Because they could not afford to buy it, the Swiss wore little or no armour, quickly realising that the greater mobility so afforded them made it possible to out-march, out-manoeuvre and act characteristically upon the offensive against heavily armoured opponents. Against the slow-moving, sprawling mediaeval forces they encountered, their compact manoeuvrability allowed them to bring overwhelming force to bear at a given point. In his book "Art of War" Machiavelli praises the Swiss rapidity of movement, saying: "No troops were ever more expeditious on the march, or in forming themselves for battle, because they were not overloaded with armour." Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 112 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1971 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com