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Colonel Richard Bagot's Regiment of Foot

THE PIKEMEN

Pike prepare to advance

The tercio pike block prepares to advance at charge of pike

Pikemen are the backbone of the 17th-century army. Originally picked from the biggest and strongest men, they wore body armour and helmets, and carried a pike as their main weapon. The pike was an ash pole 16 - 18 feet (approximately 5 metres) long, with a steel spearpoint at the business end.

Today's pikeman is as likely to be a woman as a man, and carries a rather less lethal pike.

The musketeers provide ranged fighting, whereas the pike block is the heavy assault force of the infantry, as well as providing a defensive 'hedgehog' for the musketeers and the officers when cavalry attack.

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