Some Thoughts on my 1683 Project

Just some random thoughts on my project after I've done a little research.

Uniform Colors

They aren't uniform, and that is a problem with 3mm.

For 3mm wargames, I have found it easiest to distinguish sides based on color. For example, red army will fight the blue army.

In 1683, there is a lot of color variation among units on a side. Some examples:

• Janissaries are often depicted in red or blue while Azabs are green
• Polish infantry seemed to favor blue while the hussars preferred red

Because of this, I am leaning toward a decidedly non-historical approach (or call it alternate history if you will). I'm thinking of doing the Polish army in red, Ottomans in blue, and Imperialists in white. If (more likely when) I add Russians, they'll be green.

Battle of Vienna Scenario

I found a really good scenario for Jan Sobieski's relief of Vienna. It's in Wargames Illustrated # 204. I was able to get a copy via eBay.

Here is a map of the scenario, with the Turks in orange:

The order of battle is for the DBR rules, but I can convert quite easily.

The scenario is quite large. Even if I scale it down a bit, it will be too big to handle on a single board. Therefore, I think I'll run it as three scenarios - left, center, right.

Bye Bye Byzantines

When I first got bitten by the 1683 bug, I mentioned that I planned to finish my Byzantine project first. Well, I've thrown that plan out the window.

How did that happen? When I received my recent order from Magister Militum, I put the Byzantines aside and began rummaging through my pike & shot figures. I then realized that I don't have the motivation for the Byzantines right now.

With gaming, I generally have the philosophy of just going with the flow. If I am in the mood for pike & shot, just do it. Don't try to force something else because I won't enjoy what should be a fun hobby.

So there you have it. My 1683 project moves to the top spot. I plan to keep it small at first and just paint what I need for my Pikeman's Lament-ish campaign.

But don't worry about the Byzantines. I'll get back to them. Those Sassanian elephants are really tempting.

Project Updates

1683 Vienna Project

I've been doing research for my 1683 project.

I picked up a couple of rulesets:

• Baroque is an Impetus variant. It has a few army lists, including Imperialists, Ottomans, and Poles.
• But I am most interested in Pikeman's Lament from Osprey.

It's really geared toward smaller actions, but I find the campaign system very intriguing. It follows the fortunes of your commander, as he leads a company through a series of actions, and (hopefully) rises in experience and rank. I'm thinking of creating an Austrian officer and running a campaign for him.

PL's force lists are geared for western European armies, but I found some online suggestions for eastern armies.

I currently have some 3mm figures that will do for cavalry. I placed an order with Magister Militum for some infantry and dragoon. I can do 1683 as a small side project.

Byzantine Project

I placed my orders for my Byzantine project. 

Miniatures will come from Magister Militum's 3mm line. Here is my shopping list:

Byzantines:

• Heavy/Medium Infantry will represent the skutatoi
• Skirmishing Archers will be light infantry
• Parthian Style Cataphracts will do double duty as Byzantine Cataphracts. At this scale, I can't really tell the difference
• Likewise, Parthian Style Horse Archers will do double duty as Hunnic allies

Sassanian Persians:

• Parthian Style Cataphracts and Parthian Style Horse Archers for the cavalry
• Persian Sparabara will be levies
• Skirmishing Archers as light infantry
• and Seleucid Elephants

I also ordered some terrain; the Roman Buildings from PicoArmor.

Operation Last Train

I wanted to order PicoArmor's Desert Buildings for my Operation Last Train sci-fi project. Alas, they were out of stock. I'll keep an eye out for them.

A Bout of Insanity

In keeping with my plan to alternate between miniature game and RPG reports, I have an adventure on tap for this weekend. However, I've been thinking ahead about my next miniature battle. I'd like to do something historical, and this has led me down the path of insanity. I'm considering another project.

Note: I'm not giving up my Byzantine project. I'm just waiting until after my birthday to order miniatures and terrain.

My Convoluted Thought Process

How did I come to a new project? Well, it goes like this:

Step 1: Consider my options using my current generic armies

I have red and blue armies. Two historical campaigns immediately spring to mind:

1. American Revolution - Redcoats vs. Continentals
2. Napoleonic - British vs. French

None of these particularly appeal to me at this moment.

I did a little research and came up with another option - 1848 Danes vs. Prussians. Meh.

Step 2: Consider creating a new army

Perhaps I could supplement my forces with another generic army. If I go this route, the answer is simple. I'm rather partial to the Austrians, so white is the obvious choice.

Step 3: Consider a campaign against my existing armies

Where and when should my Austrians fight?

I have a blue army already, so Napoleonic Wars vs. the French or Seven Years War vs. Prussians spring to mind.

But again, not feeling it.

Step 4: Consider creating another army

Who else could fight the Austrians? Quickly, my mind turned to the Ottomans.

Step 5: The Ah Ha Moment

If I go Austrians vs. Ottomans, why not step back a bit to very early in the horse & musket period (or late in the pike & shot period)?

1683 - Siege of Vienna

From the cover of Osprey's Vienna 1683

Now I'm getting crazy visions. Imperial cuirassiers, Janissaries, and Polish winged hussars! Oh my!

Problems

There are a few:

• What uniforms do the combatants wear?
• Do they even have "uniforms"?
• What are the army compositions? How many cavalry, infantry. etc.?
• How should I treat pike & shot units?

The Plan

I see this as a long-term project. Here is my current plan.

1. Begin research on the campaign.
2. Complete my Byzantine project first.
3. Paint up a small, generic white army - this is an interim project to let me play Austrians vs. French or Prussians, and perhaps form the backbone of the Imperial army.
4. Then begin work on the 1683 project. This may become a project for next year.

As far as research, here are some considerations and plans.

• To get a better idea of the various uniforms, I ordered Vienna 1683 by Osprey
• To gauge how to tweak my MicroBattle rules for pike & shot, I'm reading through some rules that focus on the period: One Hour Wargames, The Portable Pike & Shot Wargame, and Twilight of the Sun King for starters.
• I'm also on the look-out for scenarios or army lists.

Stay tuned for updates on this project.