Pike length - ECW

[Martin Smith]

Hi
Quickie Q - I need to fit some pikes to my new PP ECW openhanded pikemen....

What's the current guess at how long an ECW pike might be...and...

How long do you use on a 15mm figure (ie what 'looks right' to you).

[John Watson]

I've always worked on the basis of 10 - 12' for ECW/TYW. I use 12 - 15' for earlier periods.
John

[sukhe_bator (Neil)]

Henrician pikes at the Royal Armouries are 16'. I know because part of my job was to specify a van long enough for them for the 'Civil War' touring exhibition back in '92.

[Leslie BT]

Yep 16/0 foot.

[Martin Smith]

So 40mm or so (unless the pikemen ignore their orders and hack a couple of feet off)?

[martin goddard]

Without wishing to create an heretical view I would trim the pikes so that they fit in my storage box (RU boxes) if it meant they were "close enough".
Pragmatism.

martin

[sukhe_bator (Neil)]

I'm with Martin on this despite appearing to do otherwise.
The surviving 16' pikes are probably 'parade' length survivors. Such a mundane weapon surviving in itself unscathed is a rarity. It was a common practice in the field to take off a couple of feet to make them more manoeuvrable by novices. Certainly common enough to merit being passed down as anecdotes in history. As the tactics developed too the pike became less useful as a weapon in itself and more just a cavalry fender. For mid to late Civil War I'd consider a reduction in length to be the norm and if figure storage is also an issue shaving a little more off is perfectly acceptable, a few more mm won't really notice.
Another little trick was tying a bit of rag on the shaft mid way to stop the rain running down and soaking your clothing. Anyone who punts on the river will also appreciate this little trick too. Your pole arm can get drenched!

[Martin Smith]

Thanks for the answers - very helpful. My storage is deep A4 box files, so not an issue, length wise, but I'll use 16' or less scale equivalent (the fun then starts as I ask....so how tall was the average man, and the average pikeman in fact?? 😊).
Late last night I found George Gush's renaissance armies book hiding on the book shelf, and he mentioned the 16' examples.
Cheers 👍🏼👍🏼

[sukhe_bator (Neil)]

Based on surviving pike armours from the 1600s around 5'6'' seems to be the norm, but there would have been the usual statistical variation. Diet was the main limiting factor.
Basic spear length was 8' - 10'. To qualify for being a pike I've always assumed a length in excess of 12' i.e twice the height of a man.

[Smiley Miley 66]

I was told many years ago, the London based regiments generally used 14 ft as it was easier to traverse London, with all the over hanging buildings around at that time. I assume this might have been the case with other "big towns and city" based units in England ?
Miles

[martin goddard]

Very good point Neil.
It is tiresome when writers in gaming media constantly refer to the "average man as being 6ft tall" . Very stupid.


martin

[Spartacus]

I`m also in the trim to suit storage camp. Having replaced most of my pikes in the last 12 months as I had done them with plastic rod due to a few injuries sustained in action. problem was that the plastic ones nearly all ended up white. I just work on the fact that some pikemen cut them down to facilitate easier handling.

[sukhe_bator (Neil)]

I would not be surprised if a few new levies turned up with whatever they had to hand, so a few 'self-pikes' [a.k.a. sharp pointy sticks] of non-standard length would probably serve until proper issue could be found.
Also worth remembering that the pike to shot ratio of the LTBs drastically changed during the war. By the late period it was approaching that of the early restoration period with an overwhelming number of shot and just about a pike guard for the ensigns. One of the fun parts of the 'Forlorn Hope' rules were the ratio differences so you could never tell just by looking at them just how effective a unit was until it came to push-of-pike.

[Grey Heron]

Sorry for the late reply, but I did receive a reply from Radar on the length of the pike. I hope Martin is okay with this post. He used Donnington Miniatures pike and cut them down, however it seems the new stock from the company have reduce the length to about the required length.

https://shop.ancient-modern.co.uk/eq10-80mm-wire-with-leaf-shaped-tip-2632-p.asp

Kind regards,
Helen

[Leman (Andy)]

I recall many years ago reading that the length of a new pike was found to be very unwielsy and that they were usually cut to about 14 feet in length.

Andy