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Games Workshop - Warhammer Historical
Armies of Chivalry
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Personally I have always had an interest in the Medieval period, and in the good old days (pre-marriage, kids and divorce) I had a pretty large collection of models, over 5000 in fact, representing european armies of the 14/15th centuries.
I was fascinated by the heraldry, and the stories of courage and struggle against the odds such as Crecy and Agincourt, but most of all I was inspired by a French TV series called the Poisoned Crown, based on the novels of Maurice Druon. These tore away the civilized façade of medieval warfare, and cast the idea of the chivalric knight into the dustbin, and replaced him with a bloodthirty, brutal killer, terrorising the peasantry of France.
Given my interest in the period then, and the fact that, unlike most Ancient armies, I have some knowledge of the armies involved I was looking forward to reviewing the latest release from the Warhammer Historical library. And I have to say, even though you should never judge a book by its cover, the first impressions were favourable.
The cover artwork by Guiseppe Rava is superb, portraying a mass mounted charge of French Knights, the perfect, if fanciful, image of medieval warfare.
But what of the content? Well the format is familiar, a section of the general rules with clarifications to take account of special weapons such as artillery. Then a list of armies, which is fairly comprehensive in regard to the European scene, with the 100 Years War covering not only the English and French armies, but also the Scots. The mercenary Free companies feature, as do the Condottierri, Low Countries, and Holy Roman Empire. The authors then cast their eyes to the east and include the Poles, Teutonics, Balkan and Russian troop types with the Ottoman Turks and Late Byzantines thrown in for good measure.
The later army types also feature with war of the Roses, Burgundians and French Ordonnance making their appearance. I like the special rules in this section, and see what you think of the “chicken” rule (if you want to know, you will have to buy the book!). Also featured is a list the Hussites, though with a dearth of special rules, and for the Swiss, featuring command by committee!
So if you are a WAB gamer this volume is essential; but is there enough in here to tempt the medieval gamer to invest in the supplement and check out the main rules. We I think so. There does seem to be a genuine attempt to capture the flavour of the period and characteristics of the armies in the lists. And of course the volume is filled out with a series of excellent photographs of some superbly painted models, and a selection of medieval banners for your army.
Recommended.
ISSBN 1 84154 504 x
Format Glossy softback, A4
Price £15.00
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