17th Century Armies - Part 4 Catholic League, Bavarians and other Germans

Apologies for not pressing on with the information on early 17th Century armies.  I needed some time to get my head around the variety of different German organisational details.  Plus you all know I'm really, really bad at following stuff up!

I'm going to have to break up the information, if I don't it will be really confusing (for you and for me).  This is because, like the Spanish, these armies went through a lot of changes during the period covered.  So my game plan is to cover these armies by date and affiliation.  You might want to reread this post before starting into this one though :- Small but Perfectly Formed: Deploying foot battalia in the Thirty Years War.

As with the other armies the overall trend across the period was for infantry units to become smaller and to have a higher proportion of firearms.  Their depth also reduced as the proportion of firearms increased.  Cavalry units reduced the amount of armour worn albeit not to the same extent as some other nations and again battlefield units drew up in shallower formations as time went on.  Initially the Imperialists seem to have been heavily influenced by Spanish military doctrine, although there is some evidence from military manuals to suggest that this may have waned by the 1630s.  The Protestant states seem to have followed Dutch ideas, then Swedish before finally settling on a specifically German style which merged elements of both.

When I started these posts describing armies I grouped them as if each nationality had it's own distinct style of formations and tactics.  However,  that isn't a fully accurate way of looking at things.  The differences one from another, are as much a reflection of the army commander's views as a national style.  So Dutch formations and tactics are only "Dutch" in as far as they were devised by Maurice of Nassau, Swedish are the brain child of Gustavus Adolphus and the changes after he died derive from Horn and others.  Ideas spread as senior officers changed allegiances or drew from opponents tactics. This is particularly true of the various German combatants. So bear this in mind in what follows.

The Catholic League under Tilly (1620 - 1632)

The Catholic League and the Bavarian army were largely one and the same.  The bulk of the League's forces were Bavarian with much smaller contingents being provided by other Catholic German states, often these latter troops were mercenaries. So any discussion of the League's military is almost by default going to cover the Bavarians.

The Infantry

As I wrote in the post I linked to above Tilly was 'old school' and had a liking for deep formations derived from his service with the Spanish army and like a number of contemporary military theorists he had a mathematical basis for how he drew up his infantry.    Initially it seems likely that he draw up in the same formation described by Gerat Barry with a square of pike surrounded on all sides by shot.  Certainly the Snayers' painting of the Battle of the White Mountain shows troops in this formation.  By the time of the Battle of Breitenfeld he seems to have decided to go for some extra width, the double battalion deployment.  

Breitenfeld 1631 from behind the Swedish lines (Matthäus Merian the Elder)

The image above shows the Catholic League foot pushing forward on the Swedish left (where the Saxons had been deployed). This near contemporary engraving of The Battle of Breitenfeld shows that the Catholic League infantry formations all seem to be wider than they are deep while the Imperials seem to be almost squares.  This may be artistic license but it does support the idea that by 1631 Tilly was deploying his foot in double battalions with twice as many files as ranks.  What this means is that the depth of a formation (Ranks) would determine the width of the formation (Files).  He also appears to have continued with the tactic of having some shot deployed across the front of the pike block.   Whether he continued with shot lining the rear of the pike is unclear,  I'd be tempted to say that he did though.  I have read in a couple of tertiary sources that Tilly said that the wings of shot should not be wider than 20 files but I have not found a primary source to confirm this.  

Unfortunately all of the above makes it difficult to be definitive about the exact width and depth of infantry formations as those were related to the headcount of the unit!  What makes it easier for us wargamers is that we can assume that formations were of around 2,000 men (based upon numbers at Breitenfeld in 1631).  If that's incorrect at least it gives a point of individuality so Catholic League troops are that bit different to other armies.  Everything I have found shows that Tilly's Infantry would have been 1:1 pike to shot ratio formations with at least the front ranks being equipped with the lighter Arquebus (caliver in English usage).  I rate the Infantry as well trained and experienced

The Cavalry

The cavalry is easier to deal with.  During this period the main strike force would be Cuirassiers supported by Harquebusiers.  Tilly did not consider Harquebusiers as 'Battle Cavalry' and was shocked by the aggressive use of these more lightly armoured horse by the Swedes.  Tilly saw the role of Harquebusiers as providing fire support, shooting at the enemy so as to soften them up ready for the Cuirassiers to charge home.  That said the Cuirassiers could also be used in the same way and standing off using fire and retire tactics was very common, while Harquebusiers would charge home if the enemy looked to be weakened. 

Cuirassiers deployed in deep formations of between five or six ranks according to Basta increasing to ten ranks if you accept Wallhausen's opinion.  Unit sizes varied but seem to have averaged between 200 - 400 officers and men, although some larger units are recorded, of up to 800 or so.  This doesn't mean units fought in those larger numbers more likely they would be split to form two squadrons.  

Although the tactic of caracoling is often mentioned it was not the equivalent of the ancient Cantabrian Circle or a Parthian Shot.  Instead it was more like infantry firing by Forlorn Files, a file or a rank would advance from the main body turn to the left to present their right hand to the target and fire as they were trotting past.  Firing was done with the right hand at right angles to the horse's body to minimise the risk of powder burns to the mount.

Harquebusiers could be armed with pistols and a carbine and formed amongst the cuirassier squadrons squadrons.  Their primary role was to provide additional fire support to the heavier cuirassiers but they could close to melee in support of the cuirassiers if required.  As described above they would use fire and retire tactics.  Formation sizes seem to have been similar to Cuirassier squadrons

Tilly preferred his cavalry to be in squadrons that were all of a single type.  Others commanders could have cuirassiers and harquebusiers in the same body with the more lightly armoured troopers in the rear ranks.   Whether Tilly's preference was enforced upon allied formations within armies he commanded I can't tell.  For wargaming purposes I would go with  cavalry squadrons all of one type for Tilly as it gives a point of difference from other armies.

While light cavalry (Croats and Hussars) was available they were definitely not used as battle cavalry and instead covered flanks and pursued any broken enemy.  Imperial forces were more likely to have light horse deployed on the battlefield than Catholic League forces.  All references I have found to light cavalry being used on the battlefield are referring to Imperial forces.  So I will deal with these when I get round to discussing the Imperial forces.

Dragoons

The Catholic League did have at least two Bavarian dragoon regiments but I'm struggling to find any account of them being used on a battlefield.  Given the lack of light cavalry it seems likely that they were commonly deployed away from formal battle situations fulfilling traditional light cavalry scouting roles.

Army make up and deployment

At Wimpfen in 1622 Tilly's part of the Catholic forces consisted of four large bodies of foot (2,000, 1,800, 2,200 and 2,700 strong).  Two were amalgamations of two smaller regiments to bring them up to the size Tilly wanted.  He only had two bodies of horse one of Cuirassiers and one of Harquebusiers both of around 400.  He had eight pieces of Artillery in his train  7 x 12pdrs and 1 x half-culverin.

 

A decade later at 1st Breitenfeld (1631) the Catholic League contingent consisted of six bodies of infantry five of which deployed 10 companies while the sixth we have no details of, other than it consisted of companies from two different regiments.  Given that there are considered to have been 14 battalia of foot present I have assumed each of the six deployed as an independent battalia.  This plus the eight Imperial infantry formations would work to give 14 separate bodies of foot.

Daniel S on his excellent blog page The Imperial & Leaguist army in the Battle of Breitenfeld 1631 | Kriegsbuch states that the only period account which mentions formation depth evidence clearly says they deployed 12 deep.  This matches Basta's preference in his manuals.  If deployed in double battalia they would have been 24 files wide giving a total head count of only 288 men each which does not seem viable.  on the other hand if each company mustered between 150 and 200 men the battalia would have been in the range of 1,500 to 2,000 men each closer to those deployed at Wimpfen.  We do know that one Imperial battalia of 10 companies mustered 1,800 men so that range seems reasonable.  This would require 150 files if they deploy 12 deep.  Which gives a much more linear formation than the woodcut images suggest.  Something seems wrong here.  

Starting from the other end and assuming double battalia was used by Tilly at Breitenfeld and that each battalia was in the close order of 1,800 men we get 60 files by 30 ranks (i.e. double frontage to depth) still far deeper than the reported 12 ranks.  On the other hand the old system of using square roots would give each company of 180 a square root of 13 so 13 files by 13 ranks (with the usual handful of spare bodies left over to guard the colours).  However that still gives a frontage of 130 files.  I'm beginning to wonder if the stated depth only covered the pike block and discounted any shot deployed across the front and rear of the formations.  The simple answer id we will never know for certain and so will have to use abstractions when drawing up our little lead infantrymen!

 As for the cavalry the League had four regiments of Cuirassiers and one of Arquebusiers at Breitenfeld.  Again my reading lists the number of companies in each but not the total headcounts.  Assuming an average of 50 troopers per company it would give formations of an average of 350 men each but a range of between 450 and 250.

Fortunately for me my new favourite rules Through the round window take a very broad brush approach to formation sizes, and I'm beginning to see why!

The Catholic League after Tilly (1632 - 1635) and the Bavarians from 1635

After Tilly died of his wounds in 1632 command of the Catholic League's forces passed to Johann von Aldringen.   He was was killed in action in 1634 and the League itself was dissolved in 1635 following the Peace of Prague.  Thereafter all Catholic German forces were to be united with the Imperial Army although the Bavarian's, who had been the core of the League, continued to operate semi independently.

Accounts of battles after 1st Breitenfeld in1632 show that with Tilly's death the use of big infantry formations waned.  Wallenstein was on the rise and so his tactical ideas became more influential.  Which I will cover in the next blog post on this strand (honest I will get around to it at some point).

Other Catholic German state's forces after 1635

I'm assuming that they followed the same general pattern as the Catholic League until it was dissolved and then like the Imperial forces they evolved into what Roberts calls the Hybrid German style.  The first stage was probably to move to the formations used by Wallenstein.

All for now as my brains are starting to dribble out of my ears after all of the above!

Sources

Primary

A Discourse on Military Discipline - Gerat Barry published 1634.   

 Scanned version (with illustrations at A DISCOURSE OF MILITARY DISCIPLINE, ... 1634 : G. BARRY. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Count Mansfields Directions of Warr - Ernst von Mansfield London 1624

First game of the year 2026

 Well its as much a play test as a full on game.  When I was playing around with the DBA derived rules Damn Battleships Again I got to wondering about using weight of shot as a measure of the attack value of the ships.  That in turn came from something I read a while back about how much incoming fire was needed to pin or suppress a squad of infantry and once sent to ground how much was required to keep them there.  This little nugget of information was filed away somewhere at the back of my mind until I got the World War Two bug again .I started to think about what I knew of infantry tactics in the Second World War and how to reflect that in a set of rules.  

I had already set the size of infantry combat units as being the components of a section, so a 'Gun Group' with light machine gun and loader plus one other with rifle or sub machine gun and a rifle group split into two elements.  This gives the flexibility to set up a base of fire with the gun group and manoeuvre with the two rifle elements. Each element is given a factor for the weight of fire they could lay down at various range bands based upon the weapon mix deployed on that stand.  Lets call them fire points. For each fire point the base could roll 1D6 plus or minus D6 for things like cover, movement and training.  any score of six or double fives having an effect thing then would then come into play to determine the impact of the incoming fire.  Results would escalate from pinned (can't move but can shoot) through suppressed (can't move or shoot) to neutralised (No longer combat effective and removed from play).  Ground scale is 1cm to 50 yards (this may change as my ideas develop).

So to test the basic concepts for infantry combat I laid a table out on Friday and set to pitching a platoon of German Fallschirmjager against a two rifle groups (four bases) of British Infantry plus a section of Home Guard.  All set in 1940 during the fictional operation Seelowe Nord.  The scenario is that German airborne forces are converging on an airfield they are tasked with capturing.  In the way of one platoon is a small village garrisoned by the British as a defensive island.  To make it interesting I gave the British a couple of improvised armoured vehicles, a Beaverette armoured car and an Armadillo mobile pillbox (well semi mobile is a better description).

1. Starting positions.  

You can see the central area of the table in this photo.  The British defence is set up in the village and the German assault is deployed at the bottom (with the pale blue ID tags), the groups of three represent a section and the group of two is the Platoon HQ.  Neither side has mortars or artillery support.

2.  Four turns in.  White markers are spotted units (see below)

The spotting rules were dropped pretty quickly as they added unnecessary complications as spotting should be specific to a single observing unit and one or more target units, showing that would be unwieldy.  Instead I switched to a simple combined  line of sight and spotting mechanism.  Scratch the white markers here after.

As you can see in the second photo the German attack is pushing out to the flanks and the British have advanced both the Beaverette and the Armadillo to provide fire support.  The armadillo is especially useful in this as it mounts twin Lewis Guns in a concrete bunker. Armadillo armoured fighting vehicle - Wikipedia if you want to know a bit more.  It gave a really useful base of fire over on the British left.  The Beaverette is less robust but more mobile Standard Beaverette - Wikipedia.

3. The shooting starts

First contact is on the British left.  The shooting rules seem to be working as intended (after a couple of tweaks) as the advancing Germans are accumulating pinned units (the yellow markers) no suppressed units as yet (those would show a red marker).  These can be removed or reduced via a morale check at the end of the turn.  So it is similar to a step loss system.  Shooting works by checking if Line of sight exists and if the target can be seen it can be fired upon.  This then moves onto calculating the fire points being applied and rolling 1D6 per fire point less one dice if the shooter is pinned, one if the target is in soft cover and two if in hard cover.  Any six or pair of fives causes a step loss.  Units who can't clear the effects are of course more vulnerable in the next turn.  Several units may mass fire on a single target subject to target priority rules (which are not finalised as yet).

4. Closing in

As the German Fallschirmjager move towards contact on their left the Armadillo shows it worth as it suppresses the MG34 team directly to it's front.  British rifle fire pins part of the rifle section as it crosses the open ground between the woods and the defended hedge line.  Movement and firing is simultaneous so Jerry gets to return fire but will be disadvantaged next turn if they can't clear the pin and suppression effects.  That said the MG team and rifle section killed one British rifle base opening a gap in the defence of the hedge.

5. Close assault preparation

The other flank is hotting up as well as can be seen in photo 5 above.  The Fallschirmjager's HQ anti tank rifle team has advanced on the Beaverette and managed a mobility kill (white marker).  The British defence is mostly in hard cover on the German left (a log bunker in the field corner and houses) but MG fire is to be used to pin them (reducing the number of fire dice generated) which will allow the rifle team's to close in on the bunker.  A close assault with rifles and grenades will follow up and clear the first defensive obstacle.  By the way the group of troops at the far end of the village sitting all forlorn in the field are casualties and are not really there).

The Germans cleared the bunker and swung around to laydown fire into the village from their left.  They finished off the beaverette but not before it had shot up a rifle group.  I did the morale tests at the end of the turn and the Germans rolled low and decided to withdraw.

I think I have some interesting concepts but I don't think it gives me anything above and beyond what Fistful of Tows (FFT3) provides.  So I will shelve the draft rules for the time being and give the slim line version of FFT3 (a fistful of T34s - a Little Wars TV variant) a go.  I will lift the force make ups from the full rules so I can use my 1940 stuff again.  So watch this space. 

Distracted....moi!

Of course I haven't been distracted.   Well not much anyway, in fact I'm confident that I can claim it isn't a case of me getting distracted but instead I'm just clearing some unpainted lead from the pile of shame.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  The distraction, oh yes , that.  It's the part painted World War Two stuff.  Well it's low hanging fruit isn't it.  Get it cleared and it is a good start to the years targets isn't it?  A platoon of Fallschirmjager some armour and support vehicles has now crossed the painting table, been based and is ready to go.

About a decade ago I read an entertaining book by a chap called Andy Johnson called 'Seelowe Nord' covering a what if version of Operation Sealion, itself very much a what if scenario of course, in which the landings happen on the Yorkshire coast between Scarborough and Filey.  I lived in East Yorkshire at the time and the places being described were all very local to me so of course it triggered a bout of the old "ohhh shiney complex".  The idea of armoured combat over my local geography was too good to pass up and off went an order to Heroics and Ros with follow up fill ins from GHQ Micro Armor and Irregular Miniatures  I got a fair amount painted before other things distracted me and so the balance has languished in a box for a decade or so.  In a fit of sudden enthusiasm (see not distracted at all really, enthusiasm that's the ticket) I sorted through the stuff and got down to finishing off some vehicles and figures.

The might of the Wehrmacht!  Well perhaps not.

The British stuff has already been posted so I haven't pictured that again.  This batch are the Nasty Nazis.  Fallschirmjager with blue labels consisting of three rifle sections each of an LMG base and two rifle bases, plus platoon HQ and some support weapons attached from company level.  Two bases of 50mm mortars for the Panzer Grenadier platoon and a platoon of mighty Panzer IIs.  Recon provided by the four Armoured Cars.  The rest are part of the train for the SIG33 and StugIII batteries I already had.

I came up for air yesterday and realised that I have now completed 34 infantry figures, 22 assorted vehicles and eight assorted other bits, and it's only half past January.  Next stop East Yorkshire.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026

 So it's 2026 and we are off to the races already.  But most importantly I hope everyone who reads this has a happy, healthy and prosperous 2026.  If you are not reading this, well.......

Now to business I have completed some of the part painted GHQ armour today and the 2026 lead pile spreadsheet is updated for the first time.  Note to self perhaps I should get out more.

Looking ahead I have the main part of the next two 17th Century posts completed. I just need to add some numerical stuff and list the sources I used.  These will cover German and Holy Roman Empire forces in the Thirty Years War.  After that I'm not sure what the themes for the year will be.  Hopefully more games so more game reports.  I still have a lot of stuff to paint and base and a few things to catalogue, these are Wild West and Sci-Fi figures mainly.  So you can expect some mind numbingly boring posts of the "wot I done lately" theme.

I will be trying to get these completed this month (the two left most rows are already done)

Interestingly (or perhaps not) the half tracks (M3s I think) in the photo are the oldest castings I own (of any genre or scale) as they must have been bought back in the mid 1970's.  Trust me it shows in the sculpting and casting quality.  I suspect they are early H&R or possibly Skytrex.  They seem huge against the H&R German Kfz70 trucks so I checked the dimensions via Wikipedia.  The M3/M5/M9 half tracks were bigger than the Kfz70 by around four feet in length.  However the casting is over scale by about 10 - 12% length wise although, oddly,  the width isn't far off being correct.  I'm not sure if I should keep them as museum pieces or bin them.  I'll have a go at tarting them up and see where to go from there.

The ten I have completed are early war British Cruiser tanks A9 and A10.

British Cruiser tanks 1930's designs which soldiered on until 1941-2

The A9 and A10 pictured above were very similar.  The A9 having the two MG turrets over the driver's position while the A10 did away with those as they were found to be shot traps.

This image popped up on Face Book as 12 years ago!  The original H&R order

You might recognise some of the vehicles in the above photo as being in the earlier part painted shot!  Worse than that some are still bare metal in the lead pile.  Yes dear reader, I really am that lackadaisical about painting projects.  Lets see how many I can clear in 2026 eh?  No taking bets at the back there.  Alright put down for a fiver on not all of them!

That was 2025, that was

Another year is rapidly coming to an end and joining rather more of them than I care to think about in the rear view mirror of life.  It's been a mixed year with health problems  both for myself and the esteemed Mrs E.  Mine seem to have been dealt with fairly successfully but Mrs E has appointments, potions and lotions to be attended, consumed and applied. Hopefully in that order as I'm unsure how to attend a potion!  Wargaming and modelling life has continued in the usual fashion and as usual I have reviewed the year to keep me motivated.  The key points (and I know you are gagging to know this stuff) are as follow.

The objectives I set myself were

• Complete the following DBA armies and ideally extend them to ADLG size: 
• Early Byzantine Army (its about half way there), 
• Goths (Ostro and Visi),  
• Hunnic 
• Other Germanic types (Franks, early Saxons, Lombards etc).
• Early Moors
• Finish the year with less unpainted stuff than I started with
• Rebase my 6mm British Civil war troops
• Build a couple of 2mm armies for Strength and Honour
• Play some ADLG
• Play some Strength and Honour
• Put together some sort of AI system for use in solo games

So how did I do?

The Goths, other German types and Huns can now field a m9inimum of the full 12 element DBA armies.  The other Germans achieved this by means of proxying Goths and Anglo Saxons though.  The Moors are still short of the basic DBA twelve elements but the missing figures are in the paint queue.  The Early Byzantines stalled mainly as I couldn't decide if I should buy the new Baccus figures to replace my proxy figures.  Lets call that a 3.5 from 5 score.

I finished the year with a smaller lead pile than I started it with, even with the additional figure purchases taken into account.  I started with 1,123 6mm figures and vehicles unpainted and ended with 1,080.  But during the year I had added 640 figures so the total output for the year was 683 6mm figures and vehicles.  I even reduced the world war two 6mm lead pile by a mighty eight castings!  The 25mm plus pile of shame hasn't moved although some work occurred but without anything being actually finished.  But again it is a win.

All my British Civil War figures were rebased and some unpainted ones painted and based for the first time.  I even extended the army by moving into the Thirty Year's War with new figures.  So that is a definite win.

I also created a small Russo-Japanese War naval fleet which was not on my radar for 2025, but, you know how it is, enthusiasms come (and go).

Now we come to the outright fails.  I sort of lost interest in building 2mm Strength and Honour armies partly because I saw some of Mark Backhouse's 6mm work and thought that it would be much easier to use my existing 6mm ancients for the game system.  I abandoned the solo AI system as I found a couple of existing systems that seem to have solved the issues I was getting bogged down in, not that I have bought anything as yet.

As for playing some games of Strength and Honour or ADLG.  Well what can I say I have had a very poor year for actually getting games on the table so It should come as no surprise to find I failed these objectives.  Must do better as my primary school teacher used to say.

Overall I'm happy with what I managed in 2025, I'm not getting any younger and sooner or later will have to accept that I should dial back on my hobby ambitions, but this is not that day!  So on to new objectives for 2026.

These are:

• Finish 2026 with a smaller lead pile
• Complete the following DBA armies:
• Early Byzantine
• Hunnic
• Early Moors
• Add more TYW units
• Play more games
• Add 6mm WW2 to database
• Add 6mm WW1 to the database
• Add 20mm and larger scale stuff to the database
• Add buildings, camps and other terrain to the data base

In general I want all my collection catalogued, you know just in case some has to dispose of it without my help.  I will probably not add any further DBA 6mm armies other than those listed, although I may extend some of those I already have beyond the basic DBA lists.  It seems a updated version of DBA is on the horizon and also I'm intrigued by the concepts within the new fantasy version DBF, especially the points system so I might get side tracked there.  Come on now, you know me of old, the one constant is I can never stick to a plan!

POST SCRIPT

I managed a full recount of unpainted 6mm on hand on New Year's Eve and it was slightly higher than expected at 1,143!  But the actual movement between castings added and castings completed and based still reflects a net reduction of 43 castings.  So still a win even with an extra 63 castings on hand.

These Matilda's don't waltz

For the last few years a motley bunch of early World War Two vehicles have been lurking in the deepest dankest depths of the lead pile.  Some were almost complete with others rather less so.  In a fit of unexpected enthusiasm and looking for a break from hordes of Goths I dragged some of them kicking and screaming into the light of the painting queue the other day.  I found three packs of GHQ British armour and some Heroics & Ros Germans part painted and decided that some British Matilda IIs would be a decent place to start.  They had been undercoated (probably a decade ago if I'm honest) and had had the green and black camouflage applied but nothing else.  So off to finishing school they went.

The detail on these little GHQ castings is insane

The GHQ castings are things of beauty and deserve a far better job of painting than I can muster, but as there is only me here to do the job I set to work.  Gun metal for the tracks and a light dry brush of pale sand to pick out details and suggest a layer of summer dust coupled with a thinned wash of Agrax Earthshade later and it was on to mounting them onto some bases.  These are probably only a temporary measure as they really deserve something more robust than a card rectangle but for now I'm calling these done as I'm not going to worry about adding any 6mm transfers to them.  To be honest I don't think they look to bad for a quick paint job.

Something Panzer's don't want to meet at a billabong

I have some Cruiser Mk I A9 and Cruiser Mk II A10 in the pile also from GHQ so will probably finish those off next.

It's that time of year once again

Ho Ho Ho or some such cheery greeting.  It's almost time for Jolly old Saint Nick, or Santa Claus or Father Christmas or even The Hogfather to visit.  I hope none of you are on the naughty list and that you have an enjoyable, relaxing and above all restful Christmas break (other mid winter festivals are available from the usual outlets).  Thank you for stopping by over the last twelve months and I hope you have found plenty of interest in my various ramblings.  There are more to come in the next year.  I'm off for a mince pie and a glug of Egg Nog now.

It's English Yew if you were wondering