San Cassiano; a return to the Italian Wars

 For the last 3 or 4 weeks we have been trying to become better acquainted with "Sharp Practice" and we have now (hopefully) reached the stage where games are no longer interrupted by pauses while a particular rule is checked.  With two players and and a 'chit drawer' there is no time for the photos or making notes on the progress of the game both of which inform a post on the blog.  However, this week, we returned to more familiar territory, courtesy of a scenario devised by Steve.

The scenario is set in Italy during the Italian Wars and those two old protagonists the Duc du Merlot, commanding the French forces and the Count of Tempranillo commanding their Imperialist opponents, are both seeking a decisive battle.  The two sides met in the vicinity the minor settlement of San Cassiano.  The French, with their Swiss allies, have a slight advantage in cavalry, whereas the Imperialists have slightly more infantry.  Both commanders deploy in the classic way, cavalry on the flanks and infantry in the centre. The Duc du Merlot entrusted his right wing to the Comte de Malbec and the left to the Comte de Chardonnay.  In the centre were the Swiss and French pike blocks,  two units of crossbowmen, a light gun and a unit of halberdiers, all commanded by Lord Landroter.  Tempranillo entrusted his right wing to the Duke of Barbera and his left to Count Trebbiano.  In the centre Graf von Spatburgunder commanded the landsknecht pikes, a light gun, a unit of halberdiers and two units of arquebusiers.

The view from the Imperialist right wing

The battle began with a relatively slow advance by both armies, with the exception of Chardonnay's stradiots, who galloped forward, intent on driving off Barbera's mounted arquebusiers.  Minor casualties were inflicted by the arquebusiers, but this did not deter the stardiots from charging and unwilling to cross swords, the arquebusiers evaded, falling back in disorder.

The stradiots drive off the mounted arquebusiers

On the opposite flank Malbec continued his rather lethargic advance, perhaps heavy going slowed his gendarmes, but Trebbiano did not mind, as he was reluctant to advance too far and offer a broader front for the French to attack.  A desultory skirmishing between the mounted crossbowmen and mounted arquebusiers began, with the arquebusiers having the better of the exchanges

Little action on the Imperialist left

With his gendarmes seemingly happy to sit on their horses and await events and a messenger arriving from his commander demanding "What are you doing?" Malbec ordered a charge by his light cavalry

This resulted in an inconclusive melee, where both sides ended up having to fall back to reorder.

Meanwhile, in the centre, both bodies of infantry had advanced and the crossbowmen and arquebusiers had begun exchanging fire.  Behind them, the pike blocks had advanced, though to Lord Randroter's chagrin, the Swiss advance had been much slower than that of the French; later, accounts circulated that  reassurances regarding pay had been sought before the Swiss would commit to battle.  In any event it was the French pikemen who charged first and initially pushed back the landsknechts facing them.

The French attack

A second shove by the French caused some wavering in the landsknecht ranks and a third completed their defeat, the remnants streaming from the field.  The Swiss had now begun their advance and as they neared the Imperialist lines the Imperialist arquebusiers shot at them.  This had little effect and in a rather desperate attempt to buy some time, Spatburgunder ordered his halberdiers forward 

The Swiss close in

On the Imperialist right, Barbera's struggle with Chardonnay was reaching a decisive point.  Two units of gendarmes had charged each other and fought to a standstill, both having to withdraw to re-organise.  A second unit of Imperial gendarmes now charged a French unit of men at arms and routed them, but became disordered in the process.

A victory for the Imperial right wing

However, now the French began to gain the upper hand.  First one of their gendarme units charged and routed a unit of Imperial men at arms; then a re-match between the two units of gendarmes resulted in the rout of the Imperial unit. 

A French one...

two...

This left Barbera with a battered unit of gendarmes and a unit of mounted arquebusiers to try and hold back the French attack.  This he was unable to do and soon the gendarmes were threatening the flank of Spatburgunder's infantry

Chardonnay's units threaten the Imperial centre

They already had their hands full.  Spatburgunder had ordered forward a second landsknecht pike unit to try and halt the French advance, but they had fared no better than the previous unit and the survivors were soon streaming to the rear.

The unit of halberdiers had made no impression on the Swiss pike block; the Swiss barely missing a step as they rolled forward.

The halberdiers rout

The Swiss also made short work of the arquebusiers and this left Spatburgunder with only one formed body of troops, his third pike block.   However, they faced not only the now rampant Swiss, but also two units of gendarmes.

As do the arquebusiers

On the Imperial left Trebbiano was having some success.  Not only had he despatched the French mounted crossbowmen, but some unusually quiescent French gendarmes had simply stood as his heavy cavalry charged.  The French had routed and Trebbiano was contemplating a general advance when a rider arrived from Tempranillo ordering a retreat.

A decisive victory for the Duc du Merlot; and the Graf von Spatburgunder will have some explaining to do about the sorry performance of the landsknechts.