Pierre Picouet on Spanish Tercios from Pavia to Rocroi

Pierre Picouet Les Tercio Espagnols 1600-1660

I got a bit worried last week. Dr Pierre Picouet’s website on the Spanish Tercios had disappeared. But I quick email to the man himself and I discovered that the website had just moved. It is now at Tercio1617. What a relief. Pierre’s material is a must read for anybody with an interest in Spain, the tercios, the Great Italian Wars and/or the Thirty Years War. To celebrate finding it again I thought I’d do a small tour of the website.

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Basing Pike and Shot Figures for the 30 Years War

Swedish Yellow Brigade

Roland Davis has been painting for me again – some Swedes for the Thirty Years War. So I’ve been mulling over how to base them. Part of the answer is obvious – on big bases. The potential dilemma is what figures to put on each base given these are mixed pike and shot units. Here’s a few options I considered and a bit of a journey to get there.

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17th Century Cavalry – Investigations of a Dog

Royalist Cavalry

You know how sometimes something big is going on but you don’t hear about it. I feel a bit like that about Gavin Robinson’s blog Investigations of a Dog. The blog was active 2006-2013 but is, unfortunately, now closed. Luckily the site is still up and is well worth a look. It contains some marvellous analysis of certain aspects of 16th and 17th Warfare, particularly the use of cavalry.

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What is the origin of the term ‘Tercio’?

Early Spanish tercio

What is the origin of the term ‘Tercio’ – the name adopted by the large Spanish pike and shot units of the Renaissance? The word literally means a bundle, or a one-third part of something (Notario Lopez & Notario Lopez, 2012) but he origin of the term for a military unit is not known. There are, however, various theories.

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30 Years’ War Spanish – 600 Point Armies for Field of Glory Renaissance

I’ve got most of the figures necessary for a Spanish army for the 30 Years War and 80 Years War in Field of Glory Renaissance. The Spanish of this period are represented by two army lists in the army list book Wars of Religion: Western Europe 1610-1660: Later Imperial Spanish (1621-59) and Thirty Years’ War Peninsular Spanish (1635-59). Both, of course, have a starter army. The armies are fairly similar but they’re not what I’m looking for. I want an army for the Battle of Rocroi (1643).

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15mm to 18mm Wargames figures for the 30 Years War and English Civil War

30YW-871 - Swedish - Pike and Shot - Yellow Brigade - Banner

Most of my figures for the Thirty Years War are from Essex Miniatures. This was because they had the best at the time I started to collect. But there are some newer, and great, ranges available now in 18mm (e.g. Khurasan Miniatures, Testudo, Totentanz Miniatures, and Blue Moon Manufacturing). So I thought I’d revisit the figures available for the Thirty Years War and English Civil War.

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Steven’s Dutch Army

My Dutch Revolt army was the first army that Roland Davis painted for me. In fact it was the second Dutch Revolt army Roland had painted in a row. He had previously painted this army for John Mclennan. I saw John’s army at a Wargames Tournament in New Zealand, fell in love with it, and asked Roland to paint one for me. Which he did. He was, I understand, a little tired with the Dutch by the end of it. These chaps can do service in the latter part of the Eighty Years’ War or in the Thirty Years’ War.

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No-Mans Land Mini-Campaign

This is a skirmish level mini-campaign set in no-mans land on a fairly static front. It is applicable to any period (see the possible settings). Each player is a junior commander whose job is the patrol and control the area between the opposing forces. Over three game days and nights each player must plan and execute 6 missions from a predetermined list. The interest lies in the fact that each player is picking from a different list to that of his opponent. The key problem being addressed is “How does a commander react when faced with events not covered by his orders?”

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