Without a doubt the biggest thing in to happen to Renaissance Wargaming in the last few years has been the release of Field of Glory Renaissance rule set and Army lists books, by Osprey Publications.

By simple fact of being the most readily available rule set (Osprey have thousands of outlets for their huge range of military books), it is the most likely to be noticed by novices to our period. It, and also the accompanying Army Lists books, is the first large scale attempt to classify the Early Modern Period in wargames terms since DBR in the mid-90s.

So, over the next few pages I am going to give a brief overview of the armies involved, as they relate to the TAG Renaissance range of 28mm miniatures; where our miniatures match what is required for gamers to fill out their miniature forces for this fantastic historical gaming period, full of colour, character and exciting possibilities.

Field of Glory Renaissance (main rules)

Army List Books;

1. Wars of Religion, (Western Europe 1610 -1660)
2. Trade and Treachery, (Western Europe 1494 -1610)
3. Clash of Empires, (Eastern Europe 1494 -1698)
4. Colonies and Conquest, (Asia 1494 -1698)
5. Duty and Glory, (Europe 1660 -1698)
6. Cities of Gold, (Africa and the Americas 1494 - 1698)

FoGR wins out for the beginner in a couple of ways that are worth mention; firstly the books themselves are visually interesting, full of full colour plates and maps of the major campaigns taken from the  Osprey books which cover the period, also helpfully, there are short historical introductions to most of the armies, adding background and flavour. Thirdly, the armies given in the lists (and each army has a sample army shown) are quite small; 600 pts  gives about 50 Cavalry and 100 foot miniatures, to battle in eight to twelve units, which is not beyond most gamers as a start-up force to buy and paint.

TAG do not stock FoGR rules or lists they can be purchased through Osprey or retail on Ebay or Amazon.