Steel Fist Landsknecht

Ever since these Landsknecht were released I have been meaning to have a go at a unit of them. Initially the plan was to mix these figures with some of the Wargames Foundry marching Landsknecht but the Foundry marching poses are more casual so in the end I have painted up six bases of Steel Fist figures. I love a good marching pose and I'm really pleased with the way these figures work as a unit. The detail on them is superb and the separate heads mean that all sorts of combinations are possible. A word of caution to add is that some of the broader brimmed hats are not suitable for the marching figures as the brims get in the way of the pikes, so checking if they can still hold the pikes when choosing which heads to go for is a good idea. A couple have plastic Warlord Games heads but otherwise all the figures are from Steel Fist. The Imperialist flags are from Pete's superb range and are also available from Steel Fist.

These particular figures really remind me of the image below, by Erhard Schön c.1535, the headgear and style of slashed clothing seems very similar. Depending on which head options you choose these figures look to be suitable from about 1515 through to the start of the 1540s. They also match up well with the Warlord Games metal Landsknecht and the classic Perry sculpted Foundry ones. I have included a couple of pictures with them used in combination with these miniatures to give an idea of this. The photos of the finished unit are below. Yet again I was plagued by terrible light trying to photograph them. The UK seems to have been shrouded in grey or darkness for about a month now!

Landsknecht from the Siege of Munster, Erhard Schön 1535.

Steel Fist Miniatures Landsknecht.

The Landsknecht front rank.

A view from the side. Note the detail in some of the slashed clothing, leather jerkins and the hats.

Steel Fist Landsknecht on the march.

A Landsknecht piper in the 3rd rank.

A view from the back of the unit which shows off the headgear well.

Foundry front rank with the Steel Fist Miniatures behind.

Another photo showing the Steel Fist figures with Wargames Foundry ones.