This is the army based on the Ordonnances of Charles VII and his successor Louis XI. It was an attempt to reform the French military system towards the end of the English occupation and to move the army from an unreliable, feudal, provincial force to a modern, professional, national cohesive organisation. It fought the English, Burgundian, Swiss and Imperial Germans with a reasonable degree of sucess.

Era: Age of Chivalry		French Ordonnance	CR: H: 5 L: 2			BP: 2	Init: 5
Core
Number	Type	Description	Key	FV	PROT	Weapon	Cost
2	Kn(d!)	Men-at-Arms*	Key	6[2]0	+3	Lance	15
2	FT	Franc-Archers	Key	4[1]1	+1	Bows	6
2	FT	Voulgiers	Key	5[1]1	+1	Various Polearms	6
1	SI			2[1]1	+2	Hand guns	2
2	SI			2[1]1	+2	X-bows	2
Bonus:
4	Kn(d!)	Men-at-Arms*	Key	6[2]0	+3	Lance	15
2	FT	New Regiments	Key	5[0]0	+1	Spears - X-bows	7
4	FT		Key	5[1]1	+1	Various	6
1	PH	Swiss	Key	8[2]3	+1	Pikes etc	16
1	LB	Armagnac	Key	4[1]1	+1	Longbows	7
1	SI			2[1]1	+2	Hand gun	2
2	SI			2[1]1	+2	X-bow	2

Terrain:

Core: 1 GR

Bonus: (Max: 2 ) 2 GR; 1 WD; 1 RG

Notes:

Core: 94 Bonus: 127

Notes:

Swiss are mercenaries: they have COH move. In non-competition games the Swiss continent should not be fielded against a Late C15th Cantonal Swiss army

Armagnac LB are mercenaries. These are the troops that butchered a small overconfident Swiss contingent at St. Jacob-en-Birs.

Swiss & LB cannot be used in the same army

Whilst Franc Archers were armed with a longer bow, they were not trained collectively or well enough to shoot in the same way as English or Burgundian archers (and did not use stakes) and are therefore ineligible for LB status. FV4 also reflects their extremely low levels of enthusiasm! The X-bow armed Franc Archers are depicted as SI.

The ‘New Regiments’ are the combined xbow and spear detachments raised on a provincial basis, with Picardy providing the better quality contingents. These troops were the fore-runners of the mixed pike & shot armed ‘Old Bands’ that took part in the early stages of the French-Italian Wars and were supposed to originally be armed with pikes and X-bows (in the “new manner”). However, contemporary observers make specific reference to the shortness of the pike shafts and the high percentages of xbows, so I’ve opted for FV5 Spear instead of FV6 Pikes. The 5(0)0 factors also reflecting the high percentage of missiles to combat weapons. Ideally these troops should be represented as a mix of the two troop types, with the spear armed figures in the centre and the X-bows at either end of the base and should really be deployed wide rather than deep

As an alternative to fielding just Kn(d!) units, it is possible to field the mounted elements of the ‘lances’ separately. This can be depicted by halving the numbers of core & bonus Kn(d!) and for each Kn(d!) unit fielded, the following must be added:

1 – HC*(d!) [k] (Coustilliers) 4(0)0 +1 Lance @ 9

NB: Coustilliers are subject to obligatory charge

1 – LC*(#) [k] (Archers) 1(0)0 +1 X-bow @ 6

(#) - LC*(#) (Archers) dismount as SI [k] 2(1)1 +2 X-bow

If any ‘lances’ are fielded as separate elements, all must be. If any element of a separated ‘lance’ is fielded dismounted all must be fielded dismounted

Charles VII’s Scottish Guard Mounted Archers, armed with LB & pole-arms, are too few in number to warrant inclusion as an independent unit. However, with their colourful tri-party red/white/green livery they are worth including as part of the generals element

Hand guns are considered to be the same as X-bows in all respects

List Author: Aetius