Eclectic new additions for the Italian Wars

Anyone who has looked at my Italian Wars collection will know that it is quite eclectic in nature. This wasn't planned. It came about because I know of no manufacturer that produces everything. 

I've been particularly busy with commissioned work for the last few months but, as painting just for others would make me a very dull boy, I've managed a few new additions. They are mainly aimed at the Marignano game planned for next year.

 The painting comprises two units of eight mounted crossbows by Old Glory; seventy two Italian pike by TAG; two stands of mixed figures based around heavy hand guns by Copplestone (Grenadier Models?that I purchased through Vexillia).

 First up the pike. These are Italian but, for now, I've used some (interchangeable) French flags because I plan to use them as Picard pike in the Marignano game.

 These figures were well cast and easy to paint. Their one downfall, for me, was the realistic ankle shape, which made painting stripy hose difficult - big ankles make this much easier, IMHO. 

 I'm also not a big fan of pike that stick out too far in front of units as they generally become a problem in play. These fall between two stools, they are just acceptable for me. I bought the mix of pike angle to take advantage of the unit deals - I bought six unit packs plus a handful of other packs to get two 72 man pike squares, this being the first.

 I'm not sure why the ones at the back were so heavily armoured. My criticism is harsh. These are the best Italian pike available anywhere. I like them, and I'll be adding another TAG square (for a total of three) at some point so I can do Agnadnello.

 The OG packs of mounted crossbow have only two variants. I had forgotten this. My other units have the addition of Foundry WoR prickers (with added crossbows replacing lance) to add to the variants.

 But they still look good.

 These satnads are based around Copplestone figures with 'heavy handgun / arquebus'. I'll be using them as Hackbuts. The packs come as four figures (manning the 'hackbuts'), I've based them on light artillery bases with a few extra figures to pad them out.

Anyway, that's it for the Italian Wars for a while (there are still well over 300 in the to do pile). 

Next up I'm going to start upgrading my SYW Austrians - it's about time. There are several hundred figures that I haven't been able to use since upgrading the Prussians and Russians - especially as I've added over a hundred shiny things to this pile recently.