An Army List for the Spanish invaders

The Tercios of the Army of Flanders were made up from troops from several different nationalities including: Spanish, Walloons, Germans, Italians, Irish and even disaffected Catholic Englishmen. It was unusual for the Army of Flanders to be sent raw recruits, it usually received new units from other parts of the Spanish empire. The new recruits were called Besonios and even if they had been posted elsewhere they still had to prove their worth before they could be considered to be on a par with the other veteran troops. The companies (Vandera) of the Army of Flanders used Pike and shot.

TYPE

Besonio

The Tercio’s vanderas (companies) were split into esquadras, which were subsequently split into fellowships called Camaradas, A veteran soldier is a Camarad he is used to combat and the hardships of warfare. These men are of different nationalities and have fought together across Flanders. Much of their fighting has been during sieges but they are also capable on the battlefield. Their only weakness is their likeliness to mutiny. The Tercios were armed roughly half and half pike and shot

The veterans of the Tercios considered themselves to be the finest soldiers in the world and the best of the best were the small numbers of gentlemen adventurers, aventureros, who were seeking to become officers in a company. These volunteers were reliable and courageous. They would usually fight from the front rank with pike, hoping that they would gain the experience and respect required to become a leader of men.

Reiters

The Spanish did not make a large use of cavalry, mainly due to the lack of decent warhorses in Spain. They described most of their cavalry as ‘Light’ even when they were as heavily armed as the English Demi Lancers. One solution of the Spanish was to use Germanic mercenaries. The Reiter was a three quartered armoured pistolier

The Reiter’s favourite style of fighting is to ride close and discharge their pistols then ride clear. Reiters may shoot a pistol whilst moving. Move a Reiter into less than half pistol range of a target fire a pistol then make the remainder of move.

Light Lance

The Spanish did not make a large use of cavalry, mainly due to the lack of decent warhorses in Spain. The Light Lancer is often from a Balkan country, Albania, Greece or Croatia. They wear limited armour and use a short lance.

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