Tartar Horse Archers, first seventeen painted

Have just completed a new batch of horse archers for my Ottomans. I can't base them yet until I'm sure some Essex archers and banner men will mix with these Hinchliffe castings. I noted John of BAND OF WARGAME BROTHERS BLOG has a fair number of six-figure light horse units on skirmish bases and I like this obligation to use them this way. I've painted mine in bold colours as the kidnaping and slave trade has been quite profitable lately. MGB

AKINJI LIGHT HORSEMEN (OTTOMANS)

Having mentioned my plans to raise a strong contingent of Akinji and Tartar horse archers, I thought I would disclose the humble numbers I can so far field. Hence the arrival of Tartar horse archers in the previous post. At present, I have been fighting games mainly thanks to my 24 Moorish light horse serving as skirmishers. Their use is not incorrect but a fair number of proper horse archers was something I have failed to muster for too long. The Akinji below are a mixture of TAG and Essex, I think they work quite well together. MGB

TARTAR LIGHT HORSE, SERVING WITH THE OTTOMANS

Pleased to report that I have been quite busy over the weekend. At a quick count I have filed, occasionally drilled, and undercoated over 250 castings. There is still another fifty or so needing this work but its a welcome sight to see so many figures primed and ready. Included among these are eighteen Tartar horse archers, as Robbie Rodiss of 'Wargaming the Borgias Blogspot' has rightly pointed out, the Ottomans need 'large amounts of unpaid marauding light cavalry'. He has plans to increase his collection, I'm doing the same. I already have a handful of Akinji, but I am planning to increase them to a more appropriate number too. I also picked up a bag of Black Tree Arab crossbowmen(20) for service with my Granadines. Must say they look very good and came with hardly a cast line, and no flash whatsoever. MGB

Early Moorish or Arab Artillery, 1250-1600

Unhappy using the same commercial spearmen to serve as artillery crew, here are some newly converted gunners. The heavy bombard forms part of my Hafsid (Tripoli and Tunis) army but will, no doubt, support other states too. Additional gunners have been raised for the Almohad-Marinid army, and Corsair raiders. There is still some debate as to the earliest reference to Arabs using bombards but some historians have given Seville in 1248. MGB

Medieval Siege Equipment

I have made it a plan to reduce my extensive accumulation of model materials (aka rubbish), having also found my collection of miniatures severely deficient in siegecraft, I have put the following together. I don't use balsa as I find it too soft and light in weight, I prefer harder woods, stiff card, and bamboo cane. With charity shop visits etc, I doubt the items cost more than £5 including paint and wood glue. The damaged stockade was actually made from the off-cuts and leftovers from the others (no wastage here!) Many sieges were enacted on towns and cities that possessed fairly low walls, so many siege towers were probably quite humble in size. While I intend to construct a larger model, this will still add another threat to any garrison. I know these items will enhance my games, hope you find them of interest. (Have included a few figures to help with scale.)

As a footnote to the above. The stockade sections were constructed mainly for my Balkan and Russian games but there are occasional references to the Moorish and Reconquista states using wooden stockades to supplement town and castle defences! Not so strange when we remember that many surviving castles in Spain were built over 8-11th century fortifications that typically included wood stockades, not that dissimilar to northern Europe.

wargamingtheborgias.blogspot.co.uk

Just found another blog with 28mm Ottomans making an appearance. Most of the figures are Hinchliffe and there is a rumour they may find themselves in action against the Poles in the near future. Update, more photos appear on Jan.17, a fair number of Sipahi cavalry

Turkish Janissaries

Have just completed a new unit of Janissaries. This is an early portrayal armed with bills and kalkan (cane) shields. Less uniformed than my other ortas, they are predominantly in shades of green. I think these additional 'blades' will be useful in any siege games. MGB