Pike and Shot

French pikemen and Musketeers struggle to hold formation while charging through a breach in the wall.

Probably one of the greatest conflicts in Europe (and, of course, in the world), the 30 years war (1618 - 1648) claimed an enormous ammount of life and caused a destruction that would only be matched at WWI. The entire continent participated, and some estimate that 40% of the rural population and 33% of the urban population perished due to violence, sickness or hunger.

Basically every participating nation had the standard pike & shot formation, with several variants. But the weapons were really similar - the Pike, a 5 - 6m spear, and the musket or arquebus. The formations to make the best of such weaponry were extremelly ellaborate and demanded a huge ammount of coordination among the troops - a good reason for the large usage of mercenaries instead of recruited nationals. But when charging through a wall, with lots screaming, smoke and musket bullets flying over your head, it must have been though to hold tight and move in order, and that's what I tried to show here - chaos

P.S. Fuck, that one took me some time. And I screwed up at the perspective. But I was getting tired of it anyway.