What differentiates Italians from English (mid-late 15th cent)?

[Endman]

My favourite way to differentiate Italians from other nation's troops is the Mazzocchio. (Seen here on the helmet of the rightmost gentleman):



Apart from that, there's not a great deal to set them apart aside from their choice of weapons (more hand-weapons, pikes, crossbows and handgonnes, etc. as opposed to English bills & longbows).

Here's an example of a dude I just painted who is made up of the Perry Wars of the Roses box, but with the edition of the Mazzocchio gives him a suitably Italian flair.



Of course, not everyone likes their soldiers with sausages on their heads.

[Codsticker]

Of course, not everyone likes their soldiers with sausages on their heads.

I thought they were bagels?

When I converted my Conquest Games Normans to Andalusians I made a lot of head bagels (with tails)...

[Condottiere]

The problem is that the Mazzocchio might not have been that common...

The Mazzocchio in Perspective

From Chaperones to Chaplets: Aspects of Men's Headdress, 1400-1519

Still looking for the equivalent of The King's Servants: Men's Dress at the Accession of Henry VIII for 1470s-1510s Condottieri, but haven't found it yet, though there might be something available in Italian - getting eyestrain looking at tiny figures in art.

I'm mixing TAG and Perry sculpts in the same units, along with a few Steel Fist figures...