Ottomans - worth a try?

pikeman666 · Post by **pikeman666** » Wed May 13, 2009 5:10 pm

I'm thinking of doing Ottomans since they should be fun to paint, but don't want to waste my time if they aren't fun to play.
I haven't bought the book that contains the lists yet, so this is kind of a blind shot.
Historically they fought with substantial numbers of trash troops, and saved the Janisaries for what they expected would be the decisive attack, right?
And the cavalry choices should be interesting given the subject allies and the range of quality.
So who uses these guys - and which period? I expect there would need to be about three distinct lists to cover the pre-renaissance as opposed to the gyrations of "before this date" and "after this date" with a single list.
Any comments or observations are welcome - especially about tactics relative to using their cavalry properly.

babyshark · Post by **babyshark** » Wed May 13, 2009 5:16 pm

I think you will find Ottomans to be a good choice. They certainly are a popular one, with six entries in the big IWF tournament. It is possible to run them in multiple different ways, so you get the chance to adapt when your initial list design turns out to to be a loser.

Your guess re: multiple lsits is spot on, as well: there are two Ottoman lists in Eternal Empire.

Marc

hazelbark · Post by **hazelbark** » Wed May 13, 2009 6:01 pm

You can find a lot of posts on them if you use the search function.

The FoG lists are really all pre-renaissance. So before massed infantry firearms for certain. All the varieties you mentioned.

The list does indeed allow Jannisaries a very powerful troop type. A good smatterring of allies including the ever popular Serbs. Or it can be a variety of very mounted configurations, which would reflect the sort of mid-14th century army.

Most people seem to rate it as a good army in game terms as well.

ottomanmjm · Post by **ottomanmjm** » Thu May 14, 2009 6:34 am

The Ottomans are a great army to play with. They have a good mixture of shooty Cav and LH, including Cv,Prot,Sup,Bow,Sw which is overy good value for the points. It also has the best supporting infantry of all the mounted horse archer type armies. It has units of 2-4 Elite Cav and allies that complement its own troop types, what more could you want!?

It can also be run in its historical form with fortifications backed by infantry and artillery supported by mounted troops.

As you can tell I am a fan.

Regards
Martin

pikeman666 · Post by **pikeman666** » Thu May 14, 2009 5:41 pm

Thanks guys!
I am going to do Ottomans for my next collection, and I'll begin by buying the "Eternal Empire" volume.
Next up is choice of figs and since I'm such a picky type I'll be buying them here and there to get a variety that reflects the diversity of the force.
I'll also search some more . . .
Thanks!
Pete

Ottomans - worth a try?

Ottomans - worth a try?

Great replies!