If you look at the pictures of regiments in Front Ranks Gallery and on the inside cover of BLB2 Front Ranks display regiments are 5 bases with four figures. The center base has the pikes but only two Like Barry says above it just does not look right. "I say, who are those two chaps in the back with the long sticks"I was never ever happy with the first attempts many years ago where 2 or 3 pikes were peppered amongst the battalions
That's good advice Juan, thanks. And I agree BLB2 is a excellent rule set and book.I think that, as in any other good rulebook, BtLBv2 has well balanced mechanisms. If you change something so "basic" as the composition of the units, you need to revise all the other things. In my opinion, the actual unit, with 18/24 models, is very pleasant to see and there are a lot of models already!
I don't think there is a problem with this either. My comments ref the Front Ranks repersentation for me has to do more with the frontage/dept and ratio of the pike in the battalion.Barry has also stated that the 3 pikemen base at the rear of the centre command base is only a visual representation incase the battalion is charged by cavalry.In such cases the "Pike" base is moved to the front of the command base.
I don't see what the problem is with only having this extra rank of pikemen.
IIRC there are Blenheim tapestries that show formations in the background with what looks to be pikes.Iain Stanford has claimed that the pike was still in use, but I myself have seen no drawings or paintings from the period to prove this claim.
I would be interested if you could point them out, I've got copies of the de Hondt, Le Clerc, De Vos and Van der Borcht tapestries and the closest I've seen a pike is in Alan Wace's book 'The Marlborough Tapestries' where he describes in the Wynendael Tapestry, page 80 that the British convoy is escorted by musketeers and pikemen. The only figure you can see is a figure that looks like an officer with a half pike and certainly not pikemen. The fact that Wace was a specialist in the department of textiles in the V&A museum it's not surprising he got it wrong.Captain of Dragoons wrote:IIRC there are Blenheim tapestries that show formations in the background with what looks to be pikes.Iain Stanford has claimed that the pike was still in use, but I myself have seen no drawings or paintings from the period to prove this claim.
Just had another close look at the Blenheim tapesties but can't see anything that resembles a pike unit the only thing standing above the infantry are stands of colours, but perhaps it's my aging eyes?Captain of Dragoons wrote:Hello Dave
I think it was a Blenheim tapestries. I remeber seeing it on a internet link but it was four/five years ago.
Edward