Soldats

While pikemen were all the rage in Western Europe during the 16th and most of the 17th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth never deployed native units of pike and they were a relatively late addition to Moscow's army, being part of the "New Pattern" units of soldats ("soldiers") fielded after Mikhail Romanov was crowned Tzar Mikhail I in 1613 (thus ending the so-called Time of Troubles (1598-1613) which saw Moscow temporarily occupied by the Commonwealth and a Polish Tzar installed).  So, what the heck are supposedly Kislevite pikemen doing in the army of the Ice Queen of Kislev?

Well, let's start with the fact that the figures, made by the Assault Group, are really cool.  They have a wonderful line of Renaissance 28mm figures, including Russians and Poles (they also have some of White Knight's castings as well).  While the scale is a bitter smaller than the traditional Citadel 28mm's, they are still compatible and won't look out of place.

Second, I think some pikemen could be very useful out on the steppe, as long as their flanks are covered.  They can maneuver pretty well across largely flat, open, terrain and they are pretty tough to take down because they fight in four ranks and strike first in the initial round of close combat (except against units with magical or special first attack ability), and they are +1 STR in the first round of melee with cavalry, thus giving the Ice Queen a solid, defensive block around which to build her army (thanks Dogs of War army list!).

So, how plausible is it for the Ice Queen to field native Kislevite pikemen (as opposed to some disreputable and possibly unreliable Tilean Dogs of War unit)?  Well, the Kislev fluff in Warhammer Chronicles 2004 and White Dwarf Kislev supplement both say that Katarin's father Boris "the Red" rebuilt Kislev, which had still not recovered from the Great War Against Chaos by, among other things, hiring foreign mercenaries to retrain Kislev's army.  The WHFRP supplement, The Realm of the Ice Queen, says that in one place, but in another states that it was actually Boris' father (and Katarin's grandfather) Vladimir who began the rebuilding and that Boris merely continued the work his father had begun. 

More importantly, however, the Realm of the Ice Queen tells us that Eringrad has a large Tilean quarter and that Tilean mercenaries are frequently hired there.  Given that Tilea is supposedly the "land of the pike" it isn't too hard to imagine that Tilean pikemen were contracted at some point to teach Kislevites how to wield those massive weapons against the forces of the Dark Gods.

So there you have it!  Now some time for close-ups:

Here are close-up of the musician and the commander.  I painted the commander in a livery opposite that of the rest of the unit to make him stand out and provide some contrast to what will be a 36 man unit (6x6) mostly in red.  As you can see, he appears to be rather young and is most likely the son of some wealthy merchant or penniless minor noblemen seeking the Tzarina's favor (The Realm of the Ice Queen and the Ambassador Chronicles teach us that the Boyars of Kislev are a haughty lot who make every effort to keep apart from and over commoners, so any young Boyar would be much more likely to join a prestigious rota of winged lancers or maybe even the Gryphon Legion). 

Here is a close-up of what appears to be an NCO, perhaps the Color Sergeant.  I've given him greyish hair to mark him as a veteran with many years' service.  One wonders what he thinks of his young commander!

Here is a close-up of the standard bearer.  The standard is a cut down pike.  I didn't get a chance to work on the banner this weekend, but it will be a great bear on a blue and white field (to further break up all the red in the unit).

Here are the rank-and-file.  There are four poses and each pose has 2 head variants, one with an helmet, the other with a soft, fur-trimmed cap, for a total of 8 different figures, which allows for large units that are still characterful.

Finally, here is the link to the Assault Group: http://www.theassaultgroup-shop.co.uk/index.php

Enjoy!