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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| An independent unit of Deli Light Cavalry |
And finally a unit of Mamelukes from North Africa, armed with hand weapons and pistols etc.
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| An independent unit of Mameluke Light Cavalry |
In total some 42 Light Cavalry...
