OBJECTIVES

The only real objective for each army is the defeat of the other. However the Imperialists should be allowed a win if they can break through the French lines and so open communications with Carignano. If the battle is deemed drawn but the French have prevented this then they win.

THE BATTLEFIELD

No real surprises here.

The opposing ridge lines are composed of gentle slopes. These do not handicap movement but will give a slight advantage in melee. For simplicity I recommend that you do not give them crests (i.e. everything on the 'top' can be seen) and that you can only be 'hidden' if actually behind the ridge. Note that the central portion of each ridge is higher than the two sides and as such should block line of sight for all purposes.

The farms should only be passable to skirmish foot (and give the normal cover bonus). No other troop types may enter.

The wood is fairly dense, only skirmish and broken should think of occupying it.

We used 15mm figures and played on a table approx. 6' wide by 5' deep (with the main battlelines approx. 2 1/2 feet apart). However our rules have fairly fast movement rates (6-8" for a pike block). If your movement rates are significantly slower I suggest you cut the width accordingly, once the interminable skirmishing was over the armies closed to contact very rapidly with a minimum of 'decision points' for the leaders. Closing the distance also discourages the French from attempting all sorts of 'gamey' reverse slope tactics! For 25mm you will need a table 7-8' wide and 5' deep.

DEPLOYMENT

Again fairly straightforward, each army deploys on it's assigned ridge. The Imperialists army (all of it) should be in full view of the French. The French may initially deploy the Old Swiss behind their ridge (and out of sight of the Imperialists). They automatically become visible if they move (the ridges were fairly low and this removes the possibilities of all sorts of arguments!) or once an enemy unit is within charge move. Both sides may deploy skirmish foot and guns up to 'one move in'.

The umpire is encouraged not to allow the French to rely on 'reverse slope' tactics!

For the French reinforcements use the following -once an Imperial (non skirmish) unit is within charge distance of the French ridge the French commander rolls 1D10 at the start of each subsequent turn. On a 10 the reinforcements appear. Each turn after the first add one to the die roll (cumulative). On the turn they arrive the reinforcements are simply placed on the French baseline, they cannot move, fire etc. They cannot enter within charge range of an enemy unit. Should the Imperialists be making no effort to advance the umpire may wish to hint that French reinforcements have been spotted and allow the French to start rolling for their arrival, regardless of where the Imperialists are.

The battle commenced with hours of ineffectual skirmishing, I can think of no real reason for attempting to devise rules for this -if the players wish to indulge in this after deploying then it's up to them!

THE OOBS

The OOBs give the basic details for each of the armies together with brief notes for the  players. The umpire will need to adapt these according to the rules he is using (see the detailed notes and my thoughts on the units above). Each unit is given a basic morale rating (the ubiquitous A -E, A being the best), the number of figures in the unit, a guide to training and experience (Veteran - the best -Experienced and Raw) and notes concerning weapons and doctrine. (Sub) indicates the unit is a sub unit of the unit listed above it. You will note that there are no melee sub units listed, this is simply because I am not sure that such units should be represented on the table (I believe it encourages all sorts of ludicrously 'gamey' behaviour by the 'rules lawyers', wherever possible I prefer to 'factor' them in.) - and certainly not by this period. If you feel strongly that they should be present then simply add them to the oobs in whatever proportion your rules suggest.

• All foot should be unarmoured except the Landsknechts.
• The oobs are at an approximate 1:50 scale.

THE GAME

The rules we used are our own (vaguely descended from 'Forlorn Hope'). However I see no reason why this scenario would not work with the other rules currently available. The umpire may wish to modify some of the unit ratings according to the rules he uses (especially if your rules make numbers more important than quality in determining the result of a melee -if this is the case you may have to uprate the Old Swiss or drop the Landsknechts one level).

In the refight the Imperialists attacked and were beaten (so perfectly replicating history). Dealing with the French cavalry superiority is a real challenge (but not I feel impossible). The umpire however may wish to 'encourage' the French to place their Gendarmes towards the centre of their line (where they deployed historically) rather than on the extreme flanks. In the refight the Imperialist foot had a real chance of breaking the French centre but failed due to some rather lacklustre command control which resulted in their attack going in piecemeal. Again, as in reality, the Landsknechts were left 'hanging' by the Prince of Salerno. The various units on each side were not made clear to the opposition which resulted in some interesting decisions for the players as although the unit type was obvious from the figures it was unknown how good (or bad) they were. The French tended to believe the Imperial horse was better than it was whilst the Imperialists felt that the French horse was poorer than it turned out to be. The Imperialists also believed the French Gruyere foot were 'genuine' Swiss and their battleline became distorted because of this.

Map

Ceresole 14th April, 1544

Historical Background and Commanders
Troops and Organization
Orders of Battle: French
Orders of Battle: Imperialists
The Wargame and Map