Ottoman Turks 1462 AD: 15mm DBA

Always wanted to do a DBA (De Bellis Antiquitatis) style army to represent both sides of the Ottoman-Wallachian conflict circa 1462-Pitting Sultan Mehmed II, conqueror of Constantinople against Prince Vlad Dracula, voivode of Wallachia. Drew inspiration from the classic Angus Mcbride artworks for these miniatures. Since quite a number of 15mm wargaming blogs have focused on Vlad and his band of merry impaling lads, I reckoned I'd post a few shots of my Ottoman Turks while I work on finishing the last couple elements of Dracula's Wallachians.

Sultan Mehmed II
Sultan Mehmed II

Essex Miniatures janissaries

Moldavian auxiliary engaging some Wallachian light infantry

The Sultan's battle standard next to his silk tent

Ottoman Akinji raiders miniatures by Donnington

Almost all of these miniatures are from Donnington 'originals' line save the heavy infantry janissaries and arquebusiers which are from Essex. The Essex miniatures are much more detailed than the chunkier Donningtons, plus I was able to get them stateside via Noble Knight Games to avoid the extra shipping fees and the snail-mail pace of the British postal service. Donnington does have a nice swath of late mediaeval and renaissance figures for any number of conflicts from the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Roses, to the Balkans and 16th century Poland. Comparing the Wallachians and Ottomans, I tend to like the sculpts for the Donnington Ottomans a bit more. The Donnington figures are fairly cost effective as well, even though you buy them individually. It's nice that you can request specific horses with each mounted figure, giving even two stands of four figures a unique look. My favorite of the elements is the barded heavy cavalry with the minty green padding and yellow trim. I took this paint scheme directly from Donnington's examples as they seemed rather sharp.


Ottoman bombard

Complete Ottoman army with 12 elements

I didn't use any pre-made DBA packs when putting together the Turkish or Wallachian armies but a few manufacturers and retailers offer them. Note that this isn't a necessarily a balanced force or DBA sanctioned for that matter. The Ottoman Turkish army that I’ve assembled represents Mehmed II's punitive expedition to Wallachia in the summer of 1462 and features the following elements:

General (Sultan Mehmed II)
1x element Heavy Cavalry
2x element Light Cavalry (Akinji raiders)
3x elements Heavy Infantry
1x Janissary arquebusiers
2x Bows
1x Auxiliary (Moldovian vojniks) 
1x Bombard cannon

Keep Rolling Those Crits...
-15mm Dieter


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