Furioso: The Italian Wars Supplement Released - Print & Download

Now on the Alternative Armies webstore in print, and as a digital download, is the great expansion to our Furioso Renaissance Wargame Rules, written by Steve Danes – Furioso: The Italian Wars!

This 52-page title is added to the rulebook, and to our extensive 15mm miniature range for the period (15th to 17th centuries) with terrain and buildings, plus the rules can be used by any common scale of miniatures. (We use 15mm scale!) Excellent quality and affordable. The digital download is, as with all our digital titles, 20% less than the print book.

Here is more about this expansion title for the 16th Century, written by the author, which will tell you about the book:

This supplement to the Furioso rules takes a more in-depth look at the Italian Wars of the 16th Century. One of the main sections of the book covers a number of the major battles of the period and provides scenarios for such battles as Fornovo, Pavia and Ceresole. The historical scenarios provide player with army lists for each battle, maps to allow players to set up the terrain, and show deployment areas and also provides special rules specific to each battle. Using these scenarios players can explore these famous battles and compare their efforts to the historical outcomes of the day.

Another prominent section of this supplement covers mercenary units and generals. Here players can really get into the spirit of the Italian Wars by hiring famous mercenary units to include in their armies. However, players will have to bid against their opponents to get the best units, and must be prepared to lose their favorite unit to the highest bidder. Each of these renowned mercenary units will have its own profile and special abilities, so generals will be keen to include them in their armies.

What is also included in this supplement are rules for solo play. Solo play allows players to fight battles on their own against an opposing army which is controlled using the solo mechanism, a mechanism that will be trying equally hard to destroy the player's army as the player is trying to destroy their opponents. Using the solo play rules players that are new to the game have an enjoyable and interesting way to familiarize themselves with the rules processes before trying the game out against their wargaming friends and opponents.

The last main section of the rules covers the Da Vinci inventions. Those with an interest in the Renaissance period will be familiar with the marvelous and evocative drawings of strange craft that have endured through history. These fantastical and improbable creations are given life here, and players can now include them in their armies if they wish (and can of course purchase the models such as the Da Vinci Tank from Alternative Armies). But don't worry, these inventions are unlikely to over-power more conventional forces. They are sometimes as unstable as they look, often providing more amusement than fear as they break down or crash out of the sky. Enjoy!

To complement these weird and wonderful inventions is a new breed of soldier trained specifically to fight them. Armed with new weapons, new tactics and near suicidal bravery, Renaissance warfare really is entering a new phase of destruction and brutality.

In addition to all this, for a little extra period flavor there is a section that deals with blessings and divine intervention. Commanders can call upon whichever religious authority their army ascribes to for a little extra help when it really matters. No guarantees of course – but if successful, the results can be most entertaining.

And finally, I have included a section that answers some of the frequently asked questions that players have about the Furioso rules. Hopefully, this will provide extra clarity, and clear up a couple of points that escaped my attention first time round.

So as you can see, this supplement contains both serious and silly elements. I hope players enjoy both as I found both aspects equally entertaining when writing and testing out this supplement.

– S. Danes 2018

Here are the contents of the book:

• Frontis 1
• Contents and Credits 2
• Introduction to The Italian Wars 3
• Mercenaries for Hire 4-10 – Hiring and Retaining Mercenaries, Creating your Own, Deployment Bonus, Mercenary Units of Reknown (Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery), Mercenary Generals, Create Mercenary Generals, General Cards. Example Mercenary Armies.
• Historical Battle Scenarios 11-28 – Historical Battles, Create your Scenarios, Re-Fight History and Accuracy. The Battle of Fornovo 1496, The Battle of Ravenna 1512, The Battle of Bicocca 1522, The Battle of Pavia 1525, The Battle of Ceresole 1544.
• Solo Play of Furioso 29-30 – Solo Armies, Set Up and Pre-Battle Events, Initiative. The Solo Engine and Playing Solo.
• The Way of the Solo Campaign 31 – Linking up Furioso games on your own. Experience Points, Replacing Losses, Costs and Renowned Units and Leaders.
• Wondrous Inventions 32-35 – Da Vinci and what might have been… Flying Machines, Armored Vehicles, Artillery, Clockwork Cavalry. Design and Construction.Invention Design including Armour, Drive, Weapons, Wings & Rota, Initiative. Points Costs, Pilot Skills, Pilot Experience.
• Wondrous Inventions in Combat 36-40 – Putting machines into your battles. Initiative Failure, Vehicle Movement, Firing at and Defence of Vehicles, Destruction, Air to Air, Crashing, Hot Air Balloons, Vehicle Weapons, Robot Cavalry, Close Combat, Collision, Long Range Spotting. Vehicle Repairs, Capture, Salvage. Inventions and Morale
• Outrageous Artillery 41 – Firing the Giant Crossbow, Firing the Triple Barrel Cannon, The 33 Barrel Organ Gun. Invention Hazards.
• Storm Troopers 42-43 – Anti Wondrous Invention Infantry. Bombardier, Artillerist, Hacker, Sgozzare, Tiratore. Tactics and Storm Trooper Rules.
• Example Inventions 44-45 – Our favorite example Da Vinci-style inventions with statistics for Furioso. The Terror Turtle, The Dragon, The Bull, The Whirlwind, The Bringer of Storms, The Thunderclap.
• Battles of the Invention Age 45-48 – Scenarios for Furioso using Wondrous Machines. The Battle of Vico Pass. The Battle of the Flaming Skies. The Battle of Piazzahut 1522
• Blessings in 49 – Appealing to a Higher Authority. Interventions, Prayers, Divine Power. Playing this in game.
• Furioso Rules Clarifications Q&A 50-51
• Vehicle Date Form and Unit Game Tokens 52

We hope you enjoy this new title, and remember that we offer 250-point Starter Armies for Furioso which include element bases for free. We also have a starter bundle with two armies and the rulebook included free!

If you have any questions or wish to talk about the game, then please join the Alternative Armies Tabletop Gaming Group on Facebook where I reside, and the author of Furioso will answer rules queries too.

Thanks for Reading!