From the late 1300s some Swiss started to carry the long pike, at first as a minority weapon, the bulk of their soldiers still carrying the halberd. In 1422, a small Swiss army was beaten at Arbedo by a Milanese army containing a large number of men-at-arms, who dismounted after their initial mounted charge failed. It was noticed that the pikemen fared better in combat against dismounted men-at-arms than the halberdiers, due to the longer reach of their weapons.

Swiss system

The new Swiss system proved an astounding success on the battlefield: victorious in the Burgundian Wars, defeating the Holy Roman Empire in the Swabian War, and as mercenaries they were a key component of French King Charles VIII's armies in Italy. Soon pike formations were adopted in many western European countries, notably in Germany by the famous 'landsknechts'.

Rise of the Swiss

In Bohemia, war had broken out between the followers of Jan Hus, a Proto-Protestant religious reformer, and the Catholic royalists. The Hussites were mainly common people, and they had few nobles to provide heavily armoured men-at-arms. To counter the royalists’ advantage in heavy cavalry, they adapted simple agricultural wagons into the 'Wagenburg', a mobile fortress, from within which the Hussite soldiers could fight. This was mainly a defensive weapon, although at the Battle of Kutna Hora in 1421 it was used to break through a royalist army.

Key Features

• Additional coverage for the following nations and factions
• 22 new units.
• 60 more army lists allowing historically realistic armies for each of the above factions
• 8 more historical scenarios
• 41 more historical matchups added to Quick Battle mode
• 4 more historically-based campaigns covering major leaders and conflicts of the era
• Sandbox campaign expanded to include all the new army lists
• Time Warp modules expanded to include the new army lists.