Ottomania: More Eyalet Infantry

Another batch of Ottoman Turkish Eyalet Infantry by Red Box. The last bunch were armed with muskets. This group wield edged weapons; halberds and scimitars.

These are the five edged weapons in the set which just leaves me the ‘command’ group so far not attempted.

A quick glance at the individual figures:

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I’ve added some basic decoration to some of the shields:

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The same kind of basing idea allows them to fit nicely with my last cohort of musketeers.

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The Ottomania project allows me to simply add a little more whenever I fancy and the army is growing slowly but steadily over time. With these irregular troops my Ottomania infantry arm is really starting to expand.

The Eyalets were basically administrative units of the Ottoman empire and there were as many as 42, with new ones established or founded and old ones being discarded at various times over the centuries. There was an order of precedence for these provinces;

“At official functions, the order of precedence was Egypt, Baghdad, Abyssinia, Buda, Anatolia, “Mera’ish”, and the Capitan Pasha in Asia and Buda, Egypt, Abyssinia, Baghdad, and Rumelia in Europe, with the remainder arranged according to the chronological order of their conquest.”

The list below gives an indication to the huge extent of the empire and the range of peoples, traditions and cultures which it spanned. I suppose, I could even nominate a specific eyalet for each of my two groups to differentiate them.

Eyalet Name

Habesh Eyalet (Abyssinia)

Adana Eyalet

Archipelago

Aleppo Eyalet

Algiers Eyalet

Anatolia Eyalet

Baghdad Eyalet

Basra Eyalet

Bosnia Eyalet

Budin Eyalet (Buda)

Childir Eyalet

Crete Eyalet

Diyarbekir Eyalet

Dulkadir Eyalet

Eger Eyalet

Egypt Eyalet

Erzurum Eyalet

Al-Hasa Eyalet

Kefe Eyalet (Theodosia)

Kanizsa Eyalet

Karaman Eyalet

Kars Eyalet

Kıbrış Eyalet

Morea Eyalet

Mosul Eyalet

Podolia Eyalet

Ar-Raqqah

Rumelia Eyalet

Shahrizor Eyalet

Sidon Eyalet

Silistria Eyalet

Eyalet of Sivas

Syria Eyalrt

Temeşvar Eyalet

Trebizond Eyalet, Lazistan

Tripoli Eyalet (Tripoli-in-the-East)

Tripolitania Eyalet (Tripoli-in-the-West)

Tunis Eyalet

Uyvar Eyalet

Van Eyalet

Varad Eyalet

Yemen Eyalet

The Poinsettian Rifles

It’s high summer here in the UK, but perversely I’ve been painting another edition of my Christmas-themed Army of Advent. I felt my Advent infantry corps could use some Jäger marksmen and sourced some from Hagen Miniatures of Germany. This is a group of German Jäger from 1750-1780 in Austrian service.

It’s a nice little group, the ‘hunters’ variously loading, aiming or firing their rifles at their targets. One rifleman has discarded his tricorne and appears to have a longer musket rather than a shorter rifle. This is clearly deliberate by the sculptor and I wonder if there is a reason for this?

For a Christmas theme, I decided on the Poinsettia, a large red flower with deep green leaves. In the USA in particular, and elsewhere, the Poinsettia is associated with Christmas and used in decorations.

And so, the Poinsettian Rifles were born. I thought that their uniform should reflect the plant and so I’ve given them an appropriately riflemen green uniform to reflect the leaves of the Poinsettia.

The flower’s red appears in their waistcoats and breeches.

As a final flourish, the men sport a Poinsettia in their tricornes.

As with the rest of the Army of Advent, they find themselves in ankle-deep in snow.

There are seven figures in total, so I may as well show them all:

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The intention is for them to stand decorative guard over the Christmas season and, as with all the other Adventian regiments, they’ll need a plinth to stand on. This I am working on (plaque, paint and varnishing needed) and will present when December arrives in…ah… around four months time!

Lace Wars Cavalry

I have greatly enjoyed painting Strelets new War of the Spanish Succession-era British cavalry. In fact, I think this is one of the best sets I’ve painted of theirs for a while.

The sculpting of Strelets has gone through some changes over the years. Initially, their figures were considered a little ‘ugly’ by some but were infused with lots of character. More recent sculpting has seen their figures become much more anatomically and proportionally accurate but at the loss of some of that personality. This latest set happily seems to combine a little of both.

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My regiment of horse has black facings and white hat lace around the tricornes (except the officers who have gold).

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Having painted much Saxon infantry recently, I declared in a recent post that I’d paint them as Saxon cavalry – Beust’s regiment. This move was also inspired by my misplacing a key War of the Spanish Succession source book. I’ve now recovered it and have discovered that my figures could also possibly pass for the Schomberg’s Regiment of Horse (later in the century becoming known as the 7th Dragoon Guards).

There are four command figures, including two officers, a trumpeter and a standard bearer.

The two officers:

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For the standard bearer below I’ve provided a guidon freely downloaded from the Tacitus website. I’ve changed the colour to a black to match their facings. Lit by lamps and photographed, it appears a little grey in images. The flag bears a very good resemblance to the regiment’s black damask flag from 1788.

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The trumpeter:

Schomberg’s Horse had the origins of its lineage going back to December 1688 as one of a number of regiments of horse raised for William of Orange after he took the throne to replace James II. The regiment was present at all of the Duke of Marlborough’s major battles of the War of the Spanish Succession – Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet.

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Troopers at the trot or canter:

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Troopers at the charge!

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All in all, a fine addition to my Lace Wars project. I’ve a couple more boxes of cavalry to paint from Strelets for this era, so happily there are more to come!

Saxony Soldiers VII

Slogging on and finishing my fifth of my 18th century Saxon infantry regiments of the Great Northern War. This is Reuss’ Regiment of infantry, wearing the usual red coat and this time having light blue distinctions.

The principal figures used are the firing line figures. They are some of the more awkward poses to be found in the box. For starters, the poses are a trifle gawky and the kneeling figures are almost the same height as the standing. What’s more, they all seem to aim far too high. Perhaps charging cavalry are closing in or perhaps the enemy is marching towards them steeply downhill!? I’ve counteracted that effect to a small degree by tilting those figures slightly forward on their bases.

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The grenadiers and their NCO:

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The regimental flag:

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Some officers of Reuss’ Regiment:

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The musicians:

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I realise that these constant Saxon army posts must blur into one! I’d like to say that I’m working on something completely different – but I’m not. One final battalion to go and then it’s on to some Lace Wars cavalry which – err – also wear red coats…

Best wishes,

Marvin

Saxony Soldiers VI

My fourth completed Saxon infantry regiment of the Great Northern War is Martinière’s Grenadier Regiment.

The Martinière’s Regiment is one of two all-grenadier formations I’m creating which together allow me to make maximum use of the two grenadier poses in Mars Saxon Infantry box. There are sixteen figures in total for this regiment which includes 9 grenadiers, 1 NCO, 3 officers, 1 flag-bearing ensign and 2 musicians (a fifer and a drummer).

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The grenadiers and their NCO:

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The regimental flag:

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The officers:

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The musicians:

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I particularly like the blue stockings of this regiment but I painted the musicians with white leggings to provide for a little extra distinction for them. And then I got carried away and accidentally painted one of the officers with white stockings too. Never mind, blame uniform shortages in the stores.

Two more infantry regiments to go, one of which is well advanced already and I’m ploughing resolutely on with the final one too!

Back in the Saddle

I’m back painting cavalry again. The last cavalry I painted were Ottoman Sipahi back in November last year. This is the first cavalry regiment for my Lace Wars armies. The figures I’m using are Strelets new “British Cavalry” of the era 1701 to 1714.

With my 2021 being so focussed upon painting Saxon infantry, I immediately thought about painting them as Saxon cavalry. The Saxon armies infantry and cavalry colours being so similar to British regiments, figures could be easily used interchangeably on the wargaming field of battle. Once again, the glorious Tacitus website has lots of information on Saxon cavalry and after mulling over the options I’ve decided to paint them as Beust’s Regiment of Cuirassiers which had red coats and black distinctions.

I’ve started on the horses first and it felt good to be back painting them again. Strelets horses have not traditionally been rated very highly, their principal problem (I always felt) was that they were too chunky being very over-fed equines with seriously stocky legs. Strelets equine sculpting has certainly improved over the years, I think. These horses are very decent indeed and much better proportioned.

Strelets have mostly sorted the legs out. Always a tricky challenge for the sculptor, these horses are much better proportioned while the gait seems more natural and sensible than inn previous sets. I’m also particularly impressed with the detail on the horse tack, cheek pieces and bits being very clear and detailed.

At the moment, my horses are majority reddish bays but I recall Stokes over at The Grand Duchy of Stollen mentioning some time ago that he had painted the majority of his horses for a regiment as chestnuts because he recalled it being described as the most common horse colour in the Napoleonic era. So, with that in mind, I’m going to make a few changes to some to make the manes lighter or the same colour as the coats (i.e. true chestnuts). I may leave some Bays with dark manes and legs.

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The all-important riders are next and again Strelets seem to have done a nice job!

Saxony Soldiers IV

I admit it. I’ve been quietly continuing on with my Mars Saxon infantry. It’s almost a mania.

To cut to the chase, I’ve now completed two of my six regiments – the Kurprinz and the elite Polish Guard. Each regiment consists of 9 troops, 1 NCO, a few officers, a flag bearer and two musicians (a drummer and fifer). The flags are based on the Polish Guard’s flag, featured on and downloadable from the Tacitus website. I’ve reproduced the same flag and given them a different background where appropriate based on the regimental facings.

Flag bearer for the Saxon Zeitz regiment.

The Kurprinz regiment in full:

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Two dapper and haughty-looking officers of the Kurprinz Regiment:

Incidentally, I’ve given all the Saxon officers black sashes for no other reason than I liked it!

The full Polish Guard on parade:

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Some officers of the Polish Guard:

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Musicians of the Polish Guard:

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I’ve also been working on a few other command figures for the other regiments:

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A couple more regiments are nearly finished – so watch out for them. In other news, I notice that Strelets have been pushing on with their expanding War of the Spanish Succession range. It’s an embarrassment of riches, including

• French artillery
• British artillery
• British dragoons
• A ‘late war’ British cavalry regiment
• Four separate boxes of French dragoons in various guises (skirmishing, ‘in reserve’, marching and attacking)
• French musketeers of the guard
• French Garde du Corps
• French Royal Horse Grenadiers

A box of the last one on the list finally arrived this week and the figures look very nice indeed. My collection of troops from the Lace Wars looks set to grow over time!

March Painting Challenge: Saxony Soldiers II

Another report on progress for the Neglected but not Forgotten challenge, I’ve produced two more examples of Saxon Great Northern War regiments to add to the Kurprinz and Martinière’s Grenadier Regiments. Figures are once more from Mars Saxon Infantry box.

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Zeitz’ Regiment:

Zeitz’ Regiment was numbered 8 in the list of Saxon infantry regiments and is distinguished by green facings. Hat lace and stockings are white and the buttons are brass. This regiment later became known as Schulenburg’s Regiment and was apparently disbanded in 1705 just prior to the Saxon army’s heavy defeat by the Swedes at the Battle of Fraustadt the following year at which both the Kurprinz and Martinière’s regiments were (unfortunately for them) present.

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Hayn’s Grenadier Battalion:

This is the other exclusively grenadier formation in the Saxon army. Hayn’s Grenadiers sport an all-red coat with white breeches and stockings.

Their grenadier caps are red with brass plates. The rear colours are my own invention being red with yellow piping. I certainly won’t worry too much about that as key source Daniel Schorr wrote that it was unknown whether the battalion even wore grenadier caps.

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I’ve three more regiments that I’d like to do, in addition to the officers and musicians which also come with the Mars Saxon Infantry box, but the deadline for Ann’s challenge is approaching fast! Though I doubt I’ll be able to submit any more in time my intention is to press on regardless with this surprisingly enjoyable set of figures, so expect some more!

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March Painting Challenge: Saxony Soldiers

I’ve properly got stuck into Ann’s “Neglected but not Forgotten” painting challenge with two examples of Saxon regiments from the manufacturer Mars now already painted. It only amounts to 10 soldiers, but it feels great to be back in my comfort zone of painting 20mm high plastic figures in colourful uniforms.

Five men in each regiment, sharing the same pose, representing two regiments of the Saxon army during the Great Northern War; these are the Kurprinz Regiment and Martinière’s Grenadier Regiment.

The Kurprinz Regiment:

The Kurprinz Regiment is numbered the 5th and has ‘Lemon Yellow’ facings. I’ve painted the collars on these figures in Lemon Yellow although according to the Tacitus website, “the collar was usually reserved for the coats of officers, NCOs and drummers, but possibly the guard regiments had it as well”. The hat lace is white, a colour typical for the Saxon infantry with red being reserved for very high status regiments.

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The figure is sculpted quite effectively albeit the long coat looks a little unnaturally wide at the base. I quite like the somewhat shifty look of the faces. As with all my Great Northern War / War of the Spanish Succession figures, I’m keeping the bases deliberately very simple and uniform indeed.

Martinière’s Grenadier Regiment:

Using the numerous grenadier figures in Mars’ box to the full, I’ve replicated one of the two dedicated grenadier formations in the Saxon army – Martinière’s Grenadier Regiment. As with many early 18th century uniforms, details are scarce about this regiment but Tacitus relies on information in Lars-Eric Höglund’s book “Stora nordiska kriget 1700-1721, III” and an article from a defunkt website by Daniel Schorr; “Notes on the Saxon Army 1700-1716″.

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Höglund’ had no information on this regiment but Schorr had “a speculative illustration of the uniform” which showed a blue grenadier cap with a gold plate, with blue breeches, stockings and cuffs. It all makes for a pleasingly exotic and colourful regiment!

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There are more figures on the painting desk from this box and I’ll see how many more I can get done by the end of the challenge on the 2nd April. Currently, there are two more regiments going under the brush and they are well advanced already!

Ottomania: Turkish Sipahi

As promised in my last post, here are the finished Red Box Ottoman Sipahi, my first cavalry unit for the growing army of Ottomania.

With this unit of Ottoman Sipahi, I thought that the painting process might be quicker as a consequence so much armour to paint but I was wrong! There were still plenty of little details left to paint which demanded careful attention. The end result is a very pleasing addition to my Ottomania project!

A quick run through some of the finished figures…

Sipahi archers:

Technically, all the Sipahi are archers as they all have separate quivers for both bow and arrows. I’m referring here to those who are shown using the bow. I’ve placed them all on walking horse poses as I can’t imagine that they would be widely used on a charging horse.

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There’s nothing worse than getting your scimitar stuck in a tall plume… Some of the poses were a little 2 dimensional, but still have nice detailing.

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This next pose seemed to go particularly well with the charging horse.

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Perhaps my favourite pose was this one:

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Finally, some Ottoman axe-wielding maniacs:

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There’s plenty more troops for Ottomania to paint from Red Box but for now it’s back to those Napoleonic French Infantry on the march, though I may have to wait for a painful back spasm to improve first…(it’s my age, you know…).