From MikeW - 20 x 28mm Balkan Infantry, Late 17th Century (110 Points)

I originally got this idea form a post on the 'Wargames Warrior' Blog' that I spotted a few months back and with the Challenge drawing nearer I ordered a box of Perry plastic Zouaves to see what could be done.

Original picture that caught my eye!

The basic idea is that basis these Zouave figures can be converted into passable Ottoman figures - Adam who posted this idea, had gone to the trouble of casting additional arms for the figures to depict them carrying swords etc.

Casting additional limbs is well above my modelling skills grade so I adapted the idea and have sued the concept to create a unit of Balkan Infantry in Ottoman service.


So, the basic Zouave figure does have a lot going for it when you compare to pictures of the Croat Infantry of the period in Osprey or similar sources, see right. There are some obvious differences - namely the bayonet and percussion rifle, the length of the coat, the lower legging and foot wear etc.

However I determined that for the purposes of 'bulking' out my tabletop Ottoman Army with a couple of these regiments, these figures should work fine.

Finished Croat / Balkan Regiment

So For each figure I cut off the bayonet and bayonet scabbard and then used a supply of spare 'Gripping Beast' Arab heads to swap with about half of the heads supplied in the Zouave box. This would give a more eastern feel to the figures and visually tie in the unit to other units with similar heads in the army - in my opinion.

The Gripping Beast heads are a little bigger than their Perry counterparts but not too bad en-masse. For the eagle eyed ones of you out there there's even a Space Wolves head, with a fabulous beard,  in there - see if you can spot it!

I decided to simply ignore the other details as changing the leggings and foot-ware would have been way to fiddly and the length of the coat is something that I have seen as both long and short in various sources, depending on the exact time period.

Focus on Musketeer Stands

More Musketeers

After that it was a basic paint job on the figures - I varied the colour of their dress but tried to keep a similar range of colours across the whole unit to tie them together, all leather-work was done in a buff finish.

Focus on Officer and Drummer

Standard Bearer

I spent some additional time and effort on the command stand. The Officer was in fact the basic Zouave Officer with a 'Trent Miniatures' Ottoman head (available in separate packs, as are Ottomn muskets!) substituted for the kepi version that came with the box, I added a Sword arm from the Gripping Beast Arab Cavalry bow and a shield from the same. The rest was simply giving the figure a more colourful paint finish to reflect his higher rank.

Trumpeter

The standard Bearer and Drummer were as per the kit, on reflection sourcing a more eastern looking drum would be better, I'll do that next time. The standard was sourced from the internet. The Trumpeter was again a quick conversion using an appropriate arm from the 'Gripping Beast' Arab Cavalry box.

So with 44 figures to a box, I have enough figures remaining to field another Balkan Infantry regiment, keep watching this space and I'll likely get them done in the next month or so!

POINTS TOTAL
20 x 28mm figures @ 5 Points each = 100 Points

Next on the list - more floppy hatted silliness followed by some 1/144 Israeli Shermans! Stop Press: I even dug out more 18mm Crimean War cavalry...

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Great to see more Ottoman goodness from you Mike, and I am impressed at your commitment to the setting is such that you would do all of this "faffing about" with conversions in order to make progress - but that is one of the things that makes this hobby so damn cool, are the folks who "get into" a setting and push forward to make it work, to keep building their beautiful collections. 

I always recoil slightly when someone suggests that conversions might be simple are also the ones who can cast their own bits...way beyond my skill grade, for sure!  And while there were no parts cast here, there is a lot of thought and effort which has gone into making the conversions work - including a Space Wolf head! Amazing! Those don't even work for Space Wolves, in my opinion...so making even one of those bits fit for purpose with Ottomans is wonderful :)

OK, so that's 100 points, yes, but I'm adding 10 points for conversion work, as a subsidy to encourage you to produce more inspiring Ottoman figures, and for finding a use for a productive use for a GW Space Wolf head. Great stuff. 

GregB