When Dick Bryant invited me to become the Theme Editor for the Renaissance, I accepted the job as both a great honor and a great responsibility. THE COURIER has traditionally provided a great service to the historical miniature wargamers, and as Theme Editor, I have the great opportunity to contribute to the service provided. Following in the very competent footsteps of lan Knight and Ken Bunger, I take on the mantle of Theme Editor and all it entails with a sense of high hopes and great expectations. The first task is to agree upon exactly what time period we are referring to when we talk about the Renaissance. The standard accepted dates for the period run from 1453, the end of the Hundred Years War and the Fall of Constantinople, to about 1652, the end of the English Civil Wars. However, I would tend to argue for a much later ending date, 1703. In that auspicious year, we can formally drop the use of the term pike and shot, as the last pikes were finally laid aside by the royal army of Queen Anne of England, and the Horse and Musket age began. Warfare varied tremendously from the internicene dynastic struggles of the Wars of the Roses to the bitter religious bloodbath of the Thirty Years War. The soldiers were possibly even more varied, from the tough mercenaries of the Swiss and Landsknechnt pike companies, to the swashbuckling Seahawks of the Elizabethan Wars. It was an age full of technological advancements, from the clumsy arquebus and muskets of the late 15th century, to the paper cartridge of Gustavus Adolphus' Swedes. We can trace in this era the rise of the modern nation state and the national army, typefied by 16th century France and 17th century Sweden. It was the age of religious strife; the Spanish Inquisition, the Huguenot Wars, and the life and death struggle ot Eastern Europe against the Ottoman juggernaut. The wargamer is free to experiment with games of every size and description, from one to one cavalry skirmishes on the Hungarian-Turkish border, to the massive, set-piece battles of the Thirty Years War. If you are thinking to yourself, "he can't possibly do all this in six issues!", you are absolutely right; such an attempt would be superficial at best. However, since this is a magazine written by wargamers for wargamers, we will examine in detail those topics that will be of the greatest use to the gamer already involved or considering getting involved in this period. I have outlined some basic goals and objectives that I hope will be achieved by Volume III number6, and they are listed below. 1. To create overall, a greater understanding of the art of war in the Renaissance, and the techical background of military thinking in this period. 2. To instill in the veteran and the novice, an appreciation of the tremendous scope and diversity this period offers. 3. A detailed examination of the figures available to wargamers in this period, based on cost effectiveness, quality, the extent of existing ranges, and other factors which are important to the wargamer faced with making a substantial financial investment in the period. 4. A close examination and discussion of the rule systems available for this period. considering their relative strengths and weaknesses, and possible solutions and alternatives, such as home- brewed rules and other ideas. 5. Accurate but flexible organization for armies of the period, from smaller scale forces built around "Free Companies," to the massive Tercios and Pike and Shot regiments of the 17th century. 6. Painting tips, probably the most important aspect of the period for the novice, hints on short cuts to producing the sometimes formidable dress of the Landsknechnt and other forces, both exotic and ordinary. In conclusion, I hope that these six issues will be interesting, informative and helpful to both the veteran wargamer and the novice, and that the Renaissance will be considered as a viable alternative to those wargamers interested in something other than Napoleonics and Ancients. The initial article in the series is and excellent overview of the entire period by veteran wargamer and author, Don Featherstone, whose book Wargaming Pike and Shot, serves as a fine introduction to the period. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. III #1 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1981 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com