Version: 1.00 (September 2005)

Engine: Battles in Italy

Turns: 15

AI or PBEM: PBEM Only

Author: Pete_au

Download Rocroi

Scale: 1 turn = 30-45 mins
1 hex = 200m side to side.
Each unit is 800 (smallest French) to 1500 (largest Spanish) men or cavalry.

This game is a tactical simulation of the decisive battle of the Thirty Years War. At Rocroi, the ‘invincible’ Spanish Army and its dreaded Tercio formation were dealt the final blow. In its place would emerge the smaller, more flexible tactical units, that would set the pace of warfare until the wars of the French Revolution.

The infantry represent units of pike men working with musketeers. As such combat is very much a push and shove affair with losses at 1-1 most of the time unless one side gains a flank advantage. Musketeers are deployed as detachments from the main unit to simulate their effect in the battle.

You will see that cavalry in this game is fairly weak against the infantry pike formations. They were not able to directly charge the infantry and break solid blocks of pikes 5 – 8 men deep. They were used to destroy broken infantry units and capture artillery.
Cavalry thus are always 4 shock regardless of losses. Infantry start with 4 anti-shock and reduce as step losses take place. Cavalry will be effective against infantry that have taken losses (ie are disorganized).

Artillery can be used to disrupt the enemy line advance. A good tactic to stop the enemy forming a solid line that is hard to flank or divide.
You can capture artillery.

Leaders are powerful units able to direct attacks and ensure results. They simulate strategic advantage by their superior scouting ability and shift bonus – if they are killed early on your troops wont know where the enemy are strongest and you will surly meet your demise – so look after them.
Visually the counters allow you to compare the strengths at a glance – smaller cav or inf NATO symbols show weaker units.

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Installation:
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Download the self extracting EXE from the Run5 Scenario area. Double click on the installer and it should properly identify your Battles in Italy folder and correctly install the scenario into the ...battles in Italy\scenarios\Rocroi 1643 folder.