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Landsknecht Ogre Planning!
May 12, 2021 Wargames Atlantic

Landsknecht Ogre Planning!

Having had a great discussion with Landsknecht Ogre submitter and winner Michael Stockdale, we've settled on an approach for this set that we'd like to share with you.

First, we need to lock down a size and proportion for these boys as they are our first "monster" size. Having looked around yesterday we settled on the excellent Westfalia versions. I have really loved their design aesthetic and their half-men were an inspiration to me when starting Wargames Atlantic. If you haven't seen their work click on this image to go to their site: 

 

So these fellows will come in around 45mm or so. This will be a full frame set aiming for three unique bodies on the frame.

The bodies will be armored cuirass with square-toed shoes/boots to emulate the classic Landsknecht look. Slashed style sleeve arms will hold a variety of historical/fantasy weapons including Zweihänders (very big two-handed swords), halberds, a matchlock style hand cannon, large, ornate dueling-style pistols. Spear or double-duty standard pole. We will experiment with some options. Maybe a dagger or mace too. Will need at least one larger shield and some buckler style for the swordsmen. Perhaps some segmented plate armor pieces for the legs. The iconic floppy hats and helmets will be included and Morion helmets as an extra option. 

Since this is a Wargames Atlantic set, we can't leave it there though! Alternate arms with heavy autoguns and plasma weapons with shoulder pads on the arms, futuristic helmets and bare heads, and a  variety of packs comm units holsters etc to equip the bodies will also be included to sci-fi up these fellows. 

Officially this set will be part of our Death Fields AND the Classic Fantasy ranges. Within DF the backstory will be that these are a group of abducted Landsknecht - The Vain - who after some time on the circuit succumbed to flattery and allowed themselves to be genetically modified to be bigger and stronger. Their alien owner of course didn’t explain that they would also become grotesque. They now operate as guns for hire and are lent out to the highest bidders as a supplement to regular teams on the Death Fields circuit.

For fantasy they are also mercenaries fighting for and against the High Queen - a band of brothers united in their love of fashion and fighting.

We hope you like these ideas for this set. We hope also that we can fit all the ideas we keep coming up with onto the frame! Let us know what you think below!

Artwork credit: Landsknechts in the Sack of Rome, 1527 by Angus McBride (1988)

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Comments

M Fitzgerald - May 14, 2021

Axel, if you collect Renaissance minis with a focus on Landsknecht, then this kit should be of no interest to you, right? Because it isn’t going to be historical – it’s a sci-fi kit, with ogres, and while they might have a blouse sleeve, or a jaunty pantaloon, here and there, it is not actually going to be Landsknecht.

But despite how little it has to do with your professed interests, you DO want it. You’re excited. Despite the necessarily a-historical context the kit will exist in. And yet, you persist in arguing against including women in the kit.

I think you think that buy shoveling all the other stuff in there – fun facts about mercenary dress codes! Your collection! – it obscures the animus behind your continued posting, here: that you really, really oppose including women, and that you oppose that inclusion because of lots and lots of stuff that has nothing to do with miniature making or gaming.

The notion of all these folks arguing against options is preposterous – no one’s going ‘oh, I dont want plasma guns, or sci-fi heads’; just ‘uh, here’s the very serious reason I dont want women in the ranks’. It’s not credible. And it’s so incredibly sad.

Emiel - May 14, 2021

could these be ogryn/bullgryns proxy?
that is the only thing i could think of when i read all the options

Scott - May 14, 2021

Well, this discusssion went sideways early on…
I like the initial design statement and inspiration. I’m hoping for a kind of ragtag look with a barefoot option and some patched clothing, but I think we’re in good hands so far.

Anonymous - May 14, 2021

That’s what I hoped for, when I voted for this set in the last Heat: a sci-fi option for these guys. Great usability for me there :)

Nate - May 14, 2021

My 2p re female options in this kit

As a concept If your lore supports it – then as a concept no issue from me

If it’s being driven by anything other than lore then it gets an eye roll from me

For this multipart kits monosex kit sounds more pleasing for me. Maybe release one and if it sells well enough do another set with the other.

I think just including a head with a ponytail (being flippant i know) would be a a bit lame. if your going female then have a slightly different body shape to separate them. Going back to your lore behind them if there is no physical difference than a pony tail then that’s absolutely valid likewise if there is no physical difference at all that’s fine too.

riley - May 14, 2021

I hope there would be options for ogre messers and kreigsmessers. These are the less famous than zweihanders and katzbalger but still were extremely popular.

Axel - May 13, 2021

@Isaiah
Good point. Who can claim that female Ogres look different in bodyshape then males. Just look at the dwarf debate :-)
Different heads would probably suffice.

hüth - May 13, 2021

will this be followed up with seasknechts and airsknechts

Isaiah Casey - May 13, 2021

To all concerned about the box only having one pose for the ogre women: the breastplate and other clothes worn by landsknecht naturally cover up sexual dimorphisms.

Said another way: hard steel plate tends to obscure the shape of the body underneath.

Also, gendered armor is not necessary here. The gut bulge present in most plate armor naturally accommodates most peoples feminine atributes. If you raise the bulge ever so slightly, then it accommodates almost all feminine attributes. People tend to forget armor has a LOT of padding, so body shape in general tends to get a little lost.

All of this to say: wargames atlantic should be able to simply make the three bodies androgynous and include one or two feminine heads for the ogress’s.

Now, back to my originally buried question: are these weapons ogre scaled or human scaled? Will my ogres hold a zweihänder one handed or two?

Loren - May 13, 2021

I haven’t the time or inclination to read back through a couple of pages of “discussion” regarding what body types should be included. So I’m coming at this a little out of the blue, but I would like to observe that TTCombat’s recent KickStarter included a warband of exclusively female ogres. While they aren’t this style the same as this there are female options coming to the market soon (you may even still be able to hop on if you wish (I don’t know how such things work).

Sorry, to endorse another companies product (feel free to not approve it this violates some policy), but I hope it may settle some nerves.

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