Todays post is of some landsknecht looters and camp followers for a couple of upcoming games. Some were painted years ago but I never got around to rebasing them and the others were unfortunate enough to have joined my pile of unpainted figures for many years. Whilst I'm normally pretty good at painting figures as I buy them it is inevitable that some get left by the wayside, especially when they aren't for specific units. Four of the looting figures in the first three pictures are from Artizan Designs whilst all of the others were originally Pro Gloria and are now sold by Warlord Games.
They are really great figures and will certainly help to add some flavour to the table top. Whilst famed for their discipline on the battlefield the landsknecht were also infamous for their ill discipline off the field and I think these sculpts illustrate that well!
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| Landsknecht looters raiding. |
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| Landsknecht looters in 28mm. The figures are by Warlord Games and Artizan Designs. |
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| A landsknecht camp. |
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| Landsknecht gather round a drum to watch a dice game. These figures are from a couple of different sets sold by Warlord Games. |
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| One of the landsknecht around the drum plays a fife whilst the others watch or take part in the dice game. |
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| A landsknecht puts on his doublet whilst another collects firewood. |
Very nice! I always think that vignettes on the table give it real atmosphere! Great work.
ReplyDeleteThank you John, I agree they really do help to add to the atmosphere.
DeleteLots of character. I'd be amused to watch a "sergeant major" get them "fell back in".
ReplyDeleteStephen
Cheers Stephen - I think the sergeants could be pretty brutal back then as well. If you are lucky enough to get hold of a copy of "Warriors for a Living The Experience of the Spanish Infantry in the Italian Wars, 1494–155" it has some fascinating stuff on this. Whilst not about landsknecht but focusing on contemporary Spanish infantry it really sheds a light on how desperate the soldiers lives were. Here is a passage on how the officers treated them:
Delete"With little supervision and no formal regulations, the soldiers who did not manage to obey at all times, or simply found themselves in the wrong place at
the wrong time, fell victim to the arbitrary authority of their captains, lieutenants, and sergeants. Diego Nuñez Alba was critical, even cynical, in his description of the way military officers and sergeants could behave toward their soldiers. A captain who was ordered to hang the most culpable soldier in his company on account of disorderly behavior “pardons the one who is guiltier, because the latter removed the dust from his cape, and hangs you instead for slandering, with an inscription on your feet as a mutineer and a rebel, and for what? For not doing what he ordered you to.” If someone complains of you, Alba adds, the alférez “arrives and gives you a cut with which he either kills
or maims you.” When the sergeant “inspects the sentinels, he unexpectedly strikes you with a halberd in the chest, either throwing you off the wall or ending up killing you, later saying that he found you asleep in duty.”
A harsh life indeed!
Very evocative vignettes and figures....well worth the wait!
ReplyDeleteThank you rross - yes it did take a while to get around to them!
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