The Ottoman Turkish Army Grows!

My Ottoman Turkish army grew from just the three command figures (see previous post) to almost 30 figures over the weekend as I (almost) finished 24 sipahi. (As you can see in the second photo, I still have to finish their bases!)

These were the Ottoman equivalent of the medieval knight, although they didn't wear all the heavy armor - in the Turkish climate, that would have been pretty much intolerable. They all wore their own colored costumes, and there were a lot of bright colors among them, so this should end up being one of my more colorful armies.

Sipahi were a part of the Ottoman armies from the early 1300s through to the 1800s. Looking at the weapons the infantry figures I have waiting to be painted though, I think my finished army will be most suitable for maybe 1400s to 1600s period, around the time of the introduction of gunpowder to the battle field.

That will work perfectly for me, as (when I have painted all the figures) I will also have Russian, Swedish, Polish and Austrian armies from the same period, and they all fought each other historically.

Next weekend I'm planning to paint some more sipahi, and then I will start work on the infantry soldiers - the janissaries - who provided the firepower for the army.

The final army should have about 150-200 figures.