Army Muster - Landsknechts with Zweihanders

Army Muster is a brand new set of bundles tailored to those all-important core units in our mass-battle historical wargames. An easy way to expand existing and new collections alike, each Army Muster bundle contains three copies of one of our plastic boxed sets, plus a complementary product that will support your new soldiers nicely on the tabletop.

Landsknechts with Zweihanders Europe in the late 15th and early 16th centuries was a place of almost constant warfare. With no organised national armies, battlefields were the domain of the mercenary companies of the day – chief amongst these were the colourfully dressed Landsknechts.

Landsknechts were instigated by the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximillian I, as a reaction to the Swiss mercenary pikemen that had dominated battlefields for decades before the Italian Wars (1494-1559).

They would be found in most armies in Western Europe of the time, even appearing in the British Isles in the service of Henry VIII. Clashes between rival Landsknecht regiments were particularly bloody, becoming known as ‘Bad War’.

The toughest of a rough bunch were the veteran Doppelsöldner – soldiers on double pay. Their extra payment was for volunteering to fight in the front ranks and the inherent risk that entailed. The trick was surviving to claim the extra pay!

Doppelsöldner would most often be armed with the ranged arquebus or crossbow and arrayed in front of the main blocks of pikemen. Alternatively, they may be armed with the vicious six-foot-long two-handed swords, the Zweihänders, or equally long halberds. Zweihänder-armed Landsknechts would generally be found in the front ranks of the pike blocks or occasionally detached to form their own unit for special roles as well as providing protection for the unit’s colour party. The famous German mercenaries, the Black Band, included 2,000 two-handed swordsmen.

This Army Muster Bundle Contains enough miniatures to make 36 Landsknechts with ith two-handed swords and 36 with halberds. Additionally, this bundle contains the character Kaiser Maximilillian I for free, in both young and old guises Waging war against France and within Italy, Maximillian hired sleuths of Landsknechts and was keen to give the men freedom to wear what they wanted, resulting in plumes, slashed sleeves and bright colours.

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted