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Most discipline & well train army in history..

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  • Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post
    Guinessman


    1. Excellent choice for a name!!!

    2. And those are two really fine examples of cohesive units. I thought of the paras but I must admit I didn't think about the Knights Templar (my Jesuit teacehrs would be VERY annoyed about my overlooking that group!)

    The choice of name came very easily, cheers!

    In all fairness I think the Knights Templar have had a bit of an unjustly-deserved bad rep. Certainly the only movie about the Crusades in recent years was rather unfavourable to them (Kingdom of Heaven or whatever it was called). Still, the Templars always seemed to have a bit of a problem with their popular image...... think I'll make a new addition to my list of things to do if time-travel becomes a reality - nip back to 1120 or so and tell Hugh De Payne to get a good PR expert, preferably from France ;)

    Was the Swiss Pike already mentioned?
    Don't think so. Good call though. Weren't they banned from hiring themselves out as mercenaries in a treaty at some point? My European history for that time period is a bit shaky to say the least....

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    • The pike was used by both the Landsknechten and the Swiss mercenaries. A lot is written about the latter, there are even rumours that they used Stalin-style tactics of "kill anyone whose eyes you can see" to keep them in line. Read that somewhere on NetSword, can't confirm it, through.
      The Swiss were indeed forbidden to work for anyone except the papacy.

      As for any objections (I can foresee them coming in the future) that pikemen weren't well trained and the like, I can say: It takes a lot of courage (or a pike in your back!) to stand in formation when horsemen charge upon you.
      As for their training: to maintain the hedgehog formation required North Korean Military Parade-style coordination, especially on uneven terrain.

      Only the arrival of the musket was a weapon against the mighty pike, and even then it continued it's use. Except on rough terrain where the hedgehog might fall apart, one had no chance of breaking it without severe casualties.

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