The Loose Association of Wargamers

The first unit of what will be the army of Gonzalo de Cordoba for my Italian Wars project. I aim to do both sides for the Battle of Cerignola 1503, in my opinion one of the most pivotal battles during the series of conflicts we call The Italian Wars. After his defeat at the hands of the French and Swiss at the Battle of Seminara 1503 Gonzalo put into place plans to employ his smaller force more efficiently in a defensive manner. He significantly lengthened the pike, equipped his men with more arquebus' and enlarged his artillery train and set his army firmly on the defensive. The addition of mercenary Landsknechts to further bolster his forces. It was in this way that Gonzalo was to send the forces of Louis de Armagnac, Duc de Nemour's overwhelming numbers of a mix of French and Swiss reeling and into eventual retreat. If not annihilation in the case of the Swiss.

More pictures from a lower angle on my blog here:
https://justaddwater-bedford.blogspot.c ... siers.html

The miniatures are being based up for as many rules systems as I can possibly fit in as I am done with rebasing. I'm in my early 50's now and the days spent plying miniatures off one base then going through the process again are over!

As an aside, I have been watching on Twitter excitement tantalising glimpses of an Italian Wars playtest set of rules but the Too Fat Lardies. A medium sized game, along the lines of Infamy, Infamy! and Sharpe Practice. This will be a great set of rules to slowly bring together both sides for Cerignola without painting up thousands of miniatures and will allow me to actually get some games in!

Cor!

They really are rather fine/

Thanks guys.

They're a bit good!

I have a bit of a soft spot for this period (albeit more for early Tudor armies) because of the origins of "uniformity" in terms of formations etc, but without the actual uniformity of clothing beyond simple retinue cassocks (or whatever).

These guys really look the part!

Thanks again guys

BaronVonWreckedoften wrote: ↑Fri Jul 30, 2021 3:00 pm I have a bit of a soft spot for this period (albeit more for early Tudor armies) because of the origins of "uniformity" in terms of formations etc, but without the actual uniformity of clothing beyond simple retinue cassocks (or whatever).

Yeah, me too mate. It's a project that started out with the Francesco Gonzaga vignette below many years back but things conspired to keep me away from the project. Although the battle for the game has changed from Fornovo to Cerignola the Italian Wars are a real passion period for me. As well as being one of the pivotal moments in Military History in Western Europe at least.

Atheling_2006 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 30, 2021 4:42 pm It's a project that started out with the Francesco Gonzaga vignette below many years back but things conspired to keep me away from the project.

Errrr, yes - I do recall that photo with a little embarrassment. It was accompanied by a pop-quiz question about which city was connected with it - to which I replied Hull (the black-and-amber stripes being Hull City FC's home strip at the time) instead of Venice (the gold winged lion on the red flag).

Love both of these and looking forward to more

For no particular reason, other than the sheer quality of work, these have to be some of my favorite pictures!