We had our second session of the campaign start in the summer of 1407 AD. The Duchy of Milan was stricken with pestilence (Duke Dennis was unable to attend) and everyone avoided it. The Swiss Confederation held Turin and the Venetian Republic held Augsburg, both cities recently taken from the Holy Roman Empire. The Swiss Confederation (me) started the session by announcing peace with the Emperor Tom I – the preliminary diplomacy had been done by email. The Empire remained at war with Venice. The Duke of Burgundy was at peace, licking the wounds received in the fighting of 1406. Fall saw no activity and everyone recruited troops during the winter.
The Swiss declared war on Burgundy, since I wanted to see how the Swiss matched up against the Burgundians. The Empire and Venice remained at war. Milan was technically at war with the Empire but was too distracted by internal problems (i.e, Duke Dennis' grandsons) to do anything about it.
Duke William of Burgundy answered my declaration of war by attacking Turin. I called for help. Both the Empire and Venice put aside their current hostilities to send troops. I set up with two woods and two gentle hills, looking to break the table into smaller fields for my Swiss pike block. My short line faced the open ground in the center. Bill deployed his bows in the woods on my left and sent his knights deep around the woods. I marched forward in the center, looking to get at his infantry and threaten his camp. Then my allies arrived and raced each other to loot the Burgundian camp. The threat from the knights got my attention and I slowly turned the pikes around and began to march back. A unit of Swiss skirmishers destroyed a unit of Burgundian crossbows in the woods and the other Burgundian infantry in the woods fell back. I re-deployed the skirmishers in the edge of the woods facing to the rear and reinforced them with halberdiers. Some Burgundian knights dismounted and attacked, sending the crossbows reeling. My halberdiers were in rough terrain, earning a -2 modifier while fighting foot knights in the open. A low roll saw them slain. Other knights dismounted and shoved back a pike block. Back at the Burgundian camp the artillery garrison proved unable to hit the knights at a distance. First the Venetian knights rushed the camp and recoiled, then The Imperial knights. A second rush saw the artillery and camp over-run by the Venetian knights and 2nd Turin was over with a 2C – 1 victory. I got no prestige points, having killed and lost one each. Doge Richard of Venice got three points for capturing the guns and the camp. Two elements of William's army deserted when they found out that the war chest had been looted. Mercenaries don't fight pro bono.
The spring 1408 turn continued around the board and the Swiss invaded Luxembourg. Duke William formed up his battered army to meet me, though his breakpoint was now down to 3. The Emperor sent a contingent to aid him. I left a unit of pikes to guard my camp and headed straight for him with the rest. William had the notion of moving the knights onto a rise between us and dismounting. But he got near the hill and was disconcerted by the steady march of the pike block and ordered his knights to dismount before they got to the hill. A pip roll of 1 saw the haughty knights refuse to dismount. As the Pikes drew closer, William rolled 5 ones in a row for pip dice. We were all astounded. My pike block slammed into the center of his line and brought down a squadron of knights. He charged back in turn and two more squadrons of knights were slain, ending the 2nd battle of Luxembourg before the Imperial troops could reach the field. The Burgundian army ran back to the citadel of Dijon and slammed the door. The Swiss wandered the streets of Luxembourg. The rest of the year passed quietly. Everyone recruited as many troops as possible during the winter.
In 1409 the Emperor declared war on Burgundy. Since they shared no border, this was moot. The Swiss made peace with Burgundy and the year was quiet, so quiet that everyone stood down and only had 10 units each, except the Burgundians, who needed more time to make good their losses. The Emperor and the Doge both noted the Swiss command of 5 cities. The next year looked to be a bit busier.
In 1410 the Emperor made peace with Burgundy and declared war on the Swiss. The Venetians joined the war. The tattered Burgundians remained at peace. In the spring the Imperial army attacked Turin, with a Venetian contingent promised. I solicited help from the Burgundians. Again I had two woods and two hills and formed up facing the central gap, with a pike unit guarding my camp. The Imperial army formed a line facing me. As my pike block advanced, the Imperial troops formed a column and began to file off to my right behind a woods, save for one squadron of knights that rode around my left flank to threaten my camp. The Burgundian contingent, 3 squadrons of knights, now arrived on the left edge of the table and pursued the lone squadron of German knights.
I continued heading forward in the center, breaking my pike block into two to pass around the woods. The Imperial troops left skirmishers and crossbowmen in the woods while the rest continued around past their camp. Once there, they formed up with the camp on their right flank, at a right angle to their original line. My pikes marched forward, taking harassing crossbow fire from the flank as they passed the woods.
The Burgundians caught the lone squadron of Imperial knights after a chase. The German knights put up quite a fight but were finally swarmed, flanked and slain. Now the Venetians arrived. The Burgundians formed up and rode towards them. Both sides deployed and jockeyed for position. Neither would charge. Meanwhile a couple of pike units got within reach of the Imperial camp. The garrison of halberdiers and a unit of spearmen sallied out and flanked the pike formation, which held and then repulsed them. The Imperials, afraid of their own flank being turned, formed into a line before the camp and attacked again. The pikemen drove them back. Then the pike block rolled forward and stormed into the camp with a high die roll. With cavalry squadron dead, the halberdiers chased off the field and the camp sacked, 3rd Turin went to the Swiss 2C – 0. Burgundy picked up a prestige point for killing the knights and I got three – two for the camp and one for the routed halberdiers. Tom lost two units to desertion since his camp was sacked.
The Swiss did not follow up this attack, since the intact and hostile Venetian army lurked nearby. No one made any further moves and the year came to a close. The Burgundian army recovered all of their losses during the winter. The Imperial army was one squadron of knights shy of full strength. The Swiss and Venetians were at full strength. The Milanese, stricken by pestilence and rumors of peasant risings, had 10 units. It was after 9 PM so we stopped the game. It was agreed that two more sessions would see the campaign end. The Swiss are well in the lead. That means it's time for them to gird up their loins and to prepare Turin for yet another attack.
Current scores are:
Swiss Confederation 5 cities for 15 points, 6 points in battles = 21
Republic of Venice 3 cities for 9 points, 6 points in battles = 15
Holy Roman Empire 3 cities for 9 points, 2 points in battles = 11
Duchy of Burgundy 2 cities for 6 points, 4 points in battle = 10
Duchy of Milan 3 cities for 9 points = 9
