We played out the battle of Garigliano with two people per side and myself moderating the game. We completed the battle in about three and a half hours using the Pike and Shot rules. The game set up and the unit characterization have been covered in previous blog posts. This post will cover the after action report. I will aim to do a post on how I would improve the game in a few weeks.
The battle of Garigliano 1503 started on the Spanish right near Sujo and Castleforte with the Spanish light cavalry (Jinetes) quickly advancing to engage the Albanian Stradiots.
The Spanish infantry were also quick off the mark and advanced up to Castleforte; while on their right the Papal infantry refused to move and the Papal knights were also reluctant to move.
The Swiss were typically aggressive and decided to march on Castleforte with their three pike blocks. Two are shown on this side of Castleforte and one is on the other side.
The Spanish Jinetes continued their battle with the Stradiots, and were supported on their flank by the Spanish knights. Unfortunately for the Spanish, the French Gendarmes were quick to activate and started to move up in support. They can be seen in the background.
Seeing the Swiss pike blocks encouraged the Papal pikes to start moving forward along with the still slow Papal knights.
Unfortunately for the Spanish cavalry, the massed ranks of French Gendarmes and Archers proved too much to handle and the Spanish were quickly routed.
Near Castleforte the Spanish pikes had been putting up a brave fight against the Swiss, but when two Landschnekt Black Band pike blocks showed up on their flank, things start to look desperate.
The last of the Spanish cavalry were then driven off by the Gendarmes.
Between Castleforte and Sujo, the Swiss and the Papal pikes entered combat, with the Papal Cavalry on the flank for support.
With the Swiss engaged to their front and their flank being charged by the Black Band, the Spanish pike finally decided to call it a day and routed off the field of battle.
On the Spanish far left, things remained quiet near the bridge across the Garigliano. The Spanish decided not to advance in support of the main attack once the main attack stalled. In the background can be seen the French Household Gendarme unit. The French commander had forgotten to move the most elite unit on the table, and now they were too far away from the French commander to receive orders.
The French Gendarmes cleaned up the last of the Spanish arquebusiers near Castleforte; a move that cannot be considered honorable.
On the far right things were not going much better for the Spanish. One of the Papal pike blocks become Shaken and Disordered and was pushed back. The other Papal block was Shaken.
With the Papal pike block nearest Castleforte being attacked by a Swiss block from the front and about to be charged by another Swiss block from the side, things were looking hopeless for the Spanish forces.
The only bright spot was that the Papal cavalry were now in position. However, with the Spanish cavalry and infantry dispatched, the French Gendarmes and Archers moved past the French camp to engage the Papal knights.
At this point the battle of Garigliano was called as a victory for the French. Not a historical result, but a good time was had by all. It was also great to finally get the troops out on the table.
We then carried out a post mortem of the game while eating Italian hoggies and cheesecake. There were a few suggestions on how to change the scenario specific rules, troop deployments and victory conditions for the next time. I will discuss these in the next blog post. We hope to repeat the scenario at a club games-day later in the year.