Now, That's Italian!

A Headless Body Production

Location:  An undisclosed living room
Event:       Hurricane Isaias induced lock down
Players:    Dave Ray, playing Condottieri, Florentine
                  Phil Gardocki, playing  Condottieri, Venetian

Game System: L'Art de la Guerre, about 200 points per side.

Florentine, as in from the city of Florence.  Not with spinach, or fighting with two swords.

Technology: Table Top Simulator (TTS)

This is not the first game of  L'Art de la Guerre I have played on TTS, but it is the first game I took screen shots of.  I think I have played 4 or 5 so far and I still rely on others to set up the table.

There are some interesting differences in writing up the battle reports, as I normally take 3 pictures per half round, from an angle of about 30 degrees.  In TTS the view is overhead, and the whole board.  Fewer pictures to annotate, but they also will require more image editing, to reduce confusion among the readers.

The Forces:
Venetian Condottieri (list 224)
Larry, the Brilliant, his brother Darryl, Competent, and his other brother Darryl, also Competent
      4 Men at Arms, Heavy Knights, Impact
      2 Light Cavalry, Crossbow
      2 Stradiots, Medium Cavalry,Impact, Elite
      2 Pikemen 
      2 Halberdiers, Heavy Swordsmen
      1 Militia, Heavy Spearmen, Mediocre
      2 Crossbowmen, Light Infantry, Crossbow
      2 English Archers, Longbow, Stakes, Elite

      2 Light Cavalry, Javelin
      2 Handgunners, Light Infantry, Firearm
Breakpoint of 22

Florentine Condottieri (list 224)
Unnamed Commander, Brilliant, Also ignored by history, 2 Generals, both Ordinary, one is included.
      5 Men at Arms, Heavy Knights, Impact
      1 Medium Cavalry, Crossbow
      2 Light Cavalry, Crossbow
      4 Pikemen, 2 Mediocre
      1 English Archers, Longbow, Stakes, Elite
      1 Bombard, Heavy Artillery
      3 Fortifications
      2 Halberdiers, Heavy Swordsmen
      2 Heavy spearmen, 1/2 Bow
      1 Crossbowmen, Light Infantry, Crossbow
Breakpoint of 20

The Board

Larry wins the initiative and elects to attack in the plains.  He selects a small field and a road.  The Florentine commander selects two fields.

Deployment:

The Florentines are at the top of the screen, the Venetians the bottom.

My thoughts were to use my superior numbers of Lights backed by the elite Stradiots, to secure an advantage on the right, then use the Stradiots and Lights to support the later Knight on Knight action.

The heavy foot unit would hold back, covering the Knights flank, and engage when the my knights are victorious. 

On the far left, there can only be Light Infantry in the ambush, so the camp is the objective.

The detail offered from the overhead vies is pretty fine. You can click on the map to expand it.

 Actually, quite a detailed plan.  I may have to do that more often. 

Turn 1:

Larry and his other Brother Darryl roll a pair of 6's for command points.  Darryl, however makes due with a 2.

The Florentines decide that the best defense is a good offense.  With Darryl's troops, representing 47 points tangling with an empty ambush marker, the Florentines have a 184-147 edge on the center and right.

Another difference with these overhead shots are of the whole battlefield, as opposed to  my normal 1/3 at a shot.  So the game story is going to be more strategic in nature.

 Turn 2:

My original plan had the step, defeat enemy lights.  But that is not happening.  Mainly because half my lights are on the wrong side of the board, the other half is being shot by regular foot bow, and sharp shooting lights.  So I order a pair of charges to at leas shoo off some of the offenders.

The Florentines send two units of Halberdiers to intercept my English Archers.  But they are too late.  Darryl and Larry are grateful to be facing 20 less points in the center and right.  But the Venetian Knights, distributed into two different commands, form a united front.

 Turn 3:

On the left, Darryl continues to push towards the camp. The ambush is revealed to be nothing but a smoldering fire.  His Light Horse races to the center to assist the main infantry line.  Florentine archery proves very accurate, ans unit upon unit receive hits.  On the right, Larry advances his knights, and traps an enemy light infantry unit

The score is 6 to 3 in favor of the Florentines.

In response, the Florentines challenge the Venetian light horse, ZOCing it.  Their bows darken the skies with arrows.  And as one,all their knights charge, winning 3 of 4 fights.

Turn 4:

Darryl's longbow contract, to both avoid a flank charge from the Florentine Halberdiers and to get both in a charge against the Florentine camp.   In the center, the rain of arrows diminish, mainly due to a lack of targets. The only target, a unit of halberdiers pick up their third hit. On the right, Venetian Stradiots charge, supporting their knights and running down a light horse.

Venetian Halberdiers are dispersed by arrow fire as they pick up their fourth hit in 2 turns.  Venetian knights are trampled into the dirt, 3 of 4 are dispersed.  Their Florentine counterparts in pursuit.

The Score is 15-9 in favor of the Florentines.  The only limiting factor to a total Florentine win is command points.  Two of their three generals are engaged in combat.

Turn 5:

The Florentine camp falls to English looters.  A Florentine pike also is defeated.  But also the last Venetian knight is routed.

The Score is now 17 to 18 in favor of the Florentines

The Florentine commander has a lot of opportunities here and takes advantage of them all.  Charging and supported pike charge a Spearmen, 6-1ing way to a rout on contact.  A Halberdier and a Stradiot are both taken in the flank for two more routs, securing the win with 22 points to 18.