The Tufekcis came to prominence in the latter half of the 17th Century and were primarily recruited from hunters. I can vaguely recall reading somewhere that "tufekci" translates as "musket", which I suppose is a fairly literal but quite apt description of this troop-type in the same way that "sipahi", which I have always thought sounds quite exotic to my Western ear, simply means "cavalryman":
One thing I found interesting is that, while they were recruits, they had a regular appearance and may had been issued with a uniform. There are some descriptions and an early plate which is contained in the Sloane collection of the British Library portraying the soldiers in red and blue coats. I went with red and used the Foundry scarlet triad, which I was quite pleased with and think I might use for my Napoleonic British as it has a richer colour than the Foundry triad actually intended for that purpose:
The TAG figures are again very nice, and the unit builder set contains a wide variety of poses to help maintain interest:
I have also managed to complete the last of the command figures; another Turkish Pasha which makes seven of these all told, if I include the one on my wife's desk:
That just leaves the artillery to complete the project, which I hope to have finished within the next couple of weeks.
Lovely looking unit,I always think the cut of their uniform is very modern, almost 19th century looking, great job on these, the two rennaisance armies I'd still would really like to do are the Turkish and Polish and while I can't afford the time or money at the moment I can watch you do both armies! Excellent! Once the artillery are done is there any chance of an army parade?
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
It's funny you say that about the uniform Iain as it tallies exactly with my thoughts. When I was painting them I was wondering how suitable they would be even as late as WWI, and they certainly wouldn't look out of place on a Napoleonic battlefield.
DeleteI'll definitely be doing a full parade once the artillery is completed, if only to inspire me to get stuck into the Poles at a later date.
Excellent looking unit
ReplyDeleteThanks Neil, I was quite pleased with the way they turned out.
DeleteVery nice looking figures, well done.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to grab some of these TAG Ottomans. I wonder how they will mix with the upcoming Warfare figs.
I hadn't heard of Warfare figures so will be interested to see what they will look like. There seem to be a few ranges beginning to emerge, but the TAG range is fairly comprehensive and I found it covered most of what I wanted to include.
DeleteLovely unit Lawrence. You just have to love the hats of the Ottomsn commanders!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean Mark. They must have had highly-developed neck muscles.
DeleteA very handsome unit, Lawrence. The red is quite striking!
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter. I have used the red before but never as the main colour on an entire unit, so I was quite happy with the way it turned out.
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