Useless Cowards! That is probably the impression of condottieri armies after reading Machiavelli. Even Italian early renaissance was full of intrigues, political plots and mercenary armies, many new topics for European warfare were introduced in Italian peninsula.

Useless Cowards is a miniature game where players take roles of condottieri captains and lead their armies in the battlefield. These rules aim to satisfy these both extremes of wargamers: dedicated tournament players as well as those who prefer historical re-fights. These rules aim to satisfy these both sides of the wargaming hobby. 

This ruleset contains rules and army lists for Italian peninsula warfare in three periods starting from the arrival of foreign companies in middle 14th century and ending to the beginning of 16th century when gunpowder weapons started to dominate battlefields.

Useless Cowards in short

• Unit based wargame for historical era from 1350 to 1500 AD.
• Designed for 28 mm miniatures, but suitable also for other scales
• An average size game (180 cm x 120 cm table) contains 5-7 units per side
• Unit size can be chosen freely. Mounted units typically 5 – 8 soldiers, foot units 10 – 30 soldiers.
• Units are activated in random order and their actions can be boosted by command points.

“Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious, and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy.”
-Niccolò Machiavelli, e Prince