Ah 1877 - How long have I waited for this war!!!
Absolute great Strelets - so your visit to the Shipka-pass worked well for us

Hank I can imagine how happy you are now. What do you think about a joint diorama with Russians and Roumanians storming Turkish trenches?

Or the Russian Guard dragoons shot to pieces by the Turks at Plevna? The Russian attack in boats over the Danube before they (I am sorry to say) destroyed your Turkish boats

Oh I am really happy.

The last attack on Sevastopol with the help of the siege artillery?

cheers
Uwe

Hi Fire at Will,Uwe,and all, yes very happy.Always happy to see S-R break out new figures.And Danube involvement, wow awesome.Work those sculpytors to death chuckle.

There is so much technological and engineering revolution in warfare at this 1850-1877 period.We see sail into steam.

Yes , i would be honored to do a joint diodrama.
But i am runing out of Turks..... I appealed to S-R to make CW accessory pack with 12 Turk Fez heads to help out.(see "unconditional surrender" in thread below).

I committed 100 turk heads to make Turkish Infantry Chasseurs yesterday, plus 90 to make rough Turkish cavalry i just converted for Kalafat 6 which you have seen. 50 i use on artillery figures also, but padded with acw style kepis.

That leaves me only 400+ S-R Turk Infantry from ST903's i still have unpainted.I have 400 Turk Infantry s-r painted.All these were in my figure requirement a long time ago.I would have liked 2000,if in s-r sets ,but could only reach 1080 (buying via 30 x st903).

Mitt freundlichen grussen, head for the guns hank.
==
nota bene -- Last Assault on Sevastopol - is that is all French then !...I pray for ahem a "bombarde".

Rats i have to paint more Rouskies,argh seems i just did 400 jager plus< 600 pickelhaube 200 grenadiers infantry you will see in 2 weeks "Bad news from Craiova">.

I am just painting 120 Rouskie Hussars all horses done last week i do riders this week.I got more rouskie artillery attendants painted also.

I need La belle epoque danube model buildings .Is what i leave hobby diodrama in Novemebr to try and fix my gap make myself.I am gatehring source from newspaper of 18590's and 1870 etc,Lovely structures.
okay too much i... zzzzz
oh yes steam train ,station in kalafat 1877 ah ha
have i die and gone to hobby paradise.?

Dear All

The last assault was in 1942 but this must mean the French attack on the Malakoff tower ( built on the Malakov Kurgan) or the battle of Malakoff 7th Sept 1855. There were other attacks as part of a coordinated assault on the Russian defences of Sevastopol but this was the most decisive.
This is one for those who love Napoleonic tactics and WWI tactics as it combines both in one huge battle. Trenches and massed attacks (at corps level), artillery duels -the lot.

David

30 sets of "Thin Red Line" wow...
Well Hank I think the Sultan should give you this...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Crimean_War_medal
For your services above and beyound the call of duty I think Strelets should give you a bonus Turkish set Free....

Well done Cheers

Hi Ironsides, Strelets are good at putting back into making more figures availabel(that i think is teh best way S-R can "give" back to their collectors.

I am worry about Turkish figure availability to stretch to both cw and rtw. I absorbed 200 turk heads in rough conversions eg artillery and cavalry and turk army band.with 100 allocated for Turkish Chasseur Battalion(revel union torsos cw sr fez heads).Yes i feel sick to do that but i feel i have to represent the toughest turk unit at kalafat to oppose glamorous Rosukie Grenadiers.

turk cav and art set figures would ease the situation .But I WORRY other collecters may face same also.Also turks as sr or mini set would help many.
ideally i still need 1000 more cw turk inf.

Ah indeed the sultan has already graced me once by permitting me visit travel through his country. I hope Romania and Bulgaria will be as pleasant when i go there.

ps i hope to see some of your figure on contribution
you must have many lst time we spoke you were busy with plenty/have fun

is also help to me from forum good guys uwe,hennen and professori,obrien most encouraging and kind with their time to advise me.all road lead to the top.

Hi Hank,

talking about the Turkish chasseurs I started a discussion on the Crimean war research society about their uniform after reading the latest of the Nafziger reprints "THE TRANS CAUCASIAN CAMPAIGN OF THE TURKISH ARMY IN THE CRIMEAN WAR".

I've got an interesting comment on their uniform:

Issue 85 of Soldiers of the Queen magazine from June 1996 has a great article by
C.A.Norman on the various Turkish/Egyptian/Tunisian uniforms worn in the Crimea.
These are taken from General Vanson's drawings, apparently held by the French
Army Museum in Paris.

Only one drawing specifically mentions Chasseurs ( I think the Turks called them
Tallia, possibly a corruption of Tirailleur?)- Army of the Danube 12/04/1855.The
soldier wears the standard,new French-style infantry single breasted tunic,
mid-thigh length. Leather equipment is late model French,in black,with a French
carabine and sabre bayonet.

There is NO colour description, so possibly/presumably it was standard infantry
wear. However, the shadings suggest that the tunic was lighter than the
trousers. Unique features seem to be piping down the tunic front that stops at
the waist; apparently western-type gaiters under the trousers; a scalloped
edging to the collar with (probably NCO) chevrons on the collar.

An officer in the same illustration wears the normal infantry tunic but without
piping and an unshaded collar and round cuffs, possibly indicating that these
are entirely red as the tunic is shaded differently. Loose trousers are worn
over boots, seemingly with a side stripe.


So I would suggest convert Strelets French CW light infantry into Turks!

cheers
Uwe

Hi uwe, Thansk.Mr Normans description is 1855 sketch.
I understand for Crimee not Danube.

I have seen references earlier in various contemporary sources that identify a french officered "Chasseur styled Unit of 2 battalions".I believe from teh contemporary source texts this is indicated more to do with being trained in Light Infanterie role rather than with their uniform.Plus weaponry issued.

mY issue with using S-R CW Early French Legere;Light is teh gaiters are worn OUTSIDE the pantalons.

My interpretation i try to alert you to before is in 1853 teh Turk chasseurs are wearing teh an old style post Napoleonic turkish uniform 1820-1838. This is North African(Turk)Influence Balkan/Algerian.((Which looks liek a predessessor of the 1877 zouave uniform. ))

When i send you copy of Marcel Roubicek;s Modern Ottoman Army, of colonial period it may express itself clearer. There was a pre exisiting OLD unifrom in 1853.

As i mention to Dave OBrien today , it has to be considered is teh unit Turk. But then question okay is it Algerian Egyptian Tunisian or Balkan ,or other Ottoman Empire subjects from redeefs(albania chechnia georgia syria etc ) collected in Istanboul when teh Sultan asked for volunteers.

I am getting to know the differences.Is a pity i am busy with other distractions.But there is scant source, to which if pasting it together, can give an oblique opinion.

The Turkish Army construction is better explained in Roubicek tahn anywhere else i have read so far.

Also teh Polish volinteer soldoers to fight for tueks
situation is again better expalined in Roubicek.

An amazing resource mine is teh contemporary newspaper Sketches Graphic,Illustrated London News etc.on ebay/.Is strange to discuss turks on teh forum but i enjoy very much.

I will have another look at Nafziger.When i start with S-R I had no idea Turks were so complex chuckle.

Hi Hank,

I think every army is so complex when we really go into this subject. I made the same experience two years ago with Napoleonic Scandinavian troops...

I am looking forward to Roubicek. Good to hear that he has some description on the Polish legion too. I have uniformplates for five different Polish cavalryregiments in Turkish service, but no battlerecord of them.

The next question is, how are the Greek Regiments in Russian service organised? I know the Balaclava batallion in Russian Caucasian uniforms (BTW, the Caucasus-corps would be a nice future Strelets-Set). At Eupatoria we have descriptions of Greeks fighting in National-dress.

I am looking forward to see the Turkish pre 1853 uniform. I have several plates for the 1830ies uniforms with funny colours and a strange headgear.

cheers
uWE

Hi Uwe, Roubicek's drawings now appears to me as if they were commercial art designed for cartoons of the period.

General Joseph-Emile Vanson's work looks more aesthetically correct watercolors and in proportional.these seem paralell to Cadogans watercolors.i wonder if they met.

I am surprised by no replies from Biblioteque de la musee de L'armie is intriguing.I have monsieur persistence helping me... chuckle.

Going by b/w line drawing or color replicates alone is not good/IDEAL i know.So many uniform variants with so many differing ethic interpretations.Look at the headware,we see fez ,scarfes, tarboosh, shamal and fez, kurdish cap. Aiyee.Then old uniforms,new and mixture was common.One statement needs a proof of being in art etc.Then the art must be analysed.I have seen this week a yellow crimean scotch solder in kilt which i not seen beofre.Its presence for me then killed teh other material with it regarding authenticity.

I imagine being the quarter master and going to different factories to order uniforms and give contarcts.Then teh different dye techniques and cloth cuts and variant styles appear.Plus teh bartering with merchants suppliers,shipping merchants timescales etc and commissions to deal with .Then multiply and replicate for a whole unifrom and euipage ,what a headache.

However when we paste these with contemporary newspaper sketches and written accounts of observors who were present , i think we are getting close to the best result.

So I hope sometime soon we will have found enough evidence to sit down and thrash out the anomolies. langauge barriers are receeding thankfully, so see what turns up.every year something is found in the museum cellars.

I think you have the right idea and use language words to search for clues.But is only as good as material that is available on teh internet like everything else.But we do not give up .EWhat terrible puzzles our ancestors left for our generations to piece together .SO much of history has been lost sadly.

lets see what else we find.The Fighting Fez

Dear Uwe,

thank you for your new research !
It's really great !

As we all know, you are "heavy in work".
When will you write again in this finest way of "Luebke-English", so that you maybe become "heavy on wire" ?
Equal goes is loose !
But, what shalls ?
There stand one yes the hair to mountain !
You are heavy on the woodway !

Uwe, so certainly you had already the lesson "English for Runaways" !

Uwe, Uwe, when will you really turn from a child to an adult in your mind ? Playing with figures ? Playing historic war with toy stuff, again and again ? What says your wife when she recognizes that she has married a child ?

Playing with figures is good, playing with them is fine, I'd like to play with them all the time.

The next battle on the playground of the year 1809 will come soon ! Turn to be ready for this moment !

Cheers,
Erwin