We began a late medieval DBA campaign last night, starting in 1405. The idea is to play it for 3 or 4 evenings, depending on how long interest keeps up. The 5 players include me as the Swiss Confederation, Duke William of Burgundy, the Holy Roman Emperor Tom I, Doge Richard of Venice and Duke Dennis of Milan. The central city is Turin. We used to play these campaigns back in the day and allied contingents have a history of trying to loot camps but otherwise avoiding risks.
1405 started without a single declaration of war. No one moved and all armies were reduced to a peace footing of 10 elements. It certainly played quickly. We do so play peace games, every now and then.
The Duke of Burgundy declared war on the Emperor in 1406 and promptly invaded Turin. Emperor Tom I solicited allied contingents. Since everyone wanted to be present at a fight so they could recruit up to 12 elements the next winter, all agreed to show up.
Tom set up the field with a river at the deployment line on side, a road closer to the edge behind the river and another road running at right angles to the first. Woods were placed on the far side of the table. Bill got the edge behind the river for his base. Tom deployed in two lines to the right of the woods, his camp on the other side of the woods. Bill deployed in a large column along the road that crossed the river. He marched down the road for about 1200 paces. The Imperial lines formed into columns and withdrew behind the woods.
This started the chase around the mulberry bush'. Bill began following Tom around the woods, being careful not to get too strung out. Tom's infantry drew up along side the camp and his knights continued on past between the woods and the infantry. Tom sent the camp followers about their business and garrisoned his camp with a unit of blades. The first allied contingent to appear was my Swiss, with 2 pikes and a cross-bow skirmisher. I headed towards Bill's camp, 200 paces per turn.
Long before I got there, the Venetians appeared from the far side of the table and used the road to close on Bill's camp. As the Swiss tested the river (moderately deep), Venetian knights swept into the camp on their first rush. They stayed for quite a while, drowning their thirst with barrels of burgundy. The Milanese appeared and hung around the river ford. My Swiss began to retrace their steps, since the camp had already been looted. The Imperial knights had nearly made a complete circuit of the woods.
William of Burgundy declined to attack the Imperial camp. The Emperor exhorted his allies to form up and help him. Despairing of any further help from them, the Imperial knights charged and with a mighty roll of the dice trampled Burgundian archers and a squadron of knights. The battle was over 4-0, with 2 prestige points to the Empire for elements slain and 2 points to Venice for looting the camp. The battle of Turin was over. I suspect it will be known as First Turin in time. (I was at 12th Turin the crossbow bolts fell like rain!)
In the summer the Imperial army struck at Luxembourg. The Burgundian army marched into the castle and stood a siege, risking all. The Emperor Tom rolled a 4 and lost an element as the city held. In the fall the Burgundians sallied forth and fought a battle, after soliciting Swiss and Venetian assistance. Seeing nothing wrong with fighting for both sides during the same year, I agreed to show up. So did the Venetians. William formed his knights into a line all the foot soldiers had deserted or been slain. Tom formed his army into a single column. Both advanced. The Swiss managed to show up early and threatened the Imperial flank. The German infantry formed up to face the Swiss. The arrival of the Swiss buoyed Burgundian spirits and their knights charged. The fight swayed back and forth. Now the Imperial general rode deep into the Burgundian array. Before my Swiss could close or the Venetians even reach the field, the Burgundian general flanked and slew the Imperial general. The Battle of Luxembourg went to the Duke of Burgundy 1G-0. The siege was lifted. Everyone went into winter quarters and recruited as many troops as possible.
The Duke of Burgundy made peace with the Emperor. Enraged by the perfidy of the Empire (i.e., they were close enough to attack), the Swiss declared war on the Empire, followed in due course by Venice and Milan.
The spring 1407 turn saw the Swiss march on Turin. The Imperial army declined to intervene. A die roll of 6 saw the city fall it seemed the bribe of an ass loaded with gold was accepted at the postern gate. The Burgundian and Imperial armies stood pat. Then the Venetians marched on Augsburg. The Emperor asked for help from his late enemy, Burgundy and Venice asked for Swiss help. The Milanese army was too far away to participate. The Venetians discovered a familiar setup two roads at right angles, a river and woods – the standard German landscape scheme. No doubt the trees are planted in neat rows.
Doge Rick wanted to deploy behind the river but his deployment dice saw him get the opposite side instead. Tom lined up in a column behind the river, while the Venetians formed in a line to the left of the woods and marched forward. The Imperial column marched quickly down the road, past the woods on the right side. The Venetians began to re-deploy to their right. A spear unit held their camp. Both sides began to line up at right angles to their old positions while both the Swiss and the Burgundians had trouble finding the field. The roads were full of armed men asking for directions.
Finally the Swiss arrived. They swept 2400 paces down the autobahn and spotted the Imperial camp. The Burgundian contingent arrived next. The Emperor begged them to come down the road and menace the Swiss rear. Instead the knights of Burgundy set off across the fields headed for the Venetian camp. With both camps under threat, the two main armies began to engage. Imperial skirmishers made a short attack on the Venetian camp and recoiled. Venetian crossbowmen came out of the woods and shot the skirmishers down. Imperial troops rolled forward and killed a Venetian spear unit. Others joined the fray. The Swiss now lined up to attack the Imperial camp. The fighting between Imperial and Venetian reached a crescendo. Suddenly the battle was over, Venice winning 4-3. The Swiss missed their chance of looting the Imperial camp and the Burgundian knights barely got a glimpse of the Venetian camp.
We decided to call the session since it was well past 9 PM. The Burgundian army was 9 elements strong, the Imperial 8 and the Venetian 9. Prestige points (listed by cities/battles) are Swiss 12/0, Burgundy 9/3, HRE 6/2. Venice 12/3, Milan 9/0.
We'll continue the next time we meet. Hopefully diplomacy can be conducted via e-mail and save face-to-face time for the battles. We had a good time and the campaign generated a lot of laughter.
