TYW Infantry: Pikes and Basing

 

The infantry strips in the new Epic Pike & Shotte range were the real selling point for me.  I have really enjoyed using the strips for my larger 10mm projects, as they really work well to represent rank and file infantry for large armies.  The regiments each come on their own injection molded sprue with two ranks of Pike (one armored, one not), 1 Command rank, 2 rank Musketeers with rifles shouldered, 2 ranks of Musketeers standing and 10 individual front rank pike.  I was not too thrilled with how the pike stands ranked up.  I know many users online are just gluing 2-3 small stands together to form the block.  I opted to try out some of the "Batbases" from the BigRedBatShop after seeing someone use them on another forum.  I really prefer the look of these bases, although they still suffer from the pikes sticking out well beyond the base edge.  To combat this, I just put in another order for some slightly deeper bases that may provide enough ground to allow units to better face off.

Pictured below is my first attempt at the Swedish Yellow Regiment on the Warlord bases.  I swapped out the marching musketeers with another regiment to give this one a more uniform appearance.  The base lacks highlights and flock as I am not committed to rebasing these when my new bases arrive. 

The Warlord infantry boxes include a flag sheet with numerous Imperialist and Protestant regiments from across Europe.  There is a heavy emphasis on the Swedes for the Protestant  side, which works well for my plans.   

I know that uniforms are anathema to the time period, but I still find it useful to stick to a basic color scheme for the shirts and pants, and then mix the hat colors to provide the more chaotic look.  At least for the 'national' units.  My German Mercenaries are a different story. 

Speaking of which, here is the first of tree German Mercenary units for the Imperial side.  I did these with a mix and match of red, blue, yellow, green and beige.  I did settle on the same colors for all all stockings and personal equipment to stream line the painting process.  

These were all done using the same "slap chop" process I outlined last time.  The figures work very well for it as you are painting a single piece representing 10 men as opposed to individual models.  

I am still not sure about the look of the musketeer stands.  I may go back later and add some skirmishers or hanger's on just to increase the visual interest.  Still, it is a good start for now.

Thanks for looking.