Review: Trade and Treachery: Western Europe 1494 -1610
Although this is Field of Glory Renaissance’s second gaming companion, I felt the need to review it because it contains material that is more accessible to our readership because if they have a Warhammer Fantasy Battles Empire Army then they have any number of forces used in this period.
The period covered by this book shows the transition from the tactics and armies of the late medieval period to the high renaissance. They do this job wonderfully by presenting the armies in a rough timeline fashion. Yes there is overlap between the various nationalities but reading through this book you get a sense of the military progress that happened during this century.
The book price is comparable to GW’s Army Books/Codices and unlike their books is full color from start to finish. That alone makes this book great reference material. This book is full of military images from Osprey’s vast array of military reference books. Unlike GW books the quality of the miniature painting is definitely subpar, but subpar miniature painting does make painting an army at any skill level a more realistic goal.
The big thing I really like about this book is that there are no rules in it. That’s right: NO RULES. I love this. I don’t have to worry about my opponent bringing a bag of rules that I am unfamiliar with and then beating me over the head with those rules. This reinforces why I really like this game. The book does however say what rules in the main rulebook a particular army does or does not use, which makes learning the game easier.
There are only two things I can say needs improvement for future Companion Guides. First please update the website to include Field of Glory Renaissance material. As of 12/29/10 the website Osprey points us to inside the back cover only contains Field of Glory Ancient’s material. If the information is there then make it easier to find. Second, a guide to miniature manufacturers for the various scales and troop types would be helpful. This is especially important if they want to attract the sci-fi fantasy crowd that has their games bundled with figures.
Lets look at how parts of my WFB Empire Army fit into this system. I’ll first list it out as if it were a WFB list and then explain what it becomes in Field of Glory Renaissance.
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| da Vinci Il Condotertiere |
3 Captains Full Plate, Shield, Lance, Barded Warhorse 234 pts
1x 12 Great Swords with full command 150pts
2x 24 Empire Spears full command w 6 halberd detachment 340 pts
1x 18 Handgunners 144 pts
2x 8 Knightly Orders 368 pts
2x Great Cannons 200 pts
2x Mortars 150 pts
Total: 1586 Pts
These are the models that will go into the Field of Glory Renaissance German States Army. The way these models translate is 3 figures per infantry base and 2 per horse base. This makes the following German States army:
1 Field Commander CnC
2 Troop Commanders
2x Gendarmes, Fully Armored, Superior Quality, 4 Bases Heavy Lancers
1x Landsknecht Verlorene Haufen, Armored, Superior Quality, 4 bases Heavy Weapons (Great Swords historically aka Doppelsöldern)
1x Landsknecht, Armored, Superior Quality, 8 bases Pikes, 2 bases Heavy Weapons (Halberdiers)
1x Landsknecht, Armored, Average Quality, 8 bases Pikes, 2 bases Heavy Weapons (Halberdiers)
1x Landsknecht Hakenbüchsenschützen, Unarmored, Average Quality, 6 bases Arquebus
1x Field Artilery 2 bases (Great Cannons)
1x Heavy Artillery 2 bases (Mortars)
This works out to a 600 point army in this system with 8 battle groups. The only question left for this army is do I paint it to go with WFB or do I paint it historically? I’m torn here because a true to history Landsknecht force would be pretty awesome looking and it could be a WFB Empire army that has a mercenary back story.
