Ottoman Limbers, Miners & Engineers

As I begin finishing up the Ottoman army for Lasalle, there are some odds and ends that needed to be done. One thing that held me up was the limbers for the Ottoman army. Next to nothing seems to be written about this with the exception of noting the Ottomans used European horses or oxen for pulling guns. Not having any oxen on hand, horses would have to work.

Knowing that little nugget of information was useful in determining that the Ottomans likely did not ride the draft animals. Since no one makes any figures to represent Ottoman limber drivers, all I could do was some conversions with the Old Glory artillerymen. The crewmen with the shafts used to lift the trail were modified and green stuff used to model a rope to the horse harness.

I think it worked out well. Museum Miniature horses and some old Minifigs limbers filled out the rest and best of all, these were odds and ends I had laying around already. I kept everything a painted wood/brown color, as I don't think the French reforms in using green were common from what little I have read.

Alternative Armies seems to be the only company making 15mm Ottoman figures suitable for sapper or engineers. The ones in red are miners and the blue are engineers. Oddly enough, I found a nice color plate of their uniform with absolutely no problem. It would appear these figures were designed for the siege of Vienna in the 15-1600's. I'll wager the uniform plate didn't change much and if anyone has contrary information, please let me know.

These figures are closer to true 15's than the Old Glory, but not too wildly different. The details on the figure are clear and no moulding lines cutting across the face or anything silly.

Auxiliary troop information on the Ottomans is hard to find. How they were organized or distributed doesn't seem to be accounted for around the time of the Russo-Turkish War. Given the influence of Russian and French on the Ottoman army, I think it highly likely that they were distributed into units and then collected when the need came.