House Water’s Winning Star Wars Scenario

The sacking of Rome occurred during the Italian Wars (1494-1559) a prolonged period of struggle between the major European powers for control of Italy. It began with a French attempt to press a claim to the Kingdom of Naples, but soon expanded into a general clash between the houses of Valois and Hapsburg, and in particular between Francis I of France and the Emperor Charles V. By the end of the wars the French had been expelled from the Peninsula, and large parts of Italy, from Milan down to Naples had come under direct Spanish rule, while others, including Florence, were part of the Spanish sphere of influence. Italy wouldn’t regain her independence until the mid nineteenth century.

At the start of the Italian wars Italy was made up of a patchwork of independent states of various types. The only direct foreign rule was in the far south, where Sicily was ruled by the kings of Aragon. On the mainland the largest state was the Kingdom of Naples, ruled by a side-branch of the royal family of Aragon.

To its north were the Papal States, a hodgepodge of various types of government, with the Pope as their overlord. During this period the extent of Papal control of the Papal States varied greatly, with some areas ruled by military strongmen, others under more direct Papal control, and frequent invasions from outside (in particular from Venice).

In the north the main powers were the Republic of Venice, unusual in that it combined an Italian mainland empire in the north-east with a sizable overseas empire, and the Duchy of Milan, once ruled by the Visconti, but by 1494 securely in the hands of the Sforza. The far north-west was part of the Duchy of Savoy, but at the start of the war Savoy was more in the French orbit.

In between these northern powers and the Papal States was a band of city states of various types and size. The best known was Florence, which alternated between Medici rule and Republican rule. Genoa was generally a republic, although with constant internal strife. There were also a number of smaller duchies, including the Gonzaga dukes of Mantua and the Este Dukes of Modena, Reggio and Ferrara.

A handful of independent republics survived the war. Venice was the most powerful, but began a slow decline. Genoa remained independent, although generally allied with Spain. Finally Lucca and San Marino both survived as independent republics at the end of the war.

During the 6 decade conflict alliances were forged and broken, the balance of power shifted across Europe and beyond. But it is to the second of a pair of wars within this conflict that we come.

The first Hapsburg-Valois War was defined by the Battle of Pavia in 1525, Francis I of France suffered a crushing defeat and was imprisoned in Spain. This ended the first war as he surrendered his claims to land in Italy.

Francis I was released at the French border on 17 March 1526. He very quickly made it clear that he had no intention of honouring the Treaty of Madrid, and instead on 22 May he joined the League of Cognac, along with the Pope, Milan, Venice and Florence. Henry VIII of England supported the league but didn’t join it.

At the start of 1527 Pope Clement faced attack from the north and the south. In the north Bourbon was able to raise just enough money to keep his army together, while in the south the Spanish under Charles de Lannoy were able to counter any Papal moves. Eventually, in April, after the failure of armistice talks, Bourbon’s army began to move south.

By the time it reached Rome on 5 May the army was almost out of control, lacking money and many supplies. On 6 May the Imperial army attacked Rome. Bourbon was killed early in the attack, but the city was easily captured. Pope Clement was forced to take refuge in the Castel St. Angelo while the Imperial army sacked the city. The League Army was close by, and might well have succeeded in an attack on the disordered Imperial force, but the Duke of Urbino once again chose not to act.

Charles V’s forces in Italy were led by the Duke of Bourbon. After warring in Italy and with no money to pay the troops, they marched toward Rome. It is disputed whether this was the idea of the Duke of Bourbon or whether the troops cajoled him into leading them to Rome. Rome was believed to be the richest city in Italy.

The initial attack did not take long at all. Charles V’s troops, led by the Duke of Bourbon in his white cloak, marched on the walls at dawn on 6 May 1527. The Duke may have made an easy target because of his white cloak, and either by luck on the Roman side or excellent marksmanship, the Duke died very early in the battle. Charles V’s army, made up of mercenaries from mostly Spain and Germany, were now without a leader whom they feared.

Breaching the city gate did not take long, and, just like that, Charles V’s troops were inside, wreaking havoc.Some of them made for the Vatican, with an aim to attack and do who-knows-what to Clement VII. Heading up the road of Borgo San Spirito, the invaders clashed with the Swiss Guard by the German Cemetery, killing the Swiss captain in front of his wife.  The invaders continued on to the Vatican.

At the Vatican, 189 Swiss Guard valiantly protected Clement VII, who, with 42 of the Swiss Guard, escaped to Castel St. Angelo through a secret, elevated passage linking St. Peter’s and the Castel. The remaining Swiss Guard were massacred inside St. Peter’s. To this day, in honor of those who died fulfilling their duties to the Pope, new members of the Swiss Guard are sworn in each year on 6 May.

The Prior of the Canons of St. Augustine described Charles V’s troops, “Mali fuere Germani, pejores Itali, Hispani vero pessimi,” meaning, “The Germans were bad, the Italians were worse, the Spaniards were the worst.”

So the pitch made to the House of Water was the heroic last stand and flight of the Pope to Castel Sant’Angelo , and this is what we started discussing one night on Discord.

And where we ran into our first hiccough.

We started throwing ideas back and forth on how to do a scenario on the 42 guards that protected the Pope along his escape route to the @Graystoak and myself had some great ideas and I even drew a map, here it is

So what was the issue oh magnificent Gerr?, I hear you cry.

Well the next morning @Elessar2590 pointed out that to him the 189 Swiss guard and their last stand at St Peter’s was the defining moment and the reason for suggesting it.

We discussed it in Discord, we tossed ideas around and it was decided that we were all right. What we saw as the defining moment of the fall of Rome was different, but they were still connected in a way and to that end, after a late night chat on Discord, we came up with two games. One scenario for the last stand and one for the flight of the Pope. Together these two scenarios will tell our Battle of the Sack of Rome.

We have chosen to set our Scenario during the Orig Trig (as the kids call it) but the basic games could be played in any of the settings with minor tweaks.

So in broad terms we have the Pope, being ushered safely away by a small number of elite guards.

Meanwhile lead by their Captain the remaining guards sell their lives on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica.

Looking at that it really suggested to us that having a supreme leader being exfiltrated lends itself perfectly to the Emperor and his super elite Imperial Guard. But if we want the Rebels to attack the Emperor it couldn’t be on Coruscant, where any force of poxy traitors would be roflstomped in short order.

Then once again House Water flowed gently around the problem until it was swallowed up like a bungalow on a flood plain. Looking at a photo of St Peter’s Square, @Noyjatat (when do you stop adding “atat”?) pointed out how similar it looked to the Palace at Theed.

Both buildings are fronted by a large round area, which in turn are surrounded by covered colonnades. So we decided that the Emperor was visiting his summer Palace on Naboo, getting some much needed R&R when attacked by the terrorists.

The Swiss guard made their last stand initially at the Teutonic Cemetery (camposanto teutonico on the left of the map) before falling back to the Basilica’s steps. From the Basilica 42 escorted Pope Clement VII to the  Passetto di Borgo and onto the Castel Sant’Angelo.

We decided that we needed some reason beyond a kill mission for the first scenario to make things interesting for both sides, and the subject of the catacombs of Rome was suggested as having many entrances and perhaps being means to move about the city. Thus we could use them as spawn points for the Rebels who would make up for their lack of quality by having a endless spawn mechanic. In the end we combined that with the idea that they provide routes to navigate the city which is filled with an army unleashed.

By holding them the Imperial Guard can delay the advance of the Rebels somewhat in the second scenario.

With that I give you our Scenario for the Sack of Rome, a two part Saga, in a galaxy a long time ago, far, far away

PLAY ME FIRST!

Defenders the Imperial Guard, lead by Kasper Roist.(above)

(4x) Imperial Royal Guards [75]▼
–Electrostaff Guard [25]
–Endurance [6]
–Tenacity [4]
–Emergency Stims [12]
–Smoke Grenades [6]

Attackers start with the following;

-Ambush •
–Coordinated Bombardment •
–No Time for Sorrows ••
–Push ••
–Covering Fire •••
–Somebody Has to Save Our Skins •••
–Standing Orders ••••

Rebel Officer [50]▼
–Aggressive Tactics [10]
–Electrobinoculars [8]

(3x) Rebel Troopers [40]▼
–Z-6 Trooper [22]
–Rebel Trooper [10]
–Targeting Scopes [4]
–Concussion Grenades [5]

(3x) Rebel Veterans [48]▼
–CM-O93 Trooper [26]
–Rebel Veteran [12]
–Duck and Cover [4]
–Targeting Scopes [4]

When a Rebel unit is killed remove it from the table and immediately place it (and any equipment) in reserve. Units in reserve move onto the table from any point along their table edge, or any of the held objectives.

If the Officer is killed he may be recycled as above, or replaced with Leia Organa

Leia Organa [90]▼
–Commanding Presence [5]
–Esteemed Leader [5]
–Electrobinoculars [8]

If Leia is used and is removed from play she will not be available in the second scenario.

From Turn 3 when a unit is recycled it can be recycled into a more elite type, v Rebel troopers may be recycled into Commandos and Veterans into Wookies.

Rebel Commandos [60]▼
–DH-447 Sniper [28]
–Hunter [6]
–HQ Uplink [10]
–Targeting Scopes [4]

Wookiee Warriors [75]▼
–Bowcaster Wookiee [35]
–Hunter [6]
–Tenacity [4]
–Emergency Stims [12]

A,B,C and D are entrances to subterranean tunnels. They start the game locked in Imperial hands. If claimed like a standard objective they become forward spawn points for the attackers. They can be recaptured and secured by the Imperials meaning ownership can change throughout the game.

 The objectives if held by the Rebels will unlock forward spawn points for mission 2, as quick routes outside of the running street battles. If held by the Empire any unit spawning at these forward points will start with additional suppressions.

When recycling units either from the short board edge or A,B,C and D as spawn points follow the rules for Rapid Reinforcements above.

Scoring VPs for the objectives held is as per Key Positions.

If the Imperial forces are wiped out holding any objectives before the game ends those objectives are considered to remain locked for the following scenario if the Rebel player is unable to secure them in the remaining turns available.

For example if there were no Imperial forces on table at the end of turn 4 measure the distance from the objective to Rebel forces, if they could not reach it with their normal moves (including command card bonuses) in 2 turns then it will remain locked.

Scenario 2 is a simple chase game, The Emperor starts on the overhead walkway with one squad of Imperial guard 27″ away from his Lambda class shuttle.

He will reach it in 4.5 turns of full movement. If he reaches the landing ramp of his shuttle the Empire wins, anything else is a Rebel victory. Meaning the Rebels need to force him to waste 4 of his activations during the game to win.

Imperial forces on the ground are made of 6 units of Stormtroopers

Stormtroopers [44]▼
–DLT-19 Stormtrooper [24]
–Stormtrooper [11]
–Targeting Scopes [4]
–Smoke Grenades [6]

Rebels may pick 800 from any of the units used in the previous scenario.

Only the Emperor and his Imperial Guard deploy on the walkway, everyone else is on ground level.

The Defender deploys first with their whole force

The Attacker may use any of the forward spawn points to deploy from using Rapid Reinforcement rules. If they held the objective at the end of the first scenario they deploy without any additional affects. If they deploy from an objective they did not secure they will gain supression tokens. 1 supression for using A or B, and 2 supression tokens for using areas C or D.

Directed by                AVERNOS

Original Story Idea    NOYJATAT

Special Effects    GRAYSTOAK LIGHT & MAGIC

Co-Producers         B3LRIAN

                                              PANZERKAPUT

                                     ELESSAR    

                                      NEVES1789 

                            JOCKE

                                      CLANSMEN

                                        LIMBURGER

                                       DOOMDARK

                               RICHSH

                                      THEBELON

                                            SOAPDODGER

                                     HORUS500

The cast and crew would like to thank all members of the

HOUSE OF WATER 

The persons and events depicted in this scenario are entirely historic. Any similarity to persons, whether living or dead, is purely intentional.

The Pope will return in Buckaroo Banzai Against the World Crime League