Historical Parallels With The Empire And The Real World

[fantasard]

The following article is from 'Black Grimoire', a sister site to fantasard podcast. It supports upcoming podcast episodes (4 in total throughout July) that look at The Empire:

[url]http://black-grimoire.blogspot.com/[/url]

[url]http://fantasard.blogspot.com/[/url]


As any Empire player in Warhammer Fantasy knows, the forces of the Empire are based around a core of State Troops. Working class men (and no doubt some women too, Reg) who strain every sinew fighting for the survival of the Empire and the future of the human race itself offer a very impressive sight, and seeing a large force of Empire troops on the battlefield is truly magnificent. But are there any historical parallels between the Empire and the Real World?

A brief look at the forces of Emperor Karl Franz (the Warhammer Emperor) tells us that the basic design of the army is based firmly in the early to middle part of 17th Century Europe. In many ways they reflect the period of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). This War raged across Europe and pulled in forces from Sweden, Spain, France, Bohemia and many others. There is also a nod in the direction of the English Civil War, with the fancy design of the Empire horse in particular.

The core of troops fighting during the real 17th Century was the Pikeman, with detailed instructions surviving to this day regarding how to get the best out of a unit of them. The Spanish ‘Tercio’ formation of the 15th and 16th Century had altered the way of battlefield tactics, with a mix of swords and later Musketeers, but it was the Pike that dominated many a battlefield, and some Kingdoms were lost over the ‘Push of Pike”. The more interesting Halberd, or ‘Swiss Voulge’, was the next escalation in weapon design. This weapon had an axe head as well as a sharp point, and was used two handed. It was a cheap weapon to produce but like a Swiss knife it had a variety of uses. It could be used to push, as the Pikes had done, or hook cavalry off of their mounts, or be used as a slashing weapon, and if reinforced with a metal sheath (as many were) it was great at blocking sword attacks. These heavy weapons get a first round bonus in Warhammer to reflect this advantage!

It was the coming of ‘black powder’ weapons that eventually wore down the usefulness of the Pike and the Halberd, a facet reflected in Warhammer, where the Empire Pikeman or Halberdier is a cheap option, but not necessarily the best one, for a budding Empire General. The musket of the 17th Century was an unwieldy beast at best, often requiring a support for the heavy barrel. The time taken to load and fire was long, and in the heat of battle miss fires were a constant worry, and of course the barrel was not yet rifled so their range and accuracy was limited. Nevertheless, the Musket had a profound impact on the way warfare was carried out and a volley of lead ball could decimate the most courageous foe, so greater care was needed when maneuvering troops around the field, something that Warhammer recreates very well.

While on the subject of black powder, the appearance of Cannon and Mortar on the battlefield in the late middle ages had changed the face of warfare, and in the Warhammer World, this is reflected in the strength of the artillery train. Historically cannon were used to soften up the enemy, and the noise and smoke could be as frightening as the exploding cannister or shot! The cannons used in the 17th century were more reliable than their Warhammer counterparts, which are very prone to catastrophic explosion at the most inopportune moment. During the sieges of the Thirty Years War, cannon and small mortars were used to bombard forts and stockades with great success. No Empire commander should ignore the black powder weapons produced by the great forges of the City State of Nuln, including the more fantastical weaponry that is available.

No Warhammer Empire army would be complete without the heroic Imperial Knights, thundering along in close formation ready to crash into the enemy in a mess of hooves, blood, and sharp steel. The use of Cavalry in the Thirty Years War was just as important. Apart from the role of Cavalry as a lightly armed, fast reconnaissance unit, (recreated in Warhammer with the ‘Outriders’), cavalry were the aristocracy of the battlefield, They could run down a retreating unit, use the sheer shock of their horses to break stubborn foes, and out maneuver the enemy on the flanks. This multi-tasking element is well covered in the range of horsemen available in Warhammer Fantasy, and providing you do not charge a line of cannon (yes I mean you, Lord Cardigan) the Empire Knights are great fun on the tabletop.

The Warhammer World is not meant to be an exact replica of central Europe circa 1650, but many of the uniforms are very close in design to those of Gustavus Adolphus, the great Swedish leader and his Catholic foes. Feathers feature highly, and some of these feathers can reach epic proportions. The bright multi coloured uniforms and banners also conjure up the battlefields of Breitenfeld and Nordligen. The range of Archers, Crossbows, Handgunners, and Swordsmen is vast, and when readied for battle they make a breathtaking site on the tabletop. I would guess it would only take a little ‘modding’ to produce a set of rules that would enable the recreation of many historical battles, or simply use the existing historical rules from Games Workshop . In any case, simply playing Warhammer Fantasy battles gives a great historical feel. To see an Empire Elector Count go into battle is to see Adolphus, Tilly or Waldstein take the field once more!

[Necron_Lord]

The fact that the major human army was modeled on Early Modern Europe with blackpowder weaponry and cannons has always made me like the Warhammer Fantasy setting. I was a gaming geek in the 80s, and that really set it apart from the rest. Palladium Games had some Wolf-like humanoids that resembled the Roman Empire which was pretty cool, but most were your standard medieval setting. Bretonnia fills that niche for Warhammer.

I agree, the time period for The Empire was an interesting one from a distance (I can do without the grime, disease, poor nutrition, etc, thank you), and Warhammer allows one to experience that time with monsters and magic as well. It also made me want to learn German so I could spend a summer in Germany in college, which I did. Of course, now that I'm a Skaven player, I wish nothing but bad things to happen to those wretched, surface-dwelling man-things! ;D

[fantasard]

The fact that the major human army was modeled on Early Modern Europe with blackpowder weaponry and cannons has always made me like the Warhammer Fantasy setting. I was a gaming geek in the 80s, and that really set it apart from the rest. Palladium Games had some Wolf-like humanoids that resembled the Roman Empire which was pretty cool, but most were your standard medieval setting. Bretonnia fills that niche for Warhammer.

I agree, the time period for The Empire was an interesting one from a distance (I can do without the grime, disease, poor nutrition, etc, thank you), and Warhammer allows one to experience that time with monsters and magic as well. It also made me want to learn German so I could spend a summer in Germany in college, which I did. Of course, now that I'm a Skaven player, I wish nothing but bad things to happen to those wretched, surface-dwelling man-things! ;D

Skaven? They're myth, aren't they?

:/

Team Fantasard

PS - 4 Episodes in July all Empire focused...

[condottiere]

Speaking from the Tilean perspective, the Old World/Empire is a mixture of Late Renaissance and Early Baroque in feel and imagery; heavy cavalry is plate armoured gendarmes, spears are not pikes (and I would know), halberds are second wave frontline weapons for when things get bogged down, da Vincian designs seem anachronistic by the time of the Great Armada and outside a few specialized units nurtured by the French with varying degrees of effectiveness, only the English and the Welsh could effectively field a long bow force.

[eldargal]

Not quite, the Empire is based on the Holy Roman Empire 1450-1550, not thirty years war period. Landsknechts, huge firearms, puff and slash etc. There are other inspirations there too but it is primarily 1450-1550 HRE. The artillery of Warhammer has much more in common with the artillery of the early fifteenth century as well, being cosiderably more unreliable. Though interestingly enough earlier artillery was in some cases more advanced, they had breech loading cannon that weren't seen again until the nineteenth century. Frightfully expensive to produce of course, which was the reson why they didn't re-emerge until industrialisation made them cheaper to mass produce.

[condottiere]

Artillery

Iron is cheap and easier to manufacture than bronze. Breechloaders were made out of iron, but were under powered, because the same amount of gunpowder couldn't be packed in due to the danger of rupture by both the barrel, and the part where they stuck on what could be described as thermos flask containing gundowder and cannon ball, and therefore was underpowered.

In comparison, because bronze was cast as a single piece, and was more flexible, it could contain greater explosive force, while still being lighter in construction. That's why, once they managed to figure out how to cast iron cannons properly, they tended to be confined to naval or positional use only, bronze cast favoured for field artillery, despite the fact they tend to be more expensive by a factor of three or four.

[eldargal]

Quite, the point is the innovation of the period in experimenting with such things fits in more with the Empire than the relatively conservative (technologically) 17th century. The breech loader was more advanced and had far more potential but they didn't have the manufacturing or quality control capacity to mass produce it. Like the wheellock, a superior mechanism to the flintlock in every respect, but requiring more maintenance and skill to produce so it didn't take off as a rank and file weapon.

[fantasard]

Interesting stuff guys, although I still see a LOT of parallels with the English Civil War...New Modal Army Pikes? Cromwell cavalry looking very much like Outriders, Hangunners taking the role of the musketeers at Marston Moor, even the Cannon, although slightly more advanced. All this in 1642 onwards....

I take the point about the costume...very 15th/16th century dandy

The main point is how good an Empire army can look on the board!

[condottiere]

Artillery

If you want to discuss innovation, Dwarven guns are far more interesting, whether field or naval.

The field piece looks like a short barreled, rifled, breechloading howitzer, possibly iron but I'm more inclined to believe constructed from steel, I'd also wonder if they weren't using shells instead of balls (despite the fact that shells don't tend to bounce).

The naval versions on their ironclads might also be breechloaders, though there are no visual clues.

[UltramarineFan]

I think it's this parallel with real world history that can make warhammer fantasy really appeal to us history buffs. The fact that you can then throw in monsters and magic just makes it even better imo!