Friday, 3 July 2026

Battle of Barletta 1503 Valour and Fortitude AAR Great Italian Wars 57

 Des came over and we had a go at a battle from Peter Sides Renaissance battles, although it only seems to be in his book?



 Every where else its a siege and a challenge/tournament between 13 Italian men at arms and 13 French. Still it gave us a nice excuse to get a Spanish army and a French army out on the table. The Spanish defended and the Swiss came on in waves , the French Gendarmes destroyed the jinets and hit a landsknecht pike block in the flank and the Swiss chewed through everything else!











































































We didnt have any stats for Spanish jinets, which I think is an oversight and the barrier didnt favour the Spanish enough as the shot range has been reduced so the Spanish only got a closing fire/melee bonus which wasnt anyware near enough . The Swiss are also almost twice as good as the landsknechts which also seems a little excessive, not to Des of course and he was quite happy that his French Gendarmes were miles ahead of everyone else too, I think we should have had only one or two Gendarme units and the others as men at arms, but first go and all that, it was great fun and Valour and Fortitude worked well for the period, I just think we might come up with a few house rules to make it more historical, unless Im playing the French in which case Ill keep them as written! Only joking, theres a new, apparently the last version of Valour and Fortitude out at least on the facebook group and we have had an entertaing French versus Brits that Ill post in due course.

All the best 

Iain

52 comments:

  1. Fantastic looking armies Iain, and epic looking battle, shall be interesting to read how the house rules work in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! This is a marvelous photo tour of your collection. What figures are you using for your Spanish?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Spanish are mostly Old Glory for two of the colunnas, with the odd Perry plastic and warrior making the numbers up and then Old Glory pike and swordsmen and Foundry sea dogs which are a bit later but I thought fitted in?
      Best Iain

      Delete
  3. Fantastic to see your armies in action. They look awesome. I would never have thought to use V&F rules for the period. Sounds like some work needed on them. I'll be interested to see the house rules you develop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Richard, yes , when I heard there were Italian wars variation I thought Id have a go but as I noted, the army list needs a bit of work I think?
      Best Iain

      Delete
  4. What a lovely collection and a fantastic presence on the battlefield - flags and colour, lovely. Even the line of defensive works is of impressive size.

    It will be interesting to see the new formalised version of V&F when that is ready for public release.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Norm, yes as its meant to be the last version, I wonder if it will be published in Wargames Illustrated again?
      Best Iain

      Delete
  5. Superb collection and great seeing them on the table, such a colourful period, really looks quite superb.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Some crackin photos of some beautiful figures! The battle looks an interesting one as well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a cracking game to behold there Iain, with so many lovely units to enjoy looking at:)! Good to see you are still having fun with V&F.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Steve, yes still having fun with V&F!
      Best Iain

      Delete
  8. Great looking game Iain, I really like those Spanish and French armies. I agree the Swiss being twice as good as the landsknecht does seem a bit much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Oli, yes a bit uneven I think, Im inching closer to finishing my Ravenna war carts so hope to have them up soon ish?
      Best Iain

      Delete
  9. The Great Italian Wars are my favorite historical period. Huge squares of pikemen, colorful landsknechts, amazing gendarmes, lots of bright banners - what could be more exciting? Congratulations on a great game! Epically, bright and spectacular!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Alexu, I think I pretty much agree with your Italian wars summary!
      Best Iain

      Delete
  10. Fantastic looking game Iain!
    Love the close up photos too!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The colourful pics are always such a pleasure, I love these games of yours!

    ReplyDelete
  12. That is a serious number of beautiful images, Iain - a beautiful range of figures. It does sound like the forces were a bit unbalanced - I don't know anything about the era - were the French really better than everyone else?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Keith, the French did start the war with the best heavy cavalry, the best artillery and with the Swiss, the best infantry and were the richest country in Europe, oddly they lost, up against the Spanish use of firearms and the landsknechts pretty much matched the Swiss and I guess theyre command wasnt as good?
      Best Iain

      Delete
  13. Beautiful stuff Iain. Great to see this terrific collection in action.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lawrence, its been a while since they were out!
      Best Iain

      Delete
  14. Wonderful looking game Iain. Quality and quantity in all the units!
    At least you had some great excuses for losing 😮😁

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wonderful looking collection Iain I’m trying V&F with AWI for the first time this afternoon can see any reason why it won’t work just fine 👍

    ReplyDelete
  16. Iain. You have quite a table thumper of a game set up truly captures the brilliance of the period. Can't comment on the rules yet but we will revisit them soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Joe, do have a go I think the engine is great, just need a few period specific tweaks!
      Best Iain

      Delete
  17. Great looking figures, and sounds like the rules worked out well!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Glorious looking armies Iain. Did you field both sides?!! Wonderful.
    Best wishes, James

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes both sides and of course could easily field at least two more,wargaming megalomania in full flow!
      Best Iain

      Delete
  19. Oh my goodness me, what an incredible sight!

    ReplyDelete
  20. A splendid display Iain. All those lovely flags and pike blocks certainly make for an eyecatching game. Reading a lot recently about V&F... But I will resist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dai, probably best with your limited time, but never say never!
      Best Iain

      Delete
  21. Wow, impressive table. Those are large armies. A beautiful sight indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Great looking table and that is a hell of a lot of models, did the game engine hold up at that size?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks SD, yes its designed for this size, originally for Napoleonic but it seems to adapt pretty well?
      Best Iain

      Delete
  23. Well that is awesome inspiring impressive collection very well done indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Great collection, cool battle, love that era. Sadly I only wish my French gendarmes would perform that well, they usually disappoint. My poor dice rolling does not help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Joseph, well you should try this rule set if youre the French!
      Best Iain

      Delete