Slitherine

Couple mates and I are deciding which list books we want to buy for starters , I love the later armies so Duty and Glory is one. Now we are deciding whether or not we should get the book with the Early armies (ie Condotta and French wars of Religion), are these Pike heavy armies any good in open tourney? I would think their Gendarmes would at least pack a decent punch.

Thanks in advance for any input

The Gendarmes will suffer against Pistol armed Cavalry, the POA for Lance does not apply against them and the Sword POA will not count in melee if the Pistols are steady. They will gain some benefit from their heavier armour, but note it will not count against some troops, such as those with muskets. The big pike blocks can be effective if they hit later formations, but they are vulnerable to shooting and prone to being pinned.

Worth noting that gendarmes armed with heavy lances will be quite dangerous to later impact mounted.

Yup, they are a point up in impact and in melee for armour. The theory seems to be that the Italian Wars French with Swiss pike is the best Swiss pike army out there. Those buggers move qwuickly at 4" a go, and don't suffer from infantry shooting so much as the slower 3" movers do.