15mm Late 17th Century Europe

This range covers the various armies of the late 17th century from the adoption of the classic soldier's coat until "apostles" fell out of favour, around the middle of the War of the League of Augsburg. It will include such famous wars and campaigns as the Franco-Dutch and Scanian Wars, the Siege of Vienna, the Battle of Sedgemoor, and some early LoA battles such as Fleurus, Steenkerque and Landen.

The listings begin with the legendary Polish Army, then goes on to generic troops -- scroll down past the generics for troops that are more distinctive in appearance such as French. Swedes and English. Note that the commanders are listed under the separate nations, but most of them could easily be used as general officers in other nations as well.

Some of the images of standing pikemen show them with their pikes angled in different directions, but that's due to the way the painter mounted the pikes -- the standing pikemen were all sculpted and cast to hold their pikes straight up.

The Venetian Empire fought fierce wars against the Ottomans in the late 17th century. Most of the troops can be drawn straight from the generic codes, the Venetian cuirassier often being Saxons who wore breast and backplate, and usually wore floppy hats. However, the most famous of the Venetian warriors in these wars were the local troops, the Schiavoni and Cappelliti. The Schiavoni were Slavic skirmishing infantry with a musket and a fearsome basket hilted sword. The Cappelleti (named after the caps most wore) were Dalmatian light cavalry. Both troops types could -- and did -- outfight the Ottoman skirmishers at their own game.

Venetians are a fantastic new foe for Late 17th Century Ottomans, and they can be made mostly of existing European troops, adding the Schiavoni and Cappelletti.

Saviours of Western Civilisation, the Poles were going through another transition in this period, toward a more native appearance. The light cavalry were sometimes called "Wallachians" and "Tatars" but this was more a reflection of the weapons carried than the ethnicity of the men in the squadrons or their dress. By Vienna the light cavalry (the vast majority of Polish horse) were all mostly of the same basic appearance, long firearms being the prestige weaponry, but many using lance and some still relying on archery. They are described as riding horses much smaller and lighter than the superb Hussar horses, and so have smaller mounts. The infantry no longer mimicked Central European dress and wore a more native eastern outfit, and had largely dropped the pike (and the few who still carried it may even have used half-pikes instead, and if so you want to depict that, you can just cut the spear down). Dragoons still appear to have worn mostly Central/Western European clothing, as typically did infantry commanders.

For the double wing horsemen, please first attach one wing to the other -- there is a peg on one wing and a corresponding hole on the side of other. They should form a gentle V when attached. Then attach both to the hole in the back of the horseman -- you might want to pin-vise that out a little. Note some men have just one wing and this is shown in the images for the codes. Some of the Polish horse codes are a bit more expensive than my typical cavalry codes, but that's because of all the extra bits! For Polish Reiters use Cuirassiers in this range in Zischagge helmets, and the generic cuirassier command (not the Imperial command).

These codes are appropriate for many of the armies of the period, such as English, Dutch, Austrian, Brandenburg Prussia, various Italian states, and so on.

Although made as Monmouth's rebels and American Colonial Militia for the King Philip's War period, these codes would also be perfect for other troops in civilian clothing such as the citizen defenders of Vienna in 1683, and the replacements in regular army units before they received uniforms (this happened a lot in the French Army, men often waiting months before they got a uniform). Some American militia units wore more organised and wore uniforms, and when they fielded pikemen (typically not by the time of King Phillip's War), they tended to be in helmet and corselet.

Dragoons, both mounted and dismounted being listed here, command and horseholders being available as well.

Horse for such forces as Dutch, Brandenburg, Italians, and so on. (English horse, and Imperialist cuirassier command, are listed separately below.)

Guns meant for all Central and Western European Nations. The medium field piece shown here is painted in Dutch colours.

As can be seen, these were sculpted based on period portraits, but general officers of this period typically dressed in the military fashions of the aristocracy and so any of them can probably be used for any army. That said, commanders from protestant nations tended to wear more modest garments than, say, the French.

The mighty French Army has been called "The Giant of the Grand Siecle," and all arms had distinctive appearance in this period. The Infantry wore ribbons and had their cuffs high up their arms, their armoured pikemen often wore a handsome neo-classical helmet, and the cavalry, the fiercest chargers of the age, also had ribbons and some wore a sleeveless buff coat over their cloth coat. A few other armies also wore similar outfits and so these models may be used for them as well. Most of the French Guard Cavalry can be portrayed using these codes or the generic cavalry codes, but we have separate codes for the two visually distinctive elements of the Guard -- the Musketeers and the Grenadiers.

Swedes for the period from the end of the Deluge until the end of the Great Scanian War. The Swedes were in transition from matchlock to flintlock during the Scanian War and so we have made both types. The Swedish tactics were essentially the same in this period as in the time of Gustavus Adolphus -- fierce attack with the infantry, firing a salvo before charging in with the pike, clubbed musket and plug bayonet, and the cavalry attacking in close order with pistol followed by sword. The army remained a fearsome foe, but the kingdom bit off more than it could chew in the Scanian War and its opponents scored some notable victories, the most famous being Fehrbellin, which battle might be said to be the birthplace of the Prussian Army. The Swedes don't seem to have raised dedicated grenadiers in this period. There were regiments in the hat as opposed to the karpus, the Life Regiment as well as regiments raised in Germany, but those can be supplied from the generic range, as can the artillery. The little battalion gun is provided without crew because some rules don't use crewmen for them -- if you need crew one or two men from the basic artillery set should do for such a small piece.

Most of the English Army can be built from the generic codes, but some are unique, as follows.

Most of the Austrian/Imperialist Army can be built from the generic codes, but the Imperial cuirassier command had unique trumpeters.