Pages

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Battle of Sanguetta 1497, Game #3

With two Sanguetta battles in the Log Book, Game #3 takes the stage with two Dave's battling it out for honor and supremacy.  Like the earlier two contests, each player submitted his initial army deployment to me ahead of game time.  David B. would command Vitelli's Army (red dice) while David C. took the reins of Borgia's Army (Blue dice).

When both players joined into the session, the battlefield looked as,
Initial deployments
with Vitelli's Army lined up along the edge of the gently sloping hill while Borgia positioned his army within the open woods below the high ground.
The armies poised for battle!
As Borgia readies his troops, Vitelli sends his crossbowmen down the slopes to bring the enemy within range.  Sensing opportunity, Borgia's Landsknechts emerge from the woods to engage the enemy.  With the dopplesoldners in the fore of the pike block, the Landsknechts attack.

Firing into the swordsmen at close range, the dopplesoldners are compelled to retire to the rear of the pike block.  Seeing the dopplesoldners retire, the Landsknechts press on.  Not able to withstand the push of the pikemen, Vitelli's crossbowmen retire back up the hill where they find support from Vitelli and his Men-at-Arms.  The Landsknechts continue pressing forward in pursuit of the retiring enemy.  There, they come face to face with a wall of enemy troops including the Vitelli and his MAAs.  
Borgia's Army waits in the woods.
Landsknechts attack with dopplesoldners leading the way.
As dopplesoldners retire, the pikemen press on.
Vitelli's crossbowmen are driven back
and the Landsknechts pursue.
The Landsknechts, attacking uphill into the teeth of the enemy position, are stopped having suffered heavy casualties.  With their momentum gone, the Landsknechts fall back down the slopes as the enemy's MAA launch a counterattack.  Faced with a now steady wall of pikes, the MAA retire back up and fall back into their place in the battle line.  Seeing the heavy horsemen withdraw, the Landsknechts redouble their efforts against the crossbowmen.  The Landsknechts go in again!  On Vitelli's Left, his mounted crossbow are suffering from the fire of both mounted and foot crossbow.
Vitelli's MAA pursue...
but quickly retire.
Vitelli's crossbowmen cannot withstand a second attack.  The men first waver and then break.  Despite clearing the enemy from their front, the Landsknechts fail to follow-up in pursuit.  This momentary hesitation is all that Vitelli needs.  He sends his large pike block in a counterattack against the Landsknechts while his pike block on the right confronts Borgia's MAA as they approach the hill.  
Landsknechts attack again driving off the enemy crossbow!
Counterattack!
While Vitelli's pikemen see off Borgia's MAA on the right, Borgia's Landsknechts hold their ground.  Vitelli's pikemen fall back.  Having suffered horrible casualties defending their ground, the Landsknechts choose not to pursue.  Vitelli's mounted crossbow fall back to avoid the punishing enemy missile fire.
You win some; you lose some.
Situation viewed from behind Borgia lines.
Surprised at seeing the Landsknechts fail to pursue, Vitelli's pikemen rally themselves and advance back into the fray.  Still wavering from their recent efforts and combat losses, the Landsknechts can hold on no longer.  Borgia and his Landsknechts reel back down the slopes with the enemy in hot pursuit.  Vitelli's guns on the hill finally find the range and begin taking shots into the dense pike blocks in the clearing below.  
The Landsknechts buckle from repeated attacks.
With their blood up, Vitelli's pike block continues to hound the Landsknechts as the pursuit continues.  The Landsknecht retreat continues.  The pursuit finds Vitelli's pikemen unsupported and among the enemy army.  Seeing his pikemen now isolated, Vitelli leads his MAA forward into Borgia's second pike block.  Charging down from the heights, the MAA crash into the pikemen.
Vitelli pursues the wavering Landsknechts.
Landsknechts are streaming toward the rear.
Even support from crossbowmen cannot stop the pursuit.
Vitelli and his MAA charge into enemy pike!
The weight of Vitelli's MAA is too much to resist.  Borgia's pike block is driven back with great casualties.  The pikemen recoil.  Vitelli pursues.  More pikemen are lost as the MAA catch their foe.  Again, the pikemen are driven back.  Again, Vitelli continues his relentless pursuit.  More of the Papal pikemen flee from the present threat.     
Vitelli and his MAA crash into enemy pike.
A running pursuit depletes the Papal pike block.
Seeing that his entire army is either scattered or in full retreat, Borgia abandons the field.  Victory to Vitelli! 
End of battle with Borgia in retreat.
Wow!  An impressive victory for David B. and his Orsini-backed army under the leadership of Vitelli.  Congratulations, DB!  This whole affair was fought to conclusion in under two hours.  DC, my condolences on your loss.

While we are hesitant to lay blame at the feet of the Dice Gods, this time they showed their hand repeatedly.  Not to take anything away from DB's stunning victory but Vitelli pursued when he needed to while Borgia failed to pursue when the opportunity arose.  Those failures to pursue and press on cost Borgia dearly.  In the end, Borgia's Army was in tatters while Vitelli's Army was still, mostly intact.

Still, a very dynamic and exciting came to watch unfold.  Well-played by both Daves!  

48 comments:

  1. Another fantastic iteration of this scenario, Jon, and nice to see it was, once again, a very different battle from the two preceding outings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Keith! Yes, this played out differently than the previous two.

      Delete
  2. It's been really interesting in see how the scenario plays out each time, and very nice to see those lovely troops on the table, been a wee treat on this dark and damp morning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Donnie, happy to bring a little light to a dark and damp day. Seeing a battle in multiple playings is both interesting and insightful.

      Delete
  3. Another fascinating report and another defeat for the Pope's men.
    [In the last part of the report and the third photo caption from the end, have you written Borgia where it should say Vitelli? It reads like Borgia is leading MAA off the hill against the papal pike block. Forgive me if I've misunderstood something]
    You're clearly busy with both hosting games and writing reports, so please know it's appreciated.
    Stephen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed the report, Stephen! Yes, the Pope’s army falls again. You are right about the caption. Corrected. Thank you.

      Delete
  4. Jonathan, another fine review of play and many wonderful photos. Grand game. Fourth round?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jonathan - Great Fun! Looks like the Sanguetta scenario is suitably balanced; only another 20 odd scenarios to go... A

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. While Vitelli currently holds a 2-1 advantage in victories, both armies had plenty of opportunities to score a win. A number of scenarios in the book are too large for my collection. I may need to return to painting more units or call in reinforcements from a buddy’s collection.

      Delete
    2. As if you need an excuse! I suspect that will prove to be a most expensive book; but worth it.

      Delete
    3. No; but I am. Milanese crossbowmen and elmeti have hit the painting table. Thank you for the inspiration.

      Delete
    4. You’re welcome! I have Swiss crossbow in the painting queue…

      Delete
  6. Very nice report Jon, and it all looks beautiful. Well played, Daves!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Another epic encounter well described and illustrated, the rules seem to work well for the period?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you approve of the presentation! As a “basic” game engine, Basic Impetvs works well for me. As a bonus, players rarely complain.

      Delete
  8. Another superb Encounter Jonathan

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great battle, though some guys never seem to catch a dice related break do they?!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! You know, both Dave’s tend to have spotty luck with the dice. Going into this battle, I wondered how those tendencies would materialize in play. For DC, his dice were really unkind. Still, a very enjoyable game. Thanks for joining in as an observer.

      Delete
  10. Excellent. The player determined deployment really makes every game so very different, and entirely entertaining.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pre-planned deployments give players another set of decisions to make. Glad you approve!

      Delete
  11. Great looking big battle with pikes again, Jonathan!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Another good looking game and one that had plenty of ebb and Flo. Nice work!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Another exciting game with a different outcome! Not to be nitpicking, but near the end, the report states
    "The weight of Vitelli's MAA is too much to resist. Borgia's pike block is driven back with great casualties. The pikemen recoil. Borgia pursues. More pikemen are lost as the MAA catch their foe. Again, the pikemen are driven back. Again, Borgia continues his relentless pursuit. More of the Papal pikemen flee from the present threat."
    Shouldn't it be 'Vitelli persues' and 'Vitelli continues his relentless pursuit'?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sheesh! Of course you are correct! I should stick to Red and Blue! At least the captions are correct and some readers are actually reading the account.

      Good catch and thank you!

      Delete
  14. Amazing! Even playing Basic Impetus can be so exciting 8о

    ReplyDelete
  15. Awesome looking game and it sounds a close run thing, it's a pity we're not closer I'd be happy to lend you some of my Italian wars figures! I am now looking at my Italian wars collection, a really good scenario I think!
    Best Iain caveadsum1471

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Iain! It is a shame we are not closer. Think of all the gaming we could do by combining collections. This was a good scenario especially as an introduction to the period for many of the participants.

      Delete
  16. A rousing battle report and a joy to see the armies in action again, a splendid and inspiring sight!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your encouraging words are much appreciated, David!

      Delete
  17. As usual a fine report on the game and a lovely looking game no doubt!

    Christopher

    ReplyDelete
  18. Many thanks Jon, that was a great game and superbly hosted and managed by your good self, as ever!
    I have to admit I felt lucky to win it - my deployment was not very smart, I trapped my Men-At-Arms between the two pike blocks and allowed the enemy MAA to have free reign on the flank. And then my tactics at the start were poor too - I advanced both mounted and foot crossbows too close to the enemy, the mounted guys got shot to bits and the foot were immediately charged by enemy pike and sent packing!
    Lucky for me, maybe the latter blunted the attack of the Borgia's pikes a bit. I also got very lucky that their MAA were repelled when they attacked me, and then my dice-rolling in the big combats saved me, especially the cohesion test rolls, my Men-At-Arms passed pretty much every test and just kept rolling forward!
    So I think we can summarise this as 'Vitelli made some poor decisions on the day but was lucky that his Pikemen and Men-At-Arms stayed resolute and dug him out of a hole!'. The dice gods have their reasons..
    Thanks again to you, and to Dave C, sorry his dice were not quite as lucky for him ( but his tactics were good! )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David, you are welcome! The game was great fun with plenty of interesting decisions made and plenty of drama.

      You may feel to be lucky to win but often we make our own luck. Your army got off to a rocky start but you recovered from those early missteps quickly and really got down to business.

      Your ability to pass Cohesion and Pursuit Tests when you needed to and DC's inability to do the same propelled you deep into his line. Once Borgia's Army was on its backfoot from this pressure, you never let up. From that pressure, DC was never allowed an opportunity to rally.

      This was an enjoyable battle to watch unfold. Thank you for playing!

      Delete
  19. "Dave, you need to roll 3d6.
    No, I meant the other Dave. It's Dave's turn after all."
    and other silly moments like that are in my mind.
    The colored dice does help ID for me which side is which.
    nice report! and some really nice looking close ups. 😁

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Having two Dave's can be confusing, no doubt. I solved that dilemma by sticking to their tabletop commanders' names.

      Since both armies look similar, you can't tell the players without the colored dice.

      Delete
    2. I rather like being one of 'the two Daves'. It's easy, I am Dave B and he is Dave C. In Harry Pearson's brilliant book 'Achtung Schweinhund' I think he states that 'Fifty per cent of all war gamers are called Dave - it's a fact.'

      Delete
    3. In this battle, 100% of the wargamers were Daves!

      Delete
  20. Another great game there Jon, with the green cloth and its fog-of-war providing different deployments again. As always an absolute visual feast and a size of action that seems to have been fairly common. This is not helping me resolve re: this period along with reading Oman!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Steve! Good to see your resolve slowly weakening. Another battle report is up to weaken your resolve even more...

      Delete