Continuing along with my Great Siege of Malta project, here are some Azab infantry supported by a few North African archers.
The Azabs, or 'the bachelors', were a volunteer militia made up of young men from across the Ottoman provinces. They would have been armed with a motley assortment of weapons, basically whatever they could source for the campaign. Sources conflict if there were Azabs in Malta during the Great Siege, but either way I thought they'd stand-in nicely as dismounted Sipahis who did make up a significant portion of the Ottoman contingent.
The interestingly shaped shields they carry are of Hungarian origin. I've taken a little artistic license with the decorative designs as I understand it was not uncommon for them to feature mythological beasts and wing motifs.
I used the decals left over from one of my Adeptus Titanicus kits as they seem to fit the bill nicely.
The interestingly shaped shields they carry are of Hungarian origin. I've taken a little artistic license with the decorative designs as I understand it was not uncommon for them to feature mythological beasts and wing motifs.
I used the decals left over from one of my Adeptus Titanicus kits as they seem to fit the bill nicely.
Regrettably, I only have a few Azabs to show here as I could not for the life of me discover the rest of the castings from my 'lead reserve' (apparently, my archival skills don't extend to the mess of my hobby room). I ended up ordering another batch from TAG to make up the loss, but fearing that the figures would not arrive before the Challenge concludes, I thought I'd just run with these lads, augmented with a few more North African archers to help fill in the ranks.
Similar to my other units, I made up the flag standard's finial with a blob of greenstuff, some plastic tubing and a bit of cut card for the crescent.
This unit features another custom sabot tray Byron knocked out for me. This is the smaller of the melee troop sized tray - the next step up will accomodate another 6-8 figures and the largest will be that much larger again.
I'm having a lot of fun with mixing and matching colours for these irregular Ottoman troops. The Citadel Contrast paints have come in particularly handy for providing some variety in the robes and turbans.
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| These Azabs are from The Assault Group. |
This unit features another custom sabot tray Byron knocked out for me. This is the smaller of the melee troop sized tray - the next step up will accomodate another 6-8 figures and the largest will be that much larger again.
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| Archers from Footsore Miniatures. |
Thanks for dropping in to take a look, folks, much appreciated!
Curt
Curt
