Epic Battles: Pike & Shotte Preview

Nach Epic Battles Napoleon und amerikanischer Bürgerkrieg stürzen sich Warlord Games nun ins 17.Jahrhundert mit Pike & Shotte Epic Battles.

Incoming! Pike & Shotte Epic Battles

The cat’s finally out of the bag! After many months of speculation from the community (and many more of hard work from the Design Studio team), we’re delighted to announce the arrival of the next instalment in the Epic Battles series – Pike & Shotte! Epic Battles-scale warfare enters the bloody 17th century with a monster starter set, four new plastic boxed sets, casualty markers, and a pair of scenery kits! Let’s take a look at these latest additions to the world of Epic Battles.

Push of Pike

Kicking off is the starter set – Push of Pike. With a name that references the primary infantry arm of the period, there’s no doubt as to what you’re letting yourself in for! This massive box (incidentally the same size as our Epic Battles: American Civil War Gettysburg boxed set) contains no fewer than 1,288 figures and 12 artillery pieces – the perfect way to dive right into the era! For those looking to get started quickly, the sprues are helpfully coloured tan and grey, making them easy to differentiate on the tabletop, even when unpainted!

Pike & Shotte Epic Battles very much hones in on two major conflicts of the period, namely the Thirty Years’ War in Europe, and the English Civil Wars across the Channel. Push of Pike conveniently includes fantastically elaborate flags of the period for belligerents of both wars, allowing you to conquer Europe or the British Isles as you prefer. Also included is a laser-cut MDF kit of an iconic fortified manor house of the period – every army needs something to fight over, after all!

Also included in Push of Pike is a newly-revamped A5 rulebook (à la Black Powder Epic Battles: The Waterloo Campaign), perfectly sized for any general’s saddlebag, that allows you to jump straight into the tabletop action. The revised rulebook contains all you need to get playing, with specific flavourings that will cement your battles in the battles of the English Civil Wars and the Thirty Years’ War.

Infantry & Cavalry Boxed Sets

While Push of Pike is a great starting point, there’s nothing quite like the spectacle of ranks upon ranks of Epic Battles miniatures on the tabletop! To that end, we’ll be releasing separate boxes of Infantry and Cavalry as part of the first wave, so that you can expand your forces right off the bat. Let’s look at the Infantry first, as they’re the ones lending the Pike & Shotte period its name! The Infantry Battalia box gives you three sprues and thus three regiments of combined pikemen and musketeers, the perfect foundation for any army. Each sprue contains 80 miniatures, split evenly between pikemen and musketeers; this includes ten individually-modelled front-rank pikemen with their 16-foot weapons at ‘porte’, backed by their fellows with shouldered arms and a command stand with captain, drummer, and a pair of flag-waving ensigns. On either flank of the regiment are the matchlock-armed shotte, the principal offensive arm of the period.

There are two Infantry Battalia boxed sets – the difference is in the flags! The English Civil Wars set features a flag sheet for both Royalists and Parliamentarians, while the Thirty Years’ War has the corresponding banners for the Imperialists and Protestant Alliance – whichever conflict you prefer, we’ve got you covered!

Addressing an oft-underappreciated part of 17th century warfare, the Cavalry boxed set is a great way to round out your force. The sprue is jam-packed with horsemen, commanders, infantry, and artillery, with each boxed set giving you a whopping 30 harquebusiers, 6 cuirassiers, 3 cornets, 9 mounted dragoons, 15 dismounted dragoons, 18 commanded shotte, 3 Saker medium guns, 3 Falconet light guns, 3 mounted battalia commanders and 3 ensigns on foot – just a bit, then! This allows you to not only add the all-important horsemen to your army, but also the big guns of the ordnance, as well as the versatile and always-useful mounted infantry capabilities of the dragoons.

As with the infantry, two boxes are available, covering the Thirty Years’ War and the English Civil Wars, respectively.

Casualty Markers

Casualty markers are a vital part of Pike & Shotte, particularly if your dice-rolling is as bad as mine! Each set contains 18 assorted casualty markers, ideal for tracking the damage your units take as the battle progresses and lending a touch of extra realism to our tabletop battlefields.

MDF Scenery Sets

Rounding out the first wave of releases are a pair of scenery packs to decorate your gaming tables – the Thatched Hamlet, and the Village. Ideal for both the Thirty Years’ War and English Civil Wars (and even beyond into the Black Powder: Epic Battles era for those so inclined!), these kits make the perfect objectives to fight over. With the wars of the 17th century sweeping across Europe and the British Isles, no town, city, or hamlet was safe from the marauding (and hungry!) armies of the time, and forces would often clash over any available supplies or shelter!

Raise the Royal Standard! Rally your troops! Pike & Shotte: Epic Battles is coming!

Quelle: Warlord Community