Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: olicana on March 14, 2016, 02:35:15 PM
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It's a straw poll and will not tell us much, but what is your favourite renaissance period, and why?
My own, having done ECW, TYW and, if it qualifies by more than just by date, late medieval, is the Great Italian Wars 1495 -1530ish (the wars go on longer but my interest wanes after that). I like it because the weaponry and tactics are at there most diverse and because pike and shot are still very much different entities operating separately (no pike and shot units / sub units or ratios to speak of much). I might also have a thing for the costume (being a very colourful period) and the fact that most troops can be used for every nation and state, thus making collecting fruitful.
That's my choice, others will differ for other reasons.
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bW6-ij9bsq4/VJqMGIQFbjI/AAAAAAAAIzk/yUyoEOMHYIc/s1600/IMG_9181.JPG)
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ECW.
Because:=
a)I can quite easily go to most of the battlefields (Edgehill & Naseby are less than 20 miles from me)
b)Army sizes are much smaller than 30 years War.
c)For the first part it was bumbling amateurs in charge (At Cheriton both side chose 'God is with us' as their 'pass word' .
d)It is part of my country's heritage (and part of the development of democracy, see the Putney debates)
e)Wide variety of troop types (Pike, shot, firelocks, clubmen, Dragoons, Horse, Cuirassiers, Moss troopers, Irish etc.)
f)Wide variety of scenarios, not just the big battles (Naseby, Marston Moor etc.) but small fights (English Civil War Notes & Queries used to have a series entitled 'Terribly obscure battles' with often just a few understrength units) Cavalry raids on the other side's wagons/supplies. Fights for fortified manor houses. man hunt (Charlie Two and the Royal Oak at Boscobel house, which has its own priest holes). Last stands, such as the Royalists around the pulpit at Alton church. Far too many to list.
g) the bad old days of poor figures have long gone (Mini-Figs Muskets with cavalry helmets as well as Pikemans' breastplate,backplate & tassets.) we now have the likes of Empress Miniatures.
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Age of conquest, aztecs, inca, south american indians fighting conquistadors, the clash of civilisations old and new, proper swashbuckling stuff
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Even though I don't game it at the moment I'd have to say ECW.
The smaller scale actions really have an appeal especially an attack on a fortified manorhouse.
(lovely table by the way :))
cheers
James
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Thirty years War for me, wide variety of forces and settings plus everything is within the realms of possibility from gran armies to small mercenary raiding bands.
And as an added bonus a lot of the miniatures can be reused for ECW!
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I'll go for the Italian wars for two main reasons: firstly, they're a Hell of a lot of fun, with very distinctive armies and lots of variety; and secondly, because for once the word "renaissance" means something in this connexion, whereas it drives me crazy to hear it misapplied to Covenanters, Zaporozhians, Moghuls, Ming, or Sengoku!
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Henry VIII's 1513 invasion of France, because my masochistic idiosyncrasy won't let me do anything else and it's so specifically obscure that I've had to practically create my own figures and opposing forces.
Did I mention that I rarely game too.
It's akin to searching for a new type of gravel - but I wouldn't have it any other way :D
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Even though I don't game it at the moment I'd have to say ECW.
The smaller scale actions really have an appeal especially an attack on a fortified manorhouse.
(lovely table by the way :))
cheers
James
Very tempting, especially having seen the recent Empress mounted/dismounted dragoons. I was imagining a skirmish set in a grey, drab, dirty wet village... uost resisit!
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I should say eastern warfare, especially East-European between Poland Russia and Turkey with extra swedish crumpets added but I have problems with calling it Reneissaince..
So I have to chose Italian Wars too. My most memorable Renaissance games were in Italy, and My Italian Army will be finished earlier than Both Polish and Mughal conquest.
Apart from those two I want to do XXX Years War gaming in the future.
Really cant catch much interest in anything ECW - it has to be English + empire influenced parts of the world stuff.. :>
I get the heritage and battlefields, and museums and even cinema and TV.. but for me its just poor man TYW.
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Great Italian wars for me, I'm a sucker for the costumes but I also like ECW or the War of the three kingdoms to use the less anglocentric name that I Scottish historians have started using for it, I blame the Airfix guide I picked up in WH Smith as a kid!
Best Iain
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I'm sure I read (in a book I've still got but can't find the reference!) that the Three Kingdoms reference was used in the latter half of the 17th century to refer to the conflicts that covered the various stages of the wars including the Irish and Scottish elements. I'd go for the ECW too, it's a much more interesting period than people give it credit for, with options for big battles down to tiny skirmishes. It also offers local flavour for many areas of Britain.
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Very tempting, especially having seen the recent Empress mounted/dismounted dragoons. I was imagining a skirmish set in a grey, drab, dirty wet village... uost resisit!
Well then, there you go, that's the post Salute project taken care of :D
cheers
James
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Well then, there you go, that's the post Salute project taken care of :D
cheers
James
One of our group is an ECW nut. He has hundreds of Renegade and Warlord figures but now wishes he had Empress. They weren't out when he started collecting but he was sorely tempted to start again. ECW looks like it would fit in very well with a lot of the Dorset terrain and buildings.
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One of our group is an ECW nut. He has hundreds of Renegade and Warlord figures but now wishes he had Empress. They weren't out when he started collecting but he was sorely tempted to start again. ECW looks like it would fit in very well with a lot of the Dorset terrain and buildings.
It would at that :D
Plenty of stately homes to fortify and castles to make ;D
cheers
James
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Plenty of stately homes to fortify and castles to make ;D
cheers
James
Ooh, that could be spectacular!
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Ooh, that could be spectacular!
St Mawes and Pendennis are in the area and were used in the ECW (by the royalists I believe).
cheers
James
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St Mawes and Pendennis are in the area and were used in the ECW (by the royalists I believe).
cheers
James
Yup, one of the last Royalist garrisons to fall. It was under the command of the octogenarian Sir John Arundel I think. Can't remember the Parliamentarian commander though
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I have to say I like what could roughly be called the "elizabethan" period i.e. the second half of the 16th century. Thing is it's so under represented as a 'period' but look at the riches. French Wars of Religion, Dutch Revolt, Rough Wooing, Civil war in Scotland, Desmond Revolt/ 9 years war in Ireland, the Cologne war, Anglo-spanish war, Russo-Swedish War. You can go for big old set piece battles with lots of cavalry of varying sorts, blocks of pike, experimentation with combined arms, nice flags, silly trousers, the beginning of piracy as a national pastime, raids on distant shores and street fighting in european towns. Whats not to like?
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Let's face it, the whole Pike and Shot era is an amazing wargames period but if pushed my first love will always be ECW but followed closely by the Thirty Years War, the expansionist wars of the Ottoman
Turks and the French Wars of Religion etc. There is SO much choice! lol
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Have to go with ECW for the same list of reasons as "has.been" on page 1, to which I would add:-
- the genesis of the British Army, via the New Model (which, ironically, also introduced republicanism to Ireland).
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How can you resist the Ottoman Turks, you get Janissaries (any unit that has a cooking pot as its standard is ok with me), horsemen from across the east of Europe, Azabs, Voyniks and other exotic infantry.
Plenty of colour, plenty of people to fight, Hungarians, Muscovites, Balkan States, Byzantine, Vlad the Impaler, Holy orders, Venetians the list goes on.
Lots of sweeping cavalry moves, sieges, you name it, its there.
And no pikes to bend/snap when you are moving your figures!
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I really like the TYW. For me, it just has more appeal than the ECW, although I can't really explain why. If I had to go for something else, I'd be very tempted by the Elizabethan period. I really love the Foundry Seadog figures.
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English Civil War for me. The politics and history are what first interested myself along with the Flags :)
I can also field Scots fighting alongside Parliament or do either side on their own if i wanted. For now it's the combo I'm going for. Id love to get a Fortified Manor like Stokesay Castle
:)
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Another vote for the English Civil War here. Whatever level you game at, be it big battle or lowly skirmish, there's something there for you and it's well covered as regards reference material.
Has.been's mention of the amateurishness of the leaders, who were often learning as they went along - drill book in hand, is pretty much the archetypical wargamer trying to grasp the rules as he's playing the game.
A handful of clubmen and musketeers and you have the beginnings of an army, which can grow as you plod on. :)
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ECW is sooooo British!
I'm Dutch. I prefer late 17th century (League of Augsburg) and 30YW. LoA & the post 1700 WSS is a period with colourful uniforms and a lot of varied battles. Interesting transitional period.
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A nice range of responses, olicana?
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ECW is sooooo British!
You're kicking in an open door there. ;)
I am English and there is a wealth of information, diaries and what have you, which all mentions places I have lived at or near, or can easily visit without too much travel (when I am in England at least).
I have to admit I found the latter part of the Eighty Years War really interesting, but finding the same granularity of information on it, even in Dutch or Spanish, was so difficult. Everybody writes about the big history sure, but what about the day to day soldiering?
There are some fantastic conflicts with rich histories in Europe... but nobody seems to write about them, or if they do you must hide the books away or something.
:)
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As I am Dutch we Always like a Dutch theme so we play 1500-1510 in the Netherlands (italian wars with a twist) and the late 17th century Nine Years War.
Look for pictures at www.aldegarde.blogspot.nl or www.aldegarde.nl (although a backlog of recent pictures etc to add on the site :?)
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Without a doubt, Great Italian Wars.
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As a German from the north I like ECW. Thirty Years War is interesting, but I started with ECW and like the empress range.
Italian wars is also interesting, started some Perrys for a papal Army.
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For spectacle and troop variety, definitely the Italian Wars.
For small battles and lots of easily accessible primary source material, English Civil War,
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I'll agree with Whiskey Priest and Duc de Limbourg, I particularly like mid-to-late 16th century - particularly the "Wars of Religion" in France and the Netherlands (with Reiver forays into the Anglo-Scottish borderlands), but am also partial to the clash between the Ottomans and the Hapsburgs. I truly love the entire 16th - 17th century period - the very essence of swashbuckling. (And no, I don't think that any era that has a tricorne as the principal headwear qualifies as "swashbuckling !").
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Decisions, Decisions, I really can't make up my mind. I have wargame armies in the English Civil War and the Great Italian Wars. What I like about the Great Italian Wars are the color, the cavalry, and my Renaissance Artillery collection. The Duke of Mantua would be proud. I enjoy adding Medieval/ Fantasy Figures for variety and give my battles an Eastern European Flair. The only drawback and regret I have is that I just can't seem to paint up a Ottoman Turk Army to do battles on the Hungarian Frontier between Landsknechts and janissaries.
I like the English Civil War as others have claimed because, you don't need large wargame armies, it has a variety of color as I enjoy having red coats regiments, blue coat regiments, yellow coat regiments, green coat regiments. I am a big cavalry man and there are plenty of units. I enjoy the characters and the ideas that came out of the conflict and the many books written on the subject. Keep the ideas coming.
I am interested in seeing the outcome and the posts written have given me a lot of ideas for games. Keep 'em coming.
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Oh, I forgot, what enabled me to collect and game in both these periods was the old Fantasy Unlimited Miniature Rules"Down Styphon" and "Archworld" for the E.C.W. and a host of rules that let the Landsknechts in "Emerald Tablet, the second edition of the Dungeons and Dragons Minaiture Rules. I've been trying to find Leonardo Da Vinci 28mm war machines to use with "Leonardo Plus" to get me back into the Landsknect period. Thanks
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- Siege of Malta and other warefare in the mediterranean
- french wars of religion
and this one, maybe:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Succession_of_Landshut (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Succession_of_Landshut)