New Wargames 28mm Atlantic Conquistadors

I finally got my hands on a set of the new Wargames Atlantic Conquistadors,  28mm plastic figure set and they look very promising for my Anglo-Scots Elizabethan Wars project.

Six completed figures, representing the contents of the base sprue in the kit, the observant may notice that  I have used different base sizes. There is method to the madness, Halberdiers & Spearmen being classed as close-order troops whilst missile men and guys waving swords around would need more space to operate!

I have completed one sprue of the figures to date and they were simple to assemble, basically a torso to which you add a head (one of 18 variants on each sprue) and some arms, which then dictates which weapon combinations the figure has at his disposal.

Close-up of the Crossbow man

The options ae basically to build a sword & buckler, a Halberdier,  a crossbow man or a musketeer. The sprue also gives the option to build a drummer. There are 24 figures in a box, with 6 per sprue.  In ddition there is a second sprue for each figure sprue that enables an additional range of weapon options to be accessed - namely Spearmen and two-handed swordsmen. This second sprue also has an additional 8 head options plus hand swords for each figure.

And a close-up of the Musketeer

In all a huge range of figure variants will be able to be built and if the word from the manufacturers is correct they will be releasing addition 'variant' sprues, to enable these figures to be used in an even wider range of scenarios.

A Scots Sword & Buckler man, with plate armour

And in the interest of balance, an English Swordsman, in quilted jack 

These guys aren't heading off to the steamy jungles of South America, rather they will be on active service along the Scots Borders acting as Reivers or soldiers in Elizabeth or Mary's Armies - as I get to build them.

Possibly my favourite figure of the 6 so far, a Halberdier

Another obvious use for them is to combine the parts with the Wargames Atlantic Irish - to help me expand that force as well as (when the appropriate parts are released) to build a Spanish force that would be be carried by the Armarda...

Finally a Scots Spearman, in plate armour

28mm German Infantry in Polish Service. Swabian Regiment

I started this regiment as part of the AHPC XII challenge but ran out f time to finish these little guys, in the painting sump post challenge it has taken until now to get the regiment finished.

The completed Swabian Regiment 

I was anting to add a 'German' regiment to the Polish forces, in reading about Polish Army organisation in the Late 17th Century there are regular references to 'German' regiments in Polish service, recruited from the western most borders of the Polish state - where the influences on dress and tactics were much more akin to Western Europe as opposed to Eastern European standards adopted by the bulk of the Polish forces.

Close-up of one of the Musketeer blocks in the regiment

So here they are - I found a plate showing a 'German' regiment in a simple light blue uniform, which I have recreated here. I have adorned the men with red waist sashes, trimmed white - to reflect Polish colours.

The Swabian Command stand, surrounded with Pikemen,
City of Memmingen standard on the left, Polish National flag on the right 

The regiment is set-up with my usual organisation, i.e. four stands of musketeers, a central block of eight pike men plus fore command figures. The command figures carry two speculative flags, a Polish national banner plus the city banner associated with Memmingen, found on the Swabian / Bavarian border.

The second musketeer block

Siege of Vienna - Part Four: Ottoman Artillery

Everyone know that during a siege, we are bound to see a lot of artillery, this will also be the case in this Siege of Vienna game.

Ottoman Field Gun manned by a Balkan crew

The Ottoman Artillery will initially be focused on executing the ongoing bombardment of the city but then scrambling to redirect their fire on the pending Imperial attack. I have taken the view that the heavy siege weapons would not be able to re-deploy against the Imperial forces appearing at their rear - these will be off-table.

Instead it is Field guns and Light guns that will be able to be redeployed to cover the rear,  as the game progresses. As such there are five Field Gun batteries and a Light battery available to the Ottoman forces in the game

The Light Gun Battery

Available from turn one of eth game, this piece is hand portable and can fire immediately at the oncoming Imperial hordes.

Ottoman two man, Light Gun crew.
The gun model will likely be swapped out for the game for a more realistic looking piece of equipment

The Field Gun Batteries

These will become available, basis a die roll at the start of each turn, on a score of '1' on turn one, the guns can redeploy that turn and are available to fire the following turn. On turn two the battery will redeploy on a '1' or '2', and so on until turn six when all guns will be able to redeploy if not yet done so.

Two more Field Gun batteries, manned by Turkish crews

And the other two Field Gun batteries, again manned by Turkish crews.

The Gun Master

The Ottomans will also have the services of a Master Gunner, who will be able to share his knowledge and experience of the art of gunnery with the crews. This will help the speed up initial redeployments and later accuracy of their firing

The Ottoman Master Gunner

Siege of Vienna - Part Three: The Ottoman Cavalry

 Having walked through the forces available to the Polish, Austrian & German players it would be best to highlight their opposition next. In case anyone is unaware the 1683, Siege of Vienna was fought between the Holy Roman Empire, dominated by the Austrians and their enemies the Ottoman Empire, who had been pushing in to Eastern Europe for decades.

The Ottoman Cavalry Force

As such the combined masses of Christian Cavalry were to be pitted against the best of the Ottoman Army. Ottoman Cavalry was typically of poorer quality that their opponents but they had much more of it in most set piece battles.

The Ottoman Cavalry Leader

At Vienna the Ottoman horse will be represented as follows:

The Sipahi of the Port

In general terms the Sipahi of the Port can be considered Guards Cavalry, armed with lance, bow, hand weapons and pistols, protected by chain mail, these heavy horse were arguably the best cavalry in the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman's best mounted troops - Sipahis of the Port

There are four units of the Sipahi of the Port that the attacking players will encounter, in total some 24 figures plus leaders

The Sipahi

The Sipahi are the bulk of the Ottoman cavalry, quality wise not as good as the Guards / Port troops by typically armed and armoured in exactly the same manner.

A large unit of 'Heavy' Sipahi

The attacking player here will encounter four units of Medium' Sipahi, representing the run of the mill units in the army plus a larger unit of 'Heavy' Sipahi, representing the best of the massed cavalry. In total some 32 models plus leader figures.

The masses of the 'Medium' Sipahi, with the Sipahi Leader

The Light Cavalry

Next we find opposing the Christian horsemen a mix of Ottoman Light Cavalry, from different sources.

The Massed Ottoman Light Cavalry with their leader

The bulk of the Ottoman Light Cavalry is made up of unarmoured Turkish horsemen, who are armed with spear, bow and hand weapons. Some will also carry pistols and / or muskets. There are four units, totalling 24 figures plus a leader in the Ottoman Army.

Alongside the Light Horse fought a number of allied contingents, here represented by a small Hungarian Hussar unit - unarmoured with swords and pistols.

A small unit of Hungarian Hussars

A unit of exotic looking unarmoured Deli Cavalry, with their winged head dresses, armed with spear, bow and hand weapons.

An independent unit of Deli Light Cavalry

And finally a unit of Mamelukes from North Africa, armed with hand weapons and pistols etc.

An independent unit of Mameluke Light Cavalry

In total some 42 Light Cavalry...

Siege of Vienna - Part Two: The Imperial Cavalry

The forthcoming Siege of Vienna Scenario will pit the combined Cavalry resources of the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Ottomans, in a do or die battle...

The Imperial Cavalry Divisions at Vienna, the Austrian Division
is on the right and the Imperial client State Division to the left

By way of background the Siege of Vienna was entering its final stages when John III Sobieski, allied with Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I to deal crushing defeats to the Ottoman Empire. The 1683 battle marked the final turning point in the 250-year struggle between the forces of Christian Europe and the Islamic Ottomans. 

For its centuries-long opposition to Muslim advances, the Commonwealth would gain the name of Antemurale Christianitatis (bulwark of Christianity). Final victory for the allies was to take a further 16 years, a period known as the Great Turkish War, which would see the Turks permanently driven south of the Danube River, never again to threaten central Europe.

In Part One of these posts, I reviewed the Polish Divisions available to the players, here I will look at the Imperial Forces - again two divisions - one solely consisting of Austrians and the other made-up of a number of units from German client nations.

The Austrians

The Austrian Division consists of three Regiments of Cuirassiers and a Regiment of unarmoured Horse. The unarmoured Horse regiment consists of two squadrons which may act individually or in unison with each other.

Austrian Horse, with the Austrian Commander of Horse

Similarly there are two Austrian Cuirassiers units both with two squadrons, which may act as per the Horse squadrons above. There is also a Third Austrian Cuirassier unit of just one squadron that may be used independently or may be added to one of the two Cuirassier units noted above and allow that unit to operate in unison as a three squadron regiment if so desired.

First Austrian Cuirassier unit with the Austrian Cuirassier Leader attached.

Second Austrian Cuirassier unit, all depicted as carrying Pistols.

Austrian Cuirassiers count as Armoured Heavy Cavalry and are thus not so quick on the table-top, they are armed with Swords and Pistols. When deployed in multi Squadron regiments they may use their weight on numbers to ad to their impact when making contact with the enemy.

Unarmoured Austrian Horse move somewhat quicker than their armoured brethren and they may also make use of Impact bonuses when making contact with the enemy if they are deployed with their squadrons acting in unison

Third Austrian Cuirassier unit, this unit may be deployed independently or it may be attached permanently to one of the other Cuirassier units to make that unit a three Squadron Regiment

So the Austrians have a total of seven Squadrons of 6 figures each - giving a total of 42 figures, plus a Commander of Horse and a Commander of Cuirassiers.

The Germans

This German Cavalry division represents all the units supplied to fight as part of the Imperial Army, alongside the Austrians and as such it is made up of a number of different nationalities. Again these are all Cuirassiers, with one unit of regular Horse.

All the above notes about squadrons acting in unison apply here as well.

Saxon Cuirassiers, with their Leader, a two squadron Regiment

Bavarian Cuirassiers and their National Leader

Brandenburg Horse, two squadrons strong. 

Wuttenburg Cuirassiers, a single squadron regiment,
they cannot combine with any other regiment

Numbers wise, this division has another seven Squadrons of 6 figures each - giving 42 figures, plus four National Leaders.

With the Imperial Commander that gives a total of 91 figures.

More about their Organisation

Oh where to begin about explaining the organisation of the Imperial Army! 

Lets just be kind and say it was hugely bureaucratic and inefficient! The Holy Roman Empire was dominated by the Austrians, other states were not bound to the decisions of the Emperor but generally went along with his desires but there were always exceptions and caveats to the rule. 

To represent this commands to the Imperial Commander of Horse must send orders to the National Leaders, before passing these on to the units themselves. Austrian Leaders command multiple units, the Imperial Client State leaders just one

Commander of the Imperial Horse

Coming Soon... 

Part Three: The Ottoman Cavalry

Siege of Vienna - Part One: Polish Cavalry Hordes

No new figures here but rather a taster for the upcoming Siege of Vienna mini game, highlighting the Polish & Imperial Armies' relief of the city.

The two Polish Cavalry Divisions, First on the left, second on the right.
See below for organisational details I will be using in the game

I'll let the photos do most of the talking but these figures represent the two divisions of Polish Cavalry which rode alongside two Imperial (Austrian and Holy Roman Empire) Cavalry divisions, into the heart of the besieging Ottoman army.

The Poles were organised into 'Banners', roughly akin to a squadron, each will be treated as an independent unit. Their cavalry was one of three types -

Winged Hussars 

The legendary armoured heavy cavalry armed with lances, swords, pistols and war-hammers! These guys are not the fastest cavalry around but the lances give them a big bonus on their initial impact and the plate armour gives them plenty of protection.

Hussars of the First Division, with their leader.
Three banners strong, hussars wore one or two wings according to taste.

Hussars of the Second Division and their leader

And just because I can - the Massed Winged Hussars that the Ottomans will be facing

Panceri

This lesser known, but potentially more important group was also armoured heavy cavalry, albeit that the armour was usually chainmail rather than plate. These too were not too fast on the battlefield but they also carried lances, pistols and an array of hand weapons. The backbone of the Polish Cavalry Divisions

Three Panceri Banners of the First Division with their leader, who carries a war hammer.

Just two Panceri Banners in the second Division as this was historically weaker than the first,
the leader here is on a horse with quilted barding.

And a massed shot of the Panceri, almost as daunting as the Hussars above.

Cossacks/Tartars

Unarmoured light cavalry armed with spears, pistols and a variety of hand weapons, these guys were quick and agile on the battlefield. They could hold their own with the Ottoman light cavalry but would likely struggle against their heavier comrades. 

The Cossack General and his accompanying Musician,
this guy wears armour and has wings to designate his rank

Cossacks of the Second Division, two banners strong.

Another two Cossack banners, this time from the First Division

Organisation

Both Polish Cavalry Divisions fall under the command of a Polish Cavalry General, he is escorted by a musician and an aide.

Polish Cavalry General, plus attendant Aide and Musician. 
He is wearing the lighter Chainmail armour of the Panceri
but also sports the wings, beloved by the Hussars, to denote his rank.

The First Division consists of three banners of Winged Hussars and three banners of Panceri, these each have a leader assigned to them.

The Second Division also has three banners of Winged Hussars but only two of Panceri, again each of  these groupings has a leader assigned to them.

The Cossacks have a Cossack General leading them and two banners each are assigned to the Polish Cavalry Divisions. The Cossack banners own allegiance to the Cossack general not to the Polish General. The Cossack General has a musician assigned to him for communication purposes.

Each 'Banner' is represented by six figures, giving the Polish players a total of 24 Cossacks, 36 Winged Hussars and 30 Panceri, plus models for leaders, musicians and aides etc. Total 99 figures!

Coming Soon... Part 2: The Imperial Cavalry Divisions