirting the French pike block, Alviano's pursuit is stopped by the King and his Gendarmes.  Alviano's MAA are no match for the King's Gendarmes.  Alviano recoils with the King in hot pursuit.  Alviano cannot make good his escape.  He and his MAA are caught from behind.  His MAA are cut down.  Alviano barely escapes and seeks safe harbor with the nearby Stradiots.  The King wheels and strikes the Stradiots from the side.  Alviano's light cavalry are scattered and Alviano falls dead on the field!   

French pike attack...

but are repulsed.

Alviano pursues into the King's Gendarmes,...

his MAA are cut down...

and Alviano falls in battle!

What looked like the possibility for a Venetian triumph early on, the battle has turned.  Jumping back over to the French Right, Chamont continues his pursuit of Carpi.  This time, the wavering Italian horsemen are defeated but Carpi escapes to seek refuse within the Italian pike block.  The Swiss are not yet finished either.  Again, they attack the Italians.  Again, the Italians retire.  With both flanks turned and Alviano dead on the field, Carpi orders a general withdrawal to save what is left of this army. 

Chamont attacks!

Swiss attack!

Battle is over...

As mentioned in the opening paragraph, this refight of Agnadello saw non-stop action from the opening exchanges.  While lasting about two hours, the fighting and drama were ever present and the turns whizzed by.

Butcher's Bill

Congratulations to Richard for a very well-earned victory.  I thought the Venetians had a chance when Carpi drove straight into the French Right and scattered much of that wing.  That sense of victory was fleeting, however.  Richard came roaring back to secure a decisive victory.  Those darn Swiss and French Gendarmes are tough opponents to stop.  I certainly could not stop them on this day.

Outstanding fight!  Thank you, Richard!  Very good fun and the Venetians could have been contenders.  Almost.  Perhaps on another day.