A WARGAME BASED ON THE

THE BATTLE OF FORNOVO

JULY, 1495

Between the armies of Charles VIII of France and The League of Venice

Inspired by this new book

For a more scholary history, yet very readable, see

Antonio Santosuosso, "Anatomy of Defeat in Renaissance Italy: The Battle of Fornovo," The International History Review, XVI, 2, May 1994, pp. 221-440 (contact editor at Intl_Hist_Rev@sfu.ca for reprints)

The game uses the rules from De Bellis Renationis by Phil Barker and Richard Bodley Scott, Wargames Research Group, The Keep Le Marchant Barracks, London Road, Devizes, Wiltshire, SN10 2ER, United Kingdom (August, 1995)

CLICK HERE FOR A MORE RECENT VERSION OF THIS GAME

Click below for much more info on these and related rules by the same authors

http://tetrad.stanford.edu/DBM.html

Click here for an overview of the battle as presented in Renaissance Battles, 1494-1700 (Peter Sides, 1996; Gosling Press, 35 Cross St. Upton, Pontefract WF9 1EU United Kingdom)

Here is a map as presented by Peter Sides

I revised this map and modified the troop list based on rosters and dispostions presented in Fornovo by David Nicolle, Osprey Publications, 1996

 

All of the pictures below are from the first time we played the game, the positions of the troops are a bit different from the map above

THIS IS THE TABLE TOP AT THE START OF THE GAME

The League (Italian) troops are on the bottom and the French on the top. Click on the map to see a larger version.

 

Photos of the Game (click on the small ones to view a larger version with detailed captions)

 

The French side: Brad Northrop, Ethan Zorick, Harv Schmidt, Bill Marshall

 

The Italian side: Rob Beattie(my son), Lou Oswald, Jeff and Justin Herzog, Charlie Zwinik

View of the initial command placements

 French rear inc baggage-Brad Northrop (Click on each French picture to see a larger version  French Center-Ethan Zorick  French Van--Harv Schmidt and Bill Marshall

 Italian right - Justin Herzog (click on this picture to see larger views of all the Italian setups)

Italian Center (and Center Reserve) - Charlie Zwinik

 Italian Right (and Right Reserve - Lou Oswald and Rob Beattie

   
 This is after about an hour of play, the Italians have made a major attack across the river but the Center Reserve is stalled in the river as it has now risen and elements must move across individually.  The endgame. The reserves did not make it into battle but the Italian Center command has cleared out the French Center. Charles is Hors d Combat and his command broken, likewise for the French Van. The Italian left was broken.
   

More pictures to follow, as I get time

This is a view of the final action: The Swiss make a desperate charge into Landsknechts. This results in 6 combats. If the French win 2, they win the game. All tied or won by the Italians, resulting in a close Italian victory. Click on picture to see a big version

All who played enjoyed the game, it was touch and go until the last die throw. Suggestions for changes include moving the river closer to the Italian board edge so as to give more room for combat, let groups cross the river but with a movement penalty unless at a ford and do not change the terrain around the river as the game progresses, enlarging the French Van command to include the Swiss so the command will not break so easily, give the Italian Light Horse command more maneuveralbilty and not be subject to breaking.

I hope some of you who are reading this will join us at ColdWars for another go. Please drop me a line at beattie@umich.edu to let me know what you thought of this page and how I might improve it.