| Steve K Robinson | 27 Jun 2014 5:06 a.m. PST |
Hello,
I am toying with the idea of getting into the Thirty Years War period. In looking at different artwork from Osprey, the clothing, armor and weaponary seems to be very simular to the English Civil War. So, here is the question: Can you use ECW figures to build generic TYW armies? What I was thinking is having removable flags to be able to change the unit's allaince from one tabletop battle to another. Sincerely,
Steve R. |
| French Wargame Holidays | 27 Jun 2014 5:21 a.m. PST |
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| Daniel S | 27 Jun 2014 5:45 a.m. PST |
Only if you don't mind your armies having little TYW flavour beyond the flags. While there were similarities there were also considerable diffrences which tend to "disappear" in modern artwork due to poor research and the reuse of stock images. |
| Bushy Run Battlefield | 27 Jun 2014 6:10 a.m. PST |
It would certainly depend on what period of the TYW you wanted to game as well. Making sure Elizabeth remains only winter queen would require different forces from those engaged at 2nd Nordlingen. |
| Jcfrog | 27 Jun 2014 6:37 a.m. PST |
yes but not only. avoid some of the more characteristic ECW headdress types. need arquebusiers
way more Kuirassiers.
then polish types light troops
croats etc…
the bigger the scale the less multi roles they will be. |
| Mark RedLinePS | 27 Jun 2014 8:29 a.m. PST |
Yes I do the same with the flags, also lots of English mercenary units fighting so you can use the same flags for those. |
| khurasanminiatures | 27 Jun 2014 9:30 a.m. PST |
Agree with Daniel S, although war gamers love to morph so their first instinct is to say "yes!"  I think you're much better off using ECW figures for the TYW if you game the very end of the war, when it's France and Sweden against the Germans and Spanish. If you intend to do the period most people like -- Tilly and Wallenstein versus Gustavus -- then ECW figures are pretty anachronistic. |
| Bill N | 27 Jun 2014 10:12 a.m. PST |
If you mean the same thing by "generic TYW armies" as the rest of us, then ECW figures may be close enough to pass for 30YW figures, provided you use the correct troop types and correct formations. With correct flags and viewed in a mass on a wargame table they will have a 30YW feel. Someone knowledgeable about 30YW armies would be able to tell that you were using ECW troops as "stand ins". Then again they would also notice a late 30YW army being used as a stand in for an early war army. |
| Johannes Brust | 27 Jun 2014 11:31 a.m. PST |
I've been doing the THW for a long time in 15mm..much of what I thought I knew is now wrong as more info is translated from the Swedish..but it's a great period to game.
More troop types and Arty than the ECW, a lot less uniformity at the end of the war. More Armor in the early war..less at the end. You can move your pike units and most musketeers between the wars..and a great deal of the Cav. Flags are different..and as noted above you need more lights. Arquebusiers dissappear at the end of the war..but are the most common Cav type at the beginning. White Mountain is a different battle than Jankow. But aside from a few fools like me, most people use many of the same units in both battles. Remember the Swedish, French and Spanish armies are composed of mainly Germans at the end of the war..often with a large number of POWs from the last battle that switched sides..so what they looked like is anyone's best guess.
So use whatever and see if you like the feel of gaming the THW. You can then spend the next 20 years making your troops look "right " if you wish |
| Centurian | 27 Jun 2014 2:30 p.m. PST |
I hate to ask this: What game rules are you considering? |
| Ilodic | 27 Jun 2014 5:34 p.m. PST |
I love the idea of the term "Generic TYW". As if during the 17th century there was Britain, and everyone else…a kind of "homogenous Europe." It was the differences in the first place, that is responsible for a large portion of the conflict.
Clothing, style, weapons, and just general appearance of soldiers varied greatly not just from one army to another, but also during different time periods. If you decide to go with 15/18mm figs, Khurasan is your best option in terms of quality and superb accuracy. Here is the link below when the site is back up. khurasanminiatures.tripod.com If interested in the early period, and 28mm, you will want to try "Bohemian troops", link below. horcata.eu There were some recent additions to the range, and I find there is nothing comparable in 28mm in terms of quality and accuracy, and they fit in nicely with TAG's figures in terms of size and pose. ilodic. |
| Steve K Robinson | 30 Jun 2014 5:47 a.m. PST |
Ok, maybe the term "generic" is to broad. I understand the artistic liberties one has to define when looking at artwork of/for the period. I was mainly looking at the same general military clothing cut of the ECW and TYW where they would have been simular if gaged within 10 years of each other? I am a big fan of Old Glory and was thinking about any of their lines. Of course if TYW becomes impractiable, I am not adverse to ECW. As for rules, I was thinking about Pike and Shotte. They seem not too bad and represents a lot of variation. I will be trying these out this Thursday with Imperial v Turks about 1529ish. Thank you all for your input. Sincerely,
Steve Robinson |
| huevans011 | 02 Jul 2014 2:54 p.m. PST |
If interested in the early period, and 28mm, you will want to try "Bohemian troops", link below.horcata.eu There were some recent additions to the range, and I find there is nothing comparable in 28mm in terms of quality and accuracy, and they fit in nicely with TAG's figures in terms of size and pose. ilodic. I was of the belief that the Horcata stuff was noticeably larger than TAG. |
