Flags, Fur and Formations

I'm pleased to say there has been another week of positive progress.  The three of us providing the troops for the two armies have finalised an order of battle that should fit on the table when turned in to wargames units, and agreed who is providing what.  It is good to have a definite target.  We have also set a date for our first dress rehearsal at the end of Feb.  Looking forward to getting the troops on the table!

This week I have been working on infantry again.  First some Imperial ensigns. (Still need to do the bases.)

One figure from The Assault Group (TAG) and one from Perry.  The Flags are from Flags of War.  I have just ordered a bunch more of the Flags of War Protestant/Swedish and Imperial ranges. The flags are definitely one of my favourite things about the look of this period!

This is a command base for Thurn's brigade.  The two ensigns are from Warlord Games' plastic Pike and Shotte box set.  I have tried to show them flourishing their colours (Flags of War again.)  The general figure is from Avanpost.  (I am producing a command base for each of the Swedish/Protestant infantry brigades.) I ordered a small selection of the Avanpost TYW range last year.  I am really impressed with the standard of sculpting and casting of these resin figures.  The resin does make extraneous details (e.g. sword scabbards) brittle and therefore relatively easy to break, but I am willing to put up with this for the lovely figures.  Scale wise they fit very nicely with Perry/Warlord/TAG.  So far I just have one or two of the Avanpost figures sprinkled among my units.

As well as working on the troops I've also been considering the playing surface.  'Teddy Bear' fur (or Faux Fur) surfaces are very popular at the moment, and I have been wanting to give one a go for sometime.  The main thing holding us back has been the size we need.  We are aiming for a 10' by 6' surface.  We haven't been able to find a suitable material available in a width wider than around 5'.  This means two pieces would need to be joined together.  I have been been experimenting with how to do this.  Here is a small scale practice piece.  The two bits of faux fur have been clued on to a piece of calico.  I'm hoping that brushing the fur across the gap will minimise the visibility of the gap.  I'm quite pleased with how this has turned out, so far.  A useful learning point; make sure you have the nap of the material lined up the same way in your two pieces!

I need to splosh some paint on to make sure I'm happy with the how the material colour works with the paints, and then I will buy enough material for the whole surface.  I'm hoping that greens on the brown fur will work, plus a selection of different brown shades.  There are many good tutorials on the web for how to tackle this sort of cloth, and I'm following Barry Hilton's experience at the League of Augsburg blog. See http://leagueofaugsburg.blogspot.com/2018/08/lazing-on-sunday-afternoon.html

So that covers the Flags and Fur; so what about the Formations?  One of the really distinctive things about the Gustav Adolphus' infantry in this period is the Swedish Brigade formation.  Developed while fighting the Polish armies, strong in cavalry, the formation is meant to allow for good all round protection, as well as allowing the infantry to make best use of their fire power. 

The formation looked something like this. 'P' representing pikemen, 'M' those armed with muskets.  I have always found this formation fascinating.  However, the Swedes abandoned this rather complex formation after 1634 and followed the standard formation, used throughout Europe, of a single block of pike with two sleeves of musket.  Did it require very experienced and disciplined troops that were lost after the first few years of combat in the German states?  Prince Rupert was prepared to argue for its use by the inexperienced Royalist army at Edgehill, but it doesn't seem to have been used by any ECW forces after this.  Collecting the forces for Lutzen is the perfect opportunity to investigate this formation on the wargames table.

There are quite detailed breakdowns of the pike and muskets per regiment and per brigade for the Swedish foot at Lutzen (see Osprey Campaign, Lutzen 1632 - Climax of the Thirty Years War).  Based on this we have reconstructed the brigades as Pike and Shotte wargames units. 

You can see here Wilhelm of Hessesn-Kassel's brigade set out while waiting in the basing queue. At Lutzen the Swedish brigades were all short of pike.  It is thought that many infantrymen preferred to carry a musket than a pike. The formations are therefore shot heavy and pike light. The brigade is led by a small unit of pike, followed by a small unit of shot.  The two wings are large combined units of pike and shot (mostly shot).  We will try treating these as shot units with some advantages of a pike unit (e.g. The Pike Company special rule in Pike and Shotte). Finally a reserve of a regular unit of shot.

As we are using Warlord Games' Pike and Shotte rules we can cope with these separate units.  I am expecting the brigades to need good command, and careful handling as the small units will be brittle.  This should be an interesting contrast to the Imperial infantry using brigades formed in to a single pike block with two sleeves of shot.  Play testing will be required to test and tune this with the Pike and Shot factors and special rules.


Until next time!