Virtù, Humours, and the psychology of the renaissance soldier: Modelling decision-making in skirmishes through Force of Virtue

Samuel Gassman (Masterstroke Games)

Mediaeval man used a matrix of human behaviour based on classical sources, separating people into four temperaments of people.The first known example of this theory being used in a fighting manual is Fiore de Liberi’s “Fior de Battaglia”.

He simplified the matrix to more general latinised terms, calling them ‘four virtues’ and matching them to animals. The famous conditiero Pietro Monte used temperaments in his book. I have summarised these in the following table:

This gave us the idea of designing a tabletop-wargame that would use this same mediaeval psychological system to put players into the shoes of a renaissance commander, which we published in 2023 called Force of Virtue. 

Game Design

Players design their own 15th century mercenary company, choosing cards from different decks that dictate how many troops, how much equipment, which special combat effects or preparations a player can use, and also how many points of which virtues their troops have. 

These virtues are an abstraction of the training, motivation, and other ‘soft factors’ that make them willing to fight. Troops require someone with virtue to command them, or to have innate virtue through veterancy, as otherwise they will flee, surrender, or otherwise not risk their lives just because the player wants to fight. 

When a player takes an action, they choose a group, a number of virtue, and roll that many dice, taking the best result. Depending on the result and the virtue used to roll, players resolve an effect, for example a Move with Prudence might make those units harder to hit as they prudently move under cover. 

‘Roll many, pick one’ is a well known game mechanic, but the idea to use it for the game came from Machiavelli’s idea of Virtù. Separate from the philosophical concept of moral excellence, for him it is the ability of a man (explicitly masculine in his eyes) to resist fate (personified as the goddess fortuna). 

By using more points of virtue, players roll more dice, getting a better chance of rolling the result they want. A player can also choose to leave the result in the hands of fate and roll fewer dice, preserving their Virtue to use later for something more important. 

This results in games that we find are closer to skirmishes found in the historical record. Unless one side is extremely motivated, very often a player’s forces will retreat after taking a few casualties or injuries, even if the player thinks they still have a chance of victory. 

Also, when building their mercenary companies, players at first gravitate towards the most ‘flashy’ options like extra combat effects, but eventually find out that even something as simple as a hidden card that gives troops more virtue to act, to be highly effective. 

For example, after a player’s troops had been suppressed by gunfire, their opponent thought they could focus on manoeuvre. However, this player had a card called “As the Lion”, which could give any troops in their force two extra Audacity to act with, allowing them to continue their charge and upset the opponent’s plans. 

As we expand the system to include sieges and cavalry with a Kickstarter in June 2024, we hope that people will take the game as an entry point into a fascinating point in history and ask questions about why we decided to design it this way, what sources we drew from, and how we can continue developing it for players to enjoy!