Yes it would but for two things:

a) there are no empire pikemen (but the Kallistra WoR pike might do at a pinch);

b) the beautifully sculpted gendarmes have shields and they are an absolute pig to try and remove.

I have an empire army that I'm currently rebasing in 40 x 40 mm for Mayhem.
I'd like to find an historical use to them too.

Quote from: Matt of Munslow on 27 August 2014, 07:26:07 PM
forget organ guns you want a couple of these (though a bit earlier than the period you are looking at) -

"At Castagnaro in 1387 the Veronese had three huge battle-wagons with three decks apiece and twelve bombardelle - gun-barrels fitted to the side of each deck - so that every wagon carried 144 gun-barrels, each barrel capable of firing a stone the size of a hen's egg. There were three men to each wagon, two of whom could take it in turns to fire salvoes of twelve per wagon, while a third applied the brake or wielded a hatchet. Each wagon required four large warhorses to drag it along and, since the animals were all fitted with protective harness, they were like a type of armoured car."

They never got deployed in the battle and Hawkwood's forces captured them afterwards. But always thought they would be great fun to model and try out.

Now, that sounds fun - and they come in threes 

Yann, if you are adding pikes to WM Empire, then you should look at the Kickstarter that has just been done by Dave of Warmonger to produce zweihanders and pikes in a style that fits with Empire. You can also use Pendraken, I used a mix of LAN and ER  codes.

If you want an idea of troop-types these might help. They're all 15mm.

See, that's what attracted me to the period - it's just so colourful!

For Mtd Arquebus i would try to adapt  ELM 23 - Italian and French mounted crossbow/

Cut the bow arms off of the crossbow and either just give it a paint job to show the barrel or add a wire barrel

I really should have thought of that!! The above 15s look really good. My 15s are based up for Impetus and give a terrific game.

That's why I am trying to resist 10mm Italian Wars as I also have it in 15mm and 6mm already

Oh my god! I have 28mm, 15mm, 10mm, 6mm and 2mm. Only period I have anything like that.

Quote from: Dour Puritan on 28 August 2014, 10:41:24 AM
I really should have thought of that!! The above 15s look really good. My 15s are based up for Impetus and give a terrific game.

I keep looking at Impetus and keep getting put off by the strange designations (in English at any rate).  And my pet hate of movment expressed in base widths- It just adds another calculation.

Do they work for Italian wars?

Quote from: Just a few Orcs on 28 August 2014, 02:11:47 PM
I keep looking at Impetus and keep getting put off by the strange designations (in English at any rate).  And my pet hate of movment expressed in base widths- It just adds another calculation.

Do they work for Italian wars?

I only play Basic Impetus and you get used to the terms fairly quickly, not sure about full Impetus but the basic version uses ordinary measurements not base widths  depending on the figure scale

We normally use Impetus for Italian Wars in one of my main groups (in 15mm, looks *very* impressive!). Plays really, really well (but then, we like Impetus anyway and its become our de facto rules set for anything pre pike & "lots of shot as opposed to early handguns"

Right I have downloaded the free set and will give it a try.

Trouble is if I like it the Set with the 3 exra listys I need is going to set me back a few bob

I have tried both and still prefer the basic set so I can get a battle done in an evening

As mentioned on a previous thread I now play Simple Impetus, which is an upgrade of Basic Impetus. Gives a really good game in one to two hours. Also play main Impetus. Movement is definitely in inches or cms (depending on scale). Still think it is one of the best sets for playing Ancient, Mdieval and Early Renaissance. Main rules are now available on Wargames Vault as a download. Will be demoing a 28mm Italian Wars Impetus game at Battleground.

Just a little question :
Italians wars span from 1494 to 1559.
What lists do you use ?

I've downloaded the free version of Impetus, and had a read through, but really struggled to understand it

As with several sets of rules that have been through a few versions the web site seems to focus on the updates and tweaks and doesn't do a getting started bit. While this is understandable for the writers and long time users of the rules, it makes it hard for newbies.

Also the abbreviations are quite hard to grasp having kept the original Italian letters.

I don't know if I am missing out on some good rules, as lots of people seem to like them.

Barbarian - my list above is a very generic early-ish one intended for "feel" more than direct accuracy

Impetus - we've used the ones out of the source book for Italian Wars. First game we played was amusing, old style Italian city state list versus gendarmes and Swiss pike. It showed in no uncertain terms why the pike, gun and shock horse knocked out the competing army set ups

Basic Impetus - Fred, I agree - if I hadn't actually played a couple of games so I knew what I was doing (*insert laughter here) I'd be a bit put off by the basic rules as it's kind of "DBA without explanations". Try popping a couple of units down and having a quick bash - it makes sense in use! Although VD makes us snigger like teenagers in Biology class every time, even now

The period generally classed as the Italian Wars really wound up with the Battle of Pavia in 1525. Yes, officially the wars dragged on to 1559, but beyond 1530 the Spanish started to use the tercio rather than the colunella, cavalry started to use pistols, the Landsknechts and Swiss were not as effective as they had been and troops began to look much more like those associated with Elizabethan times. Yes Fred, you are missing out on a really good set of rules, but it is best to start with Basic Impetus and work from there.