Jan 26, 2013

The Janissaries


The first few of this project, starting with the Ottomans. Figures are Zvezda, the box contains 43 of them. Done in a few sessions between exams as a sort of relaxing time.

Janissaries were the core of the Ottoman army. Basically they were kidnapped Christian children (as a sort of special 'tax' from conquered territories) trained to be soldiers until coming of age and joining the conquest.   At Varna and Mohács, the Hungarian attack was broken by them (and the massive artillery batteries). 


I painted this lot to be colourful, light colors everywhere. The finishing shade is glossy at some places, thanks to the Humbrol paint which was the only available and thus I had to add it to the mix. I'm starting to run low on sand (weather is too wet to collect more) so the bases are made differently this time.

Welcome to maxson, his blog here. Thanks for joining.



The command figs look good too. The three musketeers in stationary pose are used as bodyguard.


Archers deployed as skirmishers.



The centre unit is useful in melee. Sadly the set does not have any pike.


Bird's eye view.


Musketeer units.



20 comments:

  1. Very nice looking Jannissaries...
    Phil.

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  2. Very beautiful. I have one box of these that I have never painted. You really did a great job on them, and the colors look just right.

    Nico.

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  3. Wow - beautifully painted figures - Zvezda makes some incredible figures. I thought they were 28mm at first. Inspiring as I've been wanting to build a small Ottoman army. Best, Dean

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    1. Thank you. The PSR review (and now my own experience too) tells these are a little bit tall for their scale, but most Zvezda sets are.

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  4. Fine looking Janissaries, Andrew. I agree, it's tough to top Zvezda when it comes to plastics.

    I just got a set of old flats "Prinz Eugen", depicting the siege of Belgrade in 1717. Your figures provide a nice inspiration for painting the Ottoman part of the set.

    Regards,
    Steve

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  5. Lots of work here, and it is all very nice!

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  6. very nice colourful soldiers there! and I thought our tax was bad... well actually I guess some families would benefit to have their child taken off their hands if they were allowed to visit every so often... I do know of some families... anyway great work!

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  7. I love this army, beautiful colors very good job on the paint !
    Cheers

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  8. Love the look of these Andrew, wonderfully colourful.

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    1. Skipped over this, sorry. Thanks for checking them out.

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  9. Love them Andrew you have did a great job there!

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  10. Those are quite nice, I would have never been able to tell they were 1/72 useless you told us.

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