I have been using the Pike and Shot rules for my Italian Wars project for several reasons. Firstly, most people at our club (The TriState Gamers Society) are familiar with the rule mechanisms as they are similar to other rule sets in the series – Black Powder and Hail Caesar. Secondly, they are a fairly quick set of rules that allow people to easily get into a game.
I also believe that they can fairly accurately represent the Italian Wars period if some of the special rules are applied to individual units. In this article I will discuss how I represent units and how I add special rules to units to make them more historical.
Pike units
- The Spanish Colunela.
Sir Charles Oman discusses the organization of Spanish Colunelas in his book the History of the Art of War in the 16th Century on page 57. Using this information I have my Spanish Colunela consisting of 5 companies each of around 200-250 men. Using a figure ratio of 1:25 each company is represented by eight figures.
One of these companies are Sword and Buckler figures, two of the companies are pike and two of the companies are arquebusiers.
I represent each colonela by having two small units of Spanish shot (each eight figures) in skirmish order – they can hedgehog with the pike block if needed. I also do not make hedgehogs immobile, but I will discuss this in a future post.
I then have a pike block of 24 figures with 8 sword and buckler at the front and 16 pike behind. In the photo there are only 4 sword figures in the front row, I plan to change this situation in the next few weeks and increase to 8 sword figures.
The pike block is classed as a standard pike block in the rules with these stats:
- Hand to hand dice: 6
- Morale save: 4+
- Stamina: 6
I then give the pike block a Swordsman special rule where Pike fighting against Swordsmen have a -1 on their morale save. This represents the skill that Spanish Swordsmen had in cutting into pike blocks. Also I give Swordsmen +1 on the combat result v Pike as they reduced the enemy’s willingness to stand and fight. This swordsman rule is different than the swordsman rule in the rules.
The pike block also has a hedgehog rule.
The two arquebusier shot units each have the following stats:
- Shooting dice: 1
- Hand to hand dice: 1
- Morale save; 5+
- Stamina: 2
As most opposing pike blocks only have one small unit of shot in support, having two units for the Spanish really represents their increased use of shot well. This difference is not so obvious when only one or two colonela are used, bu when six or more are together it can really make a difference.
2. Swiss Pike.
My Swiss Pike blocks in my initial game were represented as a large Pike block of 36 figures. I may go higher in the future depending upon the battle. Most of these figures are pike, but there are also 6-8 halberdier figures mainly in the front ranks with a few in the rear.
To represent the Swiss, they have some impressive stats along with a number of Special rules:
- Hand to hand dice: 9
- Morale save: 4+
- Stamina 6
The Special rules are:
Bad War, Elite 4+, Large Unit, Double Handed infantry arms (due to the halberds), Ferocious and Hedgehog. All these special rules are as defined in the book. These special rules really make the Swiss an formidable enemy. A Ferocious charge with the double handed weapons can be devastating.
3. Landschnekt Pike.
My Landschnekt Pike Blocks were represented as a large pike block with 36 figures. Most of the figures are pike but there are a number of double handed sword figures in the first few ranks and in the rear ranks
To represent the Landschnekt pike blocks I use some good stats along with a number of special rules:
- Hand to hand dice: 9
- Morale save: 4+
- Stamina: 6
The special rules are:
Bad war, Hedgehog, Double handed infantry arms (due to the double handed swords) and Large Unit.
These rules make the Landschnekts formidable, but slightly weaker than the Swiss.
4. Other Pike.
My other pike blocks are represented by 24 pike figures for the standard size blocks and 36 figures for large sized pike blocks. My French are standard size and my Papal States are large sized.
The stats are:
- Hand to hand dice: 6 for standard sized block, 8 for large block
- Morale save: 4+ for standard and large block
- Stamina: 4 for standard sized block and 6 for large block
For special rules I only have Hedgehog and Large Unit (for the large block only).
Cavalry Units
- French Gendarmes.
I represent cavalry units using eight figures. The French Gendarmes were the elite of the elite and I will start with their stats and special rules:
- Hand to hand dice: 10
- Morale save: 3+
- Stamina: 4
For Special rules I give them Elite 4+ and Lance.
I also give Heavy Cavalry Charge +1 to every unit of Gendarmes and Heavy Cavalry +D3 to one unit of Household Gendarmes. The standard Pike and Shot rules give the +D3 to all units of Gendarmes, but in extensive play testing we have found that this makes the Gendarmes way too overpowered. Limiting the +D3 to one unit and having the rest at +1 seems to work much better.
2. Papal Knights.
I give the Papal knights stats almost as good as the French, but one less hand to hand dice:
- Hand to hand dice: 9
- Morale save 3+
- Stamina: 4
For special rules I use Elite 4+, Heavy Cavalry charge +1, Lance
3. Spanish Knights.
The Spanish knights are not quite of the same class as the French Gendarmes, so there stats are a little lower still.
- Hand to hand dice: 9
- Morale save: 4+
- Stamina: 4
I use special rules of Elite 5+, Heavy Cavalry charge +1 and Lance.
4. Archers of various nations.
The Gendarmes and knights of most nations were supported by troops known as Archers. These did not carry a bow, but were rather slightly less well equipped versions of the Gendarmes. Their stats are slightly lower, but still impressive:
- Hand to hand dice: 8
- Morale save: 4+
- Stamina: 4
For special rules I use Elite 6+, Heavy Cavalry charge +1. Lance.
5. Jinetes and Stradiots.
These units can be excellent for harassing Gendarmes, especially in groups as they can disorder the Gendarmes with their spears, preventing the Gendarmes from charging. When the Gendarmes do manage to charge, they can use fire and evade to cause casualties over time.
I represent Jinetes and Stradiots by eight figures mounted on Skirmish bases produced by Litko.
The Stats for both types of light cavalry are:
- Hand to hand dice: 6
- Morale save: 5+
- Stamina: 3
For special rules both have the important Fire and Evade rule which models the role of these troops very well. They also both have the Marauders rule.
To differentiate the units I also give the Stradiots the Brittle rule. I do not give this to the Spanish Jinetes as they are a much more reliable troop.
Summary
The above details some of the main stats and special rules that I use for Cavalry and Pike blocks. In a future post I will detail shot units and some of the changes we make to the Pike and Shot rules themselves (I only have a couple of minor changes).