Conquistador Cavalry Survey

Comments

Brooks Flugaur-Leavitt - March 29, 2024

The matchlock seems much more visually distinctive and feels like a more unique offering. I will second others’ requests for at least one left-handed pistol for variety.

Blizz - March 29, 2024

Wheel-locks, but also las-pistols so we can have Space Conquistadors!

William Burkhardt - March 29, 2024

Wheel locks.

Joe Mansfield - March 29, 2024

First of all, much respect for your efforts to remain as historically accurate as reasonably possible. That is probably a better guide than the yammering you’ll find in these comments. However, history books don’t buy miniatures. Gamers do. Maybe the question WGA really needs to ask its designers is ‘what is the intended scope of this kit?’ As for the friendless and short-lived matchlock pistol, historical references are few. At least one I know of—in The Age of Chivalry series by Fred and Liliane Funcken—briefly mentions their use by cavalry but there isn’t much out there and reconstructions are rare. This may be because by the time the matchlock pistol appeared around the 1520s the wheel lock mechanism had already been invented and the natural progression was obvious.

How much does that actually matter when it comes to selling plastic soldier kits though??? Matchlock pistols sucked even back then and that’s why they quickly disappeared. Sprue space is obviously limited. Go with a small number of wheel lock pistols and a dog on the cav sprue. BUT, for cryin’ out loud, LOOK AT ALL THE INTEREST THIS DUMB LITTLE DETAIL HAS GENERATED!!! Gamers are HUNGRY for quality posable 16th century figures. PLEASE consider an upgrade/accessory sprue including things like matchlock pistols, 2-man heavy arquebus/swivel gun, armored dogs, etc. Armored dogs are historically accurate and weirdly popular. H.R. Gieger once made a set of dog armor and it was his only piece somebody stole.

Marc Werth - March 29, 2024

I’m partial to the wheel lock .

Jp - March 29, 2024

Laslock
I’d love more sci-fi and fantasy upgrade sprues for the historicals

John Sharples - March 29, 2024

Wheelock for cavalry, but to be honest I think they would have been rarer than hens teeth in the period, but for kit bashing the wheelock or matchlock arquebus would be the best choice.

Brian R. Van De Walker - March 27, 2024

Honestly, if you have to add one or more pistols for the hammerheads holding out for a WFB revival, go with the matchlocks since after thinking about it, there are several reasons to do a matchlock over a wheel lock pistol:
It is the more fantasy “what if” gun of the two.
It works stylistically with your ogres more than the wheel lock.
Unlike a wheel lock it will not turn this cavalry set into a “why bother with historical options when a not fully workable as proxy exists” talking point for Reiters, etc. historical wheel lock requests like the Conquistador infantry became for any future pikemen sets.
It might work as a looted “Wokou Pirate gun” for the Castilian War fought in South East Asia during the latter half of the 16th century.
Frankly neither pistol shows up in the Early American conquest of the Aztecs since the only the wheel lock pistols where not even really invented yet and the only culture that really used matchlock pistols in a bigish way that I have seen real hard evidence for was Samurai Japan. Likewise the Conquistadors and other European explorers didn’t even really seem to use pistols as cavalry weapons when it was an option since the only reason to do so was dealing with pike men back home in Europe and gunfire spooks horses.
That all stated I am pretty sure this set wouldn’t really fill in realistically for historical reiters regardless of which gun you choose and it’s really more of a fantasy idea to have either of them in this set. So it would be wisest to pick the most fantasy option for it which is the matchlock pistol, save the wheel locks for the next set of renaissance Europeans you do, ones that actually had them. Fact is the only mounted range weapon I have heard of the Conquistadors might have really used was crossbows.

Carsten Ohlsson - March 27, 2024

Mix of both. And a musket. And a blunderbuss.

Elias Kranitz - March 26, 2024

I would realy like a left handed Pistole (preferably wheel lock) .