Italian Wars Scenario Generator (1494–1559)

Rules-agnostic. Outputs Commands, Units/Detachments, men, horses, guns and wagons. Players choose deployment; the generator only states historically plausible tendencies. France Spain / Empire Italian states Swiss

1) Scenario Set-up

Historical preset (locks year, sides and a baseline strength) — Custom / fictionalised -- Fornovo (6 Jul 1495) — Charles VIII’s retreat Cerignola (28 Apr 1503) — trench and arquebus Agnadello (14 May 1509) — League of Cambrai Ravenna (11 Apr 1512) — French vs Holy League Novara (6 Jun 1513) — Swiss surprise Marignano (13–14 Sep 1515) — Francis I Bicocca (27 Apr 1522) — sunken road and shot Pavia (24 Feb 1525) — capture of Francis Sack of Rome (6 May 1527) Ceresole (11 Apr 1544) St Quentin theatre (1557) — late war Scenario type Planned defence (prepared works) Attempt to break a siege Attack on a camp Ambush Fair & open battle Night attack Garrison / outpost fight Forage / convoy fight Town storm / sack Year emphasis (custom only) 1494–98 First invasion 1499–1504 Louis XII / Naples 1508–10 League of Cambrai 1511–13 Holy League 1515–16 Marignano years 1521–26 Habsburg–Valois I 1526–30 League of Cognac 1536–44 later Italian campaigns 1551–59 last war

Ignored for presets. Presets lock the year and both sides.

Player A faction (custom only) France (Valois) Spain / Habsburg Imperial Italian state / League Swiss Confederation Player B faction (custom only) France (Valois) Spain / Habsburg Imperial Italian state / League Swiss Confederation Table size 4'×3' 6'×4' 8'×4' 8'×5' 10'×6' Table North and home edges Auto from scenario Player A South — Player B North Player A North — Player B South Player A East — Player B West Player A West — Player B East

North is always the top of the printed map. Points: North A–D, South E–H, East I–K, West L–N.

Figure scale (play aid only — counts stay in men) 1 figure = 20 men 1 figure = 50 men 1 figure = 100 men 1 figure = 200 men Season Spring – firm Summer – dry Autumn – wet Winter – snow/ice Player A strength (custom only) Affray / forage — about 500 Outpost — about 1,200 Column clash — about 3,000 Small field action — about 6,000 ~10,000–12,000 ~13,000–16,000 ~17,000–20,000 ~21,000–26,000 Player B vs Player A (custom only) B −30% Equal B +15% B +40% Randomisation Stable (midpoints) Variable Generate Umpire Brief No Yes

2) Guns, works, terrain and circumstances

Field / siege artillery (pieces on the sheet) None or a single light piece Light park (6–10) Moderate park (12–18) Heavy park (20–30)

Crew convention: 15 men per light piece, 25 medium, 40 heavy. After 1494 French bronze guns travel on horse-drawn carriages. Small fights scale the park down.

Operational option None Player A flank march plausible Player B flank march plausible

Extenuating circumstances

Pay arrears / mutiny risk Poor visibility (fog/snow/dusk) Wet powder / damp match Forced march fatigue Swiss or Landsknecht pay dispute

Terrain pack

Ridge / crest line Low hill Woods approach Vineyards / fields Hamlets/farms Town/suburbs Road/lanes Sunken road / ditch River/canal Marsh/wet ground Bridge/ford

If nothing is ticked, should terrain still appear? NO — only terrain you tick can appear YES — if none ticked, generate a random set YES — always randomise (ticks preferred)

Fieldworks

Trench and bank Gabions & mantlets Wagon laager Bastion / trace fragment

Cerignola- and Bicocca-style fights put the defender behind a bank or sunken road. Players may move the works.

Troop quality: Elite — household gendarmes, chosen Swiss Vorhut files, Black Bands veterans. Veteran — ordonnance horse, Spanish coronelía pike and shot, Swiss field pike. Experienced — Landsknecht Fähnlein on a second contract, Italian provisionati. Trained — new ensigns, Gascon drafts, Walloon militia raised this season. Militia — cernite, town levy, camp servants.

Generate Scenario

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Print Player A

Print Player B

Print Umpire

Outputs

Player A Brief

Generate to populate…

Player B Brief

Generate to populate…

Umpire Brief

Core principle

Players choose their own deployment inside the named zones and lettered points. Tendencies are a period guide, not an order.

French lance of the ordonnance: homme d’armes plus archers (and later a cutler and page in the Low-Country pattern). On the field they are sorted by weapon. Spanish foot from the 1500s: mixed coronelía / tercio — pike wall, rodeleros, and a growing arquebus sleeve. Landsknecht paper strength is a Fähnlein of 500; musters commonly show 250–300. Swiss: Fähnlein of 50–300 on the road, rebuilt in the field as Vorhut, Gewalthaufen and Nachhut. Pike about 18 ft. Shot stays outside the close block unless the horse is close; then a file of harquebus may stand behind the first pike rank.

© Manx Gaming Solutions — Italian Wars 1494–1559 scenario helper.