Italian Condotta

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Historical Overview Section


Condottieri were mercenary leaders employed by Italian city-states from the late Middle Ages until the mid-sixteenth century. The first bands appeared between the end of C13 and C14. Later these bands were joined by the first true organized Ventura Companies, those of Duke Werner of Urslingen and count Konrad von Landau. Werner's company had a code of laws which imposed a rigid discipline and an equal division of income. This company was increased until it turned into the fearsome "Great Company,". Since many of the condottiere were well educated they began to view warfare more as science rather than bravery. As consequence, most condottieri viewed it a better idea to out-maneuevre the opponent and fight his ability to wage war rather than risk actual field battles. The condottieri were masters of the battles fought in Italy for the whole 15th century. By the time of the wars in Lombardy, Niccolò Machiavelli observed, "None of the principal states were armed with their own proper forces".

Using the army in FoG

  • Average knights are very dicey. Use them in 6's so you can gain most benefit from the upgrading power of a general, and also to mean you are slightly safer against a series of poor death rolls.
  • Aggressive use of a couple of sacrificial, big units of knights can pin an enemy back as he if forced to deal with them, allowing your killer Pike & Spear units to do the real damage.
  • Lots of cheap units of LF with HG or XB can make the army a lot more robust
  • Coordinating a charge with pike and sword and buckler men can be effective, especially if you can have a wider frontage than your target. This allows the S&B men not to fight in impact, but to contribute in subsequent rounds of melee.
  • Mixed spear/shooter units are brittle in combat against line of battle troops. Their place is on the flanks pushing enemy skirmishers away
  • The artillery is for mugs. It makes your army static and allows an enemy to pick on the many weak elements almost at will.
  • The English LB looks almost obligatory for Florence, which has Swiss (good) and 6 LH (so-so, not quite enough to be a problem to the enemy).
  • The Milanese get nothing too useful, as the Familia Ducale Superior Kn are not an upgrade to the existing 10-is-too-many Average ones.
  • Naples has 2 units of LH, allowing you to go for a KN + LH/LF combo.
  • Papal States - the Guardsmen are defensive spear, so might be a waste - but the English LF in 4's are gold dust.
  • Venice outside Italy really gets into serious amounts of LH, allowing you to form a huge army with hundreds of small maneuverable units.
  • Crossbow units generally are troops which do not win battles. They can cause heavily armoured and armoured knights pause for thought and are pretty good against cavalry but generally unless you expect to face off against lots of knights, or cynically plan to use them in column to support spearmen from behind you may be better spending points elsewhere on game winning units.
  • Handgunners are useful to support other shooters and cause more CT's on the enemy. They are also cheap filler as they come in 4's.

UK Tourney Results

26 / 62 Condotta Italian Britcon 2008 15mm (open)
45 / 62 Condotta Italian Britcon 2008 15mm (open)
11 / 41 Condotta Italian (Venetian outside Italy) BHGS Challenge 2008 (open)
12 / 14 SA21 Condotta Italian Northern League 2008 R4 (open)

User-contributed links about this army:

Allied Contingents (external)

  • Swiss : From 1440 Storm of Arrows 56 8-24 Pikes or Halberds and some LF. Make sure you pay them though! Venetians in Italy only

Allies

  • Naples & Venice are the best allies, as they are allowed enough units to give an allied general something to do - Milan and the Papal states can see allied generals commanding only 1 unit of Knights.
  • Swiss as allies to Venice or Florence gives you some unkillable Pikemen, plus a couple fo extra small units - nice
  • Albanians for the Neapolitans adds half-decent LH

15mm Manufacturers supplying figures suitable for Late Medieval Armies

You can see some of the figures in the Ancients Photo Gallery also on this site

Image Image Image Image Image Image

Core Troops


Which troops are absolutely needed for this army, and what are your thoughts on how to organise, paint and buy them.

Army Lists

Sample army lists for this army

  • 4 LF, HG, Av
  • 4 LH, XB, Av, Unprot
  • 4 HG, LF, Av
  • 4 HG, LF, Av
  • 4 MF Sword & Buckler men, Skilled Swordsmen, Protected, Average
  • 4 MF Sword & Buckler men, Skilled Swordsmen, Protected, Average
  • 4 Cv, XB, Protected, Lt Spear, Sword, Average (are these Cv stradiots or LH crossbow?)
  • 4 Cv, XB, Protected, Lt Spear, Sword, Average (are these Cv stradiots or LH crossbow?)
  • 12 Swiss Pike (allied)
  • 6 Kn, Average, Drilled, Hvy Armour, Lance, Sw
  • 4 LF, XB, Average (Swiss allies)
  • 8 Pk, Average
  • 6 Kn, Average, Drilled, Hvy Armour, Lance, Sw
  • 4 Bw, MF, LB, Sword, Protected & Drilled
  • 3 TCs and a Swiss TC aly

Loads of units and the skirmishing crossbow cavalry allow this army to fill a surprising amount of table.

A second sample list, emphasizing light horse:
Venice outside Italy

  • 4 LF UnPr/Avg/Dr/Firearm
  • 4 LF UnPr/Avg/Dr/Firearm
  • 4 LH UnPr/Avg/UnDr/XB
  • 4 LH UnPr/Avg/UnDr/Jav-LS-Sword
  • 4 LH UnPr/Avg/UnDr/XB
  • 4 LH UnPr/Avg/UnDr/Jav-LS-Sword
  • 6 LH UnPr/Avg/UnDr/Bow
  • 4 LH UnPr/Avg/UnDr/Bow - under Napolitan Ally command
  • 6 LF UnPr/Poor/Dr/XB - under Napolitan Ally command
  • 4 Kn HvArm/Avg/Dr/L-Sword - under NapolitanAlly command
  • 6 LF UnPr/Poor/Dr/XB - under Milanese Ally command
  • 4 Kn HvArm/Avg/Dr/L-Sword - under Milanese Ally command
  • 4 Kn HvArm/Avg/Dr/L-Sword
  • 4 Kn HvArm/Sup/UnDr/L-Sword

CinC - IC
Sub - FC
Napolitan Ally - TC
Milanese Ally - TC
800 points, 14 BG, +4 pre-battle initiative
FC sub commander allows the option of a flank march. There is enough LF to screen all the knights from shooting. While the average knights are in vulnerable 4 stand BGs, they are drilled and should have a general attached to them as impact approaches. If the situation for mounted knights looks hopeless, they all have a very viable dismount option.

Remember to leave a line before you copy the above section as a template for your own list

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