Opposing armies march out their city gates, as Volko’s test replay of Levy & Campaign Volume III introduces us to Command and Revolt actions in the game. Note that not only the art shown but several game mechanics discussed remain provisional as test and development continues. …

In the last part of our Inferno replay we formed each side’s Plan for the Campaign of early Spring 1259. Not let’s see what Florence and Arezzo’s Guelph and Siena’s Ghibelline forces actually do and where they go.

Here we see each side pursue its strategy as summarized in Part 3 of our replay. Firenze’s (Florence’s) army under command of its podestà (invited mayor) marches down the road to meet up with its Aretine allies (purple A) and lead them against the rebel town of Cortona (C). While awaiting the Florentines, Arezzo’s Podestà Taxes to build up the Guelph’s war chest (B).

The Sienese meanwhile similarly Taxed and Marched out (gold A & B) under their Commander, the Podestà of Siena, crossing the nominal boarder to approach and besiege the Guelph Castle of Monte San Savino. (My yellow Ghibelline Siege marker here looks different than the purple Guelph one at Cortona merely because I have canibalized some markers from my old Almoravid prototype set.) There, Sienese captain Provenzano will now seek to persuade the Castle’s rulers to Revolt against Firenze’s authority (C) and join with the Ghibelline party and the cause of imperial writ.

In Levy & Campaign, each Command card flipped (alternating one of each side) activates the Lord shown to conduct actions such as March using his Command rating or—for certain options such as Tax—requiring the entire card. For example, the top center of the Firenze Podestà’s visible Command card as well as that Lord’s wood cylinder and the right edge of his mat show that he has a Command rating of “2”. So the player could choose to have the Firenze piece March two Locales on a card, say, or Tax once if at his Seat, a prerequisite for the Tax Command. (A single-page player aid in the game summaries all the Command options.)

If you have played Levy & Campaign Volume I, Nevsky, you will notice a few differences in Inferno already:

• Firenze’s army with a Command rating of “2” managed to March three Locales per card (purple A & C). This is because Unladen March along the fine Roadways of Tuscany (the smoother, fatter gray Ways between the map Locales) is free for the first Locale reached (representing not only the well-built and maintained Roman roads but also the fact that the map covers less total ground that that in Nevsky.
• The Tax actions at Siena and Arezzo added two Coin not just the usual one to those Lords’ mat (as circled on the mat of each at left and right, respectively). “Podestà” Lords in Inferno—six out of the 12 Lords in the game, bearing that highlighted title on their mats—have special attributes that bring out the nature of Tuscany’s prosperous medieval city-state republics and their citizen soldiers. Among these distinctions, a Podestà both receives twice the Coin when Taxing but costs twice the Coin when Paid to extend his forces’ Service by 60 days (2x Coin instead of one).
• And, as we previewed in the last part of our replay, some Command cards in Inferno allow attempts at Revolt rather than selection from the usual menu of actions. Provenzano Salvani’s card circled here is such a Command card, about to target Monte San Savino Castle.

So, let’s have a look at how such an attempt at Revolt works in the design. As I noted in the previous replay part, testing and tuning of this key new dynamic in Volume III continue apace. So what I am showing you here may soon change to refine gameplay and historical simulation further. Already, we have renamed the special Command cards from “Revolt” to “Treachery” cards, to distinguish them more readily from the process and effect of switching a Stronghold’s Allegiance by Revolt. (And I have in mind even as I write exciting changes to how players will obtain and use these cards.)

For a Revolt (hereafter, “Treachery”) card to be of any use, the Lord named on the card must already be at the enemy Stronghold to be targeted. So—as in the rest of Levy & Campaign—planning can be the key to success. The Lord commits up to three Coin and rolls a die. If rolling that number of Coin or less, the Lord pays the Coin and Stronghold switches sides. If the roll exceeds the Coin, then nothing happens, but the Lord must pay a penalty—the florins spent just to grease the skids—of Coin equal to the Value of the Stronghold (1, 2, or 3).

In our play, Provenzano commits the full three Coin but rolls a “5”. Monte San Savino declines the offer to switch sides, and Provenzano loses one Coin in the attempt, because Castles have a Value of “1” (as shown in Monte San Savino’s purple Value circle on the map.

The next card up is a normal Command actions card for Firenze, currently Besieging the rebel Town of Cortona.

If you were reading the previous replay parts carefully, you may have noticed that the Guelphs neglected to play their Held card, Surprise, that would have added a second Siege marker to Cortona upon their arrival there and resulted in an immediate Storm against its walls with a -1 to the defenders’ protection. Playing the card may not have been the wisest tactic, however, as Storm combat can be bloody, and the Guelphs may need their strength to deter or fend off an attack by Siena’s army lurking nearby.

Instead, Firenze’s Podestà will Command a more routine Siege of the Town, first rolling for a possible (though, at this early stage of the Siege, unlikely) Surrender by the Ghibelline adherents inside, then adding advancing the siegeworks with a second Siege marker. Cortona is a Town, Value “2”, so Siege rolls two dice that each must equal the number of Siege plus Ravage markers there or less for a Surrender. (This is a bit different from Nevsky but identical to Siege in the more recent Almoravid.)

A Siege dice roll of “5” and “4” suggests that Cortona’s citizens are nowhere near Surrendering. But the two Guelph Lords present are enough (at this Size “2” Town) to add a Siege marker to the Stronghold to increase the pressure, as show here.

As in the other Levy & Campaign volumes, Siege takes a whole card and consumes Provender. Firenze’s actions on this card are over, at which point the Lords participating in the Siege must Feed. As you can see at the empty circles on the Guelphs’ mats—the army’s baggage trains are empty, already consumed on the March south.

In Levy & Campaign, when a Lord’s forces are inadequately provisioned, they grouse about it and that Lord’s Service time shortens by a turn (60 days in Inferno). But money talks: Lords can always pay Coin to extend Service or, as in this case, to cancel the effect of failing to Feed an army. (The troops can then buy their own provisions—or at least bear the privation a bit longer in the comfort that at least their purses are full!)

Here, the Guelphs decide to Pay only the Florentines: an expense of 2 Coin, not just one, because Firenze’s Lord is a Podesta. On the Calendar, the unhappy soldiers of Arezzo shorten their willingness to serve, shown by sliding that Lord’s Service marker leftward by one turn box (60 days), still beyond the end of this short scenario anyway.

With the two enemy armies well within a March of one another, the Ghibellines’ attempt at a Revolt of Monte San Savino a bust, and the Guelphs closing the noose on Cortona, the Ghibelline side arrives at a key strategic juncture with its next card. Should Siena March east to fall upon the Guelph army and relieve the Siege of Cortona’s Ghibellines? Or would that escalation be too risky and instead a cautious counter-siege of San Savino or Ravaging expedition be more advisable?

We will find out what Siena’s Commander decides in the next part of this playthrough.

To be continued.

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Previous Articles in This Series: 

Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 1

Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 2

Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 3

Later Articles in This Series: 

Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 5

Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 6