Generally speaking

 Two mounted generals were in the box of Eric’s Ottomans-

Labelled as ever, now to give them suitable names and perhaps personalities with positive or negative attributes for command.

The brightly painted general is a Minifigs Tartar with his lance cut down , mounted on a lovely half armoured horse. The other general is a drab but business like figure with lots of weapons and a shield plus a severed head hanging from his horse furniture. I don’t know the manufacturer.

So here they are , ready to lead Eric’s men into battle once again…

Next artillery, gunners and transport…

Here comes the cavalry or Oliver’s , sorry Eric’s, Army is here to stay

 As promised some goodies from Eric Knowles’s Army . Firstly ,as Bob commented,  Eric uses a fascinating mix of figures in his armies. This is evident in the figures he has used in this Ottoman Army- ancient, Persians, ancient Britains, Huns and so on. I find this approach both charming and refreshing and one I can identify with. Secondly Eric labelled his figures with sticky labels on the underside of the bases in his own hand writing. I am impressed by this and want to preserve the bases and labels. Now for some pictures-

Light cavalry - diverse periods and manufactures as Dellis or Tartars.

Labels on the underside of the bases, neat and concise .

Other light cavalry, not sure of who manufactured them. Lively animation…

Underside of the lively animated figures. I really like the style of them.

Heavy cavalry this time , mainly Minifigs, not sure what they are but they look the part.

Another view of the heavy cavalry showing the bases and labels.

Over the weekend I agonised about how to use these figures and yet retain their charm and labels. I thought of sabot basing, clear Perspex bases and on and on. Then it came to me - l will use them as they are base wise for square based the Portable Wargame . An ideal solution, allows them to remain intact with a variety of basing styles. Ideal l think. One final question l am tempted to varnish the figures to protect Eric’s paint job . What do you think ? Will the integrity of the figures be diminished if I varnish? 

Chhanges…

 Yesterday my last born moved into her new flat. The rain teemed down as we loaded the van yesterday evening. Today we were due to have my uncle and aunt over to view my father’s cinefilms from the 1960s and 70s .These were transferred to VHS and subsequently onto Dvd. Here is an image I found on the internet of what I can remember the camera looking like-

He documented family holidays, birthdays, Christmases and more. My uncle has never seen the films or probably more likely has forgotten them being shown on a projector over fifty years ago. My Subuteo games are there somewhere along with Action Men and more besides. Sadly little or no footage of toy soldiers . And so we were due to gather here today to wallow in the remembrance of times past but a bug hit the household over night and I had to cancel. Yes we hope to reschedule but my uncle is getting frailer and changes were not what anyone needed or wanted. Soon hopefully.

My email inbox and its contents informed me today that it is a hundred days to Christmas, information I could have lived without. 

Finally Thursday saw me getting round to unpacking a final box containing some of the late Eric Knowles’s Ottoman artillery, transport and cavalry. Fascinating finds lay within-

Much more on this when I collate what I have and begin to work how how to take these forward in my gaming whilst respecting the organisation, labelling and modelling of Eric Knowles, something I am more than keen to do. Here is a brief taster-

 

 

Tents etc

 With my coffee this morning I popped over to one regular blogsI read-

https://wargamehermit.blogspot.com/2021/01/wollner-siege-of-vienna-1683-figures.html

I saw the Wollner recast tents there and decided to have a go at replicating them in plasticard for my Ottomans. Here are photos of them so far ( only needing a stand to be added to make them free standing) as well as a wee try out of the Ottomans on the battlefield- light cavalry and medium cavalry on the flanks with infantry in the centre. I put out the Austrians too to see how it all looked.

Eric’s Ottomans: the Janissaries

 Been working on the Minifigs figures today. I got a 1978 Funcken out for reference. I got the Renaissance volume in French and it has been on my shelves ever since I bought it in the Toy Tub Edinburgh. Figures moving forward...

Taking Eric Knowles Ottomans forward or the mojo returns

 I have put aside various ideas to concentrate on taking the part I got of the Eric Knowles Ottomans onto the wargaming table. This involves painting and basing, both of which have been done today. Here are some of the figures I have been working on along with a picture of Eric’s boxes in which the figures came to me- 

 

I am unsure whether to flock or not. Their Austrian opponents are flocked but we will see. I also based some Austrian cavalry I had got last year. They have helmets which were used when fighting the Turks. More to be done tomorrow...

 

Yesterday in pictures

The search for scenarios- truth is stranger than fiction

I was at my books  over the stormy weekend browsing away looking for an engaging scenario to play. I am a great one for imagineering but sometimes you come across a piece of history that really gets you hooked. Anyway I was looking at Christopher Duffy’s book-

A splendid read by the way. I recalled something I had read ages ago about an Austrian renegade in Prussian service. I found the passage and was fascinated. His name was Gottfried Fabian Haube aka Carl Adolph Von Rexin .  He negotiated with the Turks on behalf of Frederick the Great, giving them bribes, Nuremberg dolls and the promise of returning the Banat of Temesvr to them. He completed a trade and friendship treaty between Turkey and Prussia in 1761. 

Meanwhile Frederick entertained someone from the Khanate of the Crimean Tartars and sent one of his officers back to see if the Tartars could be encouraged to fight against the Russians and Austrians.

A plan was hatched where a Prussian Corps would rendezvous with six thousand Tartars and “push south to the Danube.”

They would be commanded by another Austrian renegade Lt Gen Paul Werner. April 1762 saw him setting out to join the Turks...

 What a tale eh? Yesterday also saw me finally finding the Eric Knowles Tartars I had been working on before lockdown, which was most fortuitous. So the plan is to have a few games around what might have happened. It is an excuse to fight something different with unusual opponents taking centre stage. The history has more fascinating byways to share in this story but that’s for another day...