 |
| Janissaries in full dress |
Putting the Ottoman force together for Donnybrook required a little thought. Should it fall under the Army Faction or under the Tribal Faction? Categorization under the latter may seem to be bordering on racist bearing in mind the Ottomans were for centuries one of the most formidable cultures and imperial powers in the known world yet, their army falls into an area somewhere between state organization and feudalism. This caused a bit of head scratching.
 |
| Janissaries in campaign dress |
What was going to make it a little easier for us was the fact that at the point of writing this piece, we only have the Janissaries commercially available and these troops were most definitely state organized and regular! When we come to dealing with Tufeckci, Sekban and irregulars the real flavour of the Ottoman Army will surface in gaming terms.
 |
| Commanders painted by Toggy - lovely! |
I proved to myself that I can still do it despite very limited available time. Using the method I first perfected as far back as 1988, I produced a couple of hand painted flags on cotton as I haven't yet managed to persuade Mr Harrison to 'Go Eastern' on flags. These two Janissary banners took me about 70 minutes in total from cutting the material and poles to sticking them on the figures. A few little proprietary techniques in there but the result was pleasing and I enjoyed doing it again after so long.
 |
| Still got it after all these years :) |
Our lack of cavalry has necessitated putting the Ottomans on the defensive. This also means relatively speaking, there are fewer of them than the attacking Imperialists. Knowing the shortage of flintlock weapons which prevailed well into the 18th century, we chose to equip a single Ottoman unit with flintlocks and the rest with matchlocks.
 |
| A nice little Command party |
I am writing this post on October 3 simply because I will be travelling overseas until October 26. In the few remaining days before Crisis the Ottoman force for the game may change but for now, the plan is as follows:
 |
| BLB based unit of campaign dressed Janissaries |
3 units of Drilled Janissaries each of 8 models one equipped with flintlock muskets.
Various characters
Selcuk Gul - The commander.
 |
| close up of base of Janissaries |
Around the edges of the Donnybrook action we should have several larger BLB style Ottoman units of 18-20 models. These are currently been painted and will I hope, be waiting for me to base on my return from all points East.
 |
| Another nice grouping - these chaps will all be fighting in Antwerp! |
It may be that by the time of CRISIS we also have the new infantry mastered and available to see. If that is so, we'll take pre-orders for them at the show.