Whilst researching for my English Civil War armies, I came across the blog Tales from a Wargaming Shed. It’s author, Tim, had some rules and army lists for using For King & Parliament to fight pike and shot battles in 17th Century Eastern Europe as opposed to just the UK’s green and pleasant land.
This, combined with the comprehensive miniatures for the theatre available from Wargamer.pl, inspired me to start a collection of Zaphorogian Cossacks to face friend Bevan’s Polish Lithuanians and then, as my collection expanded to include Muscovites, Transylvanians and others, to build on Tim’s work and the information provided in the By Fire & Sword rules by Wargamer.pl, to create more detailed army lists for For King & Parliament for the theatre.
Below, therefore, you will find pdfs of the army lists I have created so far. These are, I hasten to say again, hugely based on Tim’s work and the information provided in the By Fire & Sword rules by Wargamer.pl. All I have done is build upon their work, adding information taken from other sources (for example, the Steven’s Balagan blog) to put together enough information to get as many different eastern front '“pike and shot” armies as possible on the tabletop.
I’ve also now added some lists for armies for the Thirty Years War (1618-48): namely the Danish and the German Imperialists (who can pass as Holy Roman Empire too) which include some information from the beta lists for the period produced for the Baroque rules.
Any mistakes are my own, and I welcome corrections or suggestions (send to admin@vislardica.com).
Last updated: 10th September 2023
Some History
And here are some of the conflicts that can serve as background to your tabletop battles. These are taken from user Hwiccee’s post on Lead Adventure Forum publicising his new scenario books for the period.
The Polish Wars against Sweden (1600-1611) and Russia (1609-1618)
These two wars overlapped and were a taste of what was to come. Following on from previous wars the Swedes and Poles were fighting for control of Livonia and Estonia as well as dynastic issues. The Swedish army at this time was not very effective and the reverses of this war would inspire changes later in the century. At the same time, Russia was suffering disorder in a period called the ‘Time of Troubles’ and Poland moved to exploit this. For a time Russia and Sweden cooperated but with little success. Sweden made peace and left Russia to suffer alone and both wanted revenge in the future.
The Ottoman War of 1620-1621
The roots of this war lay in the struggle for the overlordship of Moldavia. This had been contested between the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Ottomans for some time and was complicated by the involvement of the Transylvanian Prince Bethlen. This prompted the Ottomans to invade Moldavia to stop Commonwealth meddling. After initial success, the Ottomans were halted at Chochim and peace was restored with little change in the situation.
The Polish-Swedish War 1626-1629
In late 1611 Gustav II Adolf became king of Sweden and immediately set about reforming the Swedish army. A process that would lead to Sweden emerging as a major power when it intervened in the Thirty Years War in 1630. After initial campaigning in the years before, a full-scale war erupted in 1626. In the following campaigns, the Swedish army developed the tactics and experience that transformed it into an effective force and transformed Sweden on the world stage.
The Smolensk War of 1632-1634
Following the death of the previous Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth king, the Russians tried to exploit this by trying to retake territory they had lost in previous wars. The Russians had reacted to previous defeats and in this new war large numbers of ‘Western style’ units would be fielded in their army. Although the new army had little success this war marked Russia’s progress towards modernising their army.
The Khmelnytsky Revolt 1648-1657
In 1648 the Cossacks under Khmelnytsky revolted against the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. The success of the Cossacks quickly lead to others attacking the Commonwealth and the period know as ‘The Deluge’. In the early stages of the revolt the Cossacks and their Crimean Khanate (the Tatars) allies fought the Commonwealth forces in an attempt to secure independence. Cossack reverses soon made this difficult to achieve and Khmelnytsky looked for aid from elsewhere before withdrawing temporarily from the growing series of wars.
The Swedish Deluge 1655-1660
Sweden had in theory been at war with the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth for some time but had not actively prosecuted it. As the situation in the Commonwealth disintegrated during 1654 with the Russian intervention in the ongoing conflict with the Cossacks and Tatars the Swedes saw an opportunity for themselves. Assembling a strong force the Swedes invaded the Commonwealth in 1655 and against weak opposition swept all in front of them. The hard-pressed Commonwealth was defeated by the Swedes and their Brandenburg Prussian allies and the situation looked very grim as other opponents also made significant advances. At this point the situation was transformed by politics and intrigue. Sweden soon got involved in the series of wars which were called the Second Northern War involving Denmark and other Western nations. While the opponents of the Commonwealth started fighting and intriguing amongst themselves.