Please enjoy this detailed replay, as Levy & Campaign Series creator Volko Ruhnke runs his test set for Volume III, Inferno, through a full scenario.
Since most of our playtesting of Inferno has occurred electronically via Vassal, we need physical tests to ensure ergonomics (how the players interact with the game’s physical environment) are satisfying. I have constructed an updated physical set to test out both component functionality and the balance and interest of the various scenarios, starting with the introductory first scenario.
This snapshot gives a sense of the minimum table space required for the game. Levy & Campaign gameboards need to stay on the small side (for Inferno, 17 by 22 inches) because more room than just the board is needed. Each maneuver unit—Mustered Lords—not only move around the map as wood cylinders but also track their composition on 5×5-inch mats. The mats can receive attached playing cards as special Capabilities and ideally might slide around to face each other in a Battle Array. Here, a single Lord on each side is Mustered to left and right, while others await entry near the top. (The items are arranged for my solo play; two players would face each other from left and right.)
It is the year 1259, and control of Tuscany is evenly divided between the pro-papal Guelphs and Imperialist Ghibellines. What would mushroom into some 36 months of bloodletting begins in this “Cavallata per Cortona” scenario with just two cities mustered for war, Florence’s archenemy Siena and Florentine ally Arezzo, each readying to put down rebellions against them by smaller towns.
Most of the historical action in this introductory scenario took place in the eastern part of Tuscany. Here we see the Guelph (purple) city of Arezzo mustered to go deal with the town of Cortona, which has declared its independence from its larger neighbor. Ghibelline leader Siena in the center of Tuscany also has begun to mobilize against upstarts Montalcino and Montepulciano to its rear—and perhaps to keep a wary eye lest the Guelph army of Arezzo gets too frisky.
Tuscany in this age was a patchwork of city states and independent towns. There is no ethnic or religious boundary, as we had on the Baltic frontier of Nevsky or Reconquista Hispania of Almoravid. In Inferno, the main contenders are all Tuscan Catholics, with some Italian “foreigners” intervening from north, east, and south, plus some German knights and possibly a few Saracens in service of the Hohenstaufen King of Naples. Warfare here concerns political factions—Guelphs versus Ghibellines—on either side of quite loose “border” of control, shown on the mapboard in red and white, with purple Guelph towns to the north and gold Ghibelline to the south. Strongholds often changed sides, so this volume in the Series introduces Revolt and Rebels mechanics and the option to Bribe subordinate forces away from Lords in the field.
As 13th-Century Tuscany was populous relative to the marshy expanse of medieval Rus or the plains of Spain, designer’s Enrico Acerbi’s Inferno board suitably squeezes more locations into the same area than did earlier Levy & Campaign volumes. There are no unpopulated regions or unwalled towns: every locale is a stronghold of some kind. Maneuver on Inferno’s game map should and will feel more cramped than that in Nevsky or Almoravid. But we don’t want crowding of pieces and markers in play: it must readily remain clear what is where. So, hitting a sweet spot of just enough room on the map is key. The open space between items in the setup above suggests that the newly reconfigured test game map will achieve that.
Inferno’s full length of 1259-1261 can run as long as 16 turns (the same full games of Nevsky or Almoravid). But the Scenario End marker on the Calendar shows that this scenario lasts just two turns, the spring of 1259. Victory score starts tied at 2 VP each for two Rebel Towns on each side. The two Lords on map have Service markers showing that (at the moment) they are prepared to stay in play longer than the scenario is set to run. Only two other Lords are available for Muster, the cylinders in the Turn 1 box: Sienese captain Provenzano Salvani, and Florence’s Podestà (mayor and emergency commander). The many other Lords of the campaign are simplified out of this short scenario.
Play begins with a random draw of two Capability cards for each side. …
To be continued.
Later Articles in This Series:
Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 2
Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 3
Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 4
Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 5
Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 6
Author: Volko Ruhnke
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