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Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: Admiral Alder on April 08, 2021, 05:30:54 PM

Title: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: Admiral Alder on April 08, 2021, 05:30:54 PM
Having been inspired by similar parade ground displays on here, I thought that I might also use this space to layout my collection so far, inviting comments and criticism and hopefully work out what elements are missing so that I can maintain energy and enthusiasm to see this project to a close before I start a Stargrave or 15mm Modern/1980s project.

Initially I had hoped to create roughly 3 forces, French, Italian, and Imperial and use these for the entire Italian Wars from Fornovo to Pavia, removing bows and crossbows in favour of arquebusiers and ritters, and swapping units from one force to another throughout the wars of the Holy League...

However as the Italian and Imperial army has swelled I've failed to maintain progress with the French, so may abandon this initial starting point.

Two other issues have also cropped up, rules and basing, without setting out with a rules set in mind, unit basing and force structure has lagged behind.

With all that said the core of the project so far is the Venetians; present at Fornovo, and a mandatory requirement for the battles of the Holy League:

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Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: RichBliss on April 08, 2021, 06:10:27 PM
They look sharp.   Nice to see bows.  They are rarely featured in people’s collections but are needed for some early battles.  Looking forward to seeing more.
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: Lord Raglan on April 08, 2021, 06:24:39 PM
Those are looking pretty sexy buddy
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: Admiral Alder on April 09, 2021, 07:10:43 AM
They look sharp.

Glad that they're mostly plastic pikes or lifting them out of the box would be a serious health and safety concern..

Those are looking pretty sexy buddy

Thank you for the kind feedback.

The Italian Cities
I'm fairly happy with the Milanese contingent, but really need to flesh out Florence and the Neapolitans.
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: valleyboy on April 09, 2021, 08:11:04 AM
Those look great
I'd be interested to know your unit/figure make up for the Italian states as my Italian wars project seems to have stalled after painting lots of pike and Landsknecht!
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: HappyChappy439 on April 09, 2021, 09:34:09 AM
These look great! Thanks for sharing!
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: Admiral Alder on April 09, 2021, 10:36:43 AM
Those look great
I'd be interested to know your unit/figure make up for the Italian states as my Italian wars project seems to have stalled after painting lots of pike and Landsknecht!

Thank you,

Regarding the composition of "units" its a little bit of guess work, I note that the thread on War of the Roses ratios of bows to bills is locked due to how contentious a topic it can be, so I'm not going to claim to be an authority...

In the Early Italian Wars infantry can be armed with a huge array of melee and missile weapons as well as formations which mix infantry and cavalry, my approach is to model each unit with one type of weapon: pike/halberd/bow/crossbow etc whilst acknowledging that depending on figure scale the actual troops would have been slightly more varied, for game purposes Swiss and Landsknecht units should be at least 75% pikemen with two handed swords and halberds modelled in depending on personal preference/visual aesthetic. The Italian troops had pikes and knew how to use them, but I prefer to emphasise models with missile weapons as their deployment in battle was more of a cavalry screen/supporting role opposed to the Swiss and Landsknechts who were used in a shock assault role (regardless of individual weapons carried).
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: RichBliss on April 09, 2021, 06:29:01 PM
This is similar to the philosophy I follow.  I’m more interested in how they fought than what they carried.   
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: Admiral Alder on April 09, 2021, 06:44:18 PM
This is similar to the philosophy I follow.  I’m more interested in how they fought than what they carried.

Unfortunately whilst it's my philosophy, my miniatures collection doesn't reflect this - still need to paint and assemble a lot of support troops with crossbows.
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: Admiral Alder on April 21, 2021, 09:49:35 AM
The Imperial Forces

Currently the smallest of my contingents, still need to paint the zwiehanders and some hand gunners, however this is the contingent with the largest number of manufacturers, find that the Warlord Games Landsknechts scale well with most metal and plastic miniatures.
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: SJWi on April 21, 2021, 10:50:19 AM
Admiral Alder, lovely looking figures. I think your original post said you have still to decide on rules. What are your thoughts?

A small group of us have built “Late Renaissance” Italian armies initially for Impetus, but  now using Simon Miller’s “To the Strongest” ancient/medieval rules . I understand Simon is working on a set of late 15th/16th century specific rules which i hope will hit the sweet spot.
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: Friends of General Haig on April 21, 2021, 01:14:56 PM
A great looking collection.  Lovely figures set off by those great flags👍
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: Ockius on April 21, 2021, 03:09:46 PM
Great models! Lots of colour and variety.

I played my first Italian wars era game a couple of weeks back (in 15mm though, Henry VIII’s English vs French) and we used Pike and Shotte, with modifications to the army lists and stats (easily done with those rules). They were easy and fast rules to use. However, we all have our armies based for Field of Glory Renaissance, and will eventually give that a try once we’ve plucked up the courage (the rules look complex).
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: Bloggard on April 22, 2021, 11:31:08 AM
love the way you're basing those, and the trays.
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: bigredbat on April 22, 2021, 03:02:07 PM
Quote
I understand Simon is working on a set of late 15th/16th century specific rules which i hope will hit the sweet spot.

Indeed I am but I've been struggling with family commitments, but I'm getting close.  They are an extension of the TtS! ancient/Medieval rules which should run up to 1600 or thereabouts, they might run a bit later. 
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: fastolfrus on April 22, 2021, 04:26:26 PM
Indeed I am but I've been struggling with family commitments, but I'm getting close.  They are an extension of the TtS! ancient/Medieval rules which should run up to 1600 or thereabouts, they might run a bit later.

Close enough that you need a playtester?
Title: Re: The "Great" Italian Wars
Post by: Admiral Alder on April 23, 2021, 11:00:49 PM
A great looking collection.  Lovely figures set off by those great flags👍
Afraid I can't take credit for those, they're by Pete's flags, honestly not cheap, but I think they're kind of worth it.
love the way you're basing those, and the trays.
Trays are from Warbases, as I'm a cheapskate I quite enjoy getting a 20 man unit out of 14 miniatures and a couple of tufts!

The French
As today is Saint George's day, thought it would be the perfect day to show off the final contingent - the French. The source material for the Fornovo campaign seems to suggest that a lot of the French troops were mounted longbowmen so perfect for Perry WotR miniatures, by the later campaigns and at Pavia they had adopted a similar formation and equipment to the Landsknechts (when they weren't just hiring them). The Swiss should be the most aggressive and mobile infantry even by the early 16th century when the quality of Swiss troops deteriorates.