Lard Magazine 2025 Out!

 

This years Lard Magazine is now out and available for download HERE! Well worth the £7. for the pdf.

I'm very much looking forward to digging into the James Morris' Midgard Bosworth scribblings, John Savage's Midgard Fornovo article and the introduction to a set of "ancients" rules that i am very much interested in by Dave Brown that go by the name of Vexillarius.

For anyone interested in Vexillarius, please take a peek at the following videos on YouTube:

Swiss Mercenary Band Types for Fornovo

It has been a bit of a week. A few days ago I somehow inexplicably managed to drop a large heavy Jamie Oliver wok crashing into my right hand! It was not hot, but it bruised my hand and it was too damn painful to lift a brush up until a few of days ago. Then just to add to my misery and from out of nowhere, a somewhat vicious cold suddenly came on within a few hours. I am officially Clinically Extremely Vulnerable so the anxiety took over and would not let go. I have had my two jabs, about three weeks since the cold hit me so at east I would have some protection if it was indeed Covid. I did manage by doing an hour here and and hour there over a three day period to complete more "speed painted" Swiss. The irony of using the phrase "speed painting" is not lost on me but it was the same technique I used on the "speed Painted" Swiss I completed a few days ago so I am stuck with the label.

These chaps have been given the "mercenary band" treatment in terms of their dress as illustrated by Massimo Predonzani in the book, The Italian Wars Volume 1, The Expedition of Charles VIII into Italy and the Battle of Fornovo. 

I have gone for the something close to the garish mix of colour as seen on Massimo's illustration above. I am not yet sure whether I will add all eight miniatures to one base or sprinkle them around in the 64 figure unit with their more conventionally dressed comrades. They might look a bit odd sitting in their own base so probably sprinkled around un the unit?

This cold has quite a lot to answer for as looking at the pictures on my screen I have just noticed that I have failed to add any crosses to the hose or tunics. Luckily these fine fellows have not entered into the varnishing process so there is still time to potentially save their souls!

Swiss Pike at The Battle Fornovo 1495 Livery Quandary/Question?

I've started speed painting up some Swiss Pike for my long overdue Battle of Fornovo 1495 project. Please excuse the gloss varnish in the picture; the miniatures are patiently waiting another six days before they see any matt varnish. I decided to go for a speed painting method as realistically this was the only way they are ever going to get onto the table top before I kick the bucket! It was a simple choice between speed painting leaving the miniatures to languish in the box or clean them up and start painting! The mini's have been painted in the Canton colours of Lucern and Zug. It seems clear that the Swiss did not fight in their traditional Canton liveries at Fornovo (see below) but a few here and there sprinkled in will not look too out of place. 

I will be putting much more effort into painting the command stands and vignettes but the rank and file will have to make do with what they get for the reasons outlines above. It must be nearly a decade since conception of the project and the one vignette so far is really not doing the job of putting on a display game! LOL

These will be representing the Swiss pike hired by Charles VIII during his Invasion of Italy culminating in the battle of Fornovo. The question I have is what sort of liveries would they be wearing? Given the vast wealth of the Kingdom of France it seems only logical that many of the mercenaries would have been given a livery coat or at the very least a least a sash. Or alternatively would at least some of them have fought in the colours of their Canton? They were certainly hired as Mercenary "bands" It is a question that I find some difficulty in answering to my satisfaction. I think I may have to compromise and go for both interpretations. Possibly have a few Canton liveries at the back of the pike square and something more akin to that of the image below taken from The Italian Wars Volume 1, The Expedition of Charles VIII into Italy and the Battle of Fornovo, Massimo Predonzani, Rahelel Tico, Vincenzo Alberici, Helion and Company 

It does seem that the Swiss were given to more lavish, dare I say garish, clothing during the campaign.

At present I have eight painted up, completed in one sitting, in the colours of the Canton of Lucerne. I will be adding to these while I work out how to go about speedily representing the multi coloured hose and sleeves. 

I am also in a bit of a quandary over whether to add in any Canton banners. There is extant evidence that the Swiss fought under banners supplied by Charles VIII as seen below:

From The Italian Wars Volume 1, The Expedition of Charles VIII into Italy and the Battle of Fornovo, Massimo Predonzani, Rahelel Tico, Vincenzo Alberici, Helion and Company:

They bear them in front of the square shaped flag with a rounded fly end displaying a white cross in the middle on a field of azure and gules (blue and red). These colours do not belong to any of the cantons of Switzerland of the time; therefore, the group of soldiers must be part of a free company. One hypothesis could be that the depicted infantry kept the same banner they bore under the French; in fact the Aragonese and Italians sported the red cross to set themselves apart from their enemies beyond the Alps.

"The Battle of Fornovo", preserved in the National Gallery of Art in Washington (see below), is another iconography depicting Swiss flags of the time. This print is interesting because it accurately portrays the battle; the weapons used and the garments.

The infantry square of the Swiss troops in the pay of France is in the meddle of the scene, and exhibits among the pikemen's ranks five flags with a slightly pointed fly end displaying the cross. However, since the etching is on black and white, the field colours of the flags are not visible.

If anyone reading this has any info regarding the clothing, liveries and banners carried by the Swiss at Fornovo I would love to hear from you. There is a contact form on the right panel of my blog if you wish to get in touch.

Francesco Gonzaga Charging Across the River Taro

Francesco Gonzaga Charging Across the River Taro:

I am not entirely certain where this picture of my Gonzaga vignette was taken or even when. I have a vague recollection of it being for Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy magazine but that's about it.

Anyway, it is another found object from an old laptop and thought I would make a quick post as I'm certain that it has not featured on my blog before.

Fornovo 1495 Essential Reading Part One More (Formerly from Gewalthaufen Blog)

More from my Gewalthaufen Blog as it nears its end!

So, with my enthusiasm rekindled I reached for a few, now rather dusty books from my bookshelf, not only to strengthen my feel for the battle via a vis the demo game but for building up a solid background to The Great Italian Wars in general. After all, it is a truism that wars cannot be understood in isolation. This is particularly pertinent regarding what we artificially call The Late Medieval/Early Renaissance period of history. It is simply not the case that one 'period' (man, I hate that term though I do seem to use it a lot!) ended suddenly and another altogether different segment of technological and military strategy began. As wargamers it is one of the ironies of our hobby that we are instinctively aware of this fluidity but at the same time we drive history into convenient brackets in order to make sense of it all. Not only that but we are very particular about doing the exact same thing in terms of  what we like to call "Troop types" etc. That being said, this is not a history lesson but rather an expression of my interest in this fascinating span of history.

Regarding the literature; I would be very interested in hearing about anything that I might have missed out so please feel free contact me if you think their is anything. glaring or otherwise, missing from the short list of books below.

So, without further ado, the books in no particular order:

The Artillery of the Dukes of Burgundy 1363-1477

(Robert Douglas Smith, Kelly DeVries)

I've just ordered this from Amazon. Although the scope of the book falls short of the sum of the actual date of the battle it is interesting in that both the French Kings Charles VI and Charles VII of France realising the importance of artillery in relinquishing the Plantagenet dynasty of their rich lands in France had started to gather together a substantial artillery train. Thus so the Dukes of Burgundy. This was a continual process and for my purposes the book should be very informative in what these military captains were trying to achieve with their firepower, that apart from the obvious advantage that may be gained. I'm hoping for a more nuanced study. The book seems like a good starting place for getting to grips with the types of artillery used at Fornovo and their actual battlefield use.

Fornovo 1495, Osprey Books

(David Nicolle)

With a view to putting on a demo game of Fornovo, it probably goes without saying that I have read this book and view it as essential reading, at least from the meagre offerings in English! For those that have not read the volume then it's fair to say that it follows the standard formula traditional for Osprey. It is a decent outline of the events leading to the battle and the battle itself.

The Italian Wars Volume 1: The Expedition of Charles VIII into Italy and the Battle of Fornovo (Retinue to Regiment), Helion Books
(Predonzani Massimo, Vincenzo Alberici, Irene Maccoloni)

A Full Review of this Book will Follow

Another book on order from the Retinue and Regiment Series. I cannot comment on how useful this may be for obvious reasons. It is Volume I in the series covering The Italian Wars and I'm hoping that Helion follow through and manage to study the other major conflicts of the time, especially the ones that appeal to me; Ravenna, Cerignola, Garigliano and Ravenna.

That's it for now due to time constraints but I'll be back tomorrow with more literature pertinent to the battle.

Kind Regards

Perry Italian Men at Arms!! (Formerly from Gewalthaufen Blog)

Over a year ago I was sent some of the Perry European Armies Italian Men at Arms on Foot to paint up for their website. without going through the woes that befell me last year (suffice to say that things were very traumatic and that I've had to move twice in the space of six months).

These have been tucked away in my ex girlfriend's garage and I've been looking for them for months in order to send them off! They were sent with six shields and six archers that have yet to be located but I reckon I'm on the right scent now. My ex's idea of packing mini's up is to do it well, she no doubt picked that up from me, but to organize them into relevant boxes is beyond her. not her fault I know!

I was beginning to think that I'd never find them! They are based but no dry brushing nor Silflor has been added but I couldn't resist taking a few snaps of them- it feels like i have found an old friend!!

Francesco Gonzaga Crossing the River Taro Vignette(Formerly from Gewalthaufen Blog)

Here it is, finally, the vignette I've been working on of Francesco II Gonzaga leading the Italian Men at Arms in a charge at the Battle of Fornovo crossing the River Taro during Charles VIII's ill fated invasion of Italy to capture the Kingdom of Naples.

Many military historians have postulated battles that mark the end of Medieval warfare; in Britain we usually refer to the Battle of Bosworth or the Battle of Stoke Field but in fact history is very much in a state of flux and it is really impossible to pin down when one period finished and another begins. However, if I personally was to choose one campaign and one battle I would have to say that Charles VIII's invasion of Italy in 1495 and the Battle of Fornovo, if anything are about as close as we are going to get in the Western world to a Medieval ways of war moving closer to what we would define as Renaissance warfare.

Charles VIII artillery train is but one aspect that exemplifies my point, his use of Swiss mercenaries armed with their pikes is another.

Anyway, without too much waffling from me, here are the pics:

A note on the livery that I have chosen for Gonzaga's retinue. The yellow and black are taken from the centre of his banner. Information regarding heraldry in English is particularly hard to come by when it comes to The Italian Wars so it was a necessity to take an educated guess as to what his livery might have been. Lack of information will be a common theme to many Late Medieval wargamers but it is particularly difficult to get information for The Italian Wars say, compared to the Wars of the Roses which are relatively well documented.

One last thing I should mention is that the heraldic banners are printed onto a fine cloth by Pete from Pete's Flags which are available from his blog HERE. They really are charming painterly renditions of banners, standards and flag and I would highly recommend them to all.

Cheers