These battles and campaigns make one think of tercios of pike and shot, black reiters boot to boot, of sashes and arquebus and slashing cavalry charges. Of slow ponderous cannons and light pieces with swivels. Of plague and looting. Hangings for no reason and recruiting defeated mercenaries after the battle. One thinks of great armies, such as Gustavus's with colored regiments and Finns. Of the Imperial cuirassiers and tercios. Also to mind comes great generals: Gustavus, Tilly, Pappenheim, Wallenstein, Spinola, and many more including the intriguing and diplomacy of Richelieu. These armies and generals will live forever in our minds. As for figures, Hal has described them all in a recent volume. I use mostly Essex and some Museum. I have the colored regiments and I don't care if the actual colors were just the flags, my guys have colored uniforms. A general's coach, light guns, black reiters, it's all there. So line up your mercenaries and return to a different world of almost 4 centuries ago. Back to MWAN #102 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1999 Hal Thinglum 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