Showing posts with label Essex minis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Essex minis. Show all posts

Wednesday, 22 April 2026

BLB - Vienna 1683 - 15mm Polish Pancerni

 


I started painting these 4 units of Pancerni during the Painting Challenge, but ran out of time at the very end, so I've only just finished them off.



The armoured companion (Polish: towarzysz pancerny) was a medium cavalry soldier of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 16th to 18th centuries, named for their chainmail armour. They were the second most important cavalry force after the hussars and were mainly recruited from middle and lower ranks of the nobility.

They served in units called chorągiew (companies) of about 60–200 horsemen. In 1676, “Cossack cavalry” was renamed armoured cavalry (jazda pancerna), and after 1776 reforms, both pancerni and hussars became part of the National Cavalry.

Their equipment typically included chainmail or similar armour, arm guards, sabre, bow, pistols, and carbines, with earlier use of weapons like maces or lances (later made compulsory under King John III Sobieski).

The term pancerni originally referred, in medieval Poland under rulers like Mieszko I and Bolesław I the Brave, to elite, well-equipped warriors in the ruler’s retinue.

There are no records of units as such, so I have named each unit after 4 Pancerni Commanders who fought at Vienna, again I don't know which weapons each would have used, so this is a guess, if anyone knows any different please let me know.
For the battle 2 units need to be lance armed, while the other 2 can be armed as you like, I chose bows!


Chorągiew pancerna of Stanisław Jabłonowski
Red regt



Chorągiew pancerna of Aleksander Michał Lubomirski
Yellow regt



Chorągiew pancerna of Michał Florian Rzewuski
Green regt



Chorągiew pancerna of Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski
Blue regt


All the figures are from Essex Miniatures, I had to cut and drill to make standard bearers, which was easy for the lance armed troops, but no so for the bow armed troops!!!
And here's the list I'm working from, as you can see, there's more red than black, so hopefully I'll get the finished in the next few months.....or at least by the next Challenge!!!!
After that, I may paint more, it'd be nice to have some Austrian infantry for example?

The list is taken from Barry Hilton's, scenario in, A Taste for Victoryset during the Relief of Vienna in 1683


Ottoman Army under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha

1st Line (Independent Commands)
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs

2nd Line indie command
Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs 
Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6figs
Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs 
Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6figs
(Already painted before the Challenge)

3rd Line indie commands 
Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs 
Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs 
Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs 
Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs 

Janissary Brigade & Brigadier
Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12

Reserve & Brigadier

Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs
Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs
Vizier's Guard All Musket, Flintlock Guard 6 
Great Gun Drilled 1 model 
Great Gun Drilled 1 model 

Holy League under King Jan III Sobieski

Polish Cavalry Brigade
Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs
Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs XXXX
Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs XXXX
Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Polish Cavalry Brigade
Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs
Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs XXXX
Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs XXXX
Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Imperial Cavalry Brigade 
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Veteran-Elite 12 figs

Bavarian Cav Brig
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 12 figs

Saxons Cav Brigade 
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 6 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 18 figs

Field gun 1 model




Friday, 27 March 2026

AHPC 16 - Vienna 1683 - 15mm Ottoman Janissary's

 


!I'm still playing catch up on figures painted for the Challenge, these were originally posted, here, on the 15th March.! Ray

I'm carrying on with my Vienna 1683 shenanigans, but I've shrunk back down to 15mm once again.
For my army list I needed 4 units of the famous Janissary's of the Ottoman army. Two would be Musket armed and two would be Firelock armed.


The Siege of Vienna saw the elite Janissaries of the Ottoman Empire deployed as the main assault troops during the campaign led by Kara Mustafa Pasha. Renowned for their discipline and training, the Janissaries were originally formed through the devshirme system, in which Christian boys from the Balkans were recruited, converted to Islam, and trained for imperial service. During the siege they were heavily involved in the complex engineering work that characterised Ottoman warfare, digging mines and tunnels beneath Vienna’s fortifications in an attempt to collapse the walls, while also carrying out repeated infantry assaults when breaches appeared.


The siege reached its climax on 12 September 1683 during the Battle of Vienna, when a large relief force from the Holy League arrived to break the Ottoman encirclement. The allied army was led by John III Sobieski, whose forces launched a coordinated attack from the hills surrounding the city. The battle is particularly famous for Sobieski’s massive cavalry charge—often regarded as one of the largest in history—by the Polish Winged Hussars, which helped shatter the Ottoman lines. Despite the determination of the Janissaries defending the Ottoman camp, the army was forced into retreat. The defeat marked a major turning point, halting Ottoman expansion into Central Europe and beginning a gradual shift in the balance of power between the Ottoman Empire and the Christian states of Europe.



I've not named any of these units, but will call them by their coats colours.
The Green regt are armed with Firelocks


As are the Red regt


While the Blue are armed with Muskets


As are the Yellow regt

Usually with Beneath the Lily Banners foot regts are 18 figures, but for this specific scenario they are only 12's. I'll have to ask Barry, why he chose to make them that way?

The figures are all from Essex Miniatures, unfortunately in their Janissary Command pack, the standard bearer has a caste on flag, I really didn't want to paint the flags, so the figure went into the unloved pile and I bought some Janissary halberdiers and converted them into new standard bearers. 
The flags are made by my good self, I found an image online, copied it over to Microsoft Paint, where I changed the colours around to suit. I have enough flags to paint another 17 units??? Gulp!

Points mean prizes, or do they?

Each unit had 12 figures, so its 24 points per unit.
4 x 24 makes 96 points!!

Ottoman Army under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha

1st Line (Independent Commands)
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs

2nd Line indie command
Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs XXX
Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6f XXX
Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs XXX
Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6f XXX
(Already painted before the Challenge)

3rd Line indie commands 
Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs XXX
Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs XXX
Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs XXX
Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs XXX

Janissary Brigade & Brigadier
Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12

Reserve & Brigadier

Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs
Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs
Vizier's Guard All Musket, Flintlock Guard 6 
Great Gun Drilled 1 model 
Great Gun Drilled 1 model 

Holy League under King Jan III Sobieski

Polish Cavalry Brigade
Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs
Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs
Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs
Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Polish Cavalry Brigade
Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs
Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs
Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs
Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Imperial Cavalry Brigade 
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Veteran-Elite 12 figs

Bavarian Cav Brig
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 12 figs

Saxons Cav Brigade 
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 6 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 18 figs

Field gun 1 model

Wednesday, 25 March 2026

AHPC16 Donnybrook - Vienna 1683 - 25mm Polish Dragoons

 


"Once again the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is well and truly over, this post was originally posted here, on the 18th March and I've still got a lot of catching up to do with other Challenge posts."

Ray

Well, it wouldn't be a proper Painting Challenge with one of my Donnybrook entries now would it?
So just to keep you all happy.....here's one!!!


My green coated Polish Dragoons were prepped and undercoated at the start of Challenge 12 in 2021!!!
Isn't that bad that its taken me until now to put some paint on them?


My 9 Polish Dragoons, painted up for my Donnybrook Allied Army for the Relief of Vienna in 1683.
Check out my last post from March 2022, where I painted some Polish Command figures.


The figures are from Reiver Castings and were a joy to paint.


I'll be using the chap in the centre holding his pistol in the air as their Commander.


These 9 figures will give me 90 points.


Then we also have the dismounted version of the Dragoons.


Unfortunately at the time Reiver didn't have a dismounted Polish Dragoon figure, (not sure if they ever did get them made?)
So I had to fall back to my old favourites, Essex Miniatures.


As you can see, my leader is wearing a clock on the dismounted version and not on the mounted version.
I could have sculpted a cloak on the mounted version, but couldn't be arsed!!!


And here they are all together, the 45 points for the foot figures will be added to the 90 points for the mounted giving me a total of 135 points!!


Thursday, 19 March 2026

APPC 16 - Vienna 1683 15mm - Ottoman Irregular foot



I'm squeezing in a second post for today, its 23.48 Saturday night and I didn't think I'd get these 48 15mm figures finished, but I'm glad I've got them done!


Once again these Essex minis are for my 15mm Vienna 1683 project. I needed 4 units of Irregular infantry for the Ottomans.


In the scenario the list says 4 units of Irregular foot. I was going to go with all musket armed infantry.


But instead chose 2 units of foot...


A bow armed unit...


And quite possibly a pretty useless unit of spear and shield armed troops.
I'm pretty please as there's now a lot of red ticked off now!!

Ottoman Army under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha

1st Line (Independent Commands)
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs

2nd Line indie command
Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs XXX
Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6f XXX
Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs XXX
Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6f XXX
(Already painted before the Challenge)

3rd Line indie commands 
Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs XXX
Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs XXX
Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs XXX
Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs XXX

Janissary Brigade & Brigadier
Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12

Reserve & Brigadier

Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs
Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs
Vizier's Guard All Musket, Flintlock Guard 6 
Great Gun Drilled 1 model 
Great Gun Drilled 1 model 

Holy League under King Jan III Sobieski

Polish Cavalry Brigade
Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs
Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs
Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs
Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Polish Cavalry Brigade
Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs
Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs
Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs
Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Imperial Cavalry Brigade 
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Veteran-Elite 12 figs

Bavarian Cav Brig
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 12 figs

Saxons Cav Brigade 
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 6 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 18 figs

Field gun 1 model


They did take a little longer than I wanted to to paint them up, as each figure, being Irregular, is painted in random colours.


Apart from the Fez and Turban of course!


So my 4 units of 12 figures each will earn me...96 points!



Friday, 13 March 2026

AHPC 16 - Vienna 1683 - Polish Winged Hussars

 


Sticking with my 15mm project of Vienna 1683 once again.
The Crème de la Crème of the Allied army The Polish Winged Hussars are my next entry.
Unfortunately in the scenario there are only 2 6 figure units, which seems a bit mean to me, so I will be painting up more after the Challenge. I mean why would you not??? 


The figures are from Essex Miniatures


But once again, come with no command, so figures from the Generals packs have been used and converted into standard bearers, but I suppose I could have just used a normal Hussar figure instead?


The photo's I've taken really don't d these figures the justice they deserve.


The pennants and the flag on the left were bought from Ebay from Wargame Designs, while the flag on the right was found online, sorry, I can't remember where?


Two Winged Hussars, the wings were a pain in the butt to glue in place, I had to you a small blob of Greenstuff to hold them in place. Then when I started painting them, I wished I hadn't glued them in place, because they were a bugger to paint the inside of the wings as they were so close together.


One Winged Hussars, we're a doddle to paint up!!

Onto the points 12 figures at 4 points each gives me 48 points!

Ottoman Army under Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha


1st Line (Independent Commands)
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs
Irregular Tribal Raw 12 figs

2nd Line indie command
Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs XXX
Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6f XXX
Timariot Sipahis Blade, Lance Drilled 6 figs XXX
Timariot Sipahis Tribal, bow/carb drilled 6f XXX
(Already painted before the Challenge)

3rd Line indie commands 
Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs XXX
Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs XXX
Sekban musket, loose Raw 12 figs XXX
Tufeckci musket, loose Drilled 12 figs XXX

Janissary Brigade & Brigadier
Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket/Flintlock Drilled/Elite 12
Janissary Orta All Musket Drilled/Elite 12

Reserve & Brigadier

Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs
Sipahis of the Porte Blade, Lance Veteran-Elite 6 figs
Vizier's Guard All Musket, Flintlock Guard 6 
Great Gun Drilled 1 model 
Great Gun Drilled 1 model 

Holy League under King Jan III Sobieski

Polish Cavalry Brigade
Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs
Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs
Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs
Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Polish Cavalry Brigade
Lipka Tartars Tribal Cav now Raw 6figs
Pancerni Bullet, armour Drilled 6 figs
Pancerni Bullet, Lance, armour Drilled 6 figs
Hussar Banner Blade, Lance, armour Veteran-Elite 6 figs

Imperial Cavalry Brigade 
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Veteran-Elite 12 figs

Bavarian Cav Brig
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 12 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 12 figs

Saxons Cav Brigade 
Dragoons Regt Dragoons, Flintlock, Drilled 6 figs
Cuirassier Regt Bullet, Armour Drilled-Elite 18 figs

Field gun 1 model