My 17th Century Miniatures Project

By Steve Murga

I am fascinated by 17th Century European History. I grew up in Spain reading the Alatriste Novels by Spanish novelist Arturo Perez-Reverte, the adventures of a Spanish sword for hire in the backdrop of a decadent and crumbling Spanish Empire. Is the fast-evolving nature of the 17th Century that captivates me the most, a period between the medieval world and the modern era, a time where the last vestiges of feudalism gave away to the modern state.

Warfare in the 17th Century experienced a rapid evolution only matched 300 years later by the advent of WWI. This is the “Century of the Soldier” where combined formations of pikes and muskets dominated the battlefield, scientifically designed star forts replaced the medieval castle, and the old medieval military order based on promise, duty and loyalty was ultimately supplanted by contracts and terms of service. I choose to collect figures with the 30 Years War (30YW) on my mind.

This gargantuan epic spiraled Europe in a series of tragedies that were so transformative that broke the social order and pushed Europeans into the modern age. At first glance, the 30YW is a Religious war, Catholic vs Protestants. At its core, much more complicated; a war of peasant vs lord, empire vs nation, old order vs revolution.

17th Century wargamers are a niche within the wargaming community, which is already a niche community! Although not as popular as other periods, there are plenty of manufacturers that make great 17th Century figures. When I decided to dive in this period I chose to collect in 15mm scale. I usually prefer 28mm figures but battles in this period are defined by massive blocks of pikes with  ”wings” of musketeers at each side; with 15mm figures, I would be able to achieve the “mass” look I wanted for my formations.

Most of my miniatures are from the now discontinued Spanish figure company Totentaz; a pity because they are truly fantastic. Fortunately for me, the American company has a 30YW line that scales perfectly with Totentaz figures. All the Flags are from , they were nice enough to scale their 30YW flag collection to 15mm for me.  Although I collected my armies to wargame the 30YW, with this period you can easily play the English Civil War or the eastern conflicts with the same miniatures.

Painting proved to be easier than with other periods I collect, there were no regulated uniforms during the 30YW, so there was a lot of leeway with my color palette.  I tend to shy away from very bright colors, my figures have a “campaign tested” look. My units are based with flexibility in mind, I wanted to be able to play different rules sets.  musketeers and pike regiments are based on the same platform, as they were a single cohesive unit (I dislike games that treat the muskets and the pikes as different units).

Each regiment of “Pike and Shot” has 24 figures, 12 pike and 12 musket, except for my two Spanish “Tercios Viejos” which a modeled after the old Spanish massive square formation, an invincible juggernaut in the 16th century, almost out of use by the 30YW. Cavalry still played a crucial role in the battlefield during this time, almost half of my units are mounted. My cavalry is pretty diversified, from heavy cuirassiers, medium Swedish horse, Spanish arquebusiers and Croat light cavalry. To complete the armies I have medium and light artillery, loose musketeer units (in the Swedish fashion), a few dragoon units (a 17th-century innovation), and plenty of commanders and historical figures. In total, I have 19 Infantry “Pike and Shot” regiments, 18 Cavalry units, and 10 artillery batteries, enough to recreate any of the larger battles of the period.

I am a big fan of the Black Powder rule system by , they are fast, intuitive without being gimmicky. Unfortunately, the 17^th Century version of Black Powder: “Pike and Shotte” treats the Pikes and Muskets as separate and independent units, Blasphemy! Instead, I adapted my own version of the Black Powder rules to the period, I already played a couple of games and they work just fine.

I am really proud of this project, the armies look epic on the table! The first game I played was the Battle of Fleurus 1622, a Dutch War of Independence – 30YW cross over. The army of the great protestant mercenary captain Mansfield squares off against the veteran Spanish infantry of the Palatinate in an attempt to break off the siege of Bergen Op Zoom. Several Heavy cavalry charges led by the fanatical protestant prince, Christian of Brunswick could not break the determined Spanish infantry, a murderous affair that left the field tall summer grass coated in blood. It played perfectly on my 6×4 gaming table with a fairly similar outcome to the actual battle. I am planning a series of battles recreating the Swedish phase of the 30YW, plenty of “Epicness” to be had pushing led.

If you are interested in collecting armies for the period and need some inspiration,  I recommend the Alatriste novels (of course) and the surpassingly good movie adaptation: Alatriste. My go-to books are the classic 30YW compendium, The Thirty Years War by Veronica Wedgwood, and the Century of the Soldier series from Helion & Company. For pictorial references treat yourself to the paintings of Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau, the Spanish version of “Don Troiani”. His paintings are incredibly realistic, full of ardor and sentiment, specially Rocroi, El ultimo Tercio, which proudly hangs over my painting table.

Editor’s Note: We are happy to publish Steve’s first article for NDNG, he is an avid gamer and master painter!