Of Pistols and Perriwigs, A Gentleman Wargamer's Blog: Villenese uniforms, banners, and personalities, a sketch

In fleshing out the army that will be my main tour de force for the majority of my 18th Century wargaming career, I felt it necessary to share with you, dear readers, the background of some of Villenois' most able commanders and some of her more notorious sons along with the reasons for her unique location betwixt France and the northernmost of the Italian states.

The origins of Villenois as an independent state can be traced to the rise and fall of Burgundy in the Middle Ages and the unique position of her fertile land for the French and Burgundian rulers who routinely tramped their armies back and forth across Villenois' wine country seeking control over this vitally strategic land. The death of Charles the Bold would leave a chaotic succession crisis between the remainder of his family and an upstart aristo named Jean Davault. Originally from the French side of this important border state, Davault took advantage of Charles' death to claim the county for himself. Gathering an army of mercenaries, he marched in and captured the ancient Castella di Mare, repairing its fortifications and adding cannon to make it virtually impregnable.

From this usurpation came the Davault line of Counts who remain strongly French in an Italian country, sending their children off to Paris to be educated, though of late Madrid and Rome are also part of a Davault's education. In the 17th century seeing such a large influx of Spanish soldiers and French migrants, and the need to meld the various peoples of Villenois into a single group, the Counts began to build up their own army. Their heraldry even reflected the nature of Villenese culture, with French stripes of blue and gold, with a red Burgundian Cross as the Spanish use, with the Castella di Mare, now the Chateau de Mer, in white superimposed over it.

The Banner of Villenois. Each regiment bears a variant of this banner.

Chateau de Mer, present day.

The infantry regiments of Villenois are all divided by uniform color, and to an extent, ethnicity. This arose originally from a need to distinguish between French, Italian, and Spanish mercenaries that were hired from abroad to bolster the defenses of Villenois. And because tensions between the three groups were high in the late 17th century, not least of which was the exacerbation caused by refugee Huegenots fleeing persecution from the French kings.

Villenese soldiers from the various regiments mid 18th century.

Artists rendition of soldiers from the White, Red, and Blue regiments.

Soldiers of French origin are part of the Regiment le Blanc, Spanish soldiers are part of the Regimiento de Azul, while Italians are in the Reggimento de Rosso. Of the performance of these troops, while on paper all are equal, the French are considered the best drilled, while the Italians are poorly disciplined, and the Spanish, though eager, are the not very well drilled. Though the current Count seeks to smooth these rough edges out and bring all the troops up to an equal level of training.

Villenese nobility is similarly polyglot with the bulk being either Italian or French. Among the ablest and most lauded commanders of Count Lumerier's army for instance is the veteran soldier, Antonio Spoletti. The disgraced son of a Savoyard baron, Spoletti fled to Villenois after a series of misadventures involving torrid affairs with various members of the Savoyard court. Lumerier quickly fell under his spell as the more masculine Spoletti spent more and more time with him in the back rooms and private chambers of Chateau de Mer. They had a falling out though in 17-- after Lumerier was found "entertaining" several officers of his household dragoons. They still remain strong friends though and the tactical insight Spoletti brings to the table complements the youthful exuberance of Lumerier on the battlefield.

General Antonio Spoletti of Villenois. He is an expert cavalry commander and an overall great tactician, though his Italian temper can often exhibit itself in the heat of the moment.

Among the other able commanders at the Count's disposal are the brilliant minds of Barone Jean de Reville, and Francisco O'Donnell, Cavaleri de Constoza. De Reville is known for his abilities to inspire the men under him and his ferocity in assaulting fortresses or fortified troops. Though slight of build and almost feminine in appearance, de Reville nevertheless is quite fearsome to face in pitched battle. His is the brightest star that is closest in the Counts orbit of late and has taken up residence in the Chateau de Mer and is often seen in the close company of the Count.

Jean de Reville, Barone de Reville

Francisco O'Donnell, the Cavaleri de Constoza is another brilliant cavalry commander often at odds with his rival, Spoletti. Though Spoletti is his senior officer, O'Donnell tends to break ranks and disobey orders when he feels it's necessary. This has gotten him into hot water with the Count but the majority of times O'Donnell has disobeyed an order has resulted in a tactical success in the field. Spoletti has had enough of his spoiled underlings antics and uses him as primarily a leader of scouting forces, hoping he gets killed or captured so he doesn't have to deal with him. Unfortunately for Spoletti, O'Donnell has the bad habit of coming back successful and alive from every suicide mission the general has sent him on.

Francisco O'Donnell, Cavaleri de Constoza.

Of the Count's navy, though given to hiring privateers for the most part, the small flotilla of ships maintained directly by the Count are under the command of Armande du Joffre, Chevalier de Merovous. A notorious French pirate who made a name for himself sacking English ports in the Caribbean, he was a "bonne homme" of the Count whilst he was traveling Europe, frequenting the bawdy houses and salons of Paris together. The Count tasked Armande with leading a settlement expedition to the West Indies, settling the small island of San Cristo Trinidado.

Armande the Admiral in later life.

Armande the Pirate, a sketch from an English broadside.

The colony that Armande founded quickly became a pirate haven rather than the sugar plantation the Count originally intended it to be. Lumerier doesn't mind though since he charges a "rent" on the inhabitants by taking a tenth of their plunder from the annual Spanish Treasure Fleet, whose route passes right by the island on the way from Hispaniola. The colonial "government" is run by an overwieght Spaniard, Don Diego Montoya. His Captain of the Guard is the sadistic and cruel Alphonso Alvarado, Caballero de Sarrossa. While Deigo prefers the company of lusty women and a casque of wine, Alphonso prefers the torture chamber and many a drunk sailor has disappeared in the night "under arrest" to find himself a guest of the Captain of the Guard and very often dead by morning. Of late though, Alvarado has been preoccupied with hunting down an upstart English pirate by the name of Henry Adams, who has plundered the Count's own ships and taken to hiding out on the far side of San Cristo Trinidado. Several skirmishes between the Trinidado Guarda (usually made up of the worst derelicts and scum of the Counts regiments sent to Trinidado to keep the pirates in line.) and Adams' pirate band have already proven that El Capitan has found a worthy quarry for his favorite sport, hunting men.