Breaking Up The Ottomans (Pt.2)

 

The Impetus for this action came about when I tried to form an Ottoman DBN army.  Amongst my tins and boxes was a (mostly) unpainted DBM Ottoman army languishing in dark obscurity. As a DBM force it was lackluster and soon abandoned (I'm told it works in DBMM though).

After doing the necessary research (see earlier postings) I added various musketeers and more modern guns to the Nap army.  Play testing has further slimmed down my requirements.  So this left quite a number of unpainted and unidentified figures.

Time to look at the 15mm sites.  Outpost & Museum were useful especially as they revealed many of the figures were Turkoman Lh or Cv.  The 'rump' of this group have yet to reveal their origins.

My first plan is to reserve figures for a later Ottoman DBA army (the earlier is largely Lh that can be 'fudged').  The DBN army is complete and I am moving on to the Qajars.

The Turkomans - Book 4 - 49 Anatolian; 77 Black & White Sheep

Combining the two lists gives these requirements:

1 x Art; 2 x 3Ax; 2 x 3Bw; 2 x 4Bw; 1 x Cv(g); 6 x Cv;
1 x 7Hd; 6 x Lh; 2 x Ps bow; 1 x Ps hg

I do not have the Art, 3Bw, Hd or Ps hg (my current Ps are Xb).

This does not account for all the available Cv & Lh that I seem to have - only 7 & 6 respectively.  

Turkomans do, however, crop up in other armies:

4.6a -     Remnant Syrian states - 4
4.8 -      Ghurid - 4 "Turkish horse archers"
4.20 -     Ayyubid Egyptian - 2
4.22 -     Serbian Imperial - 2
4.24a -   Khwarizmian state - 1
4.24b -   Khwarizmian refugee - 6
4.35 -     Mongol Conquest - 3
4.42 -     Islamic Persian - 1
4.45 -     Mamluk Egyptian - 2
4.46 -     Ilkhanid - 1
4.52 -     Later Nomadic Mongol - 2
4.65 -     Wallachian or Moldavian - 1 "Turkish horse archers"
4.67 -     Jalayrid - 1
4.75 -     Timurid - 3

Looks like I will be purchasing the extra figures to make up these Turkoman armies.  What comes after that depends upon me identifying the remaining bare metal.

Don't hold your breath!

Taking Stock (Part One)

 A New Year

For the first round of rationalisation I looked around my 'painting room'.  

Incidentally, my bedroom is the coldest room in the house - inside the fridge is warmer.  Painting often grinds to a halt once the frosts start.  I really need to make an 'outpost' in the 'living room'.

Here's what I found:

(a)  15mm - American Indians, Russians, Latins, Ottomans, Carthaginians, Feudals, Medievals, Maya, scythed chariot, Spanish Conquistadores, Inuits, Arabs, repairs & miscellaneous.

(b)  20mm - Incas, Sea Peoples, Mex-Am, Jacobites, Colonial, Egypt (Fr & Brit), Tecumseh, Biblicals, War Wagons & misc ancients.

This is a ridiculous amount of part-painted and unpainted bits and pieces.  Need to finish off some of these projects.


Saturday 2nd January 2021 - Gt.Houghton

In spite of the heavy snow (cars going at 10-15 mph) I managed to get there.  Of course, by the time I came back the roads only had slush on them (typical).

Started out with another DBN Ottoman v French game.  Changed the army make-up though:

4 x Ms(M), 2 x Art(M), 1 x LI, 2 x Lh (Mamlukes), 2 x Jg (Rayas), 4 x Hd, 2 x Lh & 2 x ?  

As I had allowed the camera batteries to get too low no pictures were taken.  

The Janissaries threw a '6' so became ordinary muskets.  In spite of that they were amongst the first units to fall.    4 units of Ms(M) had to be set up well behind the main line because of terrain restrictions - they never got into action.  Result was a 4:5 win for me.

What I learned - (a)  I should have more fellahin as they are cheap and can pin the much more expensive enemy units.  (b) The Mamlukes were definitely worth having in spite of them being somewhat headstrong.  (c)  The Janissaries are a waste of space - must work out alternative regional army lists.  (d)  Never seem to have enough movement PIPs.

Regarding (c) it seems that (according to 'Tehran to Tangiers') regional governors were supposed to deal with military conflicts immediately and then call upon the central army for support.  As a consequence most Janissary units would only turn up part way through the proceedings.  Maybe we should see them as reluctant allies only!

DBA v3.0 - two games:

2.9 Syracusan v 1.36a Sicels

Ian set up with bad terrain holding both flanks.  I refused to advance into that trap so waited for the inevitable clash.  My artillery and warband went down pretty quickly along with a unit of hoplites.  I scraped back two enemy elements but things were not looking good until....I managed to 'sandwich' the enemy general.  A close 4:3 win

1.44a Early Neo-Babylonian v 1.43a Scythian

Neither of us had suitable troops to take on the other so I corner sat - bad decision.  4:2 loss.  Ian said that I should have attacked - another New Year's Resolution is to be more aggressive in my play (like Luke Harbach).    

Saturday 9th January - Gt. Houghton (again)

I grabbed the two available boxes of figures - Ottomans & Indians.  

The Ottomans were bought as a cheap Minifigs pack at a bring & buy a long time ago. through the years I purchased extras to make up a DBM army.  Chris beat me to it and fielded his version first.  It was not impressive and may have been quietly sold.. Unfortunately the new DBA list is somewhat different - only 1 x 4Bw plus 1 x Lh extra. Can't say that I am enamoured by the Ottomans in any pre-Napoleonic form.

As for the Indians - I should have looked more carefully at the label - it said 'Indian spares and Khmer'.  So not enough for an Indian army of any kind but the Khmer/Cham could be managed with a borrowed 1 x 4Bw.  Think that there are some suitable candidates for this shortfall amongst the unpainted spares.

Four games of DBA v3.0:

4.55b  Ottomans v 4.13d  Medieval German   4:3 win - held back in the centre and broke the wings.

3.23a   Khmer  v 3.9b   Burmese   4:2 loss - artillery unit wiped out yet again.

4.9 Eastern Forest American   v 3.19c   Welsh   4:3 loss - hard fought against better troops.

3.22a    Maya v  4.29  Tupi   4:3 win - I managed to get my general killed early in the game.

A much closer set of games than usual.

A New Year - Annual Review

 2020 Review

It's that time again - time to take stock of what has been done and what missed.  [Sorry..no pics as the sky is so grey].

(1) Ottoman Turks

Some musket units painted up so that I can now field a full DBN army.  Finally read the Brown book (but much prefer a real book though). Also got a chance to take a look at "Tehran to Tangier" by Mark Bevis.  Now have to make notes from both sources and prepare army lists for the 'Napoleonic Eastern Theatre'.

 

(2) Qajar Persians
 
En passant two musket units got painted and two zambourek units re-purposed. Can source some useful figures from Essex and Irregular.  Although I really like the Khurasan figures the postage doubles the cost.

 

(3)  DBA v3.0

Made some real progress here - quite a number of 'new' armies can be fielded including:

1.4a - Zagros & Anatolian Highlanders (fast Ax)
1.6b - Midianite, Amalekite or Early Arab (camel archers)
1.14e - Jung or Ch'iang (leather-coated warriors)
1.14f - Red Ti (warband)
1.15 - Later Amorite (light chariots)
1.31a,b - Neo-Hittite or Later Aramaean (light chariots)
1.55e - Umbrian (cavalry & spear)
2.4b, d - Yueh or other Chinese (fast pikes)
2.21a, b, c - (fast knights)
2.30b - Galatian (armoured foot & Sch)
2.80c - Chionite or Hepthalite Huns (fast knights)
3.22a, b, c, d - Maya (archers)
3.47c, d - Leidang (archers)

 

(4)  The Stagnant Swamp:

Alas some projects have been stuck in the mire all year.  

(a)  HotT - some of the 20mm plastic HotT armies were given a basic lick of paint - Elves, Ratmen and Lizardfolk.  We have played one game I think.  In 15mm metal the Garden Gnomes still have nobody to fight.

(b)  Pre-Dreadnought Naval - played "Damn Battleships Again" by Phil Barker but didn't like the rules.

(c)  20mm Plastic Figures - have tons of them just sitting around - Incas, Jacobites, Colonials, Renaissance, etc.  Can't remember when I last painted any.

 

(5)  What's Next?

I guess, at this stage, that I should make some wargaming rules:  

(a)  Don't wait for Covid19 to subside and life go back to normal.  This may take quite some time.  Governments are good at making promises but not at delivering them.

(b)  Get into the loft as soon as the weather improves and sort out that mess.  The 15mm 'ancients' are pretty much sorted but the plastics and terrain are anybody's guess.

(c)  Decide which projects are actually going to happen and dispense with the rest.  A pretty radical ambition I admit.

(d)  Write basic scripts for the blog.  In the past I have just put up items on a whim (often just to fill space).  More planning is needed without spontinaity being lost.   [writing script 2 at the moment].

(e)  Only one more thing to do is to wish all my readers....

        A HAPPY NEW YEAR

Using a DBN Ottoman army

 Saturday 31st October 2020 - Ottoman Turks v 1802 French

Ottoman Forces:
2     Ms(M)          (Janissaries)                                                         1
1     LI(M)           (Light Infantry trained by Janissaries)                0.5
2    Ms(M)          (Sekhans - Irregular Provincial Militia)               1
2    Ms                (Sekhans - Irregular Provincial Militia)               2
1    Jg                  (Rayas - Skilled Peasant Huntsman)                  0.5
8     LEM            (Fellahin - Mass Conscripted Peasant Militia)     2
1     HC               (Suvarileri – Regular Guard Cavalry)                  1
2 *    LC             (Suvarileri – Regular Line Cavalry)                     2
2 *    LC(M)      (Sipahis - Militia Cavalry)                                     1
2     FA(M)                                                                     

12 AP but 23 elements

 

Initial dispositions - I split the fellahin into 2 groups with 4 'sacrificial' elements on the left.  In the centre I put the HC/LC Suvarileri (as required by the rules).

 

Midway through the game I had lost all my fellahin (but only 2 had run away).  It's a good job that they don't count for losses.  My left flank was no more.  On the right I had gained ground and was slowly picking off the French.

 

It was a tense ending where both of us were waiting for the last, crucial, loss.  The French were beaten.

The fellahin had been surprisingly useful but brittle - if they didn't flee after the first fight they got a shaken marker then died in the following round.  Best to use them to absorb all those nasty metal slugs I think!  

A far bigger restriction was for the Suvarileri - they never got into action.  I could have set up with them in the front line but the enemy would have just cut them down.  The next time I field this army I will leave them at home.  The points can be better spent elsewhere - maybe some Mamlukes!

As regards the Janissaries - one element became fellahin whilst the other stayed as Ms(M).  Surprised that these are compulsory given the number of Ottoman forces that were under regional leaders - who did not use them.  May need to develop a separate list.

Will definitely keep the Rayas (and probably double them) - very effective shooters.

An interesting scrap that took about 2 hours to play (a lot of rule checking took place).  

For comparison here's a couple of battle reports from Mr Farrow:

https://mrfarrow2udba1519k.blogspot.com/2016/03/dbn-ottomans.html
http://mrfarrow2udba1519k.blogspot.com/2012/07/dbn3-brits-vs-ottomans-1811-2nd-battle.html

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It's been a long time since I last blogged (3 months) so, maybe, I need to catch up a bit!

                                                                

Bits & Pieces! Bits & Pieces! (Pt.1)

If you have just started foot-stomping you are as old as me. 

 These are the Gasgans missing from my last post.  When I took the photo I hadn't realised that one element was already voting with its feet!

So for the past week or so I have been painting up oddments and going through my 'repairs' tray. 

Asian War Wagons from Rod Felderman in the states - 3D printed....plus some camp elements.  The middle is sheep and goats whereas the one on the left shows a pig about to get the chop!

These Kn(X) are some old Minifigs - Alexandrian companions I think.  I have re-purposed them as 'generic' cataphracts for my book 2 DBA (v3.0) armies.

Unfortunately the camera focus went out at this point as I allowed the batteries to run down too much. That will teach me to do maintenance more often.  When I dig out the manual I will be able to re-set the lens and photograph the other items that have been completed.

Talking of DBA armies Ian and I carried out an exercise to see just how many we could 'fudge'.  Turns out that books 1 & 4 have the lowest representation (no surprise there) with book 2 the highest (146 out of 192).  It's now a question of searching for filler troops e.g. leather-coated Chinese.

Not quite going stir crazy yet but I feel it coming.

Egyptians, Latins & DBA Book 2

(A)  New Kingdom Egyptians - Progress Report

I finally got around to painting the remaining 15 elements of Libyan Wb(F) plus 4 x Gasgan Wb(F).  This will provide the punch necessary for this downgraded army. 

Tarted up the Shardana/Sherden and the Libyan archers as well.  Still looking around for suitable Lh(I) for the one permitted element - Oh well!

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(B)  Latins - more candidates

Whilst looking for DBA army fill-ups (more later)  I came across the 15mm manufacturer Xyston.  It has a few candidates for Latin armies:

ANC20157 - Oscan Javelinmen with Scutum (8 in 4 vars)  £4
ANC20158 - Oscan Armoured Infantry with Hoplite Shield (8:4)  £4
ANC20159 - Apulian Infantry (8:4)  £4
ANC20170 - Campanian Hoplites (8:4)  £4
ANC20250 - Roman/Italian Peasants (8:4)  £3.75

If you want to search for yourself try this page:

https://www.scotiagrendel.com/Xyston/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_3

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(C)  DBA (v3.0) - Book 2

Carrying out an exercise to see which armies Ian & I can field.  Out of 192 armies I can field 108 of them.

Of the rest 15 are in the 'Not Quite' category:

4b - Yueh Chinese [need 4 x 3Pk]
4d - Other Chinese [as above]
4e - Other Chinese [need 1 x 3Bd]
5f - Phokian [need 1 x stone-thrower]
21a - Ch'iang & Ti Chinese [need 2 x armoured tribal 4Ax]
21b - Ch'iang & Ti Chinese [same as above]
22c - Hatra [need 1 x cataphract camels or 1 x art]
28a - Tigranes [need 2 x cataphracts]
28b - Other Armenian [as above]
28d - Gordyene [as above]
39b - Celtiberian [need 6 x scutarii 3Bd]
44 - Commagene [need 2 x cataphracts]
46a - Kushan [need 2 x cataphracts]
46b - Kushan [as above]
46c - Kushan Kidarite [need 3 x cataphracts] 

 Looking at the Xyston site I found some 'likely lads' to fill in some of the gaps:

ANC20199 - Celtiberean Warriors (8:6)  £4
ANC20112 - Phokian Stone Thrower (4 crew)  £4  [other artillery is available]
ANC20285 - Parthian Cataphract Command (1stC) on Camels (3:3)  £4.50
ANC20286 - Parthian Cataphract Command (2ndC) on Camels (3:3)  £4.50
ANC20292 - Parthian Cataphracts (2ndC) on Camels (4:4)  £4.50

 Peter Pig also has: 72. Parthian cataphract camels (4)

Have found some old Minifigs that I can convert into 3 x 'Armenian' cataphracts.  So that only leaves the Chinese - maybe Essex!

Ian has the vast majority of the Romans and their enemies so that leaves only the Persians & Kappadokians that neither of us can manage.  Not a bad result and completely opposite to the Book 1 review.

 Looks like I will be painting 15mm figures in the near future!

In Search of...The Gasgans

Mentioned in four of the DBMM Book 1 lists: 

(4) Zagros & Anatolian Highlanders [full army]
(20) Syro-Canaanite & Ugaritic [ 2 x Irr Wb(F) ]
(22) New Kingdom Egyptian [ 4 x Wb(F) ]
(24) Hittite Empire [ ^ 9 x 2h chariots; ^ 9 x Irr Ps(O) archers or slingers; ^ 12 x Irr Wb(F) ]

Trying to search on the internet for Gasgans didn't result in much...until I put in the alternative names for these people...Kaska or Kaskians.  Even then it was pretty much only Wikipedia (and copies thereof) that gave me anything.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaskians

Seems like they wore little other than animal furs and boots.  Bows, javelins and shields were the weapons of choice but I have no doubt there would be many slingers..

Among 15mm manufacturers only Khurasan has any dedicated figures (shown above) :

http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/gasgan.html

Khurasan gives them skirts and the royal bodyguard a sort of Villanovan crested helmet.

If you are willing to look a little further 'abroad' there is quite a bit more information on Anatolian highlanders:

http://www.warlordgames.com/history-highland-tribes-of-the-zagros-mountains-gutians-and-lullubi/
http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=206594 [Mysterious Guti]

Warlord Games have some 'highlander' figures available but I don't know the scale (and finding out is not easy).

https://gamewire.belloflostsouls.net/new-early-highlander-axemen-and-javelinmen/
Other pages on Warlord Games (main site) have archers, slingers & proto-chariots.

Given that I am seeking to add 4 elements to my NKE (20mm) army I had to dive into Plastic Soldier Review for help.

HaT 8132 - Sumerian Infantry - some of the javelinmen

Both need shields adding, boots painted on and (for the Lullabi) trimming but that is do-able (even for me).  Whether I will have 12 figures in my stockpile is another matter.

HaT 8121 - Assyrian Allied Infantry - only some of the bowmen (and not suitable for the royal guard).

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Just coming off my painting table are more 20mm Libyans and Nubians. As I now have a surplus of both these nations I am thinking about forming some DBA v3.0 armies.    We shall see!