Renaissance Swedish

[SV52]

Elizabethan army pack supplemented from other ranges:



Part 1 of the planned army.



The boss.

[nikharwood]

Nicely done 

[Steve J]

Yep, looking good so far .

[Aart Brouwer]

Yeah, well done SV52. 

Cheers,
Aart

[Techno]

Very nice work !
Cheers - Phil.

[Hertsblue]

Very nicely painted example of an unusual subject. You omitted to mention that there are more pictures on your blog. 

[Leon]

Excellent!   

[SV52]

Cheers folks.  These guys were no accident, I needed an opponent for my Polish army.  The Ottomans were the obvious ones, but I did them in 15mm years ago.  Muscovites next, already done them in 1/72.  So the Swedes were arrived at by a process of elimination.

[FierceKitty]

Nifty. Were they still using crossbows at this stage?

[SV52]

Nifty. Were they still using crossbows at this stage?

The Swedes are a bit awkward due to their traditionalism, early 1500s they were armed mainly with crossbows and polearms and the cavalry arm the usual heavy knight type.  Successive monarchs tried hard to get rid of the polearms first by increasing the numbers of crossbows. The next stage was to get a euro-typical pike and arquebus infantry. This took longer than hoped, so about the period these guys are set in, the majority of infantry had arquebuses, but the formations still retained some of the old-style levy crossbowmen.  Pikes took the longest to become popular, hence the low numbers, ideally there should still be a sprinkling of polearms. Figure-wise however there's only so much one can do

I could have used Landsknecht infantry, but not from Pendraken's present range  (hint, hint).

[FierceKitty]

...the formations still retained some of the old-style levy crossbowmen.  Pikes took the longest to become popular, hence the low numbers, ideally there should still be a sprinkling of polearms. Figure-wise however there's only so much one can do.

I could have used Landsknecht infantry, but not from Pendraken's present range  (hint, hint).

Actually, I'd like to see the Landsknecht pikemen redone with pikes angled forward. They don't look aggressive enough in the vertical pose (for my gung-ho tastes, anway).

Anyway, it would look jolly to have a handful of die-hard crossbowmen among the shot.

[SV52]

  Yay! Italian Wars, here we come!!  Gimme what I need for Pavia.

[FierceKitty]

Most of it is there already. What are you looking for? I've got Frogs and Spaniards, everything I need except Aztecs for the Spanish to fight after clobbering Francis.

[SV52]

Warning: diatribe approaching   Just get my soapbox set up.

I could likely cobble together reasonable armies from the figures I already know, some others that are illustrated and take the risk with the un-illustrated remainder; but I don't particularly want to do that.

I'd rather have access to specifically-designed ranges for the Italian Wars 1508â€"1526. There's certainly a good deal of crossover here in the likes of commanders, light horse, mounted crossbows, mounted arquebusiers, foot crossbows and arquebusiers with Landsknechts common to everyone. However I think specific figures are needed for Spanish infantry of the coronelias, Swiss infantry, barded and un-barded gendarmes (men-at-arms, gente d'armas, elmeti, whatever), I think what's available is too early or too late. National artillery would be nice too.

10mm is fast becoming my favourite Renaissance scale, so I'd like to have the same choice as is available in 15mm and 28mm, I did the compromise bit in 1/72 and managed to pull together Spanish and French but only just.

No harm in dreaming I suppose, but I don't see this lot appearing any day soon.

[FierceKitty]

Good gensdarmes are available in the Elizabethan and fantasy (shudder) ranges, and Swiss from the late medievals are good. Mounted arquebusses are a problem, but I don't like them so don't use them. Genitors are the real problem for me; I've stuck shields on Irish LC, but they're not perfect, I admit. Spanish foot can really be made up from the Elizabethans too.
Have you considered Cossacks as enemies for your Poles? They're a fun army, and win more often than I'd expected.
Good to see P. and S. enthusiasts are still out there!