Italian Wars - Cerignola revisited with a new set up and rules

Following the gaming experience we've had with my Napoleonic rules (Sacre Bleu), I decided to revisit my set for the Italian Wars (Hell Broke Loose) and do some cross pollination. It seemed to work pretty well in the first game we played, so I persisted and now, after only three gaming, sessions I think the new rules are pretty much there. (Above, one of those games with a hot, back and forth chaotic melee between Landsknechts, Swiss and Gendarmes deciding the issue).

Time to try them with a battle I know well: Cerignola 1503.

So, here is the set up. Gonsalvo de Cordoba's Spanish army arrived at Cerignola in Apulia with just hours to widen and deepen a drainage ditch, throw up an earthwork and spike them with vines grubbed up from the slopes below the town; work only ceased as, late in the day, the French army came up. 

The French commander, Louis d'Armagnac the Duke of Nemours, immediately called a council of war. Most officers thought that it would be best to attack the next day (when their artillery had come up) but, Yves d'Alegre and Tambien Chandieu sought an attack without delay, the former citing a shortage of water for the horses (the day had been hot and exhausting), the latter threatening to withdraw his Swiss if an attack was delayed. The exchanges grew heated and when d'Alegre called d'Armagnac a coward the issue was finally settled - the French would attack with only hours of daylight remaining.

The Spanish right and centre.

The infantry line comprises Gonsalvo's five newly constructed Spanish coronelias, or at least their prototype  (combined arms units of arquebus, pikes and swords were present at Cerignola but they were smaller here than they would become), and two tactical units of Landsknechts. The Peredes brothers command the Spanish, the Landsknechts are commanded by Fabricio Zamudio. 

I've put the army's Genitors here (they had been out harassing the French advance). Post picture edit: They fall under Gonsalvo's command.

The Spanish left.

Behind the infantry are six units of men-at-arms, a unit of mounted crossbow and two light guns.

Three of the men-at-arms  (just out of the picture) are commanded by Gonsalvo in person, the the other cavalry are commanded by Fabricio Colonna. The guns are under no direct control.

The French left and centre.

On the left are the cavalry commanded by, the primary instigator the early attack, Yves d'Alegre: Three units of Gendarmes and two units of mounted crossbow.

Next to them are the French infantry (three units of crossbows and two units of French pike) under the command of Gespard de Coligny.

Beyond them are the Swiss (three pike  units) under Tambien Chandieu.

The French right.

Here are the bulk of the French Gendarmerie (five units) under Louis d'Ars.

De Gaury and Romane has the French army deployed like this, echeloned back from the right.

Post picture edit: Louis d'Armagnac helped lead this attack. I have placed him here as joint commander of this battle group (as well as being C-in-C).

The French artillery and it's guard (three guns and two units of Stradiots) have lagged behind and are still marching toward the battlefield. 

The chain marks the edge of the battlefield and, despite the visuals of the table-top deployment, the artillery train is actually marching up from behind the French line (not the Spanish): and will arrive on the road exiting the French table edge. The two stretches of table hinge at the end of the chain (top right) - it was done this way so that when they arrive at the connecting table edge they are physically close to where they need to be.

This set up is slightly different to that I've done in the past (published on various history websites - I'm talking about maps I've done for, and been pinched from, this blog). The new deployments being largely based on the description of the battle in Gerald de Gaury's biography of Gonsalvo de Cordoba. 

The Grand Captain is quite a hard to find book but, it has the best narrative of Gonsalvo's involvement in the 2nd Italian War that I've yet come across. Recommended.

That is not to say that this book is a 'definitive work'. For instance, de Gaury isn't big on numbering troops and I don't think he gets the meaning of the word 'lance' (the basic sub-unit in a formation of Gendarmes/Men-at-arms) when he does: E.g. He refers to "480 lancers" rather than 480 lances, which would actually be 480 Gendarmes, each with two or three heavy cavalry lancers and one or two lesser armed men (coutillier and page/groom).

Finally, two minor issues regarding language: Firstly, I'm no student of foreign languages and I have, until recently, struggled with the pronunciation of Cerignola. For other bears with little brain, it's Cherry-no-la and, before you jump on the bandwagon, I'm bagsying Cericola as fictional Italian Wars battle name for the future. My second issue is with the spelling of the Spanish formation Colonella (I've seen it written at least half a dozen ways over the years and for a long time I'd settled on this one). However, in Julian Romane's recent work (2020) The First & Second Italian Wars 1494-1504 I came across yet another, Coronelia. I like it and I've switched.

Note: This game was played out in an evening three weeks ago. The French, led by a newcomer to the group (Nigel H.), and for the first time ever, won. The issue was largely decided by a unit of French Gendarmes on the right. These managed (with some timely good dice rolling) to cross the ditch and win their melee. This opened the door for the rest of d'Ars command to pour into the rear of the Spanish position which had been pinned in position by the Swiss (who failed to get over the ditch for a considerable period). It was a close run thing though - the French were down to a only and handful of morale chips at the end - and if the Spanish had rolled better for their 'musketry' (they rolled very poorly all night) things might have been different.