| Manufacturer | Dark Dream Studio |
| Number of figures in the kit | 30 |
| of which: | |
| number of foot soldiers | 30 |
| number of poses | 10 |
The 16-th century was rich in historical events (the Reformation, the Renaissance era), in great leaders (Martin Luther, Elizabeth the First) and in unremitting military conflicts. Hundreds of guns and thousands of foot and mounted soldiers took place in many battles. And the most distinctive ones both for their courage and appearance were landsknechts.
It's a pity that manufacturers pay very little attention to such an interesting epoch. That's why it was a big surprise when I saw this kit on sale.
The time frame of the kit is set for 16-17 centuries by its manufacturer. That isn't accurate because the landsknechts' decline began from the second half of the 16 c. By the end of the century they practically disappeared from battlefields. One of the last battles which they took place in was the battle of Ivry in 1590 [2, p.60]. Even the word "landsknecht" was gradually disappearing, being replaced by "kaiserlicher Fussknecht" - "imperial soldier" [3, p.33]. By the fact, it was in 1486 when the name "landsknecht" appeared as the name of a foot soldier superior to his Swiss counterpart [1, p.14, 2, p.7].
Now let's look closer at figures from the kit. We've got ten different soldiers, five of which represent harquebusiers and five with two-handed swords - the so called "doppelsoldners". The later were more experienced troops and their high skills were appreciated in a typical to 16 century way - a double salary (8 guilders compared with 4 received by a common soldier). Because of a higher wage "doppelsoldners" had an opportunity to buy better equipment, including armour. The kit reflects this historical fact - all figures that have armour are "doppelsoldners".
Speaking about them we should mention that they made up to 25% of men in a "fahnlein" (a company of 400 landsknechts). There duties were to guard the company's banner and a captain, in a battle order they took place in the first and the last rows of a square formation so that it could be easily moved in a proper direction [2, p.21, 3, p.5].
After such a short remark about "doppelsoldners" let's study arms, armour and costume of the figures - it will give us some information to date them more precisely.
Firearms are represented by a matchlock harquebus typical to late 15 - 16 centuries. This device was too slow to load and to speed up the process of loading a bandolier came in use. According to pictorial sources it was widely spread in the second quarter of 16 c. [4, pp.19, 21, 24, 48-49]. Three harquebusiers from the kit have bandoliers. But once again according to those pictorial sources not all men had up-to-dated equipment. The famous painting "The siege of Alesia" made by Melchior Feselen in 1533 shows us gunners with different kinds of firearms, some of which rather old-fashioned. But these gunners and landsknechts depicted on other miniatures have one piece of equipment that isn't represented in our kit. It's a round powder-gourd that the manufacturer forgot about. Such a gourd was worn either on the back [5, p.327] or on the chest [4, p.19].
All soldiers from the kit have a short sword called "katzbalger" as a secondary weapon. This sword with an 8-shaped hilt became one of typical features of a landsknecht's appearance. "Doppelsoldners" are armed with heavy two-handed swords. Both swords are done historically accurate.
Armour as I've already mentioned is worn by "doppelsoldners" only. One of them has a smooth cuirass, small fauld of steel loops and small tassets. Such armour can be seen in 1500-1530s [2, pp.10, 52, 3, plate G, 4, p.19]. Other two soldiers have mail colliers, fluted cuirasses and long tassets made in a "lobster" way. These armour suits are typical to 1540s [2, plate C, p.45].
There is a classical "slashed" costume that can be seen on all figures. Such slashes, as John Richards suggests, appeared for decoration purposes no later the beginning of the 16 c. [2, p.30-32]. The tendency to decorate closes in an extravagant way reached its highest mark when the so called "pluderhose" (the huge baggy hose) came in use. First they were put on by landcknechts of prince Moritz of Saxony in 1553 [3, p.36]. The absence of this hose in the kit allows us to date figures' costume at the first half of the 16 c.
Now, when we consecutively looked through soldiers' equipment we can date our landsknechts at the period of Italian wars - the first half of the century.
The kit's quality is quite good. There is little flash. Though there is a ridge because of misaligning of the mould, it isn't too big to be immediately noticed. Small details are moulded well enough, keeping in mind how difficult it was to mould "slashed" dress. Faces and hair are done especially meticulous. Mail texture and feathers can be easily recognized.
It's a good idea to mould hats apart of figures so that we could choose whether to put them on soldiers' heads or on their backs. But there is one problem. Look, there is one hole on figure's back and one hole on a hat's top. If we put a hat on a head, the hole on a back will remain and vice versa. The solution is easy - cut a lug either from a hat or from a head and put it into an extra hole.
Some moulding defects still exist and that's because plastic is too soft. Sometimes it seems to me that the figures are made not of plastic, but of rubber. As a result it is quite hard to remove flash and a ridge. You need a very sharp knife to do that.
And one more thing to say. All figures don't stay steadily. It doesn't matter when you put them on a table, but using them on a wargaming battlefield can be annoying.
The kit is packed in a standard ORION box. There is a good illustration on its front side. You can use it as a painting scheme because there is none in the kit. The back side depicts images of all unpainted figures in and without hats. The manufacturer showed which figures are "doppelsoldners" by giving those personal numbers. By the way the word "doppelsoldner" is written with the second "o" with two points on it (my site doesn't support German fonts, so I can't write some terms in a proper way).
The pose number provides a good impression. We've got 10 poses to 30 figures. And having changeable hats, we can vary the soldiers' appearance a lot more.
The pose quality isn't that good. On one hand they are quite dynamic. On the other hand it seems they are petrified. It's their legs that are to be blamed for. The sculptor made them so straight that the soldiers look like they grow in the ground. There are also some small faults. Those "doppelsoldners" that are hacking with their swords are going to hit their enemy flatways. Landsknechts loading their harquebuses are looking forward though it is more natural for them to look on their weapons.
The kit has a lot of small details. The "slashed" dress is recognizable. It was a hard task to do all these numerous slashes and bands but the manufacturer achieved this goal. I must say a few good words about figures' faces. They have very natural expressions. Looking on them you feel the spirit of true landsknechts. A small fault also exists - all but one gunner haven't got ramrods.
When you are painting this kit, you face a challenge and get a satisfaction. The figures aren't so easy to paint due to their "slashed" costume, so you have to use all your skills while working with a brush. But after you've finished one figure you'll see how impressive it looks. And painting further figures will bring you a feeling of deep satisfaction.
The wargaming suitability of this kit gets a high mark. You can easily reconstruct landsknechts infantry using the figures from the kit (saying so I keep in mind the fact that the kit of landsknechts-pikemen is on sale). May be there should be halberdiers, officers or musicians in this kit. But according to the fact it's a first kit devoted to European warfare in 16 c., we should not criticize it for lack of mentioned soldiers.
It's a pity a kit cannot be used for reconstruction of any other European army. There are too many typical features of landsknechts that figures from our kit have. But landsknechts served not only in armies of the Holy Roman Empire, but also under French command (battles of Ravenna and Novara) and even fought for Danish king in Sweden.
Now it's a time for some conclusion. The first kit of DARK DREAM STUDIO on Renaissance warfare appeared fine. It's obvious that the manufacturer drew our attention to this kit not only with a rare theme but also with a good quality. And we all won from it.
1. H.Delbruck "Geschichte der Kriegskunst in Rahmen der politischen Geschichte". Vol.IV (Russian edition) 2. J.Richards, G.Embleton "Landsknecht soldier, 1486-1560" 3. D.Miller, G.Embleton "The Landsknechts" 4. A.Konstam, G.Turner "Pavia 1525. The climax of the Italian wars" 5. W.Boeheim "Handbuch der Waffenkunde" (Russian edition)
| Historical accuracy | 5,0 |
| Kit’s quality | 4,0 |
| Appearance | 4,0 |
| Wargaming | 4,5 |
| Overall rating: | 4,5 |