The fall of Cortona has put the Guelphs on top, putting the ball in Siena’s court in this closing episode of Volko’s test replay of Levy & Campaign Volume III. All art shown here is playtest only, and game rules featured remain provisional.

Siena’s army stood by, a short march off at Asinalunga, as the Guelphs reduced Cortona. Now it has the next move, with most the second Campaign to go in our test play of Inferno’s introductory scenario. A direct attack on the Guelph army seems attractive, as the latter’s effective numbers are far reduced by its bloody storm of the town. But the enemy would only avoid southward, into Ghibelline territory, probably to Ravage there. So  best path for the Sienese to achieve something is to turn south themselves and use their Hold card, SURPRISE, for a stab at the rebels of Montepulciano.

The Surprise Event card enables a Lord to March to, Besiege with two (rather than the usual one) Siege markers, and immediately Storm a Stronghold—if it is defended only by its inherent Garrison. Crucially, the Surprise also reduces the effectiveness of the defending Walls from blocking Hits on rolls of 1-4 to just on 1-3. But the attacker will still have only two Rounds of Storm (because of the two Siege markers) to reduce the Garrison before it collects itself to end the attempt.

Siena brings a large urban army for the assault. But Storm in Inferno (a refinement carried over from Volume II, Almoravid) limits each Lord to six Melee Hits in Storm (as an attack can approach and focus on just a section of fortification at a time; Archery, in contrast, is unlimited). As it happens here, neither the attackers nor the Garrison are able to come to grips with one another in the fight. Siena suffers only light losses, but Montepulciano’s upstarts stand.

The Guelphs have the next move, with Firenze’s Commander, who can take Arezzo’s contingent with him. You may recall from the last part of our story that the Guelphs benefit this Campaign from the drawn Event ROAD WORKS —Carpenters clear the way. The Event increases their mobility, and they will use it now. Enemy resistance at Cortona has terribly weakened their forces, but they are still strong enough to stand separately against Sienese Captain Provenzano Salvani’s small army skulking around Monte San Savino. And the Guelphs remain in the lead in victory points. So, rather than crossing into enemy lands, they return north and west to block any further depredations by Provenzano.

Provenzano responds by reinforcing Siena’s main army outside Montepulciano. With two Ghibelline Lords Besieging the Size 2 Town, they will be able to advance their Siegeworks (use Siege actions to place more Siege markers) to increase their chances in another try at the Walls or for the Garrison to Surrender.

The Guelphs decide to shadow Provenzano and cross south onto enemy ground to invest Asinalunga (A).

The Ghibellines have in the meantime placed a third Siege marker at Montepulciano, without obtaining a Surrender. next take the step of Ravaging the local countryside (B). It is a gamble, because they are harming people who recently were under their protection (a purple Ravage marker goes on an originally gold Locale, so the Ghibelline player is giving the Guelph ½VP). But the punishment can help convince Montepulciano to give in, and the Sienese troops need the supplies for their Siege anyway.

The Guelph troops reply by Ravaging around Asinalunga (C, opening their VP lead by another ½ point).

With the Sienese further tightening the noose around (another Siege action, generating a Surrender roll), the Town’s defenders finally agreed to the Besiegers’ terms. (In a refinement of the Levy & Campaign system from Nevsky to Almoravid, Surrender checks roll a number of dice equal to the Size of the Stronghold, here “2”, and succeed if each die is equal to or less than the number of Siege plus Ravage markers there, here a “4” or less.)

Siena’s victory at Montepulciano not only puts the Ghibellines back slightly in the lead (the Guelph side loses its two 1VP Allegiance markers at the Surrendered Town), it yields the possibility of a sympathetic Revolt against Guelphs elsewhere, as Tuscans sense the political wind’s shift. (A Surrender to the Ghibellines calls for a roll on a table called “Revolt against the Guelphs?” that, if the Ghibellines are properly positioned for the result, can cause another Stronghold to switch sides.)

The Revolt check works like this: one purple and one gold die cross-reference to select a random Locale in Guelph territory, or on a separate type of result to enable the Ghibellines to remove Guelph markers from a Besieged Stronghold on the Ghibelline side of the borderline (if there is such a Siege underway).

In the case of a random Locale—here, the recently Ravaged Monte San Savino—the proximity of any Ghibelline incursions will determine whether the random Stronghold Revolts. In the current version of the rule, “incursions” mean any enemy Lords or Allegiance markers inside Guelph country and within two Locales of the rolled Stronghold. The more aggressively a side is pressing into enemy territory—and the more that rebellion has taken hold without getting stomped on—the more likely any battlefield victory is to fan the flames.

By the way, this is probably the most complicated new aspect that Inferno brings to the Series, to portray the back-and-forth political treachery characteristic of the internecine Guelph-Ghibelline conflict, tightly interwoven with the military campaigns in the Italy of that era.

So, does suffering Monte San Savino revolt against Florence? We can see that that Castle, circled in white, is within two Locales of the Ghibelline Lords at Montepulciano. But they are on Ghibelline ground, so we ignore them for this purpose. Cortona’s Ghibellines would have been within two, but they have since been crushed. The Ghibelline rebels at Poggio Bonizio to the west are too far away to give comfort to any upstarts at Monte San Savino. The Castle stays Guelph.

We are down to the last Guelph Command card of the game, with the Ghibelline side ahead. Arezzo has one last trick—the Treachery card (previously called “Revolt” card) that it earned at Cortona. This was another reason that the Guelph army crossed the border to Asinalunga: the hope of paying that Town off to join Florence and Arezzo’s alliance.

Treachery like Surrender rolls a number of dice equal to target Stronghold’s Size. Lords can commit up to 4 Coin for success all rolls hit 1-4. The Guelph Lords have but 3 Coin left, so have positioned for a final 1-in-4 shot at winning the scenario. In the event, the Asinalungans consider but decline the offer (on rolls of “3” and “4”).

Siena cannot—and need not—achieve anything on its last card. The second Campaign ends with the score at 3 Guelph to 3½ Ghibelline VP and a close win for the Sienese.

I hope that my little test playthrough has not only given you a sense of how Levy & Campaign will build on familiar mechanics yet provide a unique dynamic to each medieval setting, but also how repeated refinement of each new twist will keep even the most experimental bits solid and accessible.

Especially if you are looking at the Series for the first time here, please check out all our InsideGMT peeks into it here. And if you want to see the breadth of what may be coming for Levy & Campaign, please join us on Discord (message me on Twitter @Volko26 or Discord at Volko#0578 for a link). Enjoy the games! –Volko

---

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

Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 4

Cavallata per Cortona – INFERNO Scenario Replay, Part 5