Breaking Up the Ottomans - Part 3

 

Minifigs 150Xc - Sipahis of the Porte

Whilst struggling to identify my 'Ottomans' I checked "Armies of the Middle Ages, volume 2" by Ian Heath.  On page 114, item 23, the following paragraph is more than relevant:

".....virtually identical armour was worn throughout all the Iranian lands during this period, and ....could....equally well be Ilkhanids, Jalayrids, Black Sheep or White Sheep Turks or Timurids."

[Mr Barker would be proud of this one sentence paragraph.]

Whilst not giving me complete carte blanche It does provide some room for manoeuvre.  

The relevant DBA lists are:
 
4.42 - Islamic Persian
4.46 - Ilkhanid
4.67 - Jalayrid
4.75 - Timurid
4.77 - Black or White Sheep Turkomans

The Jalayrid list requires 7 x Mongol horse archers and the Ilkhanid 9. Both would be better considered as Mongol morphs.  

A compound list for 4.42 & 4.75 could be:

1 x Cv(g); 8 x Cv; 1 x Cv (Georgian nobles)
3 x Lh (Turkoman); 1 x Lh (horse archer)
1 x 4Bw (Sabadar); 2 x 3Bw (Persian or Afghan); 2 x Ps bow (Persian or Afghan)
1 x 3Ax (hillmen); 1 x 3Pk (Afghan spearmen); 1 x 7Hd
1 x El (Timurid)

Museum - Arab citizen cavalry

In my 'Arab horse' tin there were 6 cavalry figures (as pictured above) that had been given to me as possible 'chinese'.  Indeed they served as such until more suitable models were found.  At that point they were sent to pad out my Arab cavalry.  Now they will be added to my Islamic Persian DBA force.

Closer inspection of the (Ottoman) box also revealed a few more Museum Persian Cv plus 3 Georgian Cv.

So, what about the Turkomans?  Well, that's a story for the next posting.

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!

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!