Landsknecht armor, Germany, circa 1540 Front view

Created in the 1480s by the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, the Landsknecht (server of the country in German) mercenary Germanic infantry corps who used the combat methods made popular by the Swiss confederates in the mid–15th century. The latter, who had no cavalry, equipped their foot soldiers with long spikes, measuring over 16 feet in length, and halberds: these rustic weapons were used by battalions on-foot, fighting in tight, elbow-to-elbow formations, and proved to be highly efficient during the conflicts between the Swiss cantons and the Empire, Burgundy, or France.
For the most part, the troops were divided between pikemen and halberders (the latter attacking cavalrymen who had been slowed in their charge by the long pikes of the former), completed by small groups of crossbows and arquebuses.
Few in number in these infantry units, the swordsmen were tasked with creating gaps in the enemy pikemen, by splitting or cutting their ranks with large, two-handed swords.
The foot soldiers in the front lines wore half-armor, which freed up their arms and ankles. From the 1540s, the Nuremberg workshops mass-produced these suits of armor, which were specially designed for the infantry. The most refined amongst them were polished. However, polishing was intended to cover hammer strikes from the forge and was often replaced with black paint, with some metal strips being left blank. This ammunition equipment, which cost very little and was of poor quality, was used until the early 17th century.