Sunday, September 10, 2017

AAR Teaser - Early Photos from Italian Wars Game

This Friday Curt and I ran an Italian Wars game.  Rumour ha it that a full AAR will appear over at Curt's blog.  Curt is like Matthew Brady and likes to reposition the dead to get the best post battle photographs, and kept my units hostage to achieve this aim after the action was over.

The action featured a sally during a siege.  The besiegers had finished an artillery position and had a Great gonne ready to start shooting.  The defenders undertook a night march destroy the position before the attacker's reinforcements could show up.

I took some photos during the action and I figured I get these posted before the Ministry of Truth erases them from public memory.  Curt and I provided all the figures.  His are the ones that look like they should be in the Uffizi, mine are the ones that look they have been given a DIY restoration by a well intentioned old lady.

Defenders advance on Curt's artillery emplacement.

Getting closer....

From ground level (and apparently on a slant)

Pikemen approach while the artillery men sleep.  Gun is a repurposed WFB plastic kit.

Defenders field French pike (in the works) and Italian mounted crossbows behind.  The besiegers arrive with Spanish swordsmen and dinettes.

Both sides had units arrive in drips and drabs but more are coming on table.  Gendarmes front and centre here, while the infantry face off in the works.

The crossbows have dismounted and work on deconstruction begins.

Some of the units making the sally got lost, being delayed and/or showing up at the wrong entry point.  In the background, Italian swordsmen showed up in the corner instead of  next to the field as intended.  Fortunately they rolled a good activation roll and advanced three moves.

The infantry slog was epic and went on several turns.  In the end both units were exhausted and eliminated simultaneously.

Cavalry melee upcoming.  Papal gendarmes in the foreground face French "archers" (medium cavalry) and Italian men-at -arms.  

Curt brings forth Swiss and Landschneckt pike from the besiegers' camp.

The juggernauts on the march!

End of the cavalry melee.  The Papal gendarmes forced the Archers back but were hit hard by the Italians and become shaken.  Curt's vintage first gen WFB castle in the background.



17 comments:

  1. Great looking game and like the fact it's set during a siege

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    1. Cheers Oli. That was Curt's idea so that he could use the artillery works.
      Peter

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    2. Actually, the inspiration came from a combination of Oli's recent game and me wanting to use some recently painted model reventments that had been sitting neglected for years.

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    3. That's great, I am glad my foray into actually playing some games has given you some ideas

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  2. Beautiful looking game! I really like the craftwork on the gun emplacements. Are these scratch built or commercial? The Papal Gendarmes are superb as are the push-of-pike pike blocks.

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    1. Thanks very much Jonathon, it did look nice on table. The bits you like are all Curt's. I think the emplacement is commercial.
      Cheers, Peter

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    2. Oh, I like your figures too! Curt's units only had better exposure being closer to the camera. Can you find out where the gun emplacement was obtained?
      Thanks.

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    3. Good catch Jonathon! I'm pretty pleased with a lot my boys, but Curt's are spectacular. I was commanding his lot so that's where the camera was. I'll check in the emplacement, but IIRC it had been kicking around for a couple of years before he painted it recently. Don't know if he'll remember the maker or if it's still in production.

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    4. Hello Jonathan, thanks for the kind comments. Peter hides his light under a bushel as his stuff is wonderful. As to your question, the gun emplacement is a old (over 10 years at least) five-piece resin set from Forge World. It was originally marketed for Warhammer Fantasy, which of course works very nicely for the Renaissance period. I've been sitting on it for about a decade and thought it high time to get it painted and on the table. Though its currently unavailable from FW, you might be able to find a set being peddled from a pirate junk on the Yangtze River, who knows.

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    5. Thanks Curt. I don't know about light and bushels but while I am pretty proud of my stuff, your GIW stuff is just jaw dropping.

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    6. Thanks to both of you on the information. I will be keeping my good eye on the lookout for pirates...

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  3. Great looking game with lots of lovely figures,I'm sure we'd all be slightly reticent putting up our troops against Curts but yours look great, Foundry have got some free downloadable flags for the Italian wars on their website, might be of use to you?
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks very much Iain. The game did look good on table, and yes I did feel a bit like I was standing next to Daniel Craig. I'll check out the Foundry flags. I've found a lot of period flags inline, especially ones for the Italians, but more is always better.
      Cheers
      Peter

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