Hagen Arquebusiers

This, without a shadow of a doubt, is the worst unit in my Imperialist army. I can remember just one occasion when they did not either fail a morale test and flee without a shot being fired (by or at them) or were beaten in combat and fled. It does not seem to matter whether I armour them, support them, stick a general nearby or anything else, they underachieve massively. More than once has the flank of my infantry line had to form a hurried hedgehog or two as these lightweights flood past them for an early shower.

The good news is that I now expect it so can plan accordingly. The bad news is that I do not paint figures to leave them in the box! Also, a certain Colonel Hagen, head of Von Sparr's Kurassiere at Lutzen, along with other officers and several men from the same unit, was executed after the battle as his unit fled the field rather too early (source: "Imperial Armies of the Thirty Years' War (2)" by Brnardic, published by Osprey). I wonder.......I have recently painted a Jesuit priest vignette for the collection, so perhaps a 28mm exorcism is in order?

The flag shows one of the traits of Imperialist (and other) flags, namely that the two sides are not identical. Later Austrian flags have this trait also, which is a great way for we wargamers to not have to worry about symmetricality! How many times has a symmetrical flag been anything but on a wargames unit??? Bonus!!!

The figures are Old Glory.

The head of the column, showing one side of the flag. The arm from the cloud motif is a quite common one in 17th Century regiments.

Maximum variety is again in order - they are Imperialists!

Deploying into line at the head of the village has allowed us a glimpse of the other side of the flag, with a crucifixion scene. The flag was sourced from a German website, the address of which I have tried hard to rediscover. I will post when/ if I find it again.



Having surprisingly survived the loss of a couple of figures, they are still in the fight. Sadly, it did not last......they routed when Pappenheim, to their right flank, was routed in its fight with Baner's Lifeguard. Aldringen and Jung-Tilly, to the top of the picture, were also getting smashed by the Swedish Yellow Regiment at the time, so perhaps I am being a little harsh on them on this occasion.

More pictures later. Time to feed my kids......(human ones, not caprid. I do not even keep goats).

G