"How tall a pike for ECW 6mm figures?" Topic

The title says it all really. Got some 6mm figures but need to make my own pikes. What length should they be.

Pikes were usually made about 16 feet in length, but there are numerous accounts of soldiers on campaign cutting down their pikes to 14 feet (much to the chagrin of their officers) to make them lighter to carry and easier to handle.

I make my pikes for my 10mm figures 28mm long (thus closer to the "campaign" length), but most of the armies I've seen locally are made with pikes closer to 35mm, and I have to admit this looks more impressive. It's a bit of an exaggeration, but I can't complain too much since I tend to use oversize flags for their visual effect and this is much the same principle.

The pikes for 6mm figures (depending on the actual size of your "6mm" figures) could be anywhere from 15 to 20mm. In the end, you should choose a size that looks right to your eye, or try to match them to those of another gamer in your area who uses 6mm figures for ECW.

I have Baccus miniatures a bit on the larger 6mm size. I went with 21mm, about 1mm is actually inset into the base. If I was doing H&R 6mm I would go shorter, 18mm or so.

Twice as big as a man. Although some men were bigger bigger than others ;)

There is a historical length and what's useful for wargaming. I make my pikes 3 times the figure scale. In your case this should be about 18mm. It's long enough to look as a pike yet not too long to interfere with your wargaming or storage. Also, works for any scale.

I agree with IGWARG1. . . . but it is very much worth remembering that historical soldiers were MUCH shorter than our current generations. Nutrition was chancy at best and most soldiers weren't very many inches over five feet tall.

So three times the figure's height (to top of head, not eyes) is a good rule-of-thumb for the ECW.

-- Jeff

Thanks for all the replies, most helpful.