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Pike and Shotte - Landsknecht with Zweihanders Plastic
The late 15th and early 16th centuries in Europe were defined by near-constant warfare. National ‘standing armies’ were unheard of and the ambitions of empires were reliant on the mercenaries they could afford to hire.
The toughest of a rough bunch were the veteran Doppelsöldner - soldiers on double pay. Their extra payment was for volunteering to fight in the front ranks and the inherent risk that entailed. The trick was surviving to claim the extra pay!
Doppelsöldner would most often be armed with the ranged arquebus or crossbow and arrayed in front of the main blocks of pikemen. Alternatively they may be armed with the vicious six foot long two-handed swords, the Zweihänders, or equally long halberds. Zweihänder-armed Landsknechts would generally be found in the front ranks of the pike blocks or occasionally detached to form their own unit for special roles as well as providing protection for the unit’s colour party. The famous German mercenaries, the Black Band, included 2,000 two-handed swordsmen.
The figures in this boxed set can be used to represent the Landsknechts raised in Germany or other nations of the period and can be armed with either halberds or Zweihänder swords.
This box set contains:
Plastic and metal components to make 24 Landsknechts with two-handed swords and halberds. Plastic bases.
Landsknechts were instigated by the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximillian I, as a reaction to the Swiss Mercenary Pikemen that had dominated battlefields for decades before the Italian Wars (1494-1559).
Over the course of the Italian Wars, however, the Landsknecht tactics adapted far more than the Swiss and the use of firearms in conjunction with the pike would give them the edge, at least tactically.
Maximillian was keen to give the men freedom to wear what they wanted, and this resulted in plumes, slashed sleeves and bright colours. The figures in this boxed set can be used to represent the Landsknechts raised in Germany or the Tyrol as well as early Swiss pike regiments.
Plastic and metal miniatures, supplied unpainted. Some assembly is required.
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