Italian Wars: How do you build your pike blocks?

[Dolnikan]

Lately, I've gotten pretty interested in the period and may or may not have bought far too many of Warlord's plastic Landsknechts. There however is one thing I'm really struggling with and that is how to build the pike blocks. As far as I understand, troops with two-handed swords and halberds tended to be mixed in, but that's not really what I've seen in people's armies. So I've been wondering, how do people build their blocks?

[Von Trinkenessen]

what rules are you using?
For billhooks I have the third rank mixed halberd so and zweihanders.
Also in some of the command groups I put a single one in.

[Griefbringer]

Having a halberdier or two as "colour guards" around the standard bearers could look nice - though if your standards are in the middle of a big pike block they might not be too visible.

Gamers being gamers, many like to separate the differently armed fellows (be that pikes, arquebuss, halberds or zweihanders) into units of their own.

[joekano]

I do my blocks with just the pike and their officers/standards/musicians. I have my zweihanders/handgunners on separate strips I can put with the blocks or field separately, depending on what the ruleset requires.

[robh]

As stated it depends on the rules you want to play.

My 15mm are based for Tercios: Liber Militum rules so 1 base is 1 unit. 50 to 60 figures per base in vaguely historical formation. Banners in the centre, more heavily armoured pikemen at the front, missile skirmishers and shock troops (Zweihanders/Halberdiers and Rodeleros) floating around the sides as required.

[PBR Streetgang]

As stated it depends on the rules you want to play.

My 15mm are based for Tercios: Liber Militum rules so 1 base is 1 unit. 50 to 60 figures per base in vaguely historical formation. Banners in the centre, more heavily armoured pikemen at the front, missile skirmishers and shock troops (Zweihanders/Halberdiers and Rodeleros) floating around the sides as required.

Robh, how do you like the Tercios rules for the Italian Wars? I use them for the Thirty Years War and later 17th century and absolutely love them for that period. Is there separate variant for the Italian Wars? Is  there an English language version available? Thanks and my apologies for not staying on topic.

[robh]

Is there separate variant for the Italian Wars? Is  there an English language version available?

They work as well for Italian Wars as they do for the later wars.
There is only an unofficial set of amendments and lists for the Italian Wars put out by the wargame group the authors were testing with. It is only in Spanish but is pretty much complete.
There is also a very unofficial/incomplete version for Phalanx warfare floating around the web which I have not looked at.

The amendments really come down to how you classify pike blocks as regards flank and rear attacks, changes to heavy cavalry formations to incorporate Gendarmes and limits on artillery and shot units.