This whole idea developed from the boy Hannam's comment that bands of landskecht could be called after various brands of German beer. I bought a load of Foundry's renaissance mercenaries and goggle eyed with painting fatigue, I thought of this when it came down to thinking up a game or two for them. The Imperial Circle of Nieder Grossen am der Dosse is a relatively small area in Southern Gennany which is usually lost in creases and folds in the map. It is divided between two factions, the Imperial free City of Homberg, and the Landgraf du Pilsen. There are several causes for this friction. Firstly the alleged loss of Pilsener lands to the City; the Landgrafs prime pig breeding farms are now a few miles within the jurisdiction of the City. As a result of several trials over poor quality pork, the Landgraf was stripped of his pig farms and fined heavily. Oddly the farms were awarded to the Homberg Guild of Butchers and Sausagerers who had brought the cases to court in the first place. The second cause of strife is the "Contract of Patent to Supply Wurst to His Holy Roman Imperial Majesty's Buttery". This is held in perpetuity by the Von Pilsens, who are using it to prevent the Hombergers from providing pork sausages to Vienna as this is in blatant contradiction of the Patent. The Homburger council argues that the von Pilseners cannot hold the patent as they no longer own any pigs. Oddly there are constant raids on the civic cabbage farms; barely a week goes past without a band of masked villains ambushing the cabbage laden waggons or breaking up the monthly cabbage market in the city. The City Council loudly blames the Von Pilseners ; Graf denies the charges but his retainers complain of a heavy diet of pickled cabbage. The most furious arguments rage over the title to the areas's hop fields and brewery; the Graf puts forward his old feudal rights, whilst the council argue that the brewing falls within the charter of the Imperial Free City. Who, in the name of the Emperor, is Who? The City Fathers of Homberg. These are grasping old duffers who combine rapacity, cunning, tight fistedness and jobbery to new and breathtaking depths. Far from keen to risk their own skins, they hire mercenaries to do their fighting. The office of commander of the City Militia (and by inference any mercenaries that they hire) is The Hopmeister General; the post carries a generous allowance of beer, which makes it highly prized amongst the mercenary leaders. The Landgraf von Pilsen. A family of aristcratic dinosaurs, with Hapsburg jaws to match; they have no time for the rights of the City and ride roughshod over them at any opportunity. Happy to lead men into action, many of the Landgrafs fall in battle but there is always an heir to take over the lands. There are six bands of Landsknecht who are for hire and who will fight for either side in this feud. They are Hofmeister, Steinhaller, Lowenbrau, Niersteiner, Satzenbrau and Kaltenbrau. There are two notable mercenary commanders. The first is Gerd von Frundsbercg; nicknamed "The Pretender" because he pretends to be the real Gerd Von Frundsberg; a flamboyant figure with a penchant for the frontal attack. The other is Kurt von Zobel, the impoverished junior son of the equally impoverished Graf of Munchenburg. The most recent battle was in late May 1498 when the Graf's army, led by Zobel and comprising the Niersteiners, Satzenbrauers and Kaltenbrauers took on Hopmeister von Frundsberg and the rival companies on the lagerfeld just outside the town walls. Frundsberg charged in but barely dented the opposition; with cries of "one more effort and the beer is ours" he piled in with the municipal escort of halberdiers, the much vaunted Halberdieren du Hopp, who broke straight away. Von Zobel led his troops in a sharp counter attack and the Hopmeister's forces scattered. Von Pilsen and his triumphant mercenaries marched to Homberg where he was presented with a (forged) copy of the Patents of Rights and deeds to his pig farms - which made no mention of the brewery or hopfields. Realising he had been tricked he tried to storm the walls but hampered by a total lack of artillery, was forced to retire. . . . Back to The Gauntlet No. 13 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com