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Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Last Stand at Fornovo

The group of five players from Game #4 (see Still Fornovocating) returned to the table in Game #6 for a rematch.  Doug and Stephen switched sides while Mark, Brian, and Alan switched commands. 
Battle lines drawn.
The commands for Game #6 are illustrated in the photo below.
Army deployments and player commands 
While the French skirmishers and cavalry deploy,
its infantry marches on. 
French King Charles VIII prepares for the attack
he expects to fall upon his army.
The Italian League's Right awaits
orders to cross the Taro River.
The battle opens with Gonzaga sending one of his two bodies of Men-at-Arms (MAA) straight away across the Taro River and into the center of the French battleline.  Almost without effort, a French gun is overrun and the MAA carry on into de Gie's Gendarmes.  Fighting is fierce as the two bodies of heavily armored horsemen clash.  The first melee of the battle sees de Gie gaining an upper hand.  The Italians are forced back with de Gie in hot pursuit.  The Italian nobles are caught from behind and scattered.  From the opposite bank of the Taro, Gonzaga looks on as his initial attack is repulsed and his MAA destroyed.  The battle is not opening in the manner in which he envisioned.
Italian MAA charge into the guns...
overrun them and crash into de Gie's Gendarmes.
De Gie drives the enemy back... 
and then scatters the Italians in pursuit. 
On the Italian Left, de Monotone's MAA emerge from the ford and charge into the King's Gendarmes.  The clash is decided quickly as the Italians, still disordered from crossing the ford, are cut down quickly as the King leads his Gendarmes into battle.  The survivors of de Montone's MAA are driven back across the river.  They are done for the day.   

With his cavalry streaming back across the river, de Montone orders his infantry to cross the Taro.  Before the infantry can climb up the opposite bank, they are struck by a second body of Gendarmes and driven back across the Taro.  In the early going, two Italian cavalry charges end with two Italian bodies of horsemen destroyed.  This may be an uphill fight! 
De Montone attacks and his MAA are
 destroyed by the King's Gendarmes.
De Montone's infantry are stalled
 in their attempt to cross the Taro.
Gonzaga remains undaunted.

Sending mounted crossbow across the river, the Italian light cavalry overrun a second French gun.  With Caiazzo's light cavalry on the Italian Right harassing de Gie's French Wing, Caiazzo brings his German pikemen across the Taro to support Gonzaga's light cavalry in the center.
A second French gun is overrun...
while German pikemen advance into the French Center.
Overview of battle situation.
As the Germans plod forward in their dense formation, de Gie leads his Gendarmes into a frontal attack against this formidable foe.  Despite the heavy fighting and scoring four hits (blue die) against the French, de Gie overcomes the odds and drives the Germans back with very heavy losses.  The Germans retreat with only about half of the infantry they maintained moments before.

More despair for the Italians.
de Gie attacks the German pike block...
driving them off in great disorder and with great loss.
Still the Italians come on!  Gonzaga brings his infantry across the Taro as the river continues to rise.  After witnessing his Germans manhandled by de Gie's Gendarmes, Caiazzo leads his MAA through the river and into the now wavering Gendarmes.  In a flash, de Gie's Gendarmes are scattered and de Gie lays dead on the field.  In pursuit of de Gie's fleeing cavalry, Caiazzo cuts a wide swath through the French battle line.  French skirmishers are cut down and the French Army is split in two! 
Gonzaga brings his infantry across.
Caiazzo leads his MAA against de Gie.
With his army now split, the King brings up his infantry in an attempt to reclaim the center.  Heavy fighting ensues as the two armies batter each other.  Both armies are beginning to waver but neither will yield.  Gonzaga chooses this moment to decide the battle.  Leading his MAA into the rapidly rising waters of the Taro, he fails to gain the opposite bank.  The infantry clash continues.  Again, Gonzaga attempts to emerge from the raging river.  Again, he is stymied.
Brutal fighting in the center.
On his third attempt, Gonzaga finally emerges from the river to engage the King.  The hand-to-hand clash lasts many rounds as each body is slowly ground down.  Who will blink first?  The French King! 

King Charles breaks off combat and heads for the rear.  Exhausted, Gonzaga cannot pursue.  With both armies teetering on collapse, here the battle ends.  We call it a draw.
Mano-a-Mano
King Charles in retreat!
What a great game on which to end the series of Fornovo battles! 

While many of the five previous contests were close seeing many coming down to the wire, none saw such an even erosion of army morale like this one.  Like two heavyweight prize fighters in the ring, both armies kept battering each other with neither wanting to yield.  Ending in a draw seemed a reasonable conclusion to such a hard fight.  The Italians got off to a very Rocky start (see what I did there?), but they valiantly fought themselves back into the game.

The battle ebbed and flowed throughout and fate of the Dice Gods reared its ugly head more than once.  Fortune smiled upon the players as well.

Thanks to the five players for another very entertaining and action-packed game.  Great fun!  Hopefully all enjoyed fighting this action a second time as much as I enjoyed watching the battle unfold.  With six games' worth of trials and lots of data upon which to ponder, I plan to return with final thoughts on the scenario and play when time permits.

Now it is time to retire Fornovo and consider something new.

60 comments:

  1. Thanks Jon. Another cracking game. Very tense and plenty of swings of fortune. I felt like that with a bit of luck in the mid game the Italians could have finished off de Gie and really taken the fight to the French. Not having the initiative really hurt too.

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    1. You’re welcome! I failed to mention the bad run on initiative. The French won a melee or two that were against the odds.

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  2. A great battle. Neither side flagged although both were well flagged!

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  3. We tried a different approach with this game. Stephen and I resolved to sort our lines out first even if that meant letting the Italians cross the river unhindered in the centre and on their left. That might have been a mistake. We called it a draw overall based on the very close loss count downs between the two sides but I would contend that there were more French units in decent shape than Italian and the Italians were no longer in a position (with the river levels rising) to prevent the French continuing their march off the board. Very interesting game and again a very nicely balanced scenario.

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    1. We called it a draw because it was a hard-fought battle and both armies were approaching their breaking point. I agree that the French were in a better position and Stephen's massive Swiss pike block was poised to destroy the remnants of Alan's Germans. Still, I think a draw is a fair outcome. All of these battles have been both interesting and close. Thanks for playing!

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  4. From the game described, it sounds like closest to the historical result, even down to Gonzaga almost getting Charles VIII!
    Perhaps you should have encouraged the Italians with hints of Charles' erotic manuscript collection in the baggage! ☺
    Neil

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    1. Neil, yes, Gonzaga came close to getting the King. Perhaps Doug's tenacity was driven by thoughts of capturing the King's erotica?

      This may be the closest to the historical result since both sides leave the field claiming victory.

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  5. Another super read and I think the result is a good way to finish of your series of refights. They have all been really interesting and all that wee bit different, an exercise well worth doing. Will be interested in what you do next.

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    1. Thank you, Donnie! Very pleased to see that you have enjoyed this series of Fornovo refights. Next time, we remain in Northern Italy but look at a battle 250 years later.

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  6. Splendid reading again a fitting end to the run of Fornovicating. Despite if a draw is deserved in this game both sides deserve a draw at the end of the run of close contests.

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    1. I agree, Phil. All of the games have been closely contested and ending the series in a draw is somehow poetic. Glad you enjoyed the series and persevered to the end!

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  7. Gosh. From your excellent report, I can imagine both sets of players finishing the game bathed in sweat from the nervous tension.

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    1. You are most encouraging, Richard! I know I worked up a little sweat running around the table. I think we should let the players chime in as to whether or not any felt some nervous tension during the game.

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  8. Another lovely looking game Jonathan!

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    1. Much appreciated! Do the battle report narratives make more sense having played the battle at least once?

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    2. It's easier to follow the layout (having been there!) - I may have a tendency to relate the incidents in the game to similar points during the game at which I was present, which is interesting, but I have to be careful which narrative I end up in! That's too complicated an answer - sorry - the reports are all excellent.

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    3. Thank you! If I’ve played a scenario, reading another battle report of the same game much more sense.

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  10. A great contest. All of the battles do suggest it is a good and balanced scenario. Do you feel the random river rise changed any of them? I could see that might have a perhaps frustrating impact however historically accurate it might have been.

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    1. Thanks, Andrew! I thought all of the battles played out in a fairly balanced manner with the exception when extreme and prolonged runs of abysmal dice throwing occurred.

      The river rise was not random but preprogrammed. All players knew when the river would rise to flood stage. Getting across relied upon a random die roll but all knew what to expect and the risks taken on by delaying a crossing.

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  11. Thanks to Jon and all the participants for another great game. The Italians certainly suffered from some bad die rolling - having Alan and I on the same side certainly tempted the wrath of the dice gods. I've made a mental not that Alan, Stephen and I should never team up unless we want the opposition to win handsdown! As per the battle, the Taro was a big obstacle for the Italians. Starting disordered and unable to charge makes life difficult for whichever units start in the fords - having tried both the MAA and the infantry blocks I'm still none the wiser as to a good option :-)

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    1. You are welcome, Brian! Great to see you at the table again. Actually, Stephen played a pretty decent hand in this game and his luck seemed to turn around markedly. Perhaps having Mark on his side helped? I am still none the wiser about which units to place in the fords either so you are not alone in your perplexity.

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  12. A draw definitely seems like a fitting way to end this series Jonathan. A great series of battles that will be worth coming back to in the future.

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    1. Pleased to see you enjoyed this series, Lawrence. I sure did.

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  13. Wow, that was a real epic to end on Jon...and if I am right, with 5 games played, it is still a draw at 2.5 games each...amazing!

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    1. Keith, six games were played but I missed the battle report for the F2F game. The score stands at 3-2-1 in favor of the French.

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    2. Well, I guess that is reasonable, given they won the real battle 500 + years ago!

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    3. There is still debate over the historical outcome.

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  14. Fantastic set of games Jonathan. Thank you for hosting and posting them. 😊

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    1. You are most welcome! Thanks for sticking through the many battles of Fornovo.

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  15. Another terrific game Jon . It was easy being Italian but some things went our way if you discount initiative and combat performance. My poor Germans.
    Alan Tradgardland

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the game, Alan! Your poor Germans had the odds in their favor against de Gie’s Gendarmes but it was not to be. Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

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  16. Excellent final game and the closest to the historical outcome, looked lovely, sounds fun, I look forward to your analysis of the data!
    Best Iain caveadsum1471

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    1. Iain, this was really a nail biter of a battle. As umpire, the action was great fun to watch unfold.

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  17. Jon,
    I can't imagine how you remember all the details to make such a clear report. Thank you.
    Although my character finally died, he had such a glorious run of victories against both cavalry and infantry that I don't mind in the least: I'll lokk good in the history books if anyone reads them!
    Using infantry to counter the enemy light horse was a frustrating process but we did finally drive them into the river.
    Each time I've played this battle I've come away with new ideas what to try next time for all the commands. Fortunately the battle is so nuanced and balanced that going back to the drawing board is necessary for each comand each time. The draw is a reminder that the 'magic formula' is still undiscovered, proving it was a great scenario and balance of forces. I get the feeling both sides should have fought somewhere else! But for a multi-player game it really fit the bill.
    I look forward to whatever is next.
    Stephen

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    1. The in-game photos help jar the memory but some claim my memory is photographic so that helps too.

      Seeing that you are enjoying these games and always contemplating how to improve next time is a fantastic compliment. Thank you! Next time, I reckon we remain in northern Italy but move forward 250 years in time to explore an equally challenging War of Austrian Succession battle.

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  18. The battle is done, the series complete,the AAR'S were quite the treat. Win, lose or draw, the story was full of awe. Heralds are busy with lists of death and glory. Let's just say the next game holds promise for a grander story. Thanks Jonathan another great Fornovacation.

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  19. It seems you've found a classic in this scenario with these rules--something that you can always return to!

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    1. Well, I hope this becomes a classic. It certainly offers much for a multiplayer game. You may see Fornovo out on table another day.

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  20. Isn't it great that you can get so many different results from the same game? I did think at one point that the Italians would scrape a victory, but it wasn't to be. Great game chaps!!

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    1. Having a battle deliver different results is great fun. Almost all of the games were up for grabs until the very end. Well, all games with the exception of the Rejects v Chris’ game. That game goes down in Wargaming lore as the game where Chris’ terrible luck led to his opponents cheering him on to get a hit. Priceless!

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  21. Very enjoyable to see that, a great game. Just as I was painting some French crossbows too.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed the report! Hopefully a little impetus to get your crossbowmen finished.

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  22. probably one of the few instances when a series ends in a draw and everyone is happy. It's obviously a fun scenario / game if people come back for repeated plays.
    What war is next I wonder?

    looks like you're doing well on the purchased / painted totals as well. 😁

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    1. When all players put up The Good Fight, tagging a winner is difficult. What's next? I think WAS.

      Yes, I am remaining in deficit on the Painting Tally which is good. Very good, but I see no noticeable dent in The Lead Pile.

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  23. Grand looking game with beautiful figures, Jonathan!

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  24. A fine end to this run of games Jonathan…
    All very enjoyable battle reports…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks much, Aly! Glad you enjoyed all of these battle reports.

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  25. Well that was a brlliant end ot the series! I thought the Italians were going to just batter themselves to pieces trying to cross the river, but then Caiazzo cut the French in half and it was all to play for! ( btw having been, I think, the first to play the part of De Gie, I always look for how he does. I didn't do very well, but at least I didn't die! )
    Well done to all the players, obviously a great game.

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    1. Thank you, David! Not dying in battle is (in my mind) a positive outcome in your favor!

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  26. I love the number of photos in your battle reports and how you manage to make everything clear for the reader. I do like that you give a short overview about the historical background in one or another posting.

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    1. Thank you, André! While I may mention a few specifics about the historical battle in blog posts, players receive a detailed battle briefing before play.

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  27. A fine game to finish off things there Jon, and a real titanic tussle throughout, with a draw seeming a fitting outcome. I look forward to your post match analysis and what conclusions you can draw from the games:).

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    1. Thanks, Steve! I need a break in the schedule to find time for a post-series recap. Planning for the next battle now.

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  28. Its been as great series of games with an interesting variety of outcomes. I look forward to seeing what you have in store next.

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    1. Glad you’ve enjoyed the series! Up next is a return to WAS.

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