Ottomania: Eyâlet Askerleri

In a return to my Ottomania project, I’ve opened a box of Eyâlet Infantry by Red Box.

So far, I’ve painted some figures representing;

• Artillery (16th and 17th Centuries)
• Seige Artillery
• Mortars
• Janissaries
• Sipahi Cavalry

If the Kapikulu were the Sultan’s professional troops, the Eyâlet Askerleri (literally provincial soldiers) were effectively state auxiliaries, raised and equipped by their regional governors. They were not as well-trained or equipped as the Kapikulu askerleri and were consequently mostly responsible for garrison duties, policing and occasional raids or counter-raids. In battle, the assumption is that tactics would be limited to simple charging assaults, or perhaps adding manpower to, for example, the support of siege activity.

Being auxiliaries, their dress reflected the regions and cultures in which they were raised, so their dress could be varied though the turban abounded.

The weapons likewise could be varied with archers, musketeers and edged weapons being used. The popularity of each weapon depended on the era, with muskets becoming increasingly popular as the 18th century approached.

I don’t know whether the Eyâlet infantry would have fought in groups of musketeers, but I’ve assumed they might. They were less well trained and maximising their firepower would have made sense.

This little vignette is of a group of musketeers, variously loading and firing their (presumably) matchlocks. My intention is to use the rest of the figures on the sprue in similar small groups of either archers or edged weapons.

Slowly but surely my Ottomanian army grows!

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…).

Knights of Ottomania

I’ve just about finished painting the riders from Red Box’s 2nd set of Osman Sipahi for my Ottoman army. With all their considerable amounts of armour, I’ve had to crack open the metal colours far more than I’m used to with my 18th/19th century bias. According to Plastic Soldier Review, getting these figures to sit on their already painted armoured horses will involve yet more cold steel in the form of my scalpel, so we’ll see how that goes…

In the meantime, here’s how they’re looking. It seems Ottoman shields could take many ornate designs using anything from full colour to plain metal, so I’ve just used my imagination here with these figures.

Archery was a significant part of the Sipahis power and Red Box have given all of the figures quivers for containing either the bow or arrows. It seems a kind of decorated red leather was typical and so I’ve given that to the whole unit.

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Red Box have also included a couple of poses showing the bows in use.

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So hopefully with a little work this week should see my Ottoman army adopt it’s first cavalry formation to join the artillery and units of Janissaries already done!

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A Return to Ottomania

In the sort of random change of topic that is a feature of my hobby, I’ve decided to make a return to my Ottomania project, which is dedicated to the Red Box range of 16th/17th century Ottoman Turks. Hitherto, I’ve created a comprehensive artillery corps and some token elite Janissary orta (battalions).

For some time, I’ve had Red Box’s Ottoman cavalry sets and pulled out one of those boxes to make a start. The box I’m working on is ‘Set 2’ of Red Box’s Osman Sipahi (yes, I do have ‘Set 1’ as well).

The Osman – or Ottoman – Sipahi were the armoured cavalry of the Sultan. And when I say armoured, I refer to both horse and rider equally. The coat of metal strips protecting the horses on the box cover is known as barding and has been reproduced by Red Box with these figures.

According to my Osprey book on the subject, “Armies of the Ottoman Turks 1300-1774”:

“Although the highly disciplined janissaries mostly impressed the Europeans, their importance was far less than that of the sipahi cavalry, the battle-winning offensive element in a classic Ottoman army.“

I’ve decided to get to work on the horses first of all, mostly because I fancied tackling all that armour. There are two poses in the box and one pose in particular had a real problem with flash on the sprue. I had to virtually carve out the legs from a mass of plastic using a scalpel on some. It’s a real shame as the sculpting otherwise looks good, even if some of the leg positions are a bit ‘iffy’ (the walk is good but the leg positions on the canter are bizarre).

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I’ll be painting more armour soon as I make a start on the riders. We’re going back into lockdown as the pandemic rages once more here in England, so we modellers will once again be looking to our unpainted piles as a means to sustain us through the long winter to come. Take care, everyone.

Marvin

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Ottomania: The Harbaci Palace Gate Guard (Jannisaries)

Continuing with my steadily expanding Ottoman Turkish army, I’m turning my attention back to the elite Janissaries. The Janissaries were organised into three separate sections.

• the cemaat (frontier troops); consisting of 101 ortas (battalions)
• the bölük (the Sultan’s own bodyguard); 61 ortas
• the sekban; 34 ortas

My previous orta represented a battalion from the largest corps, the cemaat; the 73rd orta were known as the Crane Keepers (Tenercis), a reference to their origins as part of the Sultan’s vast hunting retinue.

Man of the 73rd orta (the Crane Keepers)

The Yeniçeri Ocaği, or Janissary Corps, aside from being an elite military force also acted as the Sultan’s personal bodyguard, protecting their ruler and his senior officials and property. Specifically, the security of the Sultan was the responsibility of the Bostanci Bashi, the head of the what were known as Bostanci guards. The Bostanci corps of ‘gardeners’ palace guards were a separate, specialised part of the Janissary corps. Their role involved the policing and maintenance of the many palaces and estates in Istanbul.

Painting of Sultan Selim III holding audience at Topkapi Palace
by Konstantin Kapıdağlı – Badisches Landesmuseum, Public Domain.

And it’s with the Bostanci in mind that I’ve painted the next Janissary battalion in the Ottomania project. It is from the Sultan’s bodyguard or bölük division – specifically, the 56th orta – and this battalion supplied troops for the 60-strong Harbaci Palace Gate Guard. They were also known as the Çardak orta after the district on the Golden Horn in Istanbul where they were pemanently stationed.

The Harbaci Palace Guard were detailed for the protection of both the Grand Vizier and the Janissary Agha (senior commander of the Janissaries, taking orders only from the Sultan himself). The 56th’s unit insignia curiously appears to have been a sea-going galley.

Bostanci guard by an anonymous Greek artist, ca. 1809 – Public Domain

Having no evidence of what my selected orta looked like, I took a little inspiration from the above depiction of an 1809 guard of the Bostanci, wearing predominantly red clothing.

There are still some figures remaining in the box, which I intend to use at some point for the final corps; the Sekban. I’m not sure when that will be, as a number of other figures are now calling for my attention!

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Ottomania – Topçu Ocağı Corps Completed!

Campaigns consisted of invasions by great armies of the Ottomans, with heavy parks of artillery… The generals opposed to them, not being able to meet the Turks in the field, spread their forces in numerous fortresses, more or less strong, and the campaigns consisted in besieging these fortresses. With rare exceptions, these sieges were successful. The Turks brought overwhelming forces to bear on them. Their siege guns completely overmatched the guns of the defence. It was a question of a few days or a few weeks how long these fortresses could resist. From “The Turkish Empire, its Growth and Decay” by Baron G. Shaw-Lefevre Eversley (http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46481)

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I’ve been beavering away these past few weeks finishing off my collection of RedBox Ottoman Artillery (known as the Topçu Ocağı).

The pace of industrial development being slow during this period, the 16th Century Artillery box is broadly similar to their 17th Century set (but with different poses) so depicted wearing the same uniform colour, the sets will match well together.

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As mentioned previously, I also had one stray broken cannon left over from the 16th Century Siege Artillery set. I’ve now put that right to make it a total of four of these siege gun teams, each with a mighty wall-smashing artillery piece. I confess to a macabre liking for these monsters of cannonry.

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The 16th century artillery box includes some very pleasing poses, including these struggling ammunition carriers which, from their headdress, apppear to be janissaries which have been dragooned into the laborious task:

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I also particularly like the ear-protecting character in a fez, seen here standing next to the officer in a large turban:

The plastic cannon pieces themselves are a trifle bendy but it is an effect that is not too noticeable. The carriages, however, I think look convincingly solid.

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So, over the past year I’ve somehow managed to make myself a besieging Ottoman artillery corps (in Turkish; Topçu Ocağı) all being neatly entrenched behind earth-filled gabions,and consisting of 12 big guns, namely:

• x2 17th century field guns
• x4 16th century siege artillery
• x4 17th century mortars
• x2 16th century field guns

It all makes for a reasonably imposing sight when stretched out as a siege line across the lounge carpet. Even more imposing to a nervous population cowering behind it’s city walls, I should think! Not a bad start to my Ottomania project, all in all.

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I’ve enjoyed branching out into a different era to the 18th / 19th centuries and you could say it’s expanded my horizons. I’ve already painted some Janissaries and there is plenty more in the RedBox range to expand my Ottomania project even further.

What’s more, I couldn’t resist purchasing some other 16th/17th Century troops from a rival nation state that I saw going very cheap on eBay recently, so there’s definitely some life in this project for some considerable time to come.

Ottoman Artillerymen

By way of a quick progress update while the cannon, gabions and basing are underway, I thought I’d share my Ottoman artillery figures of the Topçu Ocağı artillery corps.

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Three gun crews have been painted; x2 teams of eight figures each and x1 siege artillery gun team of four figures. The 16th century crews come with two men carrying what appears to be large leather bag of cannon balls. I’m still painting the bag but when it’s finished should make for a nice scene.

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More heavy lifting of ammunition:

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Light my fire – Turkish portfire carriers:

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Turbans indicate the officers in charge. The siege gun commander holds a brass quadrant, an instrument for calculating the required elevation of the gun.

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Ramrod holders:

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So, all these fellows are just patiently awaiting the development of their dioramas, which I’ll share when complete!

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Ottomania – Last of the Topçu Ocağı

I began the year painting figures from what was both an unusual topic and an unusual era for me; 16th/17th century troops of the Ottoman Empire. Specifically, I focused on their artillery corps (the Topçu Ocağı). These are impressive sculpts from RedBox which was a key reason why I was drawn to them in the first place. Using resin-cast gabion gun emplacements, I created mini dioramas from their following sets:

• 17th Century Artillery
• 17th Century Siege Artillery
• 16th Century Siege Artillery

That left just one more box untouched from RedBox’s Turkish artillery releases; the 16th Century field artillery set.

When I made my 16th Century Siege Artillery earlier this year, I only attempted 3 of the 4 guns in the box as I had a) inexplicably lost one of the gun crew and b) carelessly cut through the axle on the gun carriage! Happily, the missing Ottoman artilleryman finally turned up after a month hiding behind the sofa (thereby not demonstrating the kind of martial qualities required as a member of the Topçu Ocağı of the Kapikulu Corps). Turning my attention to the broken cannon, I had to get creative.

One of my finished siege gun crews from earlier in the year.

So I’ve embarked on a bit of scratch-building by cutting away the broken axle and drilling a hole through the carriage. Next, I used a scalpel to whittle away a cocktail stick to act as a replacement axle. I still had trouble getting it through the hole which I resolved by cutting deep into the carriage so that it sat convincingly on top the axle instead.

You’d have to know how hopeless I am at such practical construction to understand how ridiculously pleased I am with my handywork. I feel like an engineer! My engineer father will be impressed, I’m sure.

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I’ve been painting 20 artillerymen figures and they’re approaching completion. So, I’m now working on the big guns…

…and also tackling the resin-cast gabions which have been a feature of these artillery teams.

My remaining gabions from Anyscale Models

I’ve said before that there is significant doubt that there was any real standardised uniform for the Turkish Topçu Ocağı, but I readily confess that I like the uniformity of miniature figures in my painting. Furthermore, I think it suggests something of the relatively advanced professionalism of the Ottoman artillery at a time when their corps were peerless in Europe.

My 16th Century artillery will deliberately look similar to these 17th Century Ottoman field artillery figures I painted.

Finally, I’m also thinking that these figures could also stand nicely as being the artillery of a wargaming imagi-nation; perhaps a fictitious Islamic nation, constantly at war with other neighbouring 17th century Balkan lands, Tsarist Russia or North African states. The Sultanate of Al-Suburbia, perhaps, or the Caliphate of Militaristan?

The Sultan of Al-Suburbia? A Red Box commander from my Jannisaries set.

Ottomania: The Crane Keepers (Janissaries)

Having spent some time building up the artillery arm of my Ottoman Turk army, I’ve been recently turning my attention to the infantry; namely the famous elite foot soldiers of the Sultan known as the Janissaries.

The Ottoman army of the 15th-17th centuries consisted of the Navy, the Eyalet Askerleri (provincial army) and the Kapikulu Askerleri (or sultan’s army). Within the Kapikulu was the Topcu (artillery) and also the entire Janissary Ocak or Corps. The Ocak consisted of three sections;

• The Cemaat (assembly)
• The Boluk (division)
• The Segmen (dog handlers)

The three Janissary ocak themselves consisted of a total 196 orta regiments split between them with the Cemaat having the lion’s share of these. It is my intention to use the RedBox Janissary box to paint three of these ortas, representing one from each of the ocak divisions. My first group of ten are from the Cemaat ocak. Specifically, the 73rd Orta known as the Turnacis (Crane Keepers).

The Janissary ortas were known by peculiar names which indicated something of their origins or duties. The 73rd Orta got their name Turnacis from their origins based within the Sultan’s considerable hunting establishment (presumably Cranes being a popular game bird).

“The Janissaries were charged with looking after the training and the welfare of… dogs, which were greyhounds and mastiffs. There don’t seem to have been any hunts at Topkapı [palace] itself – miniatures show deer roaming around the palace grounds. And cranes were known to have been kept there. “ from Hunting, an imperial pastime in the Ottoman – Hürriyet Daily News.

Each orta had its own insignia which could even be tattooed onto the men. It’s possible that the Turnacis had an insignia related to Crane birds. Even their tents had a design specific to their orta (the 73rd having a white and yellow band at the top of theirs).

But what I really don’t know is exactly what they would have looked like.

Having done some research, including my Osprey ‘Elite Series’ on the Janissaries, I’m still none the wiser as to the colours of the clothing used by my troops. Some things were common, such as the distinctive bork white felt hat. The large woollen dolama coat was apparently very waterproof, surprisingly light, and was commonly tucked under the sash when in combat or activity to allow ease of movement.

But I’m not sure if colours were specific to individual units. It’s almost certain that the Janissaries as a whole did not have a single coloured uniform. As regards individual ortas, however, proud as they were of their regimental distinctiveness, I like to think they were much more likely to adopt a colour scheme unique to their unit. At any rate, it seems that Janissaries are regularly depicted by both artists and modellers alike as having colours specific to their orta.

On the wargaming table, some great looking Janissary ortas (battalions) with colour schemes unique to their individual regiments. Apologies to whoever painted these figures – I can’t find your blog to credit your lovely work!

So, for enjoyment’s sake, I’m happy to go along with that idea for my Janissaries and allow my creativity free reign to colour schemes for each orta. Even this clip of a film on YouTube shows the Ottoman Janissaries wearing a single uniform colour while in combat with Peter the Great’s Russian soldiers.

For the Crane Keepers, I’ve gone with dark blue coats and trousers with a light blue sash. The lining of the coat is white as are the famous bork hats.

I’m occasionally working on another orta which I hope to post at some point when they’re ready. In the meantime, I’m having great fun with a very entertaining little diversion featuring bearded clerics, a bald admiral and a wounded patient…

 

Siege Guns of the Kapikulu Corps

The third instalment of my Ottomania project is yet another group of artillery. After recently painting two boxes from the 17th century, I’ve been making use of one of RedBox’s 16th century guns instead. Cannon technology changed little between the 16th and 17th centuries, so the gun crews can be placed together with no problem at all.

The siege cannons in the set come in a four but as I appear to have, err, lost part of a crew somehow, I’ve only attempted three of them (this at least makes things a quicker to do).

Redbox’s 16th Century siege artillery guns are certainly of the kind of large calibre which suggest they’re capable of hurling wall-breaking cannonballs. Plastic Soldier Review suggests the barrels might be a little short, a notion which is supported by the guns looking somewhat stubby. I think they’re pretty convincing siege guns nonetheless.

The figures are of the usual high quality and this time I’ve gone for a grey uniform, blue trousers and a red sash. My Serbian friend from Bennos Figures Forum found some interesting information about the Turks.

“I spoke with one man from the history museum, he said the Ottomans never had regulation about the uniform colour…In fact, in XIX century we cannot speak about any standardisation of uniform except for Nizams…”

No regulation there may have been, but I like to think that perhaps wealthy leaders might choose to equip their artillery troops in some distinctive manner. Anyway, as I always say, ‘my figs – my rules!’

This group of siege gunners belong to the Kapikulu Corps, the Sultans’ elite of the Ottoman army which contained its own infantry, cavalry and artillery, much like Napoleon’s Imperial Guard. Begun in the early 14th century, the Kapikulu grew in size and Süleyman I increased them to 48,000 strong, half of which were Janissaries (elite infantry). Most of the artillerymen in the Ottoman army belonged to the Topcu Ogaki Regiment of the Kapikulu Corps. By the time of Bayezid II (1481-1512), up to 5,000 topcular (artillerymen) were serving in the corps.

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The Topcu Okagi specialised in all forms of siege warfare including the manufacture of ordnance and guns, mining, sapping, transport, labouring and siege works. Such was their sophistication that my Osprey guide suggests that their sapping and mining activities (trenches, saps, artillery emplacements) had more in common with WWI than the 16th/17th centuries.

The figures contain an officer holding a quadrant, by which means he could (with some decent grasp of mathematics) calculate the desired angle of elevation on the gun barrel. For a good overview of its use, see this post by the “To the Sound of the Guns” blog dedicated the American Civil War. It seems that such a device was still very much in use in the mid-19th century and, indeed, has not entirely disappeared from gunnery even today!

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Once more, I’ve made use of the very convenient and effective gabions by Anyscale Models, used in my two other sets (the 17th Century field gun crews and the Humbaraci Corps Mortars). I’ve even enough left over for the remaining box of Turkish 16th Century artillery… but that will probably be left now for another day, as that’s quite enough for now!

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Next up on my painting table is a return to more familiar territory and finishing off those Mars Austrians for the good old Nappy Cavalry Project!