On The Basing Of Swiss...

 I've been browsing the latest Helion & Co Renaissance title on the Swabian War of 1499, with the possibility of collecting forces for this as a prelude or rather a base for a wider early Italian Wars collection.

It focusses largely on the Swiss, so if you're looking for indormation on the Imperialist forces, then this is not the book for you.

However, it has me reconsidering how Swiss blocks should be based and represented on the field.

I've owned several Swiss armies in my time, it being the ideal starting point for a kid interested in the Renaissance, because let's face it, it looks good and will, mostly fuck up the opposition if even moderately competently commanded. Under Gush it was also quite expensive in terms of points, a straightforward list to put together and had a few little quirks which could be turned to a player's advantage.

But as usual, I digress...

There's an interesting section on Swiss weapons and tactics, in the book, and it makes it quite clear that the Swiss advanced  in a block wich was normally 4 ranks deep on any side, with a core of halbardiers. Yeah, so far so good, but it also states that there would be a 1 meter space between files to allow for handling of weapons. , through which, once pikes were levelled for the final impact, would pour halbardiers.

Now, who hasn't depicted the Swiss in tightly packed  blocks?

But perhaps we should base our units a little more distanced, and, if we choose to depict them with pikes at the charge, should we also not intersperse halbardiers amongst the pikemen?

I have long used 'order' based pike with a front rank of halbardiers and it's a cheeky little +1 advantage over the normal pike formations under Gush. Perhaps now, rules should try to at least reflect the Swiss way of war. After all, it was a shock to the Landsknechts when they first clashed, which despite both sides using massed pike tactics, would indicate that the Swiss had the edge and a tactical difference.

It may not suit everyone, but it's given me food for thought on making my Swiss forces look a little more interesting, and given my propensity for element basing, the whole thing could look very nice if done with care, without really upsetting any rules used.

 And as for the subject of the Swabian War, it's a great opportunity for lots of brightly turned out troops, big flags and the option of adding the French, Italian and Spanish elements to take your gaming into the early Italian Wars and beyond.

TTFN