Historical, Design and Strategy Notes for "The War of Gradisca 1615- 1617" by Nicola Contardi

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Historical, Design and Strategy Notes for Historical, Design and Strategy notes for "The War of Gradisca 1615- 1617" by Nicola Contardi "The War of Gradisca 1615-1617" is a low middle of the seventeenth century, the Spanish complexity game on a subject little studied by tercios will constitute the main axis of military professional historians and even less treated in action and therefore of the Spanish strategy. simulation games. Venice and Austria in this period are two minor The causes of the conflict lie in the ancient powers by comparison, unable to project a force rivalry between the Republic of Venice and the of size and quality akin to Spain. Especially uncomfortable neighbor from the Habsburg Venice, which with the War of Gradisca closes house, Austria. There were many open all the history of its war adventures on “Terra questions between the two contenders: the Ferma” (its mainland), sees its vital economic alleged failure to support the defense of spaces progressively narrowing, pressed by the Christian Europe from the Turk, the definition Turk in the Middle East, the Habsburgs to its of the eastern borders of the Republic, the northern and eastern borders and the dizzying possession of key fortresses on this border line, growth of the Atlantic maritime powers that are with Gradisca in the first place. Last but not enhancing their global commercial network. least was the problem of the Uskoks, pirates of Generally speaking in these years Europe is Catholic faith in Habsburg service, who for a agitated by profound destabilizing currents: the long time had disturbed the merchant routes of beginnings of the inevitable Spanish decadence Venice in the Adriatic Sea. and the consequent anxiety of dominance of the Col. Riccardo Caimmi has treated effectively in rival powers, the unresolved religious conflicts his "Guerra del Friuli" [1] the historical context between Catholics and Protestants, the desires that concerned the European powers of the of local autonomy, the pressure of the Turk. time, Venice and Austria in the first place, but The War of Gradisca (or War of Friuli, or Uskok also the Empire, the Papal States, Savoy and War) was a minor conflict with respect to the the other Italian minor powers. geopolitical scenario of the time. It was also a The time is the end of the Italian Renaissance "low-intensity" conflict, especially as Venice period and the beginning of the Iron Century (as feared the possible reaction of Austria's defined by Kamen in his splendid book [2]). The fearsome ally, Spain. Italian Wars had concluded for some time, Italy However, from the point of view of military is under the undisputed dominance of the history, it anticipates many themes that will imperial power by definition, Spain. Vanished is unfortunately be of mournful relevance in the the dream of Charles V of the restoration of the subsequent Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). The global dominion of Christendom, fruitless the Europe that will come out from this long war, in attempts of Philip II to impose by force the the middle of the century, will be a different and superiority of Spain in Europe, this nation still modern Europe, but the price paid by the remains, despite many reversals and an populations will be very high. inevitable decadence, "the reference Power " of the age. In the War of Friuli, in the early years of the same century, many of the characteristics and Spain often dictates its law by force, and the military innovations that will be implemented center of its military force is the "tercio", the later were already present or we could see fearsome infantry formation, a mixture of traces of them. pikemen and firearms, formed with the strictest discipline and able to fight while maintaining its I will now try to describe the characteristics of compact formation. At least until about the this conflict, through the explanation of the 1 main elements of the game "La Guerra di any contribution on the battlefield, now Gradisca 1615-1617". The second part of the dominated by firearms. article is instead dedicated to some strategy The operating backbone of the cavalry arm was notes for the game itself. constituted by the companies of medium The Characters cavalry, “corazze” (armored), riders protected by medium armor, often in leather, equipped with I would like to start with the combat units. Too firearms, mainly pistols, and trained in the often we forget that wars are fought mainly by "caracole" technique. simple men (and women). The pay of a soldier at that time, when it arrived, was a small thing, The use of the arquebus first and of the musket just enough to cover the expenses for the food after, especially in the last phase of the war, and some general supplies for a few days. The was often reserved to the "musketeer" profession of the soldier was the only means for companies on horseback, who moved on many people to rise only a little from absolute horseback, but fought on foot. poverty. Cavalry could be decisive in battle for its ability In the game, infantry units are not to circumvent a less mobile opponent. However distinguished by the type of weapon they for the duration of the war in question the main carried. In fact the soldiers' companies, hired role of the cavalry remained that of the (more or mainly in Veneto and Friuli, but also in other less) planned and systematic actions of raids in Italian states and many European nations, had enemy territories, protection or threats to a mixed proportion of pikes (around 30%), and supply lines, and the rapid projection of military of firearms: arquebuses and, growing in force especially in a defensive role. The percentage towards the end of the war, muskets technique of reconnaisance of the terrain before (in Prelli [3], page 64 and following). It does not the battle was not employed, a sign of a appear, except in some single company, an strategic approach to the conflict that was exclusivity of pikes or firearms. Many of the difficult to emerge. troops employed by the Venetian side in the It will be necessary to await the innovations of conflict were recruits at a very low price, and Gustav Adolf in the Thirty Years' War, to see value, drawn from the fields of the republic, the cavalry deployed on the battlefield and capable "cernide". A cernida could be easily recruited again of truly effective charges. from Venice, but its utility, due to poor discipline and reliability, was scarce. The The distinction between medium cavalry number of cernide counters on the map is ("corazze") and light cavalry was sometimes therefore limited compared to their actual blurred. In the game, light cavalry units are the historical presence. ones that most demonstrated a real ability to effectively penetrate enemy territory. In general, infantry on both sides consisted of units of medium-low quality and discipline, as Players soon learn that it is not generally testified also by counters with double fire appropriate to force the role of cavalry units out values: even for the best units, the offensive of their historical role. capacity remained limited. The “Guastatori” units (Engineers) are probably In the early 1600s the role of cavalry in battle the most important type of unit in the game. had changed a lot. Heavy cavalry was now a The Guastatori of the time, ancestors of the distant memory. The only piece of heavy cavalry current Engineer units, were in fact employed in the game ("Armati") has a greater usefulness for the most diverse activities: excavation and in the game than it actually did. A group of earthworks, construction of mobile and stable nobles anchored to the memories of a bygone defenses, mine and countermine operations. era, made up of a not very mobile unit and Venice invested many resources in the without the possibility, and willingness, to give formation of these special corps, but their 2 number never seemed sufficient ([3], p.123). In The game distinguishes between a systematic effect, the needs of the offensive war of the time and planned incursion aimed at the devastation focused the attention on the establishment of or depletion of the enemy territories ("Raid"), armies capable of supporting siege warfare. The and a form of simple disturbance of the enemy spread throughout Europe, in a relatively short troops, a task attributed above all to light period, of fortresses with heavy walls or cavalry ("Incursion"). bastions pushed in the direction of the The devastation of enemy territory was a specialization of corps dedicated to this type of practice that was unfortunately widespread in war and to the improvement of artillery this war. It must be stressed here that one of technology. the main effects of the war was the state of For reasons of simplification, artillery units are profound poverty, exhaustion and destitution indiscriminately artillery and siege artillery, as caused to the whole population of Friuli, from well as the personnel involved in the operation which the population recovered only after many and management of the guns, named decades. "Bombardieri". The Command The presence of the Guastatori alongside the Understanding the orders of battle and the real artillery allowed the creation of earthworks, hierarchies within the two camps was surely the useful to artillery units for defensive purposes most complex aspect faced for the creation of and to improve the positioning of the guns. the simulation. The number of captains and These elements are then shown in the game, commanders in the various corps was really along with the possibility of elimination of the impressive, reflecting the state of confusion of artillery unit, if subject to too intensive usage the general command, especially on the (artillery units are eliminated "if they roll a 6").
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