Red Box
Italian Infantry 16 Century, Set 3 1/72 Scale Plastic Model Kit Red Box 72101
Theme: Military
Era : 1501-1799
Scale : 1/72
Material : Plastic
Series: Figures
Recommended Age Range: 12 Years & Up
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Pikemen - a type of infantry in the European armies of the 16th - early 18th centuries, armed mainly with 5-6 meter peaks (unlike the shooters - musketeers and arquebusiers, armed with firearms).
In the 15th century, the victories of the Swiss over the knightly cavalry proved the fallacy of the Western view that only horsemen can be warriors. Gradually, the custom in Western Europe to regard the infantry as a contemptible army was forgotten. For example, among the landsknechts, the tactical-administrative unit was the “badge”, with a force of 400 to 600 personnel hired by one captain, and it consisted of pikemen, halberdiers and shooters.
In the Russian army, such military personnel were called spearmen, regiments of the spear system, who on the battlefield completed the battle (battle) with their decisive actions. They appeared for the first time, in Russia, in 1550, under Tsar Ivan the Terrible, when he established a regular army of archers.
The well-coordinated formation of pikemen represented a formidable force in defense, but was distinguished by low mobility when attacking.
The mass appearance of handguns most strongly influenced the modification of the pikemen's battle order. During the period of the introduction of this weapon, the order of battle of the pikemen consisted of their bulky battalions, like a phalanx, built side by side. The pike battalions for a long time continued to be the backbone of the military battle order and were surrounded only by musketeers, who were built in five lines around the pike battalions.
By 1700, most European commanders realized that pikes and pike units were hopelessly outdated and could not participate in battle on an equal basis with other troops. Prior to that, pikemen formed an important part of the infantry troops, protecting the musketeers from cavalry attacks and serving as a strike force in hand-to-hand combat. Now pikemen faced a deep crisis: firearms killed at a distance, and with the invention of the bayonet, the need for peaks as such also disappeared. The French army disbanded its last pike units in 1703; England followed in 1704, and in 1708 the Dutch army also abandoned the use of pikemen. Only in Russia and Sweden did they continue to use pike detachments, in particular, in the Battle of Poltava, both sides actively used them. Until the 1720s, pikemen were used by Russia, which were effective against the Turkish cavalry.
Although Moritz of Saxony, the great French commander, a brilliant military leader in all (other) respects, advocated pikes as weapons as early as the 1740s, when it was already obvious that pikes were completely powerless against infantry armed with guns.
In the 15th century, the victories of the Swiss over the knightly cavalry proved the fallacy of the Western view that only horsemen can be warriors. Gradually, the custom in Western Europe to regard the infantry as a contemptible army was forgotten. For example, among the landsknechts, the tactical-administrative unit was the “badge”, with a force of 400 to 600 personnel hired by one captain, and it consisted of pikemen, halberdiers and shooters.
In the Russian army, such military personnel were called spearmen, regiments of the spear system, who on the battlefield completed the battle (battle) with their decisive actions. They appeared for the first time, in Russia, in 1550, under Tsar Ivan the Terrible, when he established a regular army of archers.
The well-coordinated formation of pikemen represented a formidable force in defense, but was distinguished by low mobility when attacking.
The mass appearance of handguns most strongly influenced the modification of the pikemen's battle order. During the period of the introduction of this weapon, the order of battle of the pikemen consisted of their bulky battalions, like a phalanx, built side by side. The pike battalions for a long time continued to be the backbone of the military battle order and were surrounded only by musketeers, who were built in five lines around the pike battalions.
By 1700, most European commanders realized that pikes and pike units were hopelessly outdated and could not participate in battle on an equal basis with other troops. Prior to that, pikemen formed an important part of the infantry troops, protecting the musketeers from cavalry attacks and serving as a strike force in hand-to-hand combat. Now pikemen faced a deep crisis: firearms killed at a distance, and with the invention of the bayonet, the need for peaks as such also disappeared. The French army disbanded its last pike units in 1703; England followed in 1704, and in 1708 the Dutch army also abandoned the use of pikemen. Only in Russia and Sweden did they continue to use pike detachments, in particular, in the Battle of Poltava, both sides actively used them. Until the 1720s, pikemen were used by Russia, which were effective against the Turkish cavalry.
Although Moritz of Saxony, the great French commander, a brilliant military leader in all (other) respects, advocated pikes as weapons as early as the 1740s, when it was already obvious that pikes were completely powerless against infantry armed with guns.
