An
Historical Survey of the armies for
The Swedish-Danish War, 1563-1570
and
A Spanish Fury! Supplement
Introduction
This
supplement and historical survey of the protagonists has been made
possible
through the hard work of Daniel Staberg. I believe it is safe to say
that there
is unlikely to be such a comprehensive analysis available in English
anywhere-
certainly not in our hobby. An obscure subject to most, he has been
able to
come up with highly specific information on the soldiers and regiments
of both
sides, and should provide more than enough details to enable a
hobbyist to
put together a very well researched force, a rarity for any 16th
century nation.
Thanks again, Daniel. You'll notice in the countermix example provided
below
one of your ancestors....
The Northern Seven Year's War
The Nordic Seven years war 1563-1570 was the result
of steadily rising tensions between
Sweden on one side and Denmark, Lübeck and Poland on the
other. The destruction of
the Livionian branch of the Teutonic Order had seen Poland, Denmark and
Sweden and
Russia claim a share of the it's lands. In 1562 King Erik
XIV of Sweden aggressively tried
to expand his share by seizing lands and castles held by the Duke
Magnus (brother of the
King Fredrick II of Denmark) and Poland. In order to increase
the trade passing trough
the now Swedish city of Reval (Tallinn) he also launched a naval
blockade of Russian held
Narva something which angered the Hanse city of Lübeck which
controlled most of the
trade with Russia passing through Narva. Added to conflict were
the fact that both
Denmark and Lübeck wanted to restore the old privileges and powers
they had held
over Sweden. Lübeck
wanted to restore it's monopoly on the Swedish trade as well
as
securing the repayment of remainder of the loans with
which Gustav I Vasa had financed
Sweden's war of Independence in 1521-1523. The monopoly had
ceased and the
re-payments had been stopped as a result of Lübeck supporting the
losing side in the
1534-1537 Danish civil war in which Sweden supported the winning side.
Denmark's young and ambitious King Fredrick II also
wanted re-establish the Union of
Kalmar (in which the King of Denmark and Noway had also been King of
Sweden). It is
not proved that conquering Sweden was one of Frederick II's
main goals from the start of
his reign, the evidence is limited an ambiguous at best. What the
evidence does show is that
by 1562 Fredrick II was clearly planing for a major war by forming
alliances with Lübeck and
Poland as well as recruiting a huge mercenary army as well as
making his large fleet ready
for war. Poland played only a minor part in the war, the fighting
between Sweden and
Poland began without a forma declaration of war and ended without a
formal peace or truce.
It consisted mainly of skirmishes around the disputed parts of
Livonia an Estonia, all of
which ended up i Polish hand in the end.
While Sweden aggressive foreign policy and
expansion had played a major part in
escalating the crisis around the Baltic in the early 1560's
Sweden did not want a war
with Denmark and Lübeck. It's aims outside Estonia were
purely defensive. Much has
been made of the fact that that Erik XIV placed both the Danish and
Norwegian coat of
arms in his own and as well laid claim to Norway, Halland,
Skane and the island of Gotland
those actions were taken to counter the fact that Fredrick II's
carried Sweden's 3 Crowns as
part of his coat of arms and thus claimed rule of all of Sweden
and Finland. These claims and
counter-claims were by Erik XIV as simple
bargaining chips with which both sides would
barter with during the negotiations to extend the old Truce of
Brömsebro.
Erik
XIV
Frederick II
When war began in 1563 the best part of
the Swedish army was deployed in Finland and
Estonia, not along the border with Denmark. Instead of the short
victorious was which
Fredrick II hoped for, the war dragged on for seven years which
exhausted all sides.
Large parts of both the eastern Danish provinces
(today southern Sweden) and the
Swedish border provinces were ravaged again and again by
the armies. The armies could
wand would wreck havoc even when moving through friendly territory. The
old
medieval fortifications used in Scandinavia proved with a few
exceptions to be no match
for modern siege artillery even when reinforced by
earthworks. However such artillery was
hard to move by land even in the best of circumstances which limited
the impact of
modern guns once the war moved beyond the few good roads or the
coastline.
In battle the excellent Danish and German
cavalry combined with the skill of
Daniel Rantzau gave the Danish army an edge which the excellent
Swedish infantry
created by Erik XIV's reforms could not counter. By 1567 large parts of
the Swedish
army was becoming increasingly demoralized and the bouts of mental
illness suffered by
King Erik proved crippling. By 1568 the old resentments and plots of
the Swedish
nobility and Erik's brothers reached a flash point and Erik was deposed
after a
short civil war.
In 1570 a peace was finally concluded in Stettin,
both Denmark and Sweden gave up any
claims to each others territory thus finally and formally
desolving the Union of Kalmar.
Sweden would no longer prevent Lübeck from trading with
Narva and would allow the
Emperor to redeem it's possessions in Estonia and bestow then
upon Denmark as a imperial fief.
Finally Sweden 150.000 thalers to Denmark as
a ransom for the strategic port and fortress of
Älvsborg and 75.000 thalers as war damages to
Lübeck.
In the end
Lübeck never received even one thaler of damages and the Emperor
never
bought Estonia from the Swedes thus setting the stage for the next
round of Baltic wars
fought between a loose alliance of Sweden and Poland against
Russia.
What's
in the supplement?
Two full army lists, one for the
Swedes and one for the Danes, written out for the Battle!
rules, but also of use for Actions! These
cover most of the regiments involved, their equipment,
fighting prowess, field signs, and their commanders.
Flags for both
armies! Here's a sample!
Brand new cards for Battle! which will enable
you to play out any engagement of the war and
those produced by the Campaign game that is currently in the works!
Counters for all the new regiments
and Officers
An Army Status sheet for each army
Our first Spanish Fury, Battle! Scenario,
The battle of Axtorna, 1565!
What kind of info do you have on the
armies?
You'll have to
download it to believe it. There is extremely detailed info on both
armies
and individual regiments within the armies, as well as a background on
the style of fighting.
Danish Army
Briefing
Swedish Army
Briefing
Why should I get into this period?
Nordic Fury! has some big advantages for players interested in late
16th Century warfare. Firstly,
both sides fielded relatively small armies, which is easy on the
pocketbook. More than that,
Daniel's research allows players to build basically the entire armies
of both sides, regiment by
regiment, for the Western theatre of operations (which this
supplement focuses on). Imagine
being able to field so many historical regiments and being intimate
with all of their strengths
and weaknesses, and following their progress though out the war.
This makes for a less
"generic" feel to your chosen army. It will also make any campaign that
much more enjoyable.
Both sides are quite different also. The Danes relied heavily on
Landsknecht mercenaries
for their infantry, with a well trained native cavalry composed of the
nobility. The Swedes
were involved in some major changes to their army, and relied more on
newly raised native
foot and horse.
Secondly, there is the diversity of the Nordic Seven Years War.
Remember that Denmark and
Sweden weren't the only players- the Poles and Muscovites were active
members too, bringing
the flavour of eastern style of warfare. While not included in this
supplement, their armies
are undergoing playtesting right now, and Daniel will be writing up
backgrounds on them both.
Not quite enough? The baltic in this period was scene to many naval
engagements between
the antagonists. Sweden and Denmark both possessed modern and active
navies which were
involved in everything from amphibious landing operations to blockading
ports, as well as
major shoot outs! It won't be long before this spawns some new cards
for Spanish Fury, Sail!
