29th March, Bletchley, MK (2)

Motaperti BattleDay ... the Basic Impetus + game ...

For a full analysis of how Basic Impetus handled this 13th Century Guelph/Ghibelline conflict, I will be contributing thoughts to an upcoming issue of Slingshot ... but here are some photos of the two games and some further details ...

The armies were taken from Basic Impetus's free to download lists, with a few extra units giving a bigger, more communal array to the Guelph Florentines, and some characteristic German cavalry to the Ghibellines from Siena.  

By a close finish in both cases, the smaller army won, as in the original battle.

 

(Game One: the Ghibelline cavalry ride out against the Florentine right)

In both games the Siena's outflanking force (randomly on a '6') turned up at the first opportunity, threatening the Florentine left.  Meanwhile, in Game One, the preemptive German attack on the other flank broke through to the Florentine Carroccio ..

(Game One: fierce fighting around the Florentine Carroccio and Bell Tower)

As an aside, the above picture has some coincidental similarities to picture from Villani's Chronica which we discussed at length on the Society of Ancients Forum (which I interpreted as showing - standard - two vehicles overlapping, and - more contentious - a sail-type flag suspended from a cross bar ... just simplified by the artist such that the cross bar is not evident) ...

Case not proved, but curious that such a similar picture emerged randomly from the game.

 

(the Florentine Carroccio and Bell Tower under attack)

And in both games the destruction caused by the Sienese flank march created a 'ticking clock' against which the Florentines had to win quickly or inevitably be defeated ..

 

(Game One: the Florentine rear: Sienese cavalry plough into the flank of hapless crossbowmen)

 

(Game One: the fight for the Carroccio ... as the Sienese fall back, the Germans engage ...)

Although the Carroccio held out against multiple attacks, the Florentine army was broken by accumulated losses.

Game 2

The German attack on the Florentine right had a tougher time as some good shooting (lucky) inflicted loss of cohesion amongst them (in Impetus this makes them no longer fresh and denies them their decisive charge bonus) ... as a consequence, some succeeded, some failed and were chased off into the Sienese rear ...

 

(Game Two: some  of Siena's finest baulk under crossbow volleys)

 

(Game Two: none of the ghibelline units break through to the Carroccio, Bell Tower and guards)

The battle developed into three areas; an isolated fight for the Florentine right flank, an infantry battle on the left decisively influenced by the cavalry behind the flank, and an attempt by the victorious units from the Florentine cavalry wing to carry the battle to the Sienese Carroccio ...

(Game Two: the battle fragments into three main areas: both Florentine flanks and a thrust through to the Sienese rear)

The victorious Florentines ignored the losing battle around them and pressed on to the enemy Carroccio ... in fact a pragmatic choice: defeating the Carroccio would have broken the enemy morale and saved the army. 

(Game Two: an isolated unit of Florentine cavalry charges the Sienese Carroccio)

But it was not to be ... fortune favoured the Sienese, and as the attack floundered, the Florentine infantry collapsed and the army was broken.

Two very different and compelling games but with historical flavours and a similar final outcome.

As noted in the Montaperti overview, the Impetus table was honoured with the best game award and I think ticked a number of boxes ... without impressing like the DBMM game (best terrain), it was presentable and eye-catching ... we got two smooth and entertaining games concluded ... the pattern of the games had a plausible period feel to them ... and the players seemed to enjoy trying a game system we have not seen at the BattleDay before (or that's my excuse, anyway)

Technical

The game we played (which I have described as Basic Impetus Plus) is Basic Impetus as you can download for free with the plus of evades (light troops can fall back when charged), countercharges (subject to the usual limitations, troops can countercharge and meet in the middle - both sides counting their Impetus bonus if appropriate), and a restriction of only one interpenetrating unit being allowed to shoot.

I would rewrite the evade mod we used, but generally these gave us a good, and plausibly historical game.

Thanks to Dadi e Piombo for Basic Impetus, thanks to Chris, Vincent and Mark for making it enjoyable to work through ...

It is the second week of April already, so my Salute report will follow shortly ...