Initial thoughts on the Battle of Pavia in 2025

The 500th anniversary of the 1525 battle of Pavia is coming up in 2025. Obviously I will need to put the Battle of Pavia 2025 on at a major convention to mark the anniversary. I had the pleasure of speaking to the Yarkshire Gamer last weekend and the subject came up. He mentioned that he is also planning to recreate the battle and implied that it was going to be the largest recreation of the battle ever done. Now I cannot let that go unchallenged. Now given his phenomenal painting rate, he may put on the largest battle, but it is my intention to make him work for it – just to keep him honest. There is nothing like a bit of friendly competition to encourage great things.

With that said, I have just started researching what I would need to do and get a sense of the scope of the project. I have a lot more research to do, but I thought that I would share some initial thoughts on how I might create this massive project.

The first thing that I need to decide is the figure scale. Given that there are somewhere between 25,000 to 30,000 troops on each side, for a total of 50,000 to 60,000 troops in total. I need a figure scale. At 25 to 1 that would give 2,000 to 2,400 figures on the table. Given my existing collection, I think that that amount is a manageable amount for me to achieve. Especially since I have other projects to do, like my Saxon Napoleonics.

What figures do I need.

Now looking at some of the key troops. On the French side there are:

• 1,200 men at arms (other sources suggest higher – which is fine with me as I have plenty of Gendarmes). This would require 48 figures or more.
• 2,000 light horse. This would require 80 figures. I have plenty of light horse for these units
• 6,000 Swiss. Sources that I have read so far indicate that they were in one smaller and one larger pike blocks. The Swiss would need 240 figures, which I could deploy in one 100 figure and one 144 figure pike block, which I already have.
• 5,000 Germans, or 200 figures. I need to research these numbers but I suspect up to about 25% may have been shot, and about 75% in the pike block. In which case I would need a Black Band pike block of 144 figures. Initially this number seems easy as I had a 196 Black Band pike block for my battle of Ravenna. However, we need to remember that the Spanish army also contains Landsknechts.
• 4000 Italians or 160 figures. I need to understand how many were shot, but shot figures are easy to paint and I am probably close.
  • 6,000 French or 240 figures. Again the issue is finding out how many are Pike and how many shot. I do have a lot of French crossbow, so again it should be fine.

On the Spanish side are:

• 12,000 Germans in two pike blocks of 6,000. These would require probably two pike blocks of 196 figures plus associated shot. With the Landsknecht pike needed for the French, I probably would need nearly 650 Landsknecht pike plus some shot. As I only have around 300 Landsknecht pike, they are going to be the largest figure time commitment.
• 5,000 Spanish or 200 figures. I have just enough here.
• 3,000 Italians or 120 figures. I still need to assess these.
• 800 men at arms or 32 figures. Again I have more than enough.
• 1,500 light horse or 60 figures. Again I should have enough.

It should be an impressive game if I can pull it off. The large pike blocks would be 2 of 196 figures, two of 144 figures, one of 100 figures. There will also be four Spanish units of around 60 figures each. There may be additional smaller Italian and French pike, but I need to research to confirm.

What terrain do I need.

The largest (by area) terrain feature that I need is the park and it’s walls. One interesting fact about the park is that the centre of the park contained the Vernavola river/stream. This river was surrounded by an impassable marsh and ran through the centre of the park. This terrain feature got me thinking; from a wargaming perspective it offers an interesting opportunity. I could potentially put the park on a 10′ x 16′ table. No-one would actually need to reach the river and marsh in the middle, so it could just work. If I could pull it off, it would be an impressive gaming surface.

The walls themselves, assuming I did the park on a 10′ x 16′ table, may need something like 45-50′ of walls and gates. I think that these would be easy to construct and will not be an issue. I need to research the walls and gates a little more, but the vision I have is to do them a realistic height. My guess from photos that I have seen is that they would be about 3-4″ high.

The two main features of the park are the woods and the Castle Mirabello. I would need to buy a lot of trees. Also I would plan to construct the Castle as a 2′ x 2′ or larger building to be the centre-piece of the park.

I would also need to make the rivers and marshes. There is a lot of scope for some artistic flair on these features.

In addition to the park, there is lots of potential for action around the city walls of Pavia. The French were camped on all four sides of the city. Fortunately I created the city walls for my recent battle of Ravenna. My aim would be to have a further 5′ x 16′ set of tables running as at “T” to the park. On these tables I would put the city.

My current thinking is that I would use these walls as the start of the city, but I may double up the size. In addition, the one thing that I would love to add to the city is the Castle Visconti in the centre. To construct this castle would be a huge undertaking but is an aspirational goal.

Next steps for the Battle of Pavia in 2025

I think that I have identified the broad scope of the project for the Battle of Pavia in 2025. The next step is some research. Luckily I have some time for this endeavor, but I need to make a plan.