Help support TMP


"Why Not the Renaissance?" Topic


22 Posts

All members in good standing are free to post here. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the posters, and have not been cleared with nor are they endorsed by The Miniatures Page.

Please use the Complaint button (!) to report problems on the forums.

For more information, see the TMP FAQ.


Return to the Why Not the Renaissance? Poll


Areas of Interest

General

Featured Hobby News Article


Featured Recent Link


Featured Ruleset

BrikWars


Rating: gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star gold star 


Featured Showcase Article

Little Yellow Clamps

Need some low-pressure clamps?


Featured Workbench Article

Paint Your Paint Pots

Personal logo Editor in Chief Bill The Editor of TMP Fezian has a tip to help with your paint storage (and recognition).


Featured Profile Article

Report from Gamex 2005

Our Man in Southern California, Wyatt the Odd, reports on the Gamex 2005 convention.


Current Poll


Featured Book Review


865 hits since 9 Oct 2014
©1994-2024 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?


TMP logo

Membership

Please sign in to your membership account, or, if you are not yet a member, please sign up for your free membership account.
Personal logo x42brown Supporting Member of TMP09 Oct 2014 2:06 a.m. PST

I've played a bit in the past, mainly ECW but have forces suitable for elsewhere and when, but can no longer get anyone interested.

x42

langobard09 Oct 2014 2:59 a.m. PST

I've never really been satisfied either by the game mechanisms for the interaction between pike and shot (in the same unit) nor have I been happy with the command procedures of larger formations such as tercios.

Of course, that is nothing more than my own prejudices not being satisfied rather than me being right and all the game designers being wrong!

Yesthatphil09 Oct 2014 3:02 a.m. PST

FoG-R has meant that at many UK tournaments the Renaissance period is as popular now as ancients. At club level Pike & Shotte seemed to get a lot of interest (at least until Warlord shifted its promotion to Bolt Action) …

So I'm not sure that the premise on which this poll is based (that the Renaissance period is not played much) really applies. Maybe we need a what periods do you play poll first, then the exploration? Maybe there was a poll and I missed it?

Second, there is a question of definition. I wouldn't put Wars of the Roses, which is massive by wargame standards, in a Renaissance category (it is the end of English Medieval warfare) but, really, 1455 to 1485? That's Renaissance by any other definition.

So again, perhaps we need a poll to establish the book ends for Renaissance?

FWIW Locally we do a lot of ECW, some Italian Wars and French Wars of Religion plus recently we did our Flodden refight. Probably as much Renaissance as WWII …

Mostly we use homegrown rules, Neil Thomas, Armati and FoG-R for the period.

Phil

Personal logo etotheipi Sponsoring Member of TMP09 Oct 2014 4:27 a.m. PST

I game conflicts (wars, battles, and some lovely riots) that happened during the Renaissance.

But similar to Yesthatphil, I think there's a definition problem. Unlike the poll, I don't think the Renaissance was a time period as opposed to a wargame genre. I think it is a philosophical movement.

Some of the things that I game during the time period of the Renaissance are related to that philosophical movement. Others aren't.

I think this is the same issue I have with the "Cold War" period. There should be another topic for things that happened in the late 20th that weren't related to the Cold War.

Mooseworks809 Oct 2014 4:52 a.m. PST

I use 15mm renaissance models for fantasy gaming.

John the Greater09 Oct 2014 6:33 a.m. PST

I have played Renaissance since the earliest WRG rules. Why not, indeed?

Cyrus the Great09 Oct 2014 6:56 a.m. PST

I have brought up Renaissance gaming over the years and you could hear a pin drop. The most common comments, when I could get them, have been a lack of "good" rules or being too hard to paint as everyone thinks Landsknechts.

Personal logo miniMo Supporting Member of TMP09 Oct 2014 8:31 a.m. PST

I enjoy a game of DBA-RRR whenever I get the chance.

Personal logo D6 Junkie Supporting Member of TMP09 Oct 2014 1:05 p.m. PST

I love this period!

Personal logo Flashman14 Supporting Member of TMP09 Oct 2014 5:01 p.m. PST

ECW is Renaissance?

Pictors Studio09 Oct 2014 5:53 p.m. PST

Technically it is the early modern period. For some reason wargamers lump that into the renaissance while pushing a lot of the early renaissance stuff into the medieval period.

skippy000109 Oct 2014 10:37 p.m. PST

It's those clothes-floppy hats, tights and baggy shorts combo…naaah…but I like to watch period films based in the Renaissance….go figure…

redbanner414510 Oct 2014 5:36 a.m. PST

I game 30 Years War but while many rules authors call that Renaissance I don't.

The Beast Rampant10 Oct 2014 7:55 a.m. PST

I always figured that, in wargames terms, Renn was the whole of the pike & shot period, generally 1500-1700 (though skewed late 15thC to late 17thC).

But, whatever. It's just a term of convenience for wargamers, anyway.

And for me, "codpieces" was a selling point!

Old Contemptibles10 Oct 2014 2:18 p.m. PST

The Renaissance takes place at different times in different countries.

Italian Renaissance: ca.1330-1527

Begins with:

April 6, 1341: Francesco Petrarch is Crowned Poet Laureate. Many historians cite this date as the beginning of the Renaissance.

Ends with:

May 6, 1527: The Sack of Rome. After Pope Clement VII refuses to grant the imperial army a ransom, it attacks the city of Rome, taking the city in just over twelve hours. The sack of Rome symbolizes the downfall of Renaissance Italy, much of which is subjugated to Imperial-Spanish rule by the settlement of Bologna in 1530.

English Renaissance: ca. 1500 – 1688

Begins with:

The English Renaissance (also called the Early Modern period) dates from the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Ends with:

The Glorious Revolution of 1688.

Generally the Rest of Western Europe: ca. 1453-1527

Begins with:

The fall of Constantinople in 1453. The center of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks, provoking an exodus of Greek people and works of art and literature into the Italian city-states.

Ends with:

May 6, 1527: The Sack of Rome (see above)

Old Contemptibles10 Oct 2014 2:30 p.m. PST

I voted "other" because my choice was not on the list.

"plan to do it, but it is a low priority"

I will eventually get around to it. Will defiantly do the ECW, not sure if I will branch out to other conflicts.

That is if I can find a set of rules that I can live with.

Dave Crowell11 Oct 2014 10:30 a.m. PST

I am busy enough with other projects and periods right now. That is the same reason I don't game ACW, Wild West, Northwest Frontier, Franco-Prussian War, 1812, etc, etc.

Renaissance just isn't taking me gently by the throat and demanding "Game ME!" At the moment.

tkdguy12 Oct 2014 12:06 a.m. PST

I was hoping to play a game or two, but my friends just aren't interested in that era.

Personal logo 20thmaine Supporting Member of TMP12 Oct 2014 4:56 p.m. PST

I think everyone is entitled to their opinion on this, but it does seem strange that "the wars are not interesting" is doing quite well.

British Civil Wars
Italian Wars
Conquistadors
Siege of malta
Samurai Wars
Lepanto
Thirty Years War
Wars of religion in France

How can these, and more, be "not interesting" ?

Yesthatphil13 Oct 2014 2:33 a.m. PST

Don't forget, 20thmaine, that it is one of those skewed TMP vote for up to five polls, most of which are negative opinions.

I regularly wargame the Ren/Pike & Shot period, so I have only cast one vote. Those voters who have negative opinions can have their opinion multiplied up five fold.

OK – there will be some who play this period that have found one or two other boxes to tick but my guess is that the majority of people who have used all five votes are naysayers … (indeed, there are not five positives on the list anyway so it is a 'no win' in that sense).

The poll is best looked at as two-in-one: the lead poll is currently being won by I already wargame the Renaissance. Then there is the sub issue of if not, why not which is currently being won by just not interested

I agree with you about how this can not be interesting … but fantasy gamers, tankheads and duh – it's only a game wink can all come here and tick their top five prejudices (and, of course, we respect their point of view thumbs up!)

Phil

Old Contemptibles13 Oct 2014 9:27 a.m. PST

I prefer the term "Pike and Shot" to cover Thirty Years War and ECW. Lets have a poll that is more positive. Why do you or plan to do the period? What do you find interesting about the subject.

Scorpio15 Oct 2014 5:56 a.m. PST

Not enough werewolves.

Sorry - only verified members can post on the forums.