Monday 1 September 2014

Italian Wars French 3 – Reisläufers 3


Hot on the heels of the last update, here are another two bases of mercenaries for my French army for the Italian Wars. As before, these represent either Landsknechts or Reisläufers (Swiss mercenaries).


The models are yet again from Foundry's classic renaissance line. Some lovely sculpts by Alan Perry that certainly have held up well over time.


These are in a more attacking pose, and will form the front line of the pike blocks. Originally I had planned to do the second line in standing poses, and the first line in advancing, but after reading about the very aggressive tactics of the Swiss mercenaries – they would often recklessly charge across the battlefield before smashing into the enemy – I decided to forgo all standing poses for a more dynamic look of the units.


Here is an almost finished unit, just the command stand left to do. There's really nothing quite like the sight of a pike block on the wargaming table!


After this it's another two attacking bases, and then two command stands and my pike blocks are finally finished. It's been a bit of a chore so far, but the end result will be well worth I think.


Thanks for reading – I hope you'll have a great week!

14 comments:

  1. Great brushwork! Looking like a very impressive force Jonas!

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    1. Cheers Rodger! I think they will look very nice indeed when finished.

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  2. Great looking unit! By adding that second row of pikes in different degrees of an attacking angle, you've really achieved a very dynamic and offensive posture. It certainly suits their Swiss DNA! I will have to look into some quick Spanish hand gunners to stem this Alpine tide - the arms-race is on my friend :0)

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    1. Thanks Søren! Well I learned all about dynamic basing from the maestro himself – Dalauppror. :)

      Very smart move to draft some hand gunners for your Imperial force. I think they'll prove just as effective at neutralizing the reckless Swiss as their historical counterparts was.

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  3. Very nice and most impressive!

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  4. They look fabulous all ranked up and based up! Any of the ladies near their line of march would surely remark on the, ahem, large codpieces.

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    1. Courtesy of Paddit, Plumpit & Braggit, Providers of Codpieces to the Aristocracy & Gentry.

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    2. Haha! Yeah, I'm more than a little envious of these fellas. Sporting a codpiece like that, one can only imagine the effect on the ladies ...

      Thanks for your kind words by the way, much appreciated as always!

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  5. Jonas, these are excellent.

    Those Perry sculpts really are the business, and you've certainly done them justice!

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    1. Cheers Evan! I agree, the Perry sculpts are, as you say, the business. I don't know when they were first released but they have to be at least 20 years old by now. Timeless classics!

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  6. These look simply beautiful Jonas!

    Christopher

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