DBA-RRR has lots of army lists for the Italian Wars. I can field all the variations so the question is, which army lists will we use for each game. In our recent games we have arbitrarily chosen a date and that has given us the army lists. One night I went for 1512 (Battle of Ravenna) and another night Adam chose 1525 (Battle of Pavia).
I’d like to systematise the choice, preferably using a die roll or cards. So in this post I do a bit of analysis on the battles in the Italian Wars and line them up with the army lists. I have a particular focus on Spanish and French because those are the armies I have, but Swiss and Italians of various flavours do appear. My focus is also within the boundary of modern day Italy because that is the theatre that interests me most.
Choosing a date for a game in the Italian Wars hence Spanish and French DBA-RRR army lists
There was 12 open field battles between the Spanish and French in Italy during the wars.
These battles correspond to different combinations of the DBA-RRR army lists. There is only one DBA-RRR French army list for this period but two Spanish:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD
- I/4 Neapolitan Spanish. 1495-1518 AD
- I/5 Spanish Imperial. 1519-1558 AD
And all three of his master lists have several options.
The following table summarises of the French versus Spanish line ups with the appropriate option within the army lists. If you want to use the table to pick the year, battle, and/or army lists to use for a game, then roll 1d12.
| 1d12 | Battle | Year | French | Spanish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seminara (1495) | 1495 | I/2 (a) | I/4 (a) |
| 2 | Seminara (1503) | 1503 | I/2 (b) | I/4 (b) |
| 3 | Cerignola | |||
| 4 | Garigliano | |||
| 5 | Ravenna | 1512 | I/2 (b) | I/4 (c) |
| 6 | Bicocca | 1522 | I/2 (c) | I/5 (a) |
| 7 | Sesia | 1524 | I/2 (d) | I/5 (a) |
| 8 | Pavia | 1525 | ||
| 9 | Landriano | 1529 | ||
| 10 | Ceresole | 1544 | I/2 (f) | I/5 (c) |
| 11 | Serravalle | 1544 | ||
| 12 | Renty | 1554 |
I’ve knocked up some Option Markers if you don’t want to use 1d12.
What follows are all the nitty gritty details that led to this mechanism.
Italian War of 1494–98
1495 had two battles in Italy. The first involved the Spanish:
- 28 Jun 1495: Battle of Seminara (1495): French defeated Neapolitan Spanish
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD: (a) 1494-1496 AD
- I/4 Neapolitan Spanish. 1495-1518 AD: (a) 1495-1502 AD
The second battle in 1495 involved a combined Italian army:
- 6 Jul 1495: Battle of Fornovo: French defeated Holy League (Update 30 May 2019: thanks to John Rohde for pointing out my mistake)
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD: (a) 1494-1496 AD
- I/1 Italian Condotta. 1494-1553 AD: (a) Combined 1494-1495 AD
Italian War of 1499–1504
1503 was the year for battles in Italy:
23 Feb 1503: Battle of Ruvo: Neapolitan Spanish defeated French
(Update 31 May 2019: Turns out Ruvo was an assault on a town)- 21 Apr 1503: Battle of Seminara (1503): Neapolitan Spanish defeated French
(Update 31 May 2019: Opps, I missed the 2nd battle of Seminara) - 28 Apr 1503: Battle of Cerignola: Neapolitan Spanish defeated French
- 29 Dec 1503: Battle of Garigliano: Neapolitan Spanish defeated French
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD: (b) 1496-1512 AD
- I/4 Neapolitan Spanish. 1495-1518 AD: (b) 1503-1511 and 1513-1518 AD
War of the League of Cambrai (1508-16)
Battles in Italy during period 1512:
- 11 Apr 1512: Battle of Ravenna (1512): French and Ferrarese defeated Spanish Imperial and Papacy
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD: (b) 1496-1512 AD
- I/4 Neapolitan Spanish. 1495-1518 AD: (c) 1512 AD
- I/1 Italian Condotta. 1494-1553 AD: (c) Pisa 1494-1509 AD, Sienna 1494-1521 AD & Others
- I/1 Italian Condotta. 1494-1553 AD: (d) Papacy 1494-1495 & 1504-1522 AD and Florence 1494-1506 AD
There were four battle in Italy during period 1509-15 (not 1512) but they didn’t feature Spanish versus French:
- 14 May 1509: Battle of Agnadello: French defeated Venetians
- 6 Jun 1513: Battle of Novara: Swiss defeated French
- 7 Oct 1513: Battle of Motta (1513): Imperial defeated Venetians
- 13-Sep 1515: Battle of Marignano: French defeated Swiss
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD: (b) 1496-1512 AD
- I/4 Neapolitan Spanish. 1495-1518 AD: (b) 1503-1511 and 1513-1518 AD
- I/3 Swiss Confederate. 1494-1515 AD: (a) 1494-1499 and 1514-1515 AD
- I/3 Swiss Confederate. 1494-1515 AD: (b) 1500-1513 AD
- I/1 Italian Condotta. 1494-1553 AD: (c) Pisa 1494-1509 AD, Sienna 1494-1521 AD & Others
Italian War of 1521–26
Only one battle in Italy during 1522:
- 27 Apr 1522: Battle of Bicocca: Spanish Imperial and Papacy defeated French and Venetian
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD: (c) 1513-1522 AD
- I/5 Spanish Imperial. 1519-1558 AD: (a) 1519-1533 AD
- I/1 Italian Condotta. 1494-1553 AD: (c) Pisa 1494-1509 AD, Sienna 1494-1521 AD & Others
- I/1 Italian Condotta. 1494-1553 AD: (d) Papacy 1494-1495 & 1504-1522 AD and Florence 1494-1506 AD
Battles in Italy during 1524-25:
- 30 Apr 1524: Battle of Sesia: Spanish Imperial defeated French
- 24 Feb 1525: Battle of Pavia: Spanish Imperial defeated French
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD: (d) 1523-1535 AD
- I/5 Spanish Imperial. 1519-1558 AD: (a) 1519-1533 AD
War of the League of Cognac (1526–30)
Battles in 1529-30
- 21 Jun 1529: Battle of Landriano: Spanish Imperial defeated French
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD: (d) 1523-1535 AD
- I/5 Spanish Imperial. 1519-1558 AD: (a) 1519-1533 AD
The Spanish also had another battle in 1530:
- 3 Aug 1530: Battle of Gavinana: Spanish Imperial defeated Florentine
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/5 Spanish Imperial. 1519-1558 AD: (a) 1519-1533 AD
- I/1 Italian Condotta. 1494-1553 AD: (g) Florence 1522-1530 AD
Italian War of 1542–46
Battles in 1544:
- 11 Apr 1544: Battle of Ceresole: French defeated Spanish Imperial
- 2 Jun 1544: Battle of Serravalle (1544): Imperial Spanish defeated Franco-Italians
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD: (f) 1544-1559AD
- I/5 Spanish Imperial. 1519-1558 AD: (c) 1544-1558 AD
Italian War of 1551–59
There was only one Spanish-French battle in 1554:
- 12 Aug 1554: Battle of Renty: French defeated Spanish Imperial
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/2 Italian Wars French. 1494-1559 AD: (f) 1544-1559AD
- I/5 Spanish Imperial. 1519-1558 AD: (c) 1544-1558 AD
But 1554 also had:
- 2 Aug 1554: Battle of Marciano: Florentines defeated Sienese
DBA-RRR army lists:
- I/1 Italian Condotta. 1494-1553 AD: (c) Pisa 1494-1509 AD, Sienna 1494-1521 AD & Others
Thanks for this!
Excellent for setting up the battles from an interesting period in military history.. Thanks!
Didn’t the French win at Fornovo?
To quote Wikipedia “Both parties strove to present themselves as the victors in the battle”. But the French left Italy, which is pretty telling.
I thought it was a French tactical victory in a lost campaign: rather like the Beresina in 1812 or Hanau in 1813.
John, I concede. It was a French tactical victory. To quote an contemporary Italian chronicler, Francesco Guicciardini: “the victory was universally adjudged to the French on Account of the great Disproportion of the slain, of their driving the Enemy on the other Side the River, and because their Passage was no longer obstructed, which was all they contended for, the Battle being fought on no other Account.” (Guicciardini, 1753, p. 338-339)
Thanks Steven. I was recollecting from my reading of Oman, which is a favourite book of mine. It’s easy to nitpick but hard to create, so my hat is off to you.
Very interesting Steven.
One of these days we will get around to working on a DBA 3.0 compatible version.
Hi Tony. Thanks for passing by and for DBA-RRR.
You are most welcome. I love that period.