Short Summary
My name's Ryan, I'm 17 and have decided to write about my very first wargames campaign. It's based in the fifteenth century in Machiavellian Italy, I control the city state of Milan from a selection of: Milanese, Papal, Neapolitan, Turkish, Austrian, Venetian, Florentine and French forces. I'm the youngest player and the campaign is played on the boardgame map from Avalon Hill's 'Machiavelli' game with the battles being fought with the DBA rules set. I'm writing from 5 years in, which is 15 turns, each turn being handed in every other week, with the admission of five weeks of abstinence the campaign had now been running for 35 weeks and is still at full throttle.
Summer 1458 -
The world is in turmoil, I write from now, five years into the campaign, where so much has changed. I remember back in Spring 1453 when I still felt that being the youngest, it was only a matter of time before my dishevelled exit. However my viewpoint has quickly changed as the seasons flitted by and empires rose and fell.
Before we continue let me give a quick overview of what has already taken place so far...
1453 - Keep your 'Friends' close...
I am Francesco Sforza, beloved of the people (slightly from the wrong year, as Francesco became duke of Milan in 1460 but by the time I noticed we were already half way through, and I had already changed from calling myself Giovanni who was an illegitimate grandson of Francesco's, but that's what you get for using Wikipedia...). The game began in a flurry of messages back and forth all written in pompous diplomatical prose which really added to the sense that this would be a great campaign. The first player to contact me was the Pope, thrilled to be seen as a man worth talking to I grasped the chance with both hands and was carried away in a topical and enjoyable discussion of future days to come - then I realised I'd gone to far - Failing to read the rules early on nearly had me giving advantages away that were my right, the one under discussion was the port of Genoa; a great financial asset that secured my lower border with the French and also gave me the ability to convert armies to fleets if necessary. I quickly felt I was being overshadowed by a Venetian/Papal partnership and withdrew, vowing to take Genoa as my own. Feeling I needed an alliance I could lean on I joined conversation with the other northern powers of Venice, Imperialist (Austria) and France where we devised a great plan to divide Italy into four sections each supporting one another. How naïve I now seem...
1454 - The Rot sets in...
With many powers failing to put in orders, nothing much happened in spring, summer saw more action with independent states being quickly snatched up, and the Papal states managed to get to Genoa before me, plague had eradicated my army on route and had limited my militaristic resources. Florence seemed to be allied with the good Pope capturing Piombino and Genoa's geographic neighbour Savoy. The first battle of the campaign saw an ill-fated fleet of Papal soldiers massacred as they attempted to storm the beaches at Bari - defeated by the Neapolitan defence they attempted to withdraw but their escape was cut off by an inconvenient Venetian fleet wiping their forces, an interesting gambit but one that hadn't paid off. France failed to enter orders for both Spring and Summer though did manage to get some in for Autumn, cracks began to show in this northern alliance as communication lines ran dry.
1455 - Let loose the Hounds of War
Yet again several powers failed to hand in orders, a phenomenon I am still yet to understand, Naples surprised us all by building a horde of fleets using borrowed money, Florence raised a new army as did I, whilst I also lay siege to Genoa's eastern neighbour Modena. Finally too far irritated with France I took it upon myself and gave them a set of orders that I had written myself which they duly handed in, I performed a graceful move by bribing the Papal force in Genoa and using it to capture the port for myself (Gaining the title 'Viper in the North' from the Papal Ruler), whilst I also had the French liberate Savoy from the Florentines. Austria, Papal, Naples and Turk built further forces in summer - has war finally come to Italy? Florence launched an attack at my army that sieged Modena and drove them from the field - the Florentine ruler then aptly died (dropped from the campaign and went back to Uni) and was replaced by a another general of my own age - he seems quite an impressionable person, one that I can perhaps taint from the Papal puppeteers?
1456 - Et Tu Brutus?
This turn stunned me, by far the most aggressive and has shaped the world since, I led an admirable conversation with the new ruler of Florence, one that left him wishing to be both mine and the Papal state's ally, with the Papacy and Milanese at each others throats this could never happen and with neither of us trusting him he was beset by us both, I captured Modena back, massacring his forces whilst the Papal states attacked the cities of Florence and Pisa, whilst also lending monies to the Turks in the east. Amusingly, both Venice and Austria had announced that the Turks had been their enemy from the beginning so took offence by this money lending, also calling on the opportunistic Neapolitans, I convinced them to begin a three way assault on Papal territory in response to 'recent warmongering' without involving myself, This way I look like a good guy and the Pope will be brought down a peg or two. The Pope is simply stated to have said "I will relish digging the Pope out of this Hole". As France have had such a poor hand from the start and have also not put in orders for most of the campaign I duly decided to secure my western border whilst eyes were elsewhere, Milanese forces entered Swiss from Turin and then promptly cut off Avignon I also felt it was necessary to utilise the moment and heal any wound left over Genoa, assuring the Papacy that I shall not advance past Lucca. Florence fell from grace, Papal armies manoeuvred to cut off the last Florentine provinces and thus wiped the nation form the campaign, it'd be a note to say that whilst the Florentine general took it badly and I haven't seen him at the club for a while, the Papacy executed the assault well, considering they were at war with four of seven powers. The battles in Papal and Florentine lands continued to rage with the Papacy attempting to control all Florentine states simultaneously so to control their income, but also to abstain from their own collapse under the banded aggression of the other three powers.
1457 - The Western Front
The Umpire also noted the missing action of French powers so decided to replace their leader with a Historical wargamer, he seems friendly although I am vexed with their joining the campaign as I am so close to liberating the French income for myself. It was also on this turn that I noted the rise in Austrian power, their war on the Turks had gone well, and although they seemed to be a joint force with Venice they definitely had the better side of the deal, seeming to gain territory without battle whilst needing to maintain very few forces to defend them. Moving into Provence I was met with a French paid Swiss force which I managed to beat back into the sea. The war for Florence continued, with the Papal states floundering under the simple might of his numerous enemies - even losing his capital of Rome to Naples, and being forced to retreat into garrison of Florence. Pursuing war with France I bribed their army (I seem to be the only person using this ability with flair - I feel powers like Naples and Austria borrow too heavily for too little gain) and followed the French navy from the Gulf of Lyon back to Marseille, my command stand was unfortunately crushed under cannonade from French defence causing me to withdraw my assault, Papal armies fought back with renewed vigour taking the fight to his adversaries and sieging Rome whilst sallying forth in Florence. Naples defaulted on a loan causing their provinces to enter uproar, losing much income and hampering his strategical control. The Summer of '57 was bad for me losing both armies guarding the eastern border to plague and having their constituent towns being overrun by armies from both Austria and Venice, a move I had not foreseen, however looking at the map the Venetian Austrian alliance had profited well and they had become a force to be reckoned with, I continued war with France capturing Sardinia, Saluzzo and Montferrat but also losing Provence. Raising forces in Milan and Pavia to deal with my aggressors from the East I also executed the finest move of the campaign, by bribing an army in Marseille and marching it to Provence, whilst marching forces from a victory against Austrian powers in Turin to Swiss, I wiped the French power from the game and also granted myself their full income, a jewel in this sea of war.
1458 - Phoenix from Flame
With two decisive battles to fight I was literally shaking with nerves as I fought my battles (this was also on the week of my Mock AS exams, so perhaps that had something to do with it) however by slaughtering Venetian forces outside the gates of Milan and forcing a close victory against Austria in Turin I held firm. Had I lost these, I would have lost my entire Milanese land, I would not have been knocked out as I controlled France but the insult from losing my own home territories would have been terrible. The Papal states also finally cleared his invaders away from his land, controlling all of his home provinces for the first time in 2 years, Austria still controlled Florence however this was an island in the midst of a resolute Papal resurgence. Then a very interesting thing happened, the Austrian leader (the undisputed strongest state in the game) stepped down. Due to a dislike of the DBA rules system he had resigned and passed the leadership to a rather competitive player who I know very little of. I then spent a week of attempting to gain contact to no avail, and promptly resumed war with him, Venice pulled off of my lands in an attempt to defend their own should an alliance with Austria turn sour - this was like a blast from the past, could this change mirror that of Florence's? Speaking of which, the new leader withdrew, after years of fighting, from Florence, and allowed Papal forces in - I don't know what they were offered in return however I fear that the Papal states will now soon control Florence's long sought income and return to their former glory.
And then out of the blue, the brand new, no scratches on his armour, Austrian Leader stepped down too. (He'd gained a promotion at work and now had to visit France every Sunday so would not be down to play).
1458 Autumn - All the world's a Stage
And now we arrive at our current position, with the negligence of an Austrian leader, Papal Resurgence and Milanese Growth. Anything could happen so watch this space...
You may also wonder what Turk and Neapolitan forces have been doing, in summary not much. They've waged war on each other from very early on and have achieved very little, neither is competition for the greater powers and at the current time Naples is under assault and have lost a few home territories whilst Turk forces have finally regained access to their eastern home provinces in an attempt to reclaim them from Austria and Venice. The original Turkish leader had stepped down about 9 turns in as he felt he couldn't devote enough time, the new general who took over fought back with relinquished passion and has managed to do quite well for himself, much to Naples', Austria's and Venice's dismay.
The plain conference map with all of the province names is below, as is a recoloured version showing the original starting provinces of all the powers, the map has long changed from then but I thought it'd be interesting so you have a scope of how far some nations will progress over the next few weeks.
Yours,
Francesco Sforza
Duke of Milan
Good-King of Provence
He who put the 'France' in 'France-sco'
Devout Christian
Viper of the North.
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