A Landsknecht Review

I think you might like this update.....

I have been meaning to re-base some of the Landsknecht pike that I have for a few reasons; mainly as some were on rather flimsy card bases and also because there were a few rear rank troops that looked great but were out of sight and vice-versa. Furthermore the bases weren't as compact as I would like when in a square.

Here's the way they used to look

Not bad but it had niggled me for ages and I just needed to sort it - I'm sure you know the feeling.

I thought long and hard about how best to approach the matter and finally settled upon using 120 x 60mm rectangular MDF bases from those lovely chaps at warbases.

This way the units are each compact compositions with better command vignettes and that crucial wider frontage to display my best efforts - hopefully you'll spot some chaps you may never have previously noticed. I have also got the pike to halberd / blade ratio the way I want it (about 1/4). Lastly, each base has two banners; so far I have elected to use a city / ducal banner and an imperial banner on each stand which I think is quite a good formula. Below are units of Bavaria, Worms & Memmingen;

The other pleasing thing about using a 120mm frontage is that two of these together make a neat medium sized pike square;

The way I have positioned the flag bearers each square looks great when you look through the unit. Eventually I intend to double the size of the square below;

I don't really game that much so this impetus style of basing really suits my preference to try and display as much as possible without obscuring figures whilst also still being practical and with the right look for the few occasions I do game. I use DBR (stop sighing!) so for reference each of these bases represent 4 individual units in that rule system, or to put it another way 400 men in real terms.

Here are a few 'eye candy' compositions to brighten your Sunday evening showing a few different compositions and different types of supporting unit arrangements with a finale of Georg von Frundsberg reviewing his dear troops.

I hope the photography is also to your liking, I've put in a lot of practice of late and have almost got the aperture and exposure values just right....almost.

All the best

Stuart