Chapter 8

Pike and Shot Wargaming

The pike and shot period is named after the principal weaponry of infantry units, and covers the age of Renaissance monarchy (1450–1650). The concept of the Renaissance was originally a cultural term referring to the European rediscovery of ancient classical learning during the later fifteenth century; its political expression saw the assertion of monarchical power over that of the nobility.

The eclipse of the feudal aristocracy was made possible by gunpowder, and specifically the development of cannon. For the medieval period had seen the nobility and their cavalry retinues dominate the local countryside from their castles, and owing only a loose allegiance to the monarch, their titular overlord. All this changed with the advent of artillery, for two reasons: firstly, because only the king had enough money to afford a substantial collection of ordnance; and secondly, because the new cannon had the power to destroy any existing castle. As a result, the gunpowder revolution led to the development of Renaissance monarchy, with the growth of state power.

It has to be said that the new monarchies were not especially efficient. They may have been able to dominate their nobility physically, but still needed the aristocracy to staff the new government. A somewhat unwieldy bureaucratic structure was therefore developed, running on the basis of royal patronage. Salaries were not especially high, but the monopolistic nature of offices led to much opportunity for corruption – bribery was rampant.

The military consequence of all this was an inability to finance a permanent centralized army. The nobility could still be relied upon to some extent, but most states recruited mercenary companies on an ad hoc basis as required. These would serve for the duration of a campaign, or until their employer failed to pay their salaries – at which point they deserted the colours, and plundered the countryside. Not that inefficiency made warfare any less prevalent; the development of religious strife following the Protestant Reformation made conflict both common and exceptionally brutal.

Gunpowder weaponry played a particularly significant role on the Renaissance battlefield. Artillery was rather immobile, but made a contribution with a preliminary if somewhat ineffective bombardment of the enemy line (its overall lack of impact explains why units of ordnance do not feature in my wargames rules). Infantry firearms were much more significant; the armour piercing ability of these handguns, later referred to as arquebuses and muskets, made cavalry charges especially perilous, and could cause extreme disorder in all units due both to the physical effect, and the psychological impact of their loud noise.

The new firearms did however have two significant drawbacks. The first of these was the time taken to reload, for even the most efficient infantry handgun could only fire one shot a minute. Units accordingly deployed in deep formations, with the front rank firing, then moving to the rear in order to reload. By the time every rank had fired, the initial front rank would be ready to shoot again. The second drawback lay in the limited amounts of ammunition carried; early cartridges were quite bulky, and most troops only carried twelve. The combined effect of these limitations meant that the musketeers had to be protected by a contingent of pikemen, from which phenomenon the wargaming term of ‘Pike and Shot’ derived.

Some cavalry units also began to use firearms, following the development of the extremely portable pistol (large handguns could not be used with any effect on horseback). Each man carried up to four of these weapons, and the infantry tactic of having one rank fire at a time, then retiring to reload, was embraced by mounted troops too. It all made for a somewhat sedate method of attack; this could however be more effective than a headlong charge into an unbroken hedge of pikemen.

More traditional troop types still existed; I have chosen to depict Pike and Shot warfare by following the precedent of my Ancient wargames rules, and including four distinct varieties of unit.

1. INFANTRY

This class covers those units equipped with a combination of pikemen and musketeers. The proportion of each type varied, although the number of musketeers increased markedly by the end of the period. Wargamers should use their discretion as to how their units are constituted; each type should vary between ⅓ and ⅔ of the unit. Infantry always moved rather slowly, thanks to the unwieldy nature of pikes of up to 24’ in length. Their musketry was however quite effective, at least until the ammunition ran out: units could then engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat, which could often prove to be rather protracted. The pikes were vital in such close quarter contact, and proved especially effective against enemy cavalry – horses were understandably unwilling to throw themselves against a hedge of pikes.

2. SWORDSMEN

This category includes all foot soldiers equipped with swords or axes. They sometimes carried muskets as well, which were always discharged at short range prior to charging the enemy; this can as a result be evaluated as part of hand-to-hand combat in the wargame. The absence of pikes made these units more mobile than Infantry, and short weaponry allowed Swordsmen to inflict fearful execution after the initial impact with pikemen. Conversely, the absence of sustained firearms capability and long mêlée weapons rendered them vulnerable to a cavalry charge. Swordsmen did not habitually feature in all armies of the period, but played a significant role in Iberian, Celtic, and Eastern European warfare.

3. REITERS

This class is named after the German mercenary horsemen who effectively defined it, by virtue of their prominence on many battlefields. These men could be described as pistoleers: they trotted up to enemy formations and discharged their small firearms one rank at a time, continuing to do so until their ammunition ran out. They would then engage in hand-to-hand combat, but always at a rather sedate pace – they relied upon discipline and control rather than a headlong charge. This tended to make their shooting quite effective, but resulted in a lack of impetus and diminished impact in hand-to-hand combat.

4. CAVALRY

The old nobility still believed in the efficacy of shock action, and continued to equip themselves with lances and heavy armour. These horsemen were known as gendarmes, and featured in most sixteenth century armies (their seventeenth century equivalents had less armour and replaced lances with swords, but still relied upon the same tactics). They moved with some rapidity, and were extremely effective in hand-to-hand combat against Swordsmen and Reiters. They were however vulnerable to firearms (which could pierce their armour), and Infantry equipped with pikes, the unyielding nature of which tended to frighten the horses.

The rules for Pike and Shot wargames are quite similar to those for the ancient period, since the broad principles are identical – hand-to-hand combat was decisive in both cases. I have therefore avoided unnecessary repetition of identical concepts in the following discussion of the ideas behind my rules; readers can refer back to Chapter 2 if any further explanation is required.

Movement is resolved in a similar way to the ancient rules, the chief differences concerning the effect of woods and towns upon movement. In the case of the former, only Swordsmen may enter forested areas, given that Infantry units could never negotiate their long pikes through the branches. So far as towns were concerned, these were now villages rather than the hamlets of ancient times; different restrictions must apply as a result. Accordingly, Reiters and Cavalry may neither halt within a town nor occupy it: the greater number of buildings would simply not allow horsemen to fight without dismounting.

The increased importance of firearms in the Pike and Shot era means that shooting has to be treated in a different manner from the ancient period. I therefore allow Infantry and Reiters to fire after they move. This is because they really did just that, as each rank fired and another advanced to take its place. More importantly, allowing firing after movement enables firearms to affect enemy units before the latter may charge. This is because all troops suffered casualties from firearms before charging, no matter how rapidly the victim was able to move: this must be reflected in any wargame.

I have given all firearms a range of 12”. This seems extremely odd, since Infantry muskets greatly outranged the Reiters’ pistols. The rule does however reflect the situation on the battlefield, where the Reiters would send individual ranks forward with some rapidity, discharge their pistols and then withdraw.

Firing is very effective for as long as Infantry and Reiter units maintain their ammunition supply. The limited nature of the latter must be depicted in the wargame however, and is covered by having each unit throw a die whenever it fires; the ammunition runs out on a score of 1 or 2. This means that a unit has a ⅓ choice of losing its shooting capacity each time it fires – from this point onwards, Infantry and Reiters can only harm the enemy by engaging in handto- hand combat. I also do not allow Infantry or Reiters to charge enemy units until their ammunition has been expended. This accurately reflects the historical situation, when units equipped with firearms shot at their potential victims in an attempt to induce disorder, and only charging after they could no longer fire.

Hand-to-hand combat was very similar to the ancient period, in that the engagements tended to be protracted affairs which ended with the elimination of one of the antagonists. The rules are therefore very similar to my ancient wargame; the strengths and weaknesses of different units are reflected by modifying their combat effectiveness according to the nature of the opposing unit, or the terrain in which it is located.