Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Medieval Adventures => Topic started by: levied troop on August 10, 2019, 03:15:21 PM
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I've had in mind to do Campaldino 1289 ever since I bought the Scramasax book on the battle on a visit to Florence back in 2002. Partly because the book is magnificently illustrated (and only available in Italian :lol: ) and partly because its the battle where you're allowed to field Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy, as one of the participants.
Collected a big range of Foundry/Essex/1st Corps figures, undercoated the infantry and tried painting a few. Then put them in a big box until last year when I started undercoating the cavalry:
(https://i.postimg.cc/tCYNXVKx/Infantry-1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/crGnh64x)
So that's my plan for the remainder of this year - get this project finished or at least usable.
The plan is to use a fast painting technique - block base colour, a couple of discrete Contrast Paint washes and a Magic Wash finish. They may not look wonderful close up but should be ok at 3 foot and more importantly, they'll be finished. I'm starting to be conscious that I've more figures than I can reasonably expect to paint before my eyesight/sanity/life ends and I need to crack on! I'm also thinking that they'll provide mass troops that can back up a more carefully detailed 2nd Baron's War/early HYW collection.
A 3D project plan and showing an update from the last couple of days:
(https://i.postimg.cc/R0zX2PsR/image1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/SnD6MGp2)
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And a close-up - not wonderful as I say but I think they'll do at 3 foot - this isn't for show games, just for my private pleasure 8)
(https://i.postimg.cc/rFcw13SC/fullsizeoutput-243.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/8sKGDyXj)
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Look pretty dam' good to me.
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Not bad for a little skirmish game ;)
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What a great project LT. Will you be able to use your wonderful Grand Manner collection of Italianate buildings again?
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Now there’s a thought ;)
I think I can backdate those buildings to the Albigensian Crusade at least and update them to 1945, to say nothing of fantasy. They’re looking more like a bargain every day lol. I just wish he still did them in bare resin.
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I think I have that same book. I picked it up at Historicon one year and wanted to do the same thing. The figures look great!
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Thanks. I'm still not sure, but.......
More progress:
A few archers and peasants plus Florentine crossbows and pavises:
(https://i.postimg.cc/rmv0QJw7/image1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/7GnZLS7N)
I’m planning on using Lion Rampant, but rather than the specific Paviser rule I’ve upped the unit numbers to 18 from the normal 12 because it looks prettier and the extra numbers provide the residence the unit should have.
As I’m a glutton for punishment, a close-up:
(https://i.postimg.cc/yx4xF8fH/image2.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/mzjT4BfX)
Still a little frustrated with the finish, but definitely happy with the progress. I haven’t finished the basing yet partly because I’ll do it as a batch job when I’m done and (really) because I may tinker with the highlighting at the very end.
Horses are being done as a big batch before the riders (and the caparisons will wait until I’m ready to do the riders):
(https://i.postimg.cc/KzK3PVxn/image1.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/8JSCDZF5)
and a close-up:
(https://i.postimg.cc/9fgqqV5m/image2.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
Generally these are a base coat and then a Contrast Paint wash, with white markings picked out afterwards. Still experimenting with the various combos but the effect seems ok and I’m getting them finished very quickly for me :)
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Well it certainly lets you turn ‘em out fast.
The horses really do remind me of the good old ‘oil wipe’ method of yore... ;)
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It is fast, that represents about 4 days work in between drunken comedy gigs lol.
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in between drunken comedy gigs lol.
whoah there, what? 😊
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They're looking good.
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whoah there, what? 😊
I've written a joke about a fat badger, but I couldn't fit it into my set. :)
Don't worry Shaun, I'm only attending, not performing!
So, an orbat for the Guelf/Florentine forces. There’s not a detailed account of the battle and the orbat is a little conjectural. I prefer the description by the Scramasax book to the one in the Osprey, mainly because the latter imagines a single front line and the Scramasax split into centre and two horns seems to better fit the enveloping nature of their forces during the battle. It also reflects the formation used at Montaperti 30 years earlier.
The current status looks like this:
(https://i.postimg.cc/x1ZSppx3/fullsizeoutput-246.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/sM58vmRM)
All horses painted and a few more infanteria added
Based on the following orbat (initial troop descriptions are Lion Rampant terms):
Right ‘Horn’ - Front Rank
1 unit Mounted MAA - Commander – Vieri de’ Cerchi or ‘The Gate’s Ass’ so dubbed by his political enemies since the Cerchi had their houses in the Florentine sesto (district) of Saint Peter’s Gate (Porta San Piero). The chronicler Dino Compagni described him as ‘very good looking, but devoid of cunning and a bad speaker’.
2 units Crossbows/pavisers as Crossbows + Mixed Weapons + pavises - Florentine militia
1 unit of bowmen
Right ‘Horn’ - Second Rank
2 units as Serfs - Contadini horde, the poorer citizenry of Florence
1 unit Foot Yeoman + schiltron - Communal Florentine Guild-maintained spear
The Centre - Front Rank
4 units of Mounted MAA - includes the CinC - Amerigo di Narbona (mercenary from Narbonne, France) and Guillaume de Durfort (from Carcassone) who is sometimes described as 2nd CinC and, helpfully, spoke Italian! This force will also include Dante.
The Centre - Second Rank
1 unit Foot Yeoman + Expert - the Popolo (elite militia middle class republicans from Florence)
1 unit Mercenary crossbows as Crossbows + Pavises - I’ll make these Genoese as they got everywhere.
Left ‘Horn’ - Front Rank
1 unit Mounted MAA - commander Barone de Mangiadori
1 unit Crossbows/pavisers as Crossbows + Mixed Weapons + pavises - Siennese militia
1 unit Crossbows - from Lucca
Left ‘Horn’ - Second Rank
1 unit Foot Yeoman - Communal, Guild-maintained spear
1 unit as Serfs - Contadini Horde
Reserve
2 units Mounted MAA - Commander - Corso Donati. Born around 1250 in a powerful family, Corso was a demagogue and a man of action, never afraid to take the law into his own hands. In the Commune of Florence’s councils, Corso always advocated extreme measures, legal or not, to protect Florentine interests.
1 unit as Foot Yeomen + schiltron - Communal, Guild-maintained spear
1 unit communal crossbows as Crossbow + pavise - from Prato
There’s a fair bit of baggage to be added to the rear as the Florentines seemed to have been well organised in this respect and it potentially could have quite an impact if the army was forced to retreat too far - I’m working on that separately as a more detailed paint job.
If anyone has a better view of the Guelf/Florentine forces or the Lion Rampant descriptions - I’m all ears! In particular, I’m not completely happy about having the subordinate commanders in the Horns as complete Mounted MAA units, although that’s how LR requires them. That doesn’t quite fit the infantry nature of the forces but I can’t see the respective commanders (noble, proud and filthy rich as they were) slogging it on foot. Perhaps a single base mounted command that can influence but doesn’t act as a full unit would be a better approach?
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Have you come across the blog: "Dante's War"?
http://swampster-danteswars.blogspot.com/
Filled with quite a lot of useful information and links.
John
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Hi,
first of all my most sincere congratulations, since you choosed a really nice battle, plenty of great characters and interesting wargaming situations. By chance my wargame club has just completed a two years project on Campaldino and i know that there aren't many references for the battle. We read the nice Scramasax books too, as well as a few other texts in italian about the battle and the armies of the period, including Compagni's and Villani's chronicles, but the sources are still few and every reconstruction is speculative, at least untill when will reappear the Dante's letter (mentioned by Leonardo Bruni a XV° century Dante's biograph) in which he described the fighting and drew a sketch of the battle.... what a loss for us wargamers!
We used as basic reference the OOB of the boardgame "Guelphs and Ghibellines" because it portrays nicely, imho, the disposition of Guelph's forces: a first line of cavalry (called "feditori") that normally should engage the enemy but that the Guelph commanders deliberatedly kept firm, waiting for Aretine's attack.
Compagni puts Vieri Dè Cerchi in command of this first line. Dante was probably among the "feditori" aswell.
A second line with the main cavalry force (called "schiera grossa") was positioned right behing the first line. We put in command of it Amerigue de Narbonne, representative of the house of Anjou and who was the formal commander in chief (to be true no commander in chief should be possible in the anarchic florentine army/society of the end of XIII° century). Since it's a great force difficult to handle, we split it in two, creating a small detachment commanded by Maghinardo Pagani, a ghibelline renegade.
Behind the second line would lie the main infantry force, that we put in command of Barone de Mangiadori almost by chance. Behind the infantry would lie the Florentine camp.
The wings were held by the choosen companies (Red and White), raised from all Firenze's "sesti" (districts) and made by archers, crossbowmen, palvises and "lanze longhe" (spearmen armed with long spears). The wings were almost unmovable due to the palvises and we didn't gave them any commander.
Then there was the reserve, made by infantry and cavalry from Pistoia and Lucca (Firenze's allies), in comand of Corso Donati. We put the reserve on the left side of the florentine's army, the only position from wich it could make the flanking attack that won the day.
Of course this is just our reconstruction, mostly specultive, but it gave good games. We used Hail caesar as ruleset with some modifications, so i dont' know if it could work as well with LR.
Anyway i attach you a few pics of the game/scenario, just in case it shoudl be usefull. Please keep it up, looking forward for more updates!
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@ Malatesta - thanks for that, I did know of that blog a few years ago but forgot about it, many thanks for the reminder.
@ Emporium - wow! Thanks for the input, that looks very good and is very helpful. I'm tempted into your orbat structure, will have a closer look at it but it's going to be worth trying to re-fight the battle using both structures. How did your battles go - who won and how? And a more detailed question - would at least one infantry group in the Florentine force be Sienese?
An update - first the physical project plan:
(https://i.postimg.cc/Dy9T0JxL/IMG-1918.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/zVFMPBZG)
and a couple of close-ups, a Popolo group of Florentine spears:
(https://i.postimg.cc/NFLc91h7/Popolo-1.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
and some Contadini:
(https://i.postimg.cc/rsbLSKM6/Contadini-1.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
Basic block painting and a wash with a couple of Contract Paints, transfers by Veni Vidi.
The infantry are proceeding at a pace, should have the Florentine foot finished by the end of the month. The cavalry are taking a little longer, I've got hung up on trying to paint circles and rings for some of the heraldry!
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Hi,
nice minis so far.
We have played the scenario quite a few times (the pics portray the game at Milano Wargames con held on February): most of the times it went as happenend in 1289, with a Guelph victory but always hard fought. The Ghibellines usually have no problem in destroying the first line of the Guelph cavalry and mauling badly the main cavalry force. Their infantry has good chance to destroy at least one of the "companies" holding the Florentine flanks, but the counterattack by Corso Donati usually saves the day for Firenze.
Actually it's very hard for the Aretines to win: they are outnumbered nearly 2 to 1 and they choosed to attack. To give them some chances we powered the quality of their cavalry (it has some historical consistency) and of their commanders (Buonconte da Montfeltro above all) and we divided their army in few forces, more numerous than the Flontenie ones, harder to break. If you trust enough Google Translator you can read the report about our scenario in my wargamesgroup website (shame on us it's still no pics) http://gruppoludicoaglianese.it/nuovogla/2019/04/03/campaldino/
About the Siena's contingent it's testified its presence at the battle since Siena had suffered a regime change, becoming a guelph ally for Firenze after their defeat at the battle of Colle Val del'elsa in 1269. For the senese contingent we have used the heraldry of their "Podestà" (Major) Tomaso di henzola and of some families of the city's guelph party. Their infantry is also quite interesting to portray since it had a sort of protouniform: every "terzo" (district) had it's distinctive overcoat colour, if i remember well green (Città), red (San martino) and white on black (Kamollia).
If you need some advices for heraldry please jus let me know, i have many images that we used for our project.
Cheers.
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Thank you, that’s helpful. I did think the Arentines were up against it, I’ll go the same way as you and up the expertise of their front line cavalry (the Paladins?). I’ll give google translate a go - and probably on the rest of your site, there’s some good looking games there :) but I might pick your brains on Arentine heraldry- I think the Scarasmax book is a little light on it.