Sunday 2 January 2011

A surprising change of direction...




Call it a moment of madness or enthusiasm,perhaps a whim if you like but I bought some 18th century Ottomans online on New Year's Day!


All my plans about going easy on spending from the "War Chest" and downsizing/freezing the lead mountain went to pot. Actually it was a combination of things- laying out my smallish but effective Imperium army and realising I probably had enough of them ( apart from some vignettes etc I suppose ) and they needed another opponent, browsing through my copy of "Force of Arms" by Duffy, coming across the leaflet my wife designed for me for Edinburgh University Wargames Club's demonstration game of the battle of Banjaluka 1739 around 20years ago, finding the stuff I had on 18th Century Ottomans photocopied and spirited away and finally a New Years Day feeling that I had always wanted to do this army for over twenty years( I blame Duffy's book "The Wild Geese and the eagle" from the uni library too) at least...




A look at the Styria Zeughaus online combined with the part of Duffy's book about the fear of Tartar invasion and the specific Austrian anti-Turkish kit and tactics fuelled the fire and so ( slightly taken aback and shocked) I have gone for it.
It will not be to huge a force,will probably take time to assemble but all in all I remain excited and my dreams filled with gaming potentialities. What do you think?

6 comments:

  1. I think that you should follow your dream, Alan.

    Don't work on an army just because you "should" . . . build something that you WANT to build.

    So go for it . . . oh, right, you already did.

    Good for you, sir!


    -- Jeff

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  2. "Call it a moment of madness or enthusiasm,perhaps a whim if you like"
    Not at all: your interest in 18th c. Ottomans is not new (I remember 'An Ottoman's musings') so you are at least beginning to fulfill an old project.
    Cheers!
    Jean-Louis
    P.S. Will you reactive Togaras as a potential reluctant ally / vengeful opponent of the Ottomans?

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  3. Hobbies are about having fun so if you're having fun what else really matters? Looking forward to seeing this new venture develop. :)

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  4. Go for it! I set up my Imagi-Nation, "New Byzantium" so I could field Western and Eastern style troops in my army.

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  5. RSM has a very nice range of Ottomans that you should consider. The Essex 28mm Renaissance range has lots of Ottoman cavalry that you can use in the 18th century. Dixon also has a nice range.

    You won't find Austrian cuirassiers in helmet and full front and back iron, unless you use WSS Austrian cuirassiers or do some head swapping or commission someone to make them for you.

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