Posing Pikemen

[peteratjet]

I'm quite impressed by the visual effect of a pike block with the sarrissas sloping forward. They look like they mean business. However, the Xyston phalangites I'm ever-so-slowly preparing and painting are all of the vertical at-rest variety.

How do other manufacturers compare in 15mm? (probably smaller than the milk-fed Xyston figures, I know)
Donnington, I believe, do at-slope figures.

It's possible that the Xyston minis' right arms could be tweaked down with pliers into a pike-leveled posture (the shield is held too low to hold the pike at the slope), but with the left hand inside the shield there's no way I can see to attach the pike to both left and right hands.

[Ghaznavid]

Not sure angled pikes are actually an idea to bother with. While Pike blocks with pikes at 45° or leveled certainly look good they are much less convincing if you play with them. Placing bases into frontal contact with such pike blocks is usually physically impossible as the pikes get in the way. If more then the front rank has angled pikes even getting the bases of the BG to fit together is already a challenge. You usually need to base all minis slightly offset to the ones in front. As a result the BG will often fit only in one specific configuration. Finally chances are that there is no way to create an actual column consisting of more then one pike BG.

Basically if you paint your minis mainly for display, go for it. If you want them mainly to play with, it's better to stick with the upright pikes.

[batesmotel]

Not sure angled pikes are actually an idea to bother with. While Pike blocks with pikes at 45° or leveled certainly look good they are much less convincing if you play with them. Placing bases into frontal contact with such pike blocks is usually physically impossible as the pikes get in the way. If more then the front rank has angled pikes even getting the bases of the BG to fit together is already a challenge. You usually need to base all minis slightly offset to the ones in front. As a result the BG will often fit only in one specific configuration. Finally chances are that there is no way to create an actual column consisting of more then one pike BG.

Basically if you paint your minis mainly for display, go for it. If you want them mainly to play with, it's better to stick with the upright pikes.

For what it's worth, I currently have Donnington and Mike's Models pikemen with angled pikes and have not found them to be a problem for use on the table. I have some Old Guard pikemen on order from ebay so will see with those. I much prefer the appearance of angled pikes to vertical ones and while figures with the front rank pikes completely horizontal and following ranks angled look very nice, these do suffer from all the issues that Ghaznavid mentions.

[nikgaukroger]

I also have some Donnington ones and have found the angled pikes OK - the problems really come when both sides in a combat have such figures.

I also have the first 2 ranks on a double base which helps with ranking up.

[Redpossum]

You know, the first time I saw a big block of pikes in a photo from a tournament, my immediate thought was, "Damn, I bet it's a pain to transport those without bending or breaking them..."

[BrianC]

You know, the first time I saw a big block of pikes in a photo from a tournament, my immediate thought was, "Damn, I bet it's a pain to transport those without bending or breaking them..."

Possum that is an understatement. I just played a game Friday using pikes and found it difficult to just move them and then had to worry about not bending the long pointy things. Those things hurt when you catch them the wrong way Need more practice with them. I am beginning to be a pike fan.

Brian

[MarkSieber]

I have 15mm/18mm pike figures from a variety of manufacturers. The wire pikes are definitely sturdier: lead gets bent, bend it enough times and it breaks. That said, most of my pikemen have survived decades of play without problem. Only those with leveled pikes (old Minifigs) cause any trouble getting up close on-table.

Old Glory makes pikemen holding the pikes at an angle (at least for the Hellenistic period) which are pre-cut wire supplied with the figures. The angle is a little bit closer to vertical than 45 degrees, and differs between the elites and the regular pikemen, the latter being maybe 5 degrees further from vertical. The hands need drilling out to accommodate the wire. The shields are molded as part of the figure.

Xyston figures have separate shields, and require hand drilling as well--you need to supply your own wire pikes (or buy their spear pack.)

The OG wire is of a much thinner gauge than that on the Xyston or most home-made pikes I've seen, but it works out well in practice. If you're matching them to other figures with lead pikes or heavier wire you may want to supply your own. There is some--not a lot of--room for larger wire in drilling out the hands.

It's a trade off--if you don't like drilling and gluing, the molded pikes are actually pretty sturdy if you're careful. They are typically rather shorter than the proportional scale, however--from 2x to 2.25 x the height of the figure (although Essex medieval pike tend to be longer.)

The wire is more durable, but takes the extra work. As for length, I trim the Old Glory pikes to around 2.5x to 2.75x the height of the figure, because they are quite long as they come--which may be accurate, but it's unwieldy on table and in the carry drawers.