All is Lost, Save Honour

The Great Italian Wars provide perhaps the most spectacular, colourful and visually appealing of all conflicts to appear on the tabletop. Despite having been popular for half a century, with large numbers of beautifully made figures, there has never been a book that sets out for the gamer the history of the wars and the nature of the armies involved.

All Is Lost Save Honour fills the gap. The armies of France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, the Italian states and the Swiss Confederacy were all different, and changed over the 65 years of conflict; here we describe what makes them distinctive, and how by the later stages there had evolved something very close to the pike and shot infantry that was to be the west European standard for the next century and beyond.

Wargamers have frequently been frustrated by the lack of information on all but a few of the forty or so major field (and sea) actions of the period. While pointing out the contradictions and uncertainties that surround some aspects of many encounters, we have suffcient detail to present accounts of 15 battles, with maps and descriptions of the forces involved. There is also a section on the new arts of siege warfare, with a detailed account of the attacks on Montalcino and Siena.

The armies that fought in Italy (we also cover the battles in France) can be used for contemporary conflicts in Germany, the Pyrenees, Castile, North Africa and other areas.

This book is not linked to any set of rules, or scale, or figure manufacturer, so whatever system you play and the size and maker of your armies, it will help your gaming.

There is an extensive bibliography, with the emphasis (as much as is possible) on English language sources, although the book does include much material derived from titles not available in English. Reading a work of art or interpreting an armoury is another skill which the authors bring to the book and explain for the reader.

The year 2025 is the 500th anniversary of Pavia, the most famous battle of the Italian Wars, so here is the way to give blood to the ghosts of the soldiers of the Renaissance.