Next for the range?
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This illustration shows the range of headwear in the 16th century, from Jannisary bork, turbans and the Sipahi armoured helm.
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And this cover photo from the Warlord set probably show the most iconic 'uniform' of the Janissaries (probably too uniform here)
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@Will Mansell I could not agree more!
And Ottomans might be a good place for some heavy field artillery as well.
.... and big, ornate tents.... ok, I am getting a bit carried away but yeah I would love to see WGA make all kinds of Seige of Malta items.
.... Renedra makes some decent tents in 28mm but nothing like....
https://daily.jstor.org/the-movable-tent-cities-of-the-ottoman-empire/
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Could one Ottoman Infantry kit cover the late 17th and and early 18th century?
That could cover the Siege of Vienna in 1683.
And other stuff in the early 1700s.
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@JTam I might be completely wrong on all fronts, especially before I've had my coffee lol. Been doing more research on 17th C ottomans you expressed interest in to see how different they were - answer seems not much!
Biggest differences were headwear (easy to include multiple different types), weaponry (easy again) and pouches/accoutrements which were probably dependent on the weapon they were holding. Seems like headwear in Janissaries also varied depending on rank. Need to do more research.
Would it be difficult to have pouches and powder horns sculpted and moulded as separate items to glue on depending on age/weapon being used? Could be a good solution to the 'age' problem.
Below's an image from around 1630AD, you can see the Tufekci on the left in their tall red hats and black feathers (sort of reminscent of a fez). Looks to me like they dressed pretty similar to Janissaries of same period (would make sense) just with a different hat. So you could have one 'body' that covers both Janissaries and the later Tufekci troops.
Another Osprey illustration of some Tufekci on left (translates literally to "Rifleman" or "Gunsmith") from 17th C:
Had to research what a 'Peyk' was - turns out the Sultan's bodyguard of Janissaries was divided into two groups, the Peyks and the Solaks. The 'Peyks' were right handed and carried an axe or pike and the Solaks were left handed bow infantry. The hat that the Peyk chap in the middle seems to have been worn by later Janissary troops but didn't replace the classic 'bork' style.
Some more Solaks:
And here you can see the Peyks with their axes and the Solaks with bows:
I'm basically posting my research as I go so apologise if someone more knowledgeable comes along.
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Here are some more cool Janissary illustrations - the decorative motifs like ships and windmilks on their hats would make super cool models I think:
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Oh and don't get me started on animal skins! (Sorry for Janissary spam).
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@Kinjack @JTam Actually it would be smarter do the Polish combined with the Russians, Transylvanians, etc. separate from the Janissaries since they all seemed to use the bardiche axe/glaive heavily (famously to help steady their matchlocks) while I have yet to really see the rank and file the Ottoman empire’s slave soldiers ever use any other poll arm besides the a more typical halberd design let alone steady thier firearms with them. Likewise I am pretty sure it was not too rare for Polish and Russian musketeers at least to sometimes wear armor (chainmail and even plate, it was likely mostly looted armor), and I don’t really see that in most depictions of Janissaries.
@Pygmy Hippo Or just Kingdoms of Man for KoW. I agree they and the Russians are good alternatives to the Western european themed fantasy armies, but we both know they are not going to scale well with whatever GW is doing nor should they since historical scale is king of fantasy gaming armies (plus those GW sculpts are probably going to be some sort of butchered 1/35 scale at this point🤣).
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@David BraultHmm, I would like to see some hand axes and wheel lock pistols for Knights of Malta crewmen, and maybe some enclosed helmets and combination firearms. Doesn't have to be a set I would be happy with a sprue.
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@Hudson Adams
Reiter would be great.
https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/65470/reiter-aka-schwarzreiter
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I know its a ways off but what about safavid persians? they would make a great opposition force to any ottoman box and persians are ever overlooked. light cav with guns and bows, light infantry with a growing core of gunmen
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For the Ottomans the jannisaries, azab, akinji and sipahi, to my knowledge would be able to cover the professional and irregular aspects of the "main" ottoman armed forces.
Other aspects of the ottoman army could be found in the proposed eastern european infantry and cavalry and the gendarmes or knights to represent the ottoman allies in the balkans and hungary, like the voynik and others. If the heads and arms of the renaissance range are all interchangable the potential for conversion for ottoman influenced western and balkan troops could be huge.
Sipahi, right is an earlier style of helmet, known as the turban helm, still in use in the 16th century.
Example of possible conversion potential.
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Italian wars-1: infantry
In this suggestion i would like to show examples of generic infantry for use in multiple nations armies, being hopefully useful for the french companies, italian mercenary bands and the feudal levies of germany and possibly hungary and beyond.
from what i have read and seen, the standard infantry of the time wore leggings and other tight clothes in the fashions of the time. Puffed clothes, although not slashed like the iconic landsknecht just yet, were also common. ratio of armour is fine at 2/5 like the conquistador kit, with pikes and shot with other weapons being included or found in other kits. helmets could be open sallets, late kettle helms and barbutes up to morions, which were developed in italy. The hair, hat or colour scheme would designate the nation itself.
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Italian wars-2: men at arms
In the 16th century the heavily armoured cavalrymen, in plate mail, in western fashion reached its apex, yet also saw its swift decline from military supremacy because of pike and shotte. Yet, the man in armour stayed in use for a good portion of the 16th century.
Once again the set could cover the time period with only a few changes. The riders themselves, if being 5 men, could be 2 Italian style, with flat plates of armour, 2 maximillian gothic with heavily fluted armour and one with the 16th century surcoat, which was longer than the previous century. The use for fantasy could also be present with the kit itself or further accesory sprues like more fantastical helmets could influence them.
The horses, in my opinion should have the barding seperate, as the option was removed or added due to the wealth or inclanation of the state or mercenary itself.
Finally, helmets could cover various periods, from the late sallets of the late 15th to early 16th century to the maxmillian/close helmets throughout, and the burgonet with falling buffe of the later period. the helmets of other kits could also be used to represent different nations with more open faced styles perhaps representing a free rider or medium cavalryman, or nationality, like morions representing spanish or landsknecht helmets representing germans.
example of early period armour
Italian styles of armour
Maximillian gothic style armour
Examples of horse barding/ knights surcoats
Later helmets with falling buffe visor.
Thank you for your patience, and i'll see you when i get back out of my locker :)
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Italian Wars-3: Landsknechts
Landsknechts became one of the most prominent mercenaries in the 16th century, dressed outrageously for the standards of the times, due to maximillian the first, who relieved them of the strict sumptuary laws in the Holy Roman Empire to improve morale and reward them for taking part in a particularily dangerous career. This resulted in the iconic appearance, and turned them into a staple of the renaissance. From Pavia to Rome to Vienna, if the client had money they would fight the enemy.
Once again the kit would have a mix of armour, pike and shot, but the armour and "other" weapons would be a bit different from other kits. The zweihander, halberd and katzbalger would be good to show landsknechts, and various german helmets would show the origin of the mercenaries. "dopplesoldner" would be made by giving the soldiers the swords or halberds and heavier armour.
Hats, helmets and feathers could be included to decorate as wanted, as the swiss were similar in appearance but slightly more conservative and with a vertical cross of saint denis instead of the diagonal badge of st andrew, the field symbol of the landsknecht.
Landsknecht clothing
Landsknecht weaponry
landsknecht armour
Landsknecht helmets
Thanks for reading, and i'll see you again! :)
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Italian wars/Battle for the balkans(WIP name):
stradiots/eastern european light cavalry
This kit will be useful to portray the famous and iconic light cavalrymen of the balkans and eastern europeans. The stradioti were famous and effective light cavalry who were hired by the venetians by the colonial possesions in dalmatia and the adriatic. The stradioti also recruited from the greeks, albanians and cypriots, survivors of the ottoman onslaught. Other units like this included wallachian/romanian light cavalry and the serbian and hungarian hussars. This style of warfare, a form of guerilla nomadism, perfected from the fighting in the region, sandwiched as it was between various great powers, from hungary to hapsburgs to the ottomans. The key elements of the stradiots or hussars was the long jacket with the facing on the front, the unsusually shaped shield, an rectangle with a sweeping top. The weaponry was lances, maces, curved sabres and bows. The headgear should be varied to show the various nationalities of these cavalrymen. Helmets, in my opinion should not be prioritised and instead could be taken from other kits to show the influences of the various nations hiring them, like wallachians with ottoman helmets, or stradiots with italian helmets, or hungarian hussars with german helmets.
stradiots
wallachians
hungarian/serbian hussars
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