Month: December 2019

Historical Background

The Battle of Ariotta in 1513 was a decisive victory for the Swiss and was one of the last truly dominating battles for the famed Swiss pike blocks.

In the Spring of 1513, Louis XII was still angry at having lost the Duchy of Milan. The King selected La Tremouille to lead a 12,000 strong army including a large contingent of Landsknecht.

The army consisted of about 6,000 German pikes, 4,000 Gascons and Navarrese, 1000 lances and 1000 light horse, including stradiots. There was also a good amount of artillery.

Tremouille crossed the Alps without opposition by taking an unexpected pass. The small Swiss force was taken by surprise and sought refuge at the town of Novara. Records indicate that there were about 4,000 Swiss at Novara. Desperate messages for reinforcements were sent back to the Cantons and a relief force of around 8,000 pikes was sent.

Tremouille set siege to the town of Novara, where the Swiss had been joined by a small force of a few hundred knights and the duke Maximilian Sforza.

On the 5th June, the Swiss reinforcements could be seen approaching Novara, and Tremouille decided to withdraw towards Milan. That evening he set up camp near the small farming village of Ariotta. He assumed that the Swiss would need to rest after the long march from the cantons, especially as some of the troops would not even arrive until the next morning.

The Swiss had no intention of resting, but instead marched on the French camp ready for a dawn attack. They silenced their drums on the march to give no indication to the French that the attack was imminent. What followed was a daring attack of surprise and movement which kept the French off balance. The Battle of Ariotta had started.

Order of battle and deployment

We plan to play the Battle of Ariotta at our club game day in February. We will be using a 5ft x 14ft battle area. The following map and notes detail the initial set up and troops that will be used. This deployment is base on information in the book “La Battaglia dell’Ariotta”.

The game will start with the Swiss approaching from the bottom of the map along the road from Novara. The French will be deployed in the positions shown on the map, while the majority of the Swiss units will initially be off table.

Swiss Forces and deployment.

The game will start on Turn 1 with the Swiss Enfant Perdue emerging from the woods to charge the French guns.

• 2 units of Enfant Perdue each of 8 figures in skirmish order armed with Halbards and Swords.

This attack was ultimately unsuccessful in the battle, but it does give the Swiss a chance of surprising, capturing and using the French artillery. It will also give the main Swiss Pike block some cover against the artillery.

On Turn 2, the main Swiss Pike block A of 6,000 men will emerge from the woods.

• Swiss Pike block A of 100 figures (10 rows wide x 10 rows deep).

In the battle this pike block was held in place for a while by some French Gendarmes and received heavy casualties from the artillery. However, it eventually got to grips with the French pike and crossbows and routed them, before turning its attention to the Landsknechts.

The Swiss player may choose to deploy pike blocks B (3000 men) and C (1,000 men) onto the table on Turn 2 or any turn after. Until they are deployed their presence will not be made known to the French. In the actual battle, these units marched unseen by the French and achieved total surprise. In the battle pike block B was tasked with attacking the Landsknechts and pike block C was intended to cause confusion in the French rear and prevent the Gendarmes effectively countering the main Swiss pike blocks near Ariotta.

• Swiss Pike Block B of 64 figures (8 rows wide x 8 rows deep)
• 16 Swiss Halbardiers supporting pike block B (8 rows wide and 2 rows deep). This unit may be added to the pike block to increase the stamina and attack values or may operate as a separate unit.

In the battle the Halbadiers operated as a separate unit and attacked the Landsknecht arquebusiers before supporting the pike block and attacking the Landsknecht pike block in the flank.

The final Swiss Pike block C marched to the rear of the French army along a canal. It was hidden from the French during this march. Its main roll is to threaten the French camp.

• Swiss Pike Block C of 24 figures (4 rows wide x 8 rows deep).
• Milanese Knights consisting of 8 figures.

The Swiss reserves in the actual battle did not arrive from the cantons in time to play a part. The lead units entered the field as the French were routing. However, the French scouts were aware of the approaching reserves and this certainly played a part in their tactical choices in the battle. They did not want to send all of their units against the two main Swiss Pike blocks and leave their rear exposed. When I run the battle, once the Swiss player has deployed pike blocks B and C, I will make the French player aware that their scouts have observed another pike block approaching along the road. Depending upon how the game is progressing, I can then choose to make this pike block available to the Swiss at any time.

• Swiss Reserve Pike block of 36 figures (6 rows wide by 6 rows deep).

French forces and deployment

The French Gendarmes will initially be classed as disordered due to the surprise attack. They are elite so they will have a chance to roll this off at the start of Turn 1

• 1 unit of Household Gendarmes (8 figures)
• 3 units of Gendarmes (8 figures each)
• 4 units of Mounted Archers (8 figures each)

The French Artillery will also start the game disordered. They will be deployed facing the road emerging from the woods. They will be the first units to see the approaching Swiss.

• 3 units of French Medium artillery

The Landsknecht pike block will start the game disordered, but the two units of shot will start the game in good order. The shot were the first units to respond to the Enfant Perdue approaching the French artillery.

• Landsknecht Pike block of 100 figures (10 rows wide by 10 rows deep)
• 2 Landsknecht shot units each of 8 figures

The French infantry will also start the game disordered.

• 4 units of French crossbow each of 16 figures
• 2 units of French pike each of 24 figures (4 rows wide by 6 rows deep)

The French Stradiots will start the game in good order as they are performing scouting duties on the French flank.

• 1 unit of Stradiots of 8 figures.

Terrain

The terrain for the Battle of Ariotta is relatively simple, we will be playing on a 5ft x 14 ft table.

The three key items of terrain are the small farming village of Ariotta, the woods and the marshes.

No fighting took place in the village of Ariotta, but it represented the left flank of the French army, so it is important that it is represented. I am in the process of building the village and I hope to have it finished for the February game. Here it is at the moment.

The next item of terrain will be the woods. These woods were used to obscure the advance of the main Swiss body. Key will be the distance between the artillery and the edge of the woods. I am to make this distance around 18-24 inches. This should give the Enfant Perdue a small chance of reaching the artillery.

The main item that will need to be included is the marsh area. I plan to make this by imbedding some static grass mats from Killing Fields terrain into their Teddy Bears mats. I will post some pictures of the marshes when I am done. The main tactical reason for the marshes will be that they limit the French Gendarmes (and other troops) to one move distance per turn (in Pike and Shotte rules, troops can potentially move up to three moves per turn) and they will not be able to claim the lance bonus when charging in the Marsh. These marshes will therefore limit the attacks on the Swiss pike block A as happened in the real battle.

The game

We plan to run the Battle of Ariotta in February. I still need to finish the terrain and to paint a few more figures. I have the Milanese knights, the Swiss Enfant Perdue and halbardiers and a unit of French crossbows still to Finish. Once we run the game I will post a full review. I am looking forward to this battle as it is not the usual type of game with two armies facing each other across the table. How the French respond to being attacked on all sides will be key. If they can decisively deploy their forces they should win. If they fail to take tactical control, they will be routed as occurred in 1513.

In the Pike and Shotte rules, if cavalry charge a pike block that is not either disordered or already in combat, they will loose all charge bonuses and the pike unit will get double the number of attack dice.

These rules make it a very bad proposition for Cavalry to charge a pike block. These rules work reasonably well for playing two armies of combined arms (cavalry, infantry and artillery). They also work where there are many smaller pike blocks. However, when playing an historical battle such as Novara, Marignano and Bicocca, where one side is mainly composed of large Swiss pike blocks, the question of how to use the Gendarmes always comes up. Often the Gendarmes are left hanging around, not daring to take on the Swiss pikes.

My perspective on this issue was changed when I read the book L’Ultima Battaglia del Medioevo (La Battaglia Dell’Ariotta, Novara 6 Giugno 1513), by Mario Troso. On Page 88 of the book he states that “the French cavalry could attack a pike square only if it was in motion, while standing, however, the pike are ready to fix the base of the pike to the ground so that the spikes are projected against the chest of the horses, so that a charge would be disastrous”. He has a picture showing a pikeman bracing his pike on the ground with one foot against the pike (picture F5).

I have also read that a moving pike block could not easily change direction to face a cavalry charge from the flank.

So the question that I was faced with is how I could adjust the Pike and Shotte rules to replicate some of the cavalry charges against pike blocks that occurred at battles such as Ariotta and Marignano. In this blog post I aim to describe some of the additional rules that I plan to use at our next club game which will be the 1513 battle of Ariotta, Novara.

The aim of the rule changes is to allow the Gendarmes to force the Swiss pikes to set up in stationary formation. This move would allow the French cannon to attack the Swiss and prevent the Swiss from attacking the French and Landschnekt foot units. In the battle, only when the Gendarmes retreated in the face of threats to their rear, were the Swiss finally able to get to grips with the main Landschnekt pike block.

The changes that I plan to make to the rules are quite simple and are based around charges and charge responses:

1. If a pike block did not move in the previous turn, any cavalry charge will loose all charge bonuses and the pike block will get double the number of attack dice (unless the pike block is disordered, shaken or already engaged in combat). i.e. no change to the original rules. The pike block can turn to face the cavalry.
2. If a cavalry unit is within one move of a pike block (front, flank or rear), and the pike block moved in the previous turn, then the cavalry can charge the pike block with full charge bonuses. The pike block will not get any increase in attack dice.
3. If a cavalry unit is within two moves of the front of a pike block and the pike block moved in the previous turn, the cavalry can attempt to charge the pike block (they will need to get a command roll that allows two moves). As a charge reaction the pike block can attempt to set the pikes to receive the charge by rolling a command roll. If the pike block completes this charge reaction and sets the pikes, the cavalry commander can either complete the charge (with loss of charge bonuses and double the pike attack dice), or pull up 6″ short.
4. If a cavalry unit is within three moves of the front of a pike block and the pike block moved in a previous turn, the cavalry can attempt to charge the pike block (they will need to get a command roll that allows three moves). The pike block will have sufficient time to set the pikes (they do not need to take a command roll but can do this move automatically). If the pike block sets the pikes, the cavalry commander can either complete the charge (with loss of charge bonuses and double the pike attack dice), or pull up 6″ short.
5. If a cavalry unit is within two moves of the flank or rear of a pike block, and the pike block moved in the previous turn, then the cavalry can attempt to charge the pike block with full charge bonuses (they will need to get a command roll that allows two moves). The pike block will not get any increase in attack dice. The pike block can turn to face the charge but will not have time to set the pikes.
6. If a cavalry unit is within three moves of the flank or rear of a pike block and the pike block moved in the previous turn, the cavalry can attempt to charge the pike block (they will need to get a command roll that allows three moves). As a charge reaction the pike block can attempt to turn to face the charge and set the pikes to receive the charge by rolling a command roll. If the pike block completes this charge reaction and sets the pikes, the cavalry commander can either complete the charge (with loss of charge bonuses and double the pike attack dice), or pull up 6″ short. If the pike block does not complete the charge reaction, they can still turn to face the cavalry but will not have the pikes set.

These rule changes can allow the cavalry to fix the pike block in place; if the pike block decides to move it will run the risk of being charged by the cavalry. A fixed pike block can be attacked by artillery (or shot) as happened at Ariotta.

The rule changes initially sound a bit complex, but are in fact quite simple. They limit the movement of pike blocks when cavalry are in the vicinity. These rule changes make the interaction between cavalry and pike close to my perception of what occurred historically. For example at Marignano, the French Gendarmes made repeated charges against the flanks of the Swiss Pikes. At the battle of Ariotta (Novara), the French Gendarmes fixed the largest Swiss Pike block in place allowing the French artillery to inflict heavy casualties. In the unmodified Pike and Shotte rules, neither of these situations could be accurately represented in a game. Hopefully these rule changes allow some of the historical battles to be played more realistically.

I will need to play test the rules further to make sure that there are no unintended consequences and that pike movement is not completely eliminated. However, I think that as long as cavalry are not within one move of the front of a pike block (and the pikes do not have cavalry to the flank or rear), then it should not prevent movement. If there are cavalry close to the front of the pike Block, then the pikes need to take them seriously.