If you think your Pike & Shotte army has everything you could possibly want, we here at Warlord Games want you to rethink that opinion. The latest release for our Pike & Shotte range can be used for many things – organised Clubmen units (formal militia), angry villagers, or work equally well for games involving Pirates or other similar periods of history!
Now that we’ve whetted your appetite we’ve asked Warlord Games’ very own distinguished Gentleman, John ‘Clubmaster’ Stallard to give us a bit of insight into these foul peasants… err, excellent troops. Take it away John…
England in 1642 was a land of peace and sea of tranquility compared to the horrors of the Continent’s terrible 30 Years War. So when the King and Parliament fell out and fisticuffs spread throughout the land it was like a bolt out of the blue…
No doubt most thought it would all be over by Christmas, but the war dragged on and on and, as usual, it was the commonfolk who suffered the most. Raiding parties from both sides waged a small war as a fight for supplies and personal plunder took hold of the soldiery who were, it is fair to say, often poorly provided for. This became too much for the good yeoman people of the midlands, and firstly in Worcestershire, then the West Country, the locals organised…
Led most often by their social betters, the villagers and small townsfolk formed associations, or ‘Clubs’, sworn to defend their livestock, beer and persons from any marauding soldiery whomever they were. They armed themselves from whatever was available, largely agricultural tools, and with whatever other weapons the local squirearchy could avail himself of. Some Clubmen groups even fielded cavalry!
They fought a few actions, seeing off small raiding parties, and even sometimes allied with an army for temporary advantage, though no general could count on the goodwill of these bands for long.
So Warlord present a savage looking bunch of villagers, led by their handsome squire (directly above), mustering on the village green before marching off to ‘beat the bounds’ of their parish and see off any intruders. You can purchase these rugged new miniatures right now in the Warlord webstore.
Dan Hewitson
Josh Berridge