Imperial Infantry of the Thirty Years’ War, 1618–1648

Revell 1:72 Scale Figure Review

Imperial Infantry, 1:72 Miniatures Revell 02556.

The Imperial Infantry of the Thirty Years‘ War are among the best 1:72 scale figures made by Revell to date. They share many of the superb poses of Revell‘s Swedish Infantry, except that the Imperial soldiers are wearing helmets. The figures of both sets may be used interchangeably, mixed in the same units, to reduce uniformity as much as possible.

Contents

47 Figures in 16 Poses – 24 mm equal 173 cm Height

  • Officer in Hat, waving Sword (2)
  • Officer in Helmet, waving Sword (1)
  • Ensign (1)
  • Drummer (1)
  • Pikeman, Pike at Rest (1)
  • Pikeman, Pike horizontal, ready to thrust (1)
  • Pikeman, Pike diagonal, ready to thrust (1)
  • Pikeman, Pike grounded, defending against Horse (2)
  • Pikeman, Pike grounded, defending against Horse (2)
  • Musketeer with Matchlock Musket and Musket Rest, advancing (6)
  • Musketeer, ramming the Charge (6)
  • Musketeer, priming Pan (6)
  • Musketeer, standing, firing (6)
  • Musketeer, crouching, firing (6)
  • Musketeer in Melee, clubbing with Musket (2)
  • Musketeer in Melee, parrying with Musket (3)

Evaluation

Excellent choice of subject, these figures may be painted as Imperial, Protestant, or Swedish infantry of the Thirty Years‘ War.

Imperial Musketeers of the Thirty Years‘ War, 1:72 Miniatures Revell 02556.

The various historic poses, are equally suitable for wargames und dioramas. The Imperial Infantry are among the best figures Revell has produced in this scale to date.

Imperial Musketeers in Melee, 1:72 Miniatures Revell 02556.

This set offers too few pikemen. Companies of Imperial infantry consisted of equal numbers of pikemen and musketeers. If we wanted to recreate this ration with miniatures from this set, we would need to convert 14 musketeers into pikemen, as is shown in our tutorial “Converting Musketeers into Pikemen”.

Imperial Pikemen of the Thirty Years‘ War, 1:72 Miniatures Revell 02556.

The pikes are much too short, measuring just 3.53 m. In fact, pikes were between 4.2 and 5.1 m long, to defend against horse and be effective against enemy infantry. The mistake may be corrected by cutting the pikes off and replacing them with longer plastic bristles from a road broom, as is shown in the tutorial above. Anyone not wanting to go to this length, might console themselves with the fact that pikemen are known to have shortened their pikes in the course of a campaign simply to reduce the weight. As a result, the pikes of a unit may well be of different lengths.

Prominent mould lines on clothing, arms and equipment need to be removed prior to painting. Our tutorial “Removing Mould Lines” explains how this is done most effectively.

The ensign carries a flag with the Imperial double-headed eagle superimposed on the reverse, but lacking the same design on the obverse. While this flag may be useful for some units, wargamers will want to add more variety by converting musketeers and pikemen to ensigns and adding paper flags to plastic broom bristle staffs.

Historical Employment

  • Imperial Infantry, 1618–1648
  • Protestant Infantry, 1618–1648
  • Swedish Infantry, 1630–1648

Revell‘s Imperial Infantry is an exceptionally beautiful and historically accurate figure set offering a plethora of wargaming and diorama poses.

Thirty Years’ War Miniatures