Field of Glory Renaissance in Farnboro 2012

Later Imperial Spanish vs French Italian Wars

Languishing at the upper end of mid table, the Spanish army had little prospect of silverware, but also the realistic chance of a creditable near the podium result. Next up on their 40mm MU campaign was their fourth and final opponent - French Italian Wars

The French army featured 2 blocks of Determined Swiss, some Gendarmes and a handful of easier targets as well in what was a very, very tiny 9 unit army.

Rules hint - Few armies get Determined Foote Swiss - moving 33% faster than normal foote they can be down your throat in sconds...

As usual the table featured lots of terrain, including an irritating forest and an even more irritating steep hill, both of which had fallen squarely in the middle of my side of the table - this would make the Spanish attack rather hard to engineer. Fortunately one flank was entirely bald, creating an inviting opening for the Corballas Corzas ...even more so as the French had decided to defend it by the old tried and trusted tactic of "hoping the enemy didn't notice".

The battle opened with the Corballos racing down the open flank, supported by Spanish infantry who lagged behind. Both Elite Tercios were in the middle, looking to test their mettle against a Swiss Kiel and maybe bag a poorly defended artillery line in the bargain, whilst on the right (out of picture) Dragoons and Croatis sought to engage French Enfants Perdus and keep some Gendarmes out of the game for as long as possible

The Spaniards rolled forwards, and the small size of the French army became ever more apparent as a huge hole in its middle seemed unlikley to be filled before the Spanish advance arrived. On the Spanish left the Corballos Coorzas Cuirassiers were now almost past the French liine of crossbowmen, and the Spanish and German non-Elite infantry were rounding the steep hill to put in place a classic pincer movement against the crossbowmen as well.

The Fench decided that the best option was to try and deal with the Spanish mounted, and both the Swiss and the Crossbowmen contracted away from the advancing Pike and Shotte and faced up against the Corballos Corzas

Seeing a rare chance for glory, and remebering the effect their colleagues had had on unprotected medium Foote in the first game of the day the Average Horse turned in and stared down the crossbowmen - in charge range but out of short range for the crossbows. The Cuirassier meanwhile continued their outflanking move with alacrity, puzzling the Swiss in the process..

Kurassier making an Outflanking move

The other unit of Swiss were gripped with an uncharacteristic indecision and had been dithering whilst the Spanish advanced meekly towards them. Not especially keen on taking on a Swiss Keil, the two Elite units separated, and one made a beeline for the French gunnnes whilst the second faced off the Kiel.

Indecisive skirmishing on the right had seen a unit of French Enfants Perdus lost to Spanish arquebus fire, but now the Croati were dicing with death by getting rather close to the gendarmes.

The Gendarmes charged, and the Croats fled succesfully away

Rules hint - Light Horse move surprisingly fast across uneven and rough ground - fields being the latter

It was a Spanish standoff as the Swiss Kiel refused to be especially Swiss. The French gunnes however were now in range of the second Tercio, meaning a second unit would soon fall to the Spanish

The Swiss Swordsmen were getting restive behind their Tercio of Pikemen

The Corballos Averagios charge home!! Led by a General they have survived some of the shooting and gone in intact

The French Crossbowmen do very badly in combat, losing bases and cohesion rapidly. This leaves the Swiss in a real quandry as they have enemies to the front (the Average Spanish Horse who will surely break through and pursue into them) and the rear (the Spanish Cuirassiers)

The surprisingly cojones-less Swiss still refuse to come out to play.

The French crossbowmen recieve the Spanish equivalent of the coupe de grace (not too be confused with the coupe de glace, which would be a bowl of ice-cream) as the second Spanish Corballos Cuirassier unit hits them in the flank.

Breaking the French crossbowmen at impact and causing them to rout through the Swiss Kiel, the Cuirassiers then pursue into the rear of the Swiss block, effectivelly fragmenting it at impact.

With that, the game is over, a complete and crushing victory for Spain

The Result is a rather short, sharp and brutal 25 to nil win for the Later Imperial Spanish.

Post Match Summary

Victory is Mine! Mwoahhahhahahahh!! Spain emerges yet again triumphany, fuelled by a heady diet of Inca Gold and well cured pork based products, and once again we will stride victorious over the central European plain and conquer such military collossi as Belgium (which I accept is not yet a country), parts of Holland, and the occasional small town and surrounding area in the Piedmont !

How brilliantly we maneuvered our forces here to achieve such a stunning victory with the minimum of losses as well. Preservation does not just aply to cured pork loin when it comes to my men doing their Spanish business you know!

The French will never wish to set foote across the Pyrenees again after this humbling at the hands of our far superior troopers. Lets refight the Italian Wars but with Spain as the protagonist, and we will see who emerges triumphant this time eh ?

A fantastic way to wrap up a mostly succesful one day of battle. Vive Catholicism !

Hannibal's Post Match Analysis

Most plans do not survive the moment at which the enemy starts to react to them, but fortunately for you it seems that this enemy was more interested in making a quick getaway round the M25 than putting up a decent fist of fighting you for the spoils of war

But be careful in this victory, lest it turn you into a Jigging Fool. Were mine eye bans into bullets turned, that in a rage I might shoot them at your face and bring humility down on you in a torrid rain as this is not so much a victory hard won on the field of battle, but a meekly surrendered point tally gained with no lessons to be learned for you - and trust me, you do need far more education before you can gaze upon the lofty heighhts of the real foothills of finishing in the top 3 at this sport my fellow.

Out of my sight and begone now, before thou dost infect mine eyes...

That's the end - so why not go back to the Match Reports Index and read some more reports?

You can now comment, "like" or give feedback on these reports on either directly on this page, or on the Madaxeman.com Facebook Page or even the Madaxeman.com Blogger Site.