Here I Stand

 Here I Stand is a boardgame of Early Modern Europe, combining military, theological and diplomatic action into a very complex card-driven map-based game. My brother rounded us all up and learned the rules, and also put together themed music playlists and drink options. It was a blast.

 I decided to chip in by building miniatures to replace the standees that represent the military commanders on the board. I initially thought there was just one per faction, but there's more! I did have a couple preexisting minis that were relevant, but I had to do a lot of converting. It got a little rushed but overall they turned out quite well enough for the group.

 

The game standees have tiny portraits, so I explored Wikipedia and sometimes Google image search to get fuller pictures of the individuals in question. I did get a little creative to distinguish some of the plainer-dressed commanders.  Fun fact: Montmorency's tennis racket is not an anachronism (except maybe very specifically in the details of form, he was Francis' tennis buddy), but Dragut's telescope predates their actual invention by decades. 

 

 The game itself was a blast! We called it at the end of turn 5 or 6, since it was 2 in the morning, and my Ottomans had the most VPs (by one!) at that point, but I doubt I would have won if we played to a proper game end. 

I did feel bad about the Papacy not having any commanders to model, I had meant to bring some of the Catholic minis from my previous post so the Papal player wouldn't feel left out... but it turned out he had a better way to represent his faction: 

Ottoman Light Cavalry

Nothing too fancy here, just some Besli (conscripts, in the white turbans) and Gonullu (volunteers, in the colored turbans). Essentially unconverted from Gripping Beast Arab Cavalry (again!), I think maybe two of the turbans are greenstuff.

Janissary swordsmen

And here's the last Ottoman stuff for the time being, a batch of Aggressive Forlorn Hope.

more Ottoman cavalry (regular Sipahis)

Last night I painted up my first historical unit in over half a year! These Sipahis differ from my previous batch by having hand weapons (instead of lances) and no barding. All are unconverted TAG.

Except for a few straggler janissary minis, this completes my current stash of Ottoman miniatures. I do still intend to add light cavalry (besli/akinci types) at some point to round out the force, unsure if these will be TAG metals, or converted Gripping Beat plastics, or a mix...

Ottoman commanders

The two red-turban guys are sultans from Warlord (or technically, two versions of the same sultan), and the ulema (religious scholar/judge) is a TAG freebie.

Once again, no conversions. Hmmm, gotta fix that soon...

Ottoman Tufekci dragoons

These are tufekci, an Ottoman shot unit developed along Western lines. They could fight as dragoons or as line infantry, but I didn't have the right minis for the latter, so dragoons it is. TAG minis, no conversions.

first Ottoman cavalry (elite Sipahis)

As mentioned in my previous post, an Ottoman army without cavalry isn't worthy of the name. So here's my first unit of cavalry. All TAG minis, some horse armor added with greenstuff.

Ottoman Infantry Group Pic

So, this is pretty much as far as I'll be going with Ottoman Infantry, at least so long as Pikeman's Lament is my preferred system.

Clockwise from top left:

Azabs with Spears/Polearms - Raw Pike (3 pts) or Clansmen (3 pts)

Azabs with Bows - Raw Shot (3 pts)

Wallachian Voynuks - 2x Aggressive Forlorn Hope (6 pts each) or Veteran Pike (6 pts)

Azabs with Muskets - Shot (4 pts)

Janissaries - Elite Shot (6 pts)

Segban - Raw Shot (3 pts) or 2x Commanded Shot (2 pts each)

For a total of 28-36 available points, though realistically I am unlikely to field an Ottoman force without cavalry; that would feel wrong. So I will get started on those horse guys next...

Azabs Aplenty

Just finished converting a whole mess of Gripping Beast Arab Infantry into Azabs, the next step up from the sad-sack Segban. Some of these are conversions you've seen before, others are TAG Metals, and some are newer converted plastics.

Segban unit

Just painted up the guys I preview it the previous post. As they were apparently the lowest of the low, I painted them in drab colors, inspired by this blogger, to contrast with the azabs and janissaries. Quite pleased with the palette, really gets across that they are conscripted peasants or hardbitten Anatolian bandits (or both!). Still need a flag I guess.

Kitbashed segban infantry (wip), and plastic musket info

So I've been working on more Ottoman infantry, and wanted to share some in-progress Segban. They're mostly the same as the previous Azaps I did, Warlord arms on Gripping Beast bodies, but with matchlocks instead of firelocks and a greater variety of headgear (mostly greenstuffed Warlord hats).

Relatedly, here is a comparison shot of the two plastic musketeer kits from Warlord Games. The small sprue is from the Firelock Storming Party kit, the larger one is from the Pike & Shotte Infantry Regiment kit, and also used for variants like Covenanter infantry etc.

Note that the Storming Party has firelocks, and each pair of arms is one piece, while the Infantry Regiment kit has matchlocks, and each arm is a separate piece. This means that the firelocks are a little easier to assemble, but the matchlocks are a little more forgiving if you are kitbashing with torsos that are differently-sized than the Warlord kits (such as the GB Arab infantry).

Also, the Storming Party gives you 32 musket arm sets, or 16 "left over" if you assemble the box as intended. The Infantry Regiment has 24 musket arm sets, with none remaining if you assemble the box contents as intended. Given that the Storming Party is cheaper by about $15, I think it is probably preferable for most projects, even if you end up adding matchcord manually to each musket.

Janissaries

Got some TAG janissaries painted up, to use as Veteran Shot (or potentially Forlorn Hope) in Pikeman's Lament. Good models, no conversions. Probably ought to hit the faces with another wash to bring out the mustaches.

Pikeman's Lament

The snazzy new skirmish ruleset, from Osprey and one of my favorite bloggers, just arrived yesterday. It's a super quick read, and should be a lot of fun to play. Michael Leck has published dozens of sample companies on his blog, but I decided to throw a few together based on my own mid-17th-century collection and needs. I don't actually have the models to field all these, except the first two, but it'll be easier to attain these goals than full P&S armies...

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1 Aggressive Elite Gallopers @ 6 points each (Hussars)
2 Gallopers @ 4 points each (Pancerni or Cossack-Style Cavalry)
1 Trotters @ 4 points (German Mercenary Rajtar)
1 Dragoons @ 4 points (German Mercenary Dragoons or Tatars)
1 Commanded Shot @ 2 points (Haiduks)

Cossacks
1 Aggressive Forlorn Hope @ 6 points (Swashbuckling Cossacks)
1 Veteran Shot @ 6 points (Registered Cossacks)
2 Shot @ 4 points each (Moloitsy) (may trade one out for Dragoons)
2 Clubmen @ 1 point each (Peasant Rebels)
2 Priests @ 1 point each (attached to clubmen)

Muscovites
1 Forlorn Hope @ 6 points (Streltsy)
1 Elite Trotters @ 6 points (Dvor or New Order Reiters)
2 Trotters @ 4 points each (Boyar's Sons)
2 Commanded Shot @ 2 points (Border Guards) OR 1 Shot @ 4 points (New Order Musketeers)

Tatars
3 Veteran Dragoons @ 6 points each (Tatar Warriors)
2 Raw Gallopers @ 3 points each (Kazindji)

Ottomans
1 Veteran Shot @ 6 points (Janissaries)
2 Raw Shot @ 3 points each (Azabs)
2 Trotters @ 4 points each (Sipahis)
1 Dragoons @ 4 points (Tatars, Besli or Akinci)

more colorful than peasants

Here are some voynuks. Heavy Balkan infantry, in service of the Ottoman Empire by my era. I don't actually have an Ottoman army yet, but maybe someday. In the meantime, they'll be handy as hirelings for Mordheim.

"Mordheim" Reinforcements

An order arrived from The Assault Group that I've been quite looking forward too! They may eventually be used to form full units in Pike & Shotte, but for now I'll just be fielding them individually in my historical Mordheim games. I had another smaller one with my brother last weekend, it was pretty fun and we actually got through the whole thing. His Ottomans were able to slay the powerful monsters and drive offer the lesser ones. I didn't have time to take pictures, but there were plenty of dramatic moments, especially when his halberd-wielding champion slew a heavily armored vampire in a single strike! There was also much stumbling and slipping about in the steaming offal which had spilled from the belly of a vile, corrupted monstrosity.

But nevermind that, here's the new minis:

Ottoman Janissaries - Swordsmen with bucklers

Ottoman Janissaries - Swordsmen with Muskets

Russian Sloboda - Warriors with Muskets

Russian Rindi Guard - Swordsmen with Two-handed Weapons

Polish Haiduks - Marksmen with Muskets and Swords

Polish Haiduks - Marksmen with Muskets and Two-handed Weapons

Szlachcic - Polish Nobleman