The Gradara Project

Editor Dan and the Perry brothers packed their bags (and sculpting tools) and jetted off to see an award-winning wargaming and cultural collaboration.

Unveiling the Gradara model.

The town of Gradara in North Eastern Italy has picture-book Italian charm, with winding cobbled streets that ascend to a large medieval castle. Perched on a hillside above the town, the castle looks out towards the seaside resort of Rimini and the Adriatic coast.

In early June of this year, myself and sculping supremos the Perry brothers were invited to Gradara by Dr Gianluca Raccagni of UK-based History and Games Labs, to take part in Gradara Wargames – an event organised to celebrate the unveiling of a massive ‘diorama’ of the town, made in the UK by James Sharp of Oshiro Models.

The real Gradara.

On the first morning of the event, I caught up with the Mayor of Gradara (and event instigator) Filippo Gasperi (FG), and Gianluca Raccagni (GR) of History and Games Labs, to ask them all about the Gradara model project.

Wi: Where did the idea for the project come from?

FG: Two or three years ago I had the idea of making a historical model of Gradara to display to locals and visitors, to show what the castle and town would have looked like in the 15^th Century. I got in touch with some game designer friends of mine from the nearby town of Ravenna, they then put me in touch with Gianluca, who is an ex-resident of Ravenna, now working in the UK for the University of Edinburgh. During our initial discussions, Gianluca suggested making it a ‘playable’ model, which was an extension of our simpler idea of a display piece.

GR: As a wargamer, and big fan of all things terrain and scenery, I immediately saw the potential for the model to be interactive. When I was younger and went to visit museums it was always disappointing that I wasn’t able to get close to or touch the impressive models on display; because they were behind glass, or very fragile. I could see no reason why the two things couldn’t be combined – a great-looking display/model that informed people about the history, but which was also interactive and playable.

Gradara Wargames – held in the best medieval town in Italy.

Wi (to Filippo): Did you know what Gianluca was suggesting – had you even heard of wargaming!?

FG: Oh yes, I played miniature wargames when I was younger, and Gradara (where I grew up) hosted the first Italian gaming event, back in 1991: Gradara Ludens, a gaming convention that we still host in the town every September, so I have a connection with gaming going back over 30 years.

GR: I was also inspired by Gradara Ludens when I was younger, and very impressed and engaged by the connection between civic government and using games to interact with history and heritage. It’s ultimately what led me to become a senior lecturer in Medieval History and a gamer.

Wi: The model itself was made by James Sharp of Oshiro Terrain – was he someone you had worked with before?

GR: Yes. One of my students at the University of Edinburgh wrote a supplement for Osprey’s The Men Who Would be Kings and he had worked with James at Oshiro regarding scenery for a demo game. He also produced a model for my own Lion Rampant supplement, The Crusader States. Although James hadn’t produced anything on this scale before, after having spoken with him, he was very keen to work on the project.

FG: Prof. Daniele Sacco and Maria Chara Torcolacci from the University of Urbino then began communicating with James and sharing information about the history of the town. It was a learning process because there is very little information on what the town would have looked like in the medieval period. One of our only clues comes from a painting housed in the castle – a woman holding (what looks like) a model of the town.

GR: From the start, it was important to combine that historical information with playability.

Dragon Rampant gaming using the Gradara model.

Wi: Although we have spent the weekend at the Gradara ‘unveiling’ event, the model has been seen at a few other locations before today, right?

FG: Yes, we went over to the UK to collect the model and it was a happy coincidence that Salute at Excel was on at that same time, so we displayed the model there and we were very proud to receive the award for Best Presented Game. After arriving in Italy the model has been displayed in San Marino and at Modena Play – the biggest games festival in Italy.

Finally, the model arrived in Gradara, and we wanted an event to celebrate its unveiling -something that would be of interest to both gamers from across the country and locals from Gradara.

GR: To that end, we invited James Sharp of Oshiro over – allowing him to explore the real Gradara for the first time – rather than just the miniature version! Myself and James Holloway came to represent the History and Games Lab and run some Dragon Rampant games using the board. Sam Grassman of Masterstroke Games was also here, running games of Force of Virtue – they created a special scenario for their Renaissance skirmish wargame based on the 1446 Siege of Garadara. We also had the AFBIS gaming group from Florence run a couple of games themed around Italian author Dante, and an Italian Mordheim group, who held a mini-tournament on the Sunday.

Sculpting demos were also presented across the weekend by local digital designer Alan D’Amico, and the Perry brothers – who flew over for the event and helped us cut the ribbon to officially open the room where the model is currently housed.

FG: Eventually it will be moved to its permanent home in the castle.

GR: The model is still work in progress and will be for some time. While we want gamers to come and use the table for whatever games and scenarios they wish, we also want to populate the streets of the Gradara model with a static display of figures, individuals and vignettes.

FG: Yes, we have already commissioned Alan D’Amico, to design some figures for us, based on the citizens of Gradara, and as this collection grows the streets of the model will become populated with 28mm Gradarans!

We also have plans to make the model multi-period. Although Gradara didn’t see any violent action during the Second World War, it did form part of the German Defensive ‘Gothic Line’ which ran through the town, and there was a German gun battery in the castle keep.

The Gradara model will be moved to its permanent home within the castle before Gradara Luden in September, and it is already possible to book a time and date slot to play any wargame (historical and fantasy) using the board by contacting Gianluca at: gianluca.raccagni@ed.ac.uk.

The beers were almost as good as the gaming!

Dan, Alan, and Michael would like to thank Gianluca, Filippo, and Federico Mammarella for their hospitality while in Gradara, and Joeli and Elisa for their delightful company.