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

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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My Christmas Cornucopia

I always enjoy seeing some of the gifts and presents that other bloggers get for Christmas, so I’m sharing some of mine too.

First off, this box of Marlburian British Infantry in Advance from Strelets wonderful new foray into the War of the Spanish Succession. I’m delighted that Strelets have begun this series which has been woefully neglected by in 1/72 scale plastics. What’s more, the figures are beautifully sculpted, too.

At my suggestion, I’ve also received from kindly relatives a box of these unusual figures, also by Strelets:

Strelets’ Roman Senate 1 box is about five years old now and as the name suggests had a sister box (number 2) also issued, which features many of the same figures. Two sprues contain senators all standing in their togas and alternatively listening or debating. A final sprue contains senators armed with knives, a statue, and Julius Caesar, all of which are designed to help you recreate the infamous assassination in the senate. A step out of the usual horse and musket era and into ancients; I’ve already been developing my plan for these which I’ll share in due course!

In another step away from 18th-19th century warfare, I’ve received a set of my favoured 1/72 scale plastics by the increasingly impressive Red Box. Last year, I developed my Ottomania project using their well-sculpted Ottoman Turks. As a kind of adjunct, I can now dip a toe into their late middle ages Duchy of Muscovy figures with these “Pishalniki” (arquebusiers).

What’s this? Wargaming?!

Earlier this year, Man of Tin blog, The Grand Duchy of Stollen and others paid tribute and mourned the passing of a deeply respected figure in the wargaming world; Stuart Asquith. Never having wargamed before, I was interested to read about the man and his achievements which included a book I’d had buried in my loft since my childhood; his Military Modelling Guide to Wargaming. His guide to solo wargaming was unwrapped on my birthday and together, who knows, I may investigate putting some of those figures of mine to use…

Of course, I need somewhere to keep all my crap, I mean precious hobby items and these boxes will do the job nicely; one with the grenadier from the sadly closing local discount hobby shop and the other from stationers Paperchase and featuring the Nutcracker which has been curiously popular this Christmas.

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And finally, an amusingly appropriate stocking-filler…

I’ve already been busy working on some of my new figures and I’ll share progress shortly.

Until then, I wish a happy, productive and peaceful New Year to all Suburban Militarism visitors and friends!

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.