"The Pikeman's Lament" Topic

I picked up a copy of The Pikeman's Lament from Osprey this week. I love Lion Rampant and these are a pike & shot variant of those rules. They're skirmish rules and not suitable for gaming Marston Moor, but they have a lot of character and look to be a fun play.

I wrote a review on my blog: link

I'm working away on a bunch of units using 28mm Renegade and Bicorne minis.

After having read the rules twice now I can say that your review/recap is spot on. I'm looking forward to putting figures on the table.

I am *hoping* to get the Fresno guys interested in this after I move there and play some SAGA, Bolt Action, and Frostgrave. I like Lion Rampant, and I have never done ECW before. So it looks like a good match for me.

I agree they look great. Need to get some of my lead/plastic pile painted to play.

Can it be used also for the period of Louis XIV wars, particulary the League of Ausburg War? I've always been interested in that period but never conviced myself to do it

The League of Augsburg War is right in the groove for these rules. They're meant to cover the 17th c. and just beyond, from the 30 Years War to the Great Northern War.

Now that the rules are out, I've been wanting to do another project using Dixon's League of Augsburg range. I painted a lot of these back when they came out in the 80s. I've always loved that range and I can see doing a company of Wild Geese for Louis' army.

I was chomping at the bit for these rules, I didn't pre-order because I knew I'd be onto planning and ordering minis! Still, soon…

I've been wanting to do another project using Dixon's League of Augsburg range. I painted a lot of these back when they came out in the 80s. I've always loved that range

Here, too. Aren't they early Copplestone?

Yep. They're Copplestone. He's done so many wonderful figures over the years. Much of the old Grenadier range of figures were done by Mark. I have some of the excellent handgunners and billmen from that range. I've been wanting to make a Lion Rampant retinue using just the "Humans" figures from the Grenadier fantasy range. They're available from Mirliton in Italy. The figures are reasonable, but shipping to the US is absurd. I figure the best price break is to order a lot and you get discounts that offset the shipping. I'm looking at nearly $300.00 USD to get enough figures for at least two retinues with some variety. I just haven't worked myself up to making the order yet. Some day…

A good review, thank you.

Played it on Monday (found a copy in FLGS last week). ECW scenario with sleepy Royalists and a Parliamentary sneak attack.

They work very well. Same mechanisms as LR but differences to give period feel.

Will be using these a lot.

Already knocking up a "big battle" variant as have not found holy grail of ECW big battle rules yet.

Artorius: thanks for the QRS – very handy.

Great review!

Can anyone tell me if there are any "half-sized" foot units, like LR, or are they all grouped by dozens?

They're available from Mirliton in Italy. The figures are reasonable, but shipping to the US is absurd.

Noble Knight carries them.

link

Yes, unit sizes are very much like LR. Here is a blog post by one of the authors detailing unit sizes:

link

…. have not found holy grail of ECW big battle rules yet.

It seems like a hard period to nail down rules-wise.

Thanks, Big Red. I thought I'd checked in on Dalauppror's blog recently- I guess not!

Noble Knight carries them.

You're my hero, Beast Rampant! I can order a bit here and there now and build the retinue slowly.

That's how I prefer to do it! The more I order at once, the slower I paint them.

I'm glad I could help. And NK is great, I love pointing more folks in their direction.

Pretty sure I have already posted on the subject, but we tried out the rules with 48 points per side. Oh, and the 4 points of trotters that came on after I rolled three sixes in a row! Winner, winner….
We have played almost every ruleset under the sun, and have played both DR and LR to the point that we are very comfortable with the rules.
It was therefore easy for us to make the jump and the game is being enjoyed by the participants. There are some characterful rules ( trotters can caracole and I like this rule) and they are a game and not a simulation.
My previous points on the effect the rules have had on my group at the club apply. Two ECW armies got a run out and more are now planned.
I will now finish my Montrose Scots-Irish and we are looking at late 17th century because the figures are so nice.

Hi I just picked up these rules at the local wargames shop in Warsaw (yes they do still exist) and was wondering if anyone plays Pikemans Lament in 15mm and what changes if any should be made, particularly regarding basing? The reason I ask is that the Fire and Sword miniatures are really easy to get here and I could build up a company pretty easily

I guess there is one of two ways. As there are 3 figures per base in BF&S, (IIRC) you can either count figures ( ie. 2 bases for units of cavalry, Forlorn Hope etc; 4 bases for shot, pike, clubmen, etc) keeping track of wounds lost, and removing a base for each 3; or count bases: 6 bases (18 models for cavalry and some foot units) and 12 base (36 models for most foot), removing each base as a casualty.