"What to do with Warlord Lansknechts?" Topic

So I have this Warlord lansknechts army and a bag of Old Glory same that I have painted up….. Who would they fight? I also have an Outpost Conquistador army and was thinking of building that up as opponents…. That feasible? Hoping to put a lot of cavalry on the table. Total Renaissance newbie here – any help appreciated.

The LK's (never could spell it right) were the universal mercenary of the period. They fought for everyone at one time or another.

I would think that you could easily use the conquistadors as a European Spanish (which they are) army but you might need many more pikemen.

You could also use them as Swiss since there was a big rivalry between the Swiss and the Landsknecht during the 1500s in the "Great" Italian wars link

Good luck gaming with the men in flouncy outfits with big pointy sticks as we call them.

Jim

The Ottoman Turks are always available opposition for any Christian army of the period.

You know, the Internet makes researching history easy!

You know, the Internet makes researching history easy!

It does and it doesn't. Sometimes it is better and more fun to ask the wise than to attempt to use my history degree and librarian Ph.D. skills to plow through hundreds of web pages. This is a forum. Forums are for asking questions. I have been asking my own questions here since 1997 even though many of the answers are on the internet, and have been answering just as many, even IF the answers are on the internet.

Besides it gives us a chance to tell Vitual what we think he should do. We get to talk and bore someone other than our spouses.

The Spanish and Germans (and French and even Italians) were all in Italy. Landsknechts fought for all of them. Have fun!

D6 Junkie for the win!

And our spouses thank him!

Rick

As stated above, you can use a good bunch of Landsknechts in many armies of the perios, in this outfit roughly from 1500-1550.
Some epic battles were Marignano (the French, using some 15.000 Landsknechts beside their knights and artillery, vs. the Swiss), Ravenna (Spanish and Italians vs. French with lots of Landsknechts), Bicocca (French with Swiss vs. Imperials with Spanish and Landsknechts) or Pavia (French with Landsknechts and Swiss vs. Imperials with Landsknechts and Swiss). The Ottoman assault upon 1529 was decided in a large breach between Janissaries and Landsknechts, too, and when Suleyman returned in 1532 with a larger army Charles assembled an army of some 120.000 near Vienna – the largest battle of its time that did not happen. On the other side, Charles conquered Tunis in 35 and failed before Algier in 41. Landsknechts were the staple of most German conflicts, eg the siege of Münster, or the religious war that Charles won militarily while losing politically.

So, in short, pick your favourite opponents and build the army around your core of infantry. From Spain to Sweden, from English usurpers to Poland or Hungary you can put a good bunch of infantry in the center. Just don't build them with crossbows. Landsknechts used the pike (~80-90%) with some heavy weapons thrown in, the rest used arquebus. Similar outfits would be worn with the artillery, though de jure they were not part of the Landsknechts.

Depending on the army you play you will definitely want Gensdarmes, light cavalry (eg. Stradiots) and light infantry (Italian or Spanish arquebus, French crossbow & arquebus) to complement them. Swiss were most often on the other side (and there was usually no quarter between them and the Landsknechts, as a heritage to the Swabian wars, though the Swiss had a habit of taking no prisoners regardless of who the opponent was).

In summary, who will they NOT fight. French, Italians, Spanish/Imperials, Ottomans, Russian, Polish, Swedes, English and, of course, all versions of German forces with other Landsknechts at their core – OK, afaik they did not fight the Scots, so avoid these for now.

Just Google the Italian Wars.

They were as I believe also on the Scottish border so yes they can fight there as well. Another interesting possibility would be fighting the Cornish rebels.

Were the Swiss dressed the same as the Landknechts of this period? I belive they were and hence different than the Swiss most figure makers do for the period 1450 – 1500?