Hi all,

I've just discovered the joys of painting 6mm via a Sci Fi project, which is almost done. So I was casting around for a historical project in the same scale. I wanted to play one "Western" army against one non-Western army, with firearms but still some pike, and some exotic troops on the tabletop.  Vienna 1683 and the campaign that followed seems to fit.

I haven't done any serious research yet, as I wanted first to see if there are any 6mm ranges available (other than 3D printed). So just wondering if the Baccus ranges are appropriate for this conflict ? The Ottomans surely are, but are the GNW Poles ? As for the Imperials, I imagine I should draw them from the Sun King ranges, rather than the WSS range ?

These are tiny guys 6mm tall so I'm not worried about button count  ; )  I do however want something that looks the part.

Thanks a lot for your replies,

Lee

Lee,

I think youhave everything you need for this in the Baccus ranges.

As you guess the Ottomans are fine and they would have Tatar allies. The Poles are also good.

The Sun King range are good for the Austrians and their German allies. You should use the Cuirassiers from the WSS range as these had a lot of them. On the infantry there is a little problem in that the Austrians didn't use their pikes against the Ottomams. They used stakes and cheveaux de frise against them and pikes against 'Europeans'. Probably all the German allies did the same.

This in effect means no pikes are used but also that the Austrians & Germans can not be used in other wars. Obviously it is up to you but I would think about having pikes in any case so you can use the figures elsewhere.


Nick

What hwiccee said.  You have everything you need and then some!

Well that is fantastic news.  Thanks very much for your replies !

Lee

Hi all,

I have been doing a little light reading about this fascinating period that I know so little about !

Nick, I will definitely listen to your advice regarding the pikes.as the idea of later painting a French army (or getting a friend to paint one) is appealing.

What sort of proportion of pikes would an Imperialist army have used against the French in the 1680s ?  Something like 1 pikeman for 4 muskets ?  Were they concentrated in the centre, or spread out along the line as Russian pikes could apparently be ?

Thanks a lot for your time,

Lee

PS : edited out the question on basing, got the answer after more careful reading in other forum subjects

Lee,

It really is a great period to game. Lots of colourful and interesting armies & battles.

In the 1680's and 90's most armies have either 1 pike to 4 or 5 shot or 1 pike to 2 shot. Ususally in gaming/Baccus terms this mean having say a unit of 6 strips with either 1 or 2 pike strips in a unit.

French and Dutch had 1 to 4 or 5. English/British, Swedes, Spanish and Imperialists had 1 to 2 or 3. Polish/Russian units which had pikes, some did & some didn't, tended to have 1 to 2 or 3. Some minor German states, the Danes and some Polish/Russian types had no pikes.

In the early stages of the WSS (1701-1714) most armies got rid of their pikes and became all shot.

Generally the pikes were in a central block but all nations could have them spread along - it was a kind of anti cavalry formation a bit like a square but was very rare so probably best ignored generally. As you mention the Russians did a strange spreading of the pikes across units as their general tactic. But they only started doing this in 1707 so you can ignore it unless you start doing the later time.

I hope this helps.

Nick

It does indeed !  Thanks a lot,

Lee