Scannagallo 1554

I was supposed to be at Matt's last week but came down with a nasty cold so it was best to hunker down in Casa Anderson, it has proved to be a real pain. I decided therefore to get the Italian Wars on the table and went for a game loosely based on the battle of Scannagallo between the French/Siennese and Spanish/Florentines from the Helion book "All is Lost Save Honour." There may have been some non pike units or reduced pikes but I just used what I had, so overall pike blocks, just some better than others. The river or dry ditch was not a great obstacle so I amended the disorder roll for crossing this and units would have to be unlucky to be disordered.

Spanish/Florentines

French/Seinnese.

I decided the French would advance their left and sit back a bit on the right in order that their massed artillery could damage the Spanish as they advanced. The Spanish right had drawn a Rash commander so set off as fast as they could to engage the enemy left, the Spanish left was a bit slower and wanted their left flank cavalry to pressure the French right once across the ditch and in position.

Spanish right advances.

French left.

French guns masked.

Despite the French left being heavily outnumbered they completely surprised me and the Spanish by halting and pushing back the enemy pike blocks. The better troops on the French right now advanced as their artillery had been worse than useless and masking the guns would be no great loss. The Spanish guns had been only slightly better but had to cease fire as their men got closer to the enemy. 

Spanish try outflanking the French right.

Battle at the ditch.

Things suddenly took a bad turn for the French and their allies, as the Tuscans and Papal troops began to seriously fight back, although this did not stop the rout of one of their pike blocks. As the victorious Siennese took stock of their success the Spanish gun line turned on them and cut swathes through the close packed troops, so much so that the Italians fled to get out of the firing line.

French right in trouble.

Surrounded the French surrender.

Both lines now clashed around the dry stream bed and the flow of the battle now favoured the Spanish. The French cavalry protecting their right flank now found itself in a life or death struggle with some Italian light cavalry, neither side willing to give way, this continued until the end of the fighting,  a magnificent effort from both. As the fighting continued the French lost more infantry until only one French pike block was still standing surrounded by the enemy, Spain had won the day.

How AI saw it.

I fought this over a couple of days using Furioso, even though it was a solo game I found my sympathies lying with the French, which is fair enough as even in a solo game I went down with a loss. Furioso is perfect for solo games as once you dish out character traits to your generals the battle pretty much fights itself, especially if you are fighting a real battle in that you have an idea of what is supposed to happen, then it is all down to the dice.

I see Victrix have produced yet another Dark Age/Medieval skirmish rule set for half a dozen figures  to fight over a cabbage patch. I just don't get the attraction.

We took a small road trip to Skipton in the Yorkshire Dales, the town was mentioned in the Domesday Book and became the home of the Clifford family (boo, hiss) who were important against incursions by the Scots and at times were Wardens of the Marches. The first lord was killed at Bannockburn. The castle is small and compact and worth a visit, it would make a nice model on a battlefield. The town itself was busy with tourists enjoying the many interesting shops, the local canal and pubs, we were fortunate that the weather was nice as well. The Castle Inn does an excellent lunch. 

Imposing entrance.

The Clifford rag.

I found myself with nothing to read which is unusual for me, well that is not entirely true I have Pritt Buttar's book on the Soviet assault on Berlin but just wasn't in the mood for it. So after watching a couple of documentaries on 7th October I got a book on the attack, at first it did not grab me but the more I read the more I could not stop, I do not regret buying it. Yesterday Max Hastings' new book "Plunder" turned up, Max has only disappointed me on one occasion and I have almost all his books 

TV and Film have been dire up until the last month or so, Israeli spy thriller Fauda made a welcome return and dealt a bit with 7th October, an excellent series. I got hooked on How to get to Heaven from Belfast, not in a good way but the way a snake mesmerises you before it strikes, so so. I also caught up with Reacher, the new one I like, he is more vicious and unforgiving than in the last two series, he is still a big bit of wood, but he does the job. Silo (I have read all the books) has gone way off the rails and now bears little resemblance to the original story, but it has still held my interest. This leaves The Gentlemen and Lucky, the former is well done but is more like a graphic novel than TV, some of it is just complete nonsense guv'nor, the latter is watchable and the heroine is very Lucky in that she is a better escapist than Houdini. (no, gave up with it). Why do TV cops never, ever put men at the back door when they 'surprise' the occupants, I will say that the FBI DEI programme is working very well, when was the last time you saw a white boss? Lastly I have Mobland and Slow Horses on standby. 

I have now completed the extra troops I needed to bring my Yanks up to Chain of Command specs. I really like these despite being plastic, it sounds daft but they seem more human than the metal figures, the proportions are spot on and the poses equally realistic. I would still never go all out for a plastic army but I was pleased. 

I didn't need the heavy weapons.

I am now approaching the end of my work on the Atlas, I think it has been at lease 18 months and only small tweaks are required before it goes to the publisher.

Next weekend I am off down South as my son booked a talk at the Royal Army Museum on Napoleon's Marshall's by Andrew Roberts for me, I also had the choice of Max Hastings and his new book but went with the Emperor's men.