The Assault Group; Early Landsknechts

[Atheling]

Some great news from TAG. They will be releasing quite a few packs of Early Landsknechts. and lovely sculpts they are too!

There will be some command packs and Arquebusiers to follow these when they are released.

At close inspection, they do not appear to be at all as outlandish in their dress when compared to the Perry sculpted Foundry models. This is probably a fair assessment of their garb for the earlier years of the Great Italian Wars.









Cheers,
Darrell.

[Svennn]

Saw these in the flesh recently and could not help thinking how Warhammery they are.  Loads of Mordheim / Frostgrave crossover potential for those who do not use their toy soldiers properly 

[Atheling]

You're a very naughty boy Svenn  

Darrell.

[Captain Blood]

You're a very naughty bot Svenn 

Darrell.

Svennn's a bot?! 
This explains a lot 

They are really nice characterful figures.

I wonder if Stephan's plastic landsknechts will ever see the light of day... It must be a year or so since Warlord 'acquired' them, and no news as yet... 

[Atheling]

Svennn's a bot?! 
This explains a lot 

Ahem....  Edited! 

I wonder if Stephan's plastic landsknechts will ever see the light of day... It must be a year or so since Warlord 'acquired' them, and no news as yet... 

Who knows.... Warlord seem to have too many fingers in too many pies to concentrate on any one thing with the exceptions of BA and Antarus or whatever it's called

Darrell.

[Paul Richardson]

Atheling: you're right about Warlord. I've been waiting for their Paul Hicks - sculpted Wars of Religion cavalry for ages and they still don't have a release date. They also have more infantry which Paul has sculpted but which have yet to see the light of day.

[olicana]

At least they have their pikes at a good gaming angle. I might just buy a couple of hundred of those.

[Knight of St John]

Paul Richardson sorry to go off topic but do you know what other infantry Mr Hicks has Sculpted for the Wars of Religion range ? I have a bit of an obsession with the Great Siege of Malta and love the stuff Warlord have released but not very impressed with their Turks.
Michael.

[Paul Richardson]

Michael: I've seen photos of greens of some more infantry command figures, some more swordsmen and some Knights of St John. I've also seen photos of greens of mounted arquebusiers and mounted gendarmes. I believe that the Turks were sculpted by a different sculptor.

[Spooktalker]

Is the dearth of beards accurate? Rather than the close it's this that makes them look decidedly unlike landsknechts to me but what do I know. Are they intended to hail from the German lands?

I really like them btw. I'd like to make a unit for oldhammer if nothing else.

[Atheling]

Is the dearth of beards accurate? Rather than the close it's this that makes them look decidedly unlike landsknechts to me but what do I know. Are they intended to hail from the German lands?

Basically, at the beginning of the Italian Wars there would have been very little in their attire to denote their origin except perhaps the angle of the crosses slashed into the clothing either of French or Burgundian origin. Of course, clothing was often some of the first items to be looted on a battlefield thus it could often be a mixed bag in terms of fashion.

So, the answer is yes the cross of St Andrew slashed into their clothing denotes their German origin. These mini's are being released as Early Landsknechts so perhaps the Durer influenced images we are so used to seeing may not be as applicatble as we might expect.

Pete (when he had the old TAG forum) seemed to do his research in quite some depth so I have little doubt that they are a good representation.

Cheers,
Darrell.

[Knight of St John]

Thank you Paul. Looking forward to them being released.
Michael

[huevans]

Is the dearth of beards accurate? Rather than the close it's this that makes them look decidedly unlike landsknechts to me but what do I know. Are they intended to hail from the German lands?

There was a huge fashion revolution around 1520. Long hair and clean shaven was "out" and short hair and beards were suddenly "in". Basically Europe went from the Richard III look to the mature Henry VIII look in the course of a few years. For the first couple of decades of the 1500's, Landskechts would be long haired and clean shaven.

[Spooktalker]

Thanks Huevans and Atheling!

Huevans, can you think of a source I can go to for more info abut the fashion revolution?

[Atheling]

I've got a few, these were recommended by a few forum members who I contacted:

Cheap and Cheerful; Armies of the German Peasants' War 1524-26 (Osprey, Men at Arms), Landsknecht Woodcuts: Kriegsvolker im Zeitalter der Landsknechte, Graf August Johann Breunner, The Complete Woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer by Albrecht Durer

There are plenty out there.

Darrell.