Review of Death and the Landsknecht

I've purchased Warlord Games' new Pike and Shotte supplement, 'Death and the Landsknecht', as well as their new command figures.  So, I thought that I ought to do a quick review of the supplement.

Now, I don't use Pike and Shotte for either of my Renaissance projects (Great Italian Wars and the French Wars of Religion).  Nonetheless, I was interested to see what they might include and whether there was any potential use I could make of this tome.

First up, it is sensibly organised with the following 'chapters':

A history

The troops and weapons

Leaders and generals

Special rules

The army lists

Scenarios

Rules for gaming sieges

A campaign to play

Further reading

The history section is an appetite whetter. It is helpfully concise to quickly acquire the ebb and flow of the wars. At the same time, it doesn't fall into the trap of being weighed down by the numerous twists and turns.  It gives enough. The assumption (I think) is that you either know the period and that's why you want the book, or you are new and excited about period and will follow up later with more detailed reading.

A sample of the history section.

I think the theme of giving 'enough' information without getting too bogged down in detail continues throughout.  It is certainly true in the troops and weapons section. It mentions all the troop types a gamer might wish to represent, along with their 'tools' of the trade.

The leader section is handy and short.  When reading one history of the wars, I compiled a list and got around 60 leaders and generals before I stopped.  This is far more select.  One drawback is that its focus seems to be on the period up to around 1525... so, Pavia and just after.

I found the special rules section drew my attention.  It included some useful information on the different formations, such as the Spanish Colunela, and how to simulate them in Pike and Shotte.  If you are unfamiliar with the formations then this is a good starter.  I enjoyed this part.

The army lists are interesting to read too.  I don't use these rules. Nor do I use army lists.  However, I can see how I might adapt and use these for creating 'balanced' fictional encounters if I was minded to.

What was very pleasing was that lists were included for the Peasant Wars, English, Scots and the Ottoman Turks as well.  The latter opens up using your Venetian and/or Imperial armies in the Balkans.

The scenarios are a nice mix of battles.  Again, the focus being pre-Pavia.  Possibly because it was increasingly sieges thereafter, and possibly to avoid straying into battles in the wider Habsburg-Valois wars.  Who knows?

The OOBs are obviously designed on a points basis to fit with the rules and this supplement.  So, if you are looking for detailed orbats you will be disappointed. Each vanguard, battle and rearguard is given a points allocation and a sense of the troop types you should 'buy'.  The exact composition is down to you.  This has an advantage of allowing gamers to select to match their collection.

There is a helpful section on playing siege games.  Whilst geared to to the rules they could give ideas to those looking to explore this area of the conflict.  For me, I have neither the models, space to store, nor the current inclination to dabble in siegecraft.

Lastly, comes the campaign.  The authors have set it around Milan circa 1515.  This kind of fits in with the general focus of the supplement.  It reads okay. In very simple terms it's a two player game (they say two teams or sides). You dice to see how many battles in a campaign season and of what type.  These are played and then renown is earned at the end of each season.  Depending on results, players can gain a various numbers of towns.  Armies can be worn down over a number of seasons.  Victory goes to the side that either captures all the towns, has the most towns after a certain number of seasons, or one side is too worn down to continue.  There's more to it than this quick description suggests and it requires my closer inspection.

Last thoughts
I did hesitate about purchasing this.  I couldn't see how it would add anything to my understanding of the period that I hadn't acquired through other sources and from Helion's "All is Lost Save Honour".  Nor am I a player of Warlord Games' Pike and Shotte rules.  However, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed seeing how the supplement translated troops and formations of the period to their rules.  It is a nice book to look at - as you might expect.  Plus, having someone's take on scenarios and armies is interesting and may come in useful at a later date.

If you know a lot about these wars and don't use Pike and Shotte then this may not be useful other than expensive eye candy.  Moreover, there isn't much for those interested in the wars after 1525.

I also purchased some command figures at the same time.  All now prepped and awaiting some colour.

Some other Warlord Games command purchased at the same time: (L to R)Old Emperor Maximillian; Young "Max"; and the freebie with the supplement, Richard de la Pole - the last Yorkist claimant to the English throne and leader of the Landsknecht Black Bands at Pavia.

These are new command figures from Warlord Games:  Bartolomeo D'Alviano; Gaston de la Foix; and Giovanni de Medici of the Black Bands.  All of them plastic.  I don't know if Warlord have changed their "recipe" but the plastic is different from previously and have an hard rubber feel when trimming.

In short, I'm glad that I bought the supplement but it won't be an essential asset.  Please bear in mind that this is my view.  Others may see things differently.