2022 Painting Project

 Last year on an impulse I bought a "grab box" online of SYW figures in 15mm scale.  The seller mentioned a bunch of Ottoman-Turks.  So imagine my surprise when it was about 60% or better Turks.  However, this was something I didn't already possess and had only painted for others in 28mm.  So at the first of the year I dove headfirst into painting up enough to host a game at the Seven Years War Association Convention in South Bend, IN on March 31st-April 2nd.

Doing a little research I chose the Battle of Banja Luka in 1737 between the Austrians and Turks in modern Bosnia.  Small enough that I could match the numbers on table.  The Austrians were already mostly painted so in a few weeks we'll be giving it a go.  I ran a playtest of the scenario and made some tweaks, and I'm anxious to see it played out.  

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.  Comments and additional information is welcomed.

The "Big Picture" with one infantry unit to go.

Our local rules of choice are The Final Argument of Kings by the late Dean West.  The majority of infantry units are 12-20 figures, with cavalry 8-12.  All artillery batteries are represented by one model and four gunners.  The system is an offshoot of Johnny Reb so was a natural choice for our game group.

Eight regiments of cavalry, lights and mediums with
a large number armed with lances.

Two medium and two fancy heavy batteries.

Infantry, ranging from "elite" Janissaries to spear and bow armed levies.

The Ottoman Army wasn't covered in the core rules so I have to go to other rule sets like Warfare in the Age of Reason and my own research and experience to come up with values for the troops.  Just the names are confusing to this westerner.  Provincial levies, Sekban mercenary musketeers, Kapikulu, Akinci, Solaks, Azap and Alti Boluk household troopers.  Instead of regiments they are organized into Ortas.

Exotic Akinci cavalry.

Close shot of the medium guns.

The first brigadier I painted, with his sun shade.

For our game the great Hekimoglu Ali Pasha and his escort.

One of the fun things is that unlike European armies, there was no absolute definitive uniform at the time, so I could be creative.  Reds, especially on the lances, predominated, but also greens, blues, yellows and browns appeared in illustrations.  So while some may question, proving the paint scheme is wrong will be difficult.

I hope you found this interesting or entertaining.