Doppelsöldner


First of all, a big thanks to Peter.  A regular comment-er here, and my chief resource for all things Autrian 1798-1809, he actually parted with this figs for the cost of the Postage.  You have my gratitude sir.

No then, my Empire Rehabilitation projects has been slowly morphing into a Lansdknecht army over time.  I had some of GWs original 2-handed swordsmen, but I parted with them long ago.  I therefore wanted to find some suitable replacements, and Peter provided these 25mm models from Old Glory Miniatures.  Although listed as 25mm, they fit quite nicely with both my Foundry Pikemen and my older GW Empire figs.


I was feeling challenged trying to figure out a basing scheme for these miniatures.  In Warhammer, they form an entire unit of Two-handed swordsmen, but historically they were in the vanguard of the Pike block.  They used their massive  Zweihänder  swords to hack at the opposing pikemen and disrupt their formation.  Thus they seemed best to integrate into my pike stands.  A better solution presented when my Impetus Rulebook arrived.  I was delighted to see the Imperial army of Charles V listed in the back.  In Impetus the Doppelsoldner's are represented by a single Skirmish stand per "square" They have a VBU of 3 and an Impetus of 3.  Thus, they seem ideal for charging into the opponents pike to do a little damage and destroy their Impetus bonus' before the main lines clash. Nice!


I am still planning for a long-burn on this project as just one side for an Impetus Army would require another 6-8 pike stands alone.  While the historical Landsknect were an explosion of color, I am planning to maintain my current paint scheme.  Basically I am thinking two "battalions" in White-Blue and White-Yellow respectively, and a third of Swiss in Red-White.  Five years ago when I get to the French or Italian formations, I will go for the rainbow effect, as it were.

Comments

  1. Very nice, some good peeps about

    Ian

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  2. They do indeed look great; although I don't have these from Old Glory, from what I've seen of them elsewhere on the internet, they look really good. I think one of their better ranges. Best, Dean

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  3. Beautiful units, no doubt...love the colors!

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  4. Thanks all, and I do agree, Dean, that this is one of OG's best ranges in this scale. I like the sculpts better than my SpanAm Americans.

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  5. You did a great job on them; good to see them put to use. You may prompt me to paint the dozen or so I retained!

    When I wrote "Band of Brothers, 2nd edition", Joe and I struggled over how to handle these fellows. we ultimately went with a similar solution - optionally including a stand of them in a Pike block. If so, they could be "expended" immediately melee with another pike block, giving a chance to Unform or Disorder the enemy Pike block. That worked well, was quick, and gave a nice flavor to the men of the "Forlorn Hope".

    The Old Glory 25's Italian Wars range is indeed one of their best.

    Peter

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