Impetus: Renaissance Man (of Pike) "Wish List"

My Italian Wars (and maybe Charles V HRE versus Imperial Swiss) Renaissance Army for Impetus "needs" the following:

Four little Harquebusiers (Sk unit) [needed for Charles V versus Swiss] which are almost finished, just a few facial details and their 'jackets' [figure mid-section] to address (see below):

Four crossbowmen (Sk unit) [for the earlier Italian Wars period], thus allowing for various Order of Battle permutations (see below, not really started yet).

These are required to screen my army's infantry frontage as they advance like all good pike armies do. More of the same Harquebusier are needed to make another full Shot unit (see below):

I also need to build a third rank of Pike [for the Charles V Spanish Coruna using old GW Empire Spearmen] (see below, note the interested" hand of a small child in the background):

This formation needs to be festooned with a unit of nasty (for the other side) skirmish "Dopplesoldners" (Sk with Impact) (see below):

Finally there is the the HRE himself with courtier (see below):

Longer term I'll need more pike, a third at least. I have one from the Perry's excellent plastic range to make a full pike block (see below):

I think these will be much quicker to paint than pike block number four, made from Wargames Foundry metals (again another full pike block, but will be a labour of love so to speak) whcih I have in a box in the loft. In anticipation of this I am in the process of creating another "front pike unit" with lowered pike and leader/swordsman types. Here they are in the first stages after undercoating is to give them a rough base colour (see below):

Once I have 'bulked out' the infantry the plan is to return back to the cavalry wings ;)

Painting Update of Sorts

The house move "boy's toys" shuffling around continues unearthing long lost "treasures" such as these old Games Workshop 28mm Fantasy "Greenskin Orcs" from the Warhammer 'Starter Pack' of yesteryear, purchased one Christmas long, long ago by my good wife (see said "orcs" below). The accompanying 'Empire Troops' have long since been painted and based as DBR/Impetus Renaissance troops. The orcs were more of a painting exercise in 'green'. The "Chopper Boyz" (blades or warband) are all neatly turned out and painted but their supporting "Archer Boyz" (bows) have still only been undercoated and 'greened'. Well to push them on their way to hedonistic heights of completion I gave all the Archer Boyz's 'bone/teeth' bits a shade of the Vallejo equivalent to Citadel 'Bubonic Brown'. A token gesture on my part, sort of ' I have not forgotten you while you are out old friends' before I put them back in the box and back in the loft. My original thoughts were to mount these not individually but according to the DBx system (at least the DBx basing system seems to be a wargaming 'good point' if nothing else) being "warband troops" of perhaps ancient Briton or Gaulish stock for HoTT or Fantasy Impetus (when it comes as I am sure it will). Heck I may even get to paint some Warlord Late Imperial Romans to fight them one day ;)   

Other newly rediscovered treasures included some 25/28mm plastic Teutonic Knights (that will probably be used in my Renaissance armies), albeit horses currently minus their riders (see below). The Renaissance project seems to have stalled as of late, hmm, all depends on how soon I play another game of Impetus down Hartlepool way methinks.

Another find was a bundle of plastic Games Workshop Empire Handgunners (an eBay purchase rounding out at under 50 pence a figure) destined for Renaissance Trained Harquebusiers of Impetus fame under Emperor Maximilian and the like (see below). They remain stalled from that awful "moving house" status. Standing amidst the plastics are a few Wargames Foundry Landsknechts metals in lowered pile fighting poses.

Alas they all but had a brief moment in the light of painting before the chaos of modern family living (and a very curious two yea old) drove them back to the safer refuge of the garage.

Painting Tray: Renaissance Mode

The painting tray is currently cluttered with the figures needed to complete my Renaissance Impetus army (although I hear that in the new Impetus IV supplement the "killer pike-block" armies are getting rule-restricted", so by the time I field my army it may have waned in its 'effectiveness' and scare factor, such is wargaming and I didn't paint it to win anyway, it's more of an interesting project to finish).

Going clockwise below, top right has a unit of crossbow men (Perry's miniatures), lined out and under-coated are some "DoppelSoldners" (again Perry Miniatures), top left is a "pile of lead" which needs to be transformed into some Burgundian Knights (Redoubt Enterprises) and finally at twelve o'clock some "horizontal" stabbing pikemen (Wargames Foundry). Eagle-eyed readers may also have spotted a recently reactivated Necron Warrior hiding in the shadows ;)   

A closer look at the"skirmish formation" crossbow men. These are a "cheap" army point option to put out in front of the advancing pike block to soak up the initial missile "hits", so the pike block can hopefully get in "fresh" and do the business. The Perry Miniatures painted up really quickly and I think are very nice (see below):

The Wargame Foundry pike men are a Renaissance classic. Here the "pikes lowered" is effective as most of the pike length is taken up in "dead ground" on the base. That means the "pikes" won't interfere with bases placed in front of the unit, something the Impetus basing has over the old DBM approach IMHO (see below). I also plan to put some Perry's Miniatures DoppelSoldners in the front of the base between the lowered pikes (as per historical deployment, but it is still a unit of "pike" nothing "funny in the rules" is being attempted here). 

The "pile of lead" from Redoubt Enterprises, the horses being the same as the Germanic Men-At-Arms mounts but the riders "true flowery knights". Very solid figures and I am looking forward to painting these (again), but I am wondering how "full-on" I have to go with the heraldry of the knights, watch this space for developments (see below):  

If I manage to shift this stuff off the table before the end of October I can get back to some WWII early war panzers as my November project.