Arquebus Review

Arquebus Review by Len Krol
The Battles for Northern Italy 1495-1544
Game design: Richard Berg
Developer: Ralph Shelton
GMT Games

The main conflict in 16th century Europe was between the Hapsburgs and the Valois. The main battlefield was in Italy where a number of wealthy city states existed, ready to be taken over.

There was also a revolution in the military. Firearms were becoming more common, while older weapons were still useful. Armies were part Medieval and part modern. Cannons and muskets could carry the day. However, if deployed correctly, archers, crossbowmen, pike men and mounted knights in full plate armor could be victorious.

Arquebus (GMT) relives those days from long ago. This game has three counter sheets, player aids, rule book and battle book. It has two maps where you can play 8 different historical battles.

This is another design by Richard Berg using his Men of Iron system. In this system your force is divided into commands or battles. Your commands do not often move together. Usually, you roll for initiative, and the winner picks which command goes first. Next, command chits are pulled from a cup to determine when commands are activated.

This order of movement can be interrupted by announcing “Trump.” If you roll equal to or less than the initiative of the command you want to activate, it activates. If you fail, the command does not activate at all.

Victory is usually determined by flight points. You are told what the flight level is. If you exceed that, you have lost the battle. (Your forces are fleeing for their lives.) There is a change in the system. One side starts with a free activation. You can activate a standard, or an army or a command.

If you activate an army, you can move all your forces. Your units cannot come within four hexes of the enemy.

If you activate a standard, you can rally all retired units next to your standard, or move a standard. Where you place your standard is important. If it is close you can get your rallied units back into the battle, but it could be captured. Far away and your units never make it back to the battle.

Usually you will use your free activation to deploy a command. The command can move, fire weapons, charge or shock attack. Next, you can pass or try to activate another command. Select equal to or less, the command is activated, otherwise your opponent gets a free activation and they are free to move, shoot, etc.

Seizure counters are used instead of a Trump. Each side is assigned a number of counters. They can be used to rally a unit or disrupt one. They can also be used to gain activation.




There are separate arquebus or crossbow units. Some pike or sword and buckler units have integrated fire power ratings. When an enemy unit is within range, you roll a D10, where a higher roll is better. If the target is steady, the result is no effect or disorder. Disordered units have lowered morale and firepower. They can be rallied if they stay motionless and not engaged in combat. If the target is disordered, the result is no effect, retreat, and retire (the unit is placed next to the standard. If there is no space, the unit is eliminated.) The final result is elimination. There are all sorts of modifiers that add or subtract to this die roll. There is also defensive and reaction fire. The result is that a large number of units can be destroyed in one turn.

There is also artillery. Artillery, once unlimbered, cannot move. Artillery was not very mobile in this period.

There are two types of hand-to-hand combat: charge and shock.
Only men at arms can charge. That is if they have enough space, survive a storm of lead, have not been counter charged, and roll well on the charge table. It is difficult, but your chances of destroying the units in front of you are greater.

If you are adjacent, you can shock attack. It has a table different but similar to the charge table. Sometimes the result is engage, where the units are locked together and fight until one side is eliminated or retreated.

After the free activation is finished, you make a loss check. You roll the D10 and add 0-9 points to the flight levels. If you exceed the flight levels, you lose.

I picked four battles to try out this system.

CERIGNOLA

In some battles, the Swiss pike men were reluctant to attack. This is not one of them. Here the Swiss stupidly attacked a Spanish force behind a deep ditch and wall. The firepower from the arquebus of the Spanish decimated the Swiss ranks and proved that firepower can be decisive.

The only disadvantages the Spanish have is the low number of flight points, and an explosion caused by the mishandling of gunpowder.
In our play, the Swiss charged and were being beaten off. Then the explosion was rolled. Three Spanish units were disordered. As luck would have it, the only three undisrupted Swiss units were adjacent and climbing out of the ditch. The result is one Spanish unit eliminated, and two retired for 7 flight points. At the loss check phase, I rolled an 8 which easily survived the 10 loss points.
I was just lucky. This is a good beginner scenario. There are a small number of units and plays quickly.

FORNOVO

This is the earliest battle. There were no arquebus, but were crossbows. In real life the French were fighting a rear guard battle. The Venetians ended up looting the baggage train.
In this battle the river rose too fast, The French used seizure counters to gain extra time to unite the forces and eventually win.
This is an interesting battle and is not your usual line em’ up.

BICOCCA

This should be a repeat of Cerignola. It was not. The French sent a force of sword and buckler men to turn the Spanish left flank. This tied down part of the Spanish force. The Swiss charged head on through a ditch and against the rampart. The Spanish rolled the worst rolls while the French had unusually good rolls. All the Spanish units were disordered, while a few Swiss pike men were steady. That was all that was needed to get a few Swiss over the rampart. Also the French used the two seizure markers to regain the initiative. It was like getting an extra turn. Once a few Swiss pike men were over the rampart, it was easy to rally the rest of the pike men and attack the rest of the force. Once again Pike Men rule!

PAVIA

This was the decisive battle of these wars. The French king was captured and the wars had to stop to pay his ransom. This is also an unusual battle. Armies in those days were trained to fight in open fields in daylight. In this battle, the armies must fight in an enclosed park and the battle starts at night.

The battle starts when the Spanish have breached a wall and a large force has entered the park. The French were ready. The Spanish have an army twice the size but only a part of it is on the map. The French have most of their forces available. They also have men at arms units that swept away many disrupted units.

This was a savage battle and both sides saw their flight points climb up until the Spanish broke. The French were only 5 FPs behind at that point. They could have easily lost the game the next turn.
My play tester complained that he knew nothing about these wars and battles. That is understandable. Schools do not teach history. This game is a good place to start learning. The Renaissance period is a very interesting period once you learn about it. I pointed out that many Americans are familiar with the Ancient and Medieval periods and no Americans were involved there.

The only issue I have with this game is that the light cavalry cannot offensively charge/shock attack. I agree that even a disordered pike or sword and buckler unit can give them problems. Light cavalry should be able to attack other light cavalry, arquebus men, crossbowmen, skirmishers and cannons. That is what they are here for.

The author should lighten up on the humor. The Harry Lime/ Jerry Maguire* rule should just be called the Swiss reluctance rule and be done with it.

I had a lot of fun with the four unique scenarios I played and look forward to playing this game many more times.

*Harry Lime is a character played by Orson Wells in the movie, The Third Man. The movie takes place at the end of WW II. Lime is a black marketer who sells medications that kill people. I don’t know who Jerry Maguire is and what this has to do with warfare in this period.

Buy your own copy here.