"Renaissance Imaginations?" Topic

Does anyone do the Renaissance era for Imaginations?

I recall a battle report in Wargamers Digest about the Battle of Dannwender (sp?) which was set in the 30 years war era. I can't think of much else.

I have tried fitting Avalon Hill's "Down With the King" as a "wargame generator" with lukewarm success, using the ficticious nations listed in that game.

Any blogs out there?

Not a wargame, but fertile ground for ideas for everything from small skirmishes up to grand battles, is Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's "Ariosto." It takes place in a fantasy alternate Renaissance New World as imagined by the historical Medici court poet Ludovico Ariosto, author of "Orlando Furioso."

In the book, the Cérocchi (Cherokee) rule most of the central Atlantic area of North America: "This was the land of the Cérocchi, a place of endless forests and broad rivers originating far inland, at fabled springs, guarded by immense and gorgeous citadels where lived sagacious wizards and golden emperors." The Cérocchi are ruled by King Alberospetrale (Ghost-Tree) and Prince Falcone (Falcon). The Cérocchi are a mix of woodland Indian and Aztec/Mayan influences: tall copper-skinned warriors wearing jeweled leather, fur, and brocade clothing, with ornaments of gold, silver, and jewels, with headdresses of iridescent feathers in every color.

The Cérocchi and their allies the Pau Attan (Powhatan), the Scenandoa (Shenandoah), and other woodland Indian tribes are engaged in a war for survival against the sorcerers of the Fortezza Serpente (Serpent Fortress). The Serpente are led by the evil wizard Anatrecacciatore (Duck-Hunter). Their forces include "giants of flint and frost" and the undead, described as "the inflated skins of fallen Cérocchi."

Coming to the aid of the Cérocchi is the world-spanning Italia Federata, one of the colonizers of North America. The capital of their colony is the port city of Nuova Genova, probably corresponding to Norfolk, Wilmington, Charleston, or Savannah.

Ariosto is the greatest hero and poet-soldier of the Italia Federata, adviser to the King of the Cérocchi and leader of the armies. He rides his hippogriff Bellimbusto ("part horse and part gryphon") into battle. He's also in love with the beautiful Scenandoa Princess Aureoraggio (Golden Radiance) – imagine Dejah Thoris with copper skin and a *little* more clothing.

Even if you set aside the more fantastic aspects of the story, imagine Italian Renaissance armies fighting alongside woodland Cherokee warriors, against any of the other colonial powers of the Renaissance.

DAF

Peter J. and I are talking about doing just that kind of campaign (set in the early 16th C.) as our campaign for 2013. We will start from scratch, as that tends to be easier than making things fit to someone else's idea.

James

Not DAF. Just me. ;-)

(I use the truncated spelling. Dates from the old 8-and-3 days where there were restrictions on email addresses, etc…)

I'll look out for your campaign on your blog!

Howard

Sorry Howard, I looked at the name without reading it. Doh!

Deja Thoris DID have copper skin.

Dejah was described as having reddish-copper skin, which I always imagined as more red than the skin of woodlands Indians, but, yeah, the distinction is probably negligible.

I Do

I have four Imagi-Nation Armies in the Renaissance. They are modeled on real life armies and states but played for laughs. The four are Swinnland, (Sort of a Germanic Empire sort with Electorial Swinnland, Cantonial Swinnland (Guess who) and Confederate Swinnland (no, not the Dixie Pixies, but a confederation of the largeer feudatories). There is a Burgundian-French part, "Land O' Goshen" and a sort of hybrid English/Scott in "Lornadune." Then of course there's the standard Eastern Enemy, the Empire of Ikea undeer the Morose ruler, the nattering nabob of negativism Shah Na-Na.

Mine spans 1500 through 1890.

One thing I've also wanted to do is a sort of "Campaigns through the Ages" with Imaginations on the same patch of ground throughout various periods of history.

We did a Horse and Musket campaign using the Soldier King map from GDW. I have toyed around with taking those nations back in time to medieval and ancients times. It's not as easy as it looks. One could take the Jack Scruby "Mafrica" method and just assign all ones armies different parts of the map. That is certainly tempting, but I find myself wanting to work out the history and justify how one era molded into the next. Also, I think I would have to redraw the map in parts as many of the cities might not have existed in earlier times, or would have been in different locations. To make it even harder, I also enjoy fantasy gaming and so would probably want some sort of "Age of Magic" or "Hyborian Era" to precede my historical eras.

Altfritz said: "One thing I've also wanted to do is a sort of "Campaigns through the Ages" with Imaginations on the same patch of ground throughout various periods of history."

I started to do the history of a imagination for a "modern immagination, and it naturally made me want to do a "multigenerational immagination." That had European exploration, Ottoman Invasions, Pirates, Dutch East Indies Company towns, Japanese invasions, and on and on…

It was great to draft up the terrain/maps and then imagine how they might have been influenced and developed. I intentionally imported all kinds of interesting ideas and concepts, which results in rich backstory.