We have destroyed many a nation like yourselves. Will you not take warning? - Holy Koran, Surah LIV, Verse 51. Across the bay from the modern Israeli port of Haifa is the andent and venerable city of Akko. It is a moderate size town of about 45,000 inhabitants, where, contrary to most places in Israel, the Arabs and the Jews seem to co-exist without conflict. In the traditional style, the streets are narrow and twisting and many of the shops are of the open air variety. Here and there one finds an old, impressive looking government building from the days of the old Turkish Empire. Few in this country have heard of Akko and yet the city has had its share of historical significance. Placed as it is near a major barrier of the coastal plain, it has long been considered a strategic position, which is probably why many of history's greatest captains have felt compelled to capture the place. To us, one of those attempts is of major significance, for in April of 1799, Akko was known to Europeans as Acre and it was there, at the hands of the city's determined defenders, that a French army led by Napoleon Bonaparte suffered a bloody reverse when it failed to capture the city after a prolonged and costly siege. For Bonaparte, it was the first noteworthy defeat of his career. Amongst some of the milder epithets that he must have given the place was 'that miserable fort.' After suffering over 2500 losses to both plague and bullet, he was forced to admit failure and retreated back to Egypt. The loss spelled an end to his dreams of a Middle Eastern Empire, and instead, placed him firmly on the road toward European domination. What makes the whole siege even more fantastic, and particularly galling to the future French Emperor, was that the army that achieved this wonder was that of the Ottoman Turks (See Figure 1). By the time of the Napoleonic Wars, the Ottoman Empire had been in existence for over 400 years. The Turks had reached their zenith in the 16th Century, having perfected some methods of warfare that few were able to stop. By the latter half of the 1600s, they had began a slow decline while the westem nations advanced their cultures, improved their technologies, and perfected their methods of warfare. During the 1700s the Ottomans were forced to engage in four major wars with Russia, Austria, and the Republic of Venice; they fought three unsuccessful wars with Persia; suffered five serious revolts in Montenegro (1708), Egypt (1769, 1786), and Greece (1770, 1790); and were subject to two full fledged Janissary revolts which forced two Sultans (Mustafa II in 1703, and Ahmed II in 1730) to abdicate. Between the wars and the rebellions, the Empire was slowly sapped of its strength and its ability to defend itself, and the country continued its slide into anarchy and ignorance. Most of the wars were defeats, and so, with such a losing record to boast of, is it any wonder that Napoleon Bonaparte took an interest in the Turks and thought to gain at their expense? How it must have irked him to admit defeat at their hands. My interest in the Ottomans started in the 1960's when I began reading about the fall of the Byzantine Empire. By 1982, I was building Renaissance armies, and since my main interest was Eastern Europe, I decided to include a Turkish army amongst the collection. I never quite got them to the point of completion, and it wasn't long before I made the switch to Napoleonics. But still my Turks were there, patiently waiting to be utilized. And use them I did; although never for the period for which they were originally intended. More to the point, except for one or two people, none of whom I have actually met, I have never known of anyone other than myself who has actually taken the time to sit down and develop an Ottoman Army. This is understandable since, to most people, the Turks are outsiders; uncivilized foreign invaders from the depths of Asia - the ultimate bad guys. Every nation in Eastern Europe has hated them, and only the French were vile enough to make deals with them, or so the popular history goes. Despite their long running record of successes, by the time of the Napoleonic wars, the Empire had degenerated, and about all you ever hear about them are their massive, lopsided defeats in Egypt. Let's face it, with such bad press, how can anyone think of them as anything except losers, thus most gamers just will not field them. Such an opinion is based upon ignorance, and as The Siege of Acre so poignanty points out, believing the Turks to be incapable of success ignores the fact that when properly handled, the Turks are indeed a formidable enemy. ORGANIZING YOUR TURKS And upon Allah it rests to show the right way, and there are some deviating ways; and if He please He would certainly guide you all aright. - Holy Koran, Surah XVI, Verse 9. So say you swallow your pride, put away your prejudices, and like a benevolent 90's type individual decide to give the Turks a chance. What do you do? You could do what I did, just slap something together and hope that it works. In 1987, having completed the painting of a very nice Russian Corps just as the only person in the wargame group with enough painted French to offer battle was moving away, I remembered from my studies that the Russians and Turks had fought at least one war during the Napoleonic time period. I put my embryonic Renaissance Turkish army together with all of the other 16th and 17th Century Eastem European types that I had on hand, and everything that I could find that looked remotely Balkan, Arab, or Middle Eastem. The resulting horde (no one could call them an army) looked a little rough, but it worked. There were Renaissance Poles, Hungarians, Wallachians, Muscovites, Cossacks, and even some Tartars. I had some Anatolian Arabs painted up along with a number of Janissaries, and Sudanese Mahdist warriors. Together, they all looked exotic enough to pass for what I wanted, and when we finally sat down to play, the combination worked great. And considering what I eventually found out about Turkish organizations, it was actually quite close to being accurate. After a few battles, I eventually grew curious enough to do some research. I found enough information on troop types, numbers, and attempted reforms to correct some of the errors that I'd been making. But what really made things easy was a little book written by William Johnson entitled The Ottoman Empire and the Napoleonic Wars.Mr. Johnson was also interested in the Ottomans, and had difficulty in finding and compiling the small amount of information available on them. So being dedicated, he took what he had and published it in one bite-sized piece that can be swallowed in about an hour's reading. It contains pictures, painting guides, information on the troop types, and even discusses morale grades (ala Empire II) and he makes some suggested rule changes. It is a treasure, and I heartily suggest you buy it. But should you be unable to do so, I offer the following: Mr. Johnson describes the Ottoman Army as an "Oriental Horde." This is true, to an extent, but even hordes can be organized. It may be more apt to describe the Turks as essentially an army of irregulars organized along mid- to late-Renaissance lines. There was the "regular" army, called the Kapikulu (Slaves of the Porte), who were maintained as a permanent standing army and the feudal levies and provincial troops maintained by the governors of each province. The original distinction between regular and other troops was supposed to be determined by their pay status. The Kapikulu received regular wages, while the provincials were to receive their pay in land grants or loot. This distinction largely disappeared as more and more of the provincial govemments raised their own private armies with which the govemors sustained their power and prestige. The size of the empire and the immensity of local security requirements overwhelmed the small regular army resulting in many of the provincial forces assuming a full-time status. Therefore they often achieved a military prowess as good as, if not better than, the regular units. The Kapikulu were originally created as a corps of slave soldiers designed to offset the growing power of the provincial nobles. Originally kept small, the corps was forced to expand with diminshing quality as the empire's needs grew. The Kapikulu consisted mainly of the Janissary infantry, the Nizam-i-jedid (New Order troops), the Suvarileri cavalry, the Topiji artillerymen, and the corps of engineers. The Janissaries are basically the one-time elite professionals that were the terror of Europe. Originally, the only means of recruitment open to the Janissaries was through an annual tribute of young Christian men sent to be raised in the Muslim religion and trained in warrior skills. With the Janissary corps' rapid expansion, membership was thrown open to many others and they became lazy and unwilling to fight for the Sultan and the Empire. They degraded into a rabble who were more often a threat to the Sultan and the state, than they were to the enemy. They rejected almost every effort to reform them, and frequently revolted. More than one Sultan found himself disposed by them, and Selim III was murdered. Throughout most of the Empire's history there were only about 30,000 Janissaries. By the late 18th Century, their strength numbered about 200,000 organized into 196 ortas (regiments) most stationed in Europe and Istanbul. Each orta was suppose to number 1000 but this varied wildly from as few as several hundred, to more than 3000. I organize my Janissaries into units of 24 figures split into two subunits of 12 figures each. This splitting is consistent with Turkish practice in that the Turkish command structure provided for a Aga-yi Yemen (major of the right) and a Aga-yi Yesar (major of the left). Two of the ortas, the 39th and the 44th, were said to be trained in skirmish combat and should be able to deploy as such. There were three types of Janissaries, the Djemaats, the Benluks, and the Solaks. The Benluks were mainly assigned to the Istanbul garrison, and were no doubt the most immediate and serious threat to the Sultan. The Djemaats were stationed in the provinces and garrisoned many of the principal cities and fortresses. There was a great deal of jealous antipathy between the Djemaats and the Benluks with the Benluks looking down upon their provincial rivals. Occasionally, Benluks would be punished by being assigned to frontiers away from Istanbul, with the severity of the punishment increasing with distance from the capitol. The Benluks also made up the core of the Imperial Field Army. The Solaks were the Sultan's guard chosen from the best soldiers from ortas 60 though 63. There appears to be disagreement about uniforms. Persian and other contemporary illustrations shows them dressed in all manner of colors to include coats colored green, red, black, blue, and purple. Yet during the Renaissance, observers were impressed by the uniformity of the Janissary Corps troops. Sir Charles Oman states that they were issued with grey coats though it appears that a coarse blue was closer to what was being the issued. Mr. Johnson suggests that the confusion may stem from the fact that the first uniform issued to a new Janissarywas was blue. Thereafter, most Janissaries were expected to provide uniforms from his own pay resulting in a great diversity of color schemes. My personal advice would be to use your imagination though some standards do apply. The primary coat colors consisted of differing shades of blue and green and all seem to have worn the distinctive white cap bound with brass headband. The 101 Ortas of Djemaats had red boots. The 61 Ortas of the Benluks had yellow leggings or boots. Paint the Guard Janissaries white with yellow boots and a gold waist sash. The Marines had a blue coat, green tunic, red sash and breeches, and yellow boots. In the nearly 400 years of their existence, there doesn't appear to be any noticeable changes in Janissary uniform styles, and arquebus equipped Janissary figures from the 16th Century serve well as Napoleonic Janissaries and visa versa. In 1827, the Sultan Mahmud II purposely incited a Janissary revolt in the capitol which he suppressed with his newly formed regular infantry and artillery. As soon as they were crushed, Mahmud ruthlessly purged their ranks and ordered all records of their existence to be destroyed, which might account for the sketchy records on uniform spedfics. The Nizam-i-jedid, or New Order Troops were infantry trained in modem European drill. Initially, they were the only infantry in the Sultan's army that could claim any sort of regular status. As the primary examples of the Sultan's refomm efforts, they were despised by the Janissaries and their reactionary allies. They fought well however, and at Acre received special notice from Napoleon. There were several, not too successful, attempts to use them in suppressing Janissary revolts. There were approximately 24,000 of them organized in regiments of 2500 in 1806. Most of their recruits came from the regions of Anatolia and Albania. I have adopted units of 24 figures for my regiments, further dividing them into two battalion equivalents of 12 figures each. They had red hats (similar to Shriners) white socks, red shoes, white crossbelts, and, if stationed in Istanbul, red breeches and jackets. Otherwise they had light blue breeches and jackets. Figures for the Nizam-i-jedid are readily available. Unlike the other components of the Turkish army they have no backward compatibility to earlier periods. However one does not need them to fight Napoleonic battles. Officially the Nizam-i-jedid were abolished in 1807 when Selim was forced to abdicate by a Janissary mutiny in 1807. Selim was later murdered, but his brother Mahmud began the creation of a similar new corps called the Segban-i-jedid whose strength eventually reached about 10,000 men, with plans for 160,000. Again reactionary elements in the government, particularly represented by the Janissaries, caused their demise, and the plans were never carried out. The Segban-i-jedid were disbanded in 1808 after distinguishing themselves in a protracted palace siege during one of the last great Janissary revolts. The Suvarileri cavalry numbered 28,000 men divided into six units. Two of these units were the Silahtars and the Sipahi Oglans who were both considered guard quality units and (according to William Johnson) are heavy cavalry. The remaining four units are the line cavalry called the Ulufecijan and Gureba (two units of each). I organize all of my Ottoman cavalry into units of twelve figures each. Mr. Johnson describes the line cavalry as wearing mustard yellow jackets, red breeches, yellow boots, with a red turban wrapped with white cloth. As for the Silahtars, they had a red Janissary style cap, deep red tunics, gold sashes, bright red sleeves, and yellow boots and breeches. The Topiji artillerymen were the army's professional gunners. The Turks had a long tradition of using big guns which dates back before the siege of Constantinople in 1453. On the battlefield, their gunners have always been quite good, although some of their weapons haven't always been up-to-date, and their powder was often of inferior quality. The French sent advisors to the Turks in the late 1790's to train the Topiji in the most current methods. As a result, the Turkish artillery was perhaps the most professional arm of the Turkish army. Their ten gun batteries seemed to be split into two parts. There is a static portion made up of 24 pounders consisting of four guns placed in a fixed position. The other six guns moved about in a mobile foot battery like standard European artillery. Assume they were equipped with 6 pounders. Some batteries may actually be equipped with 17th Century weapons. The Topiji wore white socks, brown shoes, green breeches, white shirts, and red jackets. Around their waists they had a fawn colored sash and their turban was red wrapped with white cloth. In 1808, Sultan Mahmud II organized a 1000 man force of horse artillery organized on the Western model. Although they were largely destroyed by the Russians in 1812, the force was rebuilt. Napoleon provided some 500 French gunners to the Sultan to man the coastal batteries around Istanbul. The Empire rule system assumes that some of these French gunners may be available on the battlefield. If so, they are treated as normal French artillery, though slightly inferior in quality. I've found no details as to their uniforms and so just use my regular French batteries. After 1807, relations with France had deteriorated to such a degree that it is doubtful that the French gunners were still in service. Of special note, the British supplied harnesses to the Turks for a battery of Turkish Camel guns. These were destroyed by the French at Aboukir Bay. The best way to describe the rest of the army (the irregulars) the term "diversity" applies. Every single racial, religious, and ethnic group within the Empire has at one time or another provided cannon fodder for the Sultan's forces. Most were called up on a seasonal basis as feudal type levies. But quite a few were actually full time, professional mercenaries whose experience level was every bit as good, if not better, than the Kapikulus. After the disbanding of the Nizam-i-jedid and Segban-i-jedid, many of the officers and enlisted from both went to serve in the provincial armies where they were again formed into a number of regular units, trained in the Westem European style. It is customary to divide the irregulars into several main types. These are the Sekhans, the Azaps, the Sipabis, the Yoruks and Djellis, and the Fellahin. The Sekhans were the main provincial infantry. Most of the mercenaries that were hired by the territorial governors came out of their ranks. As irregulars there would be no uniforms, and armament depended on how prosperous their home regions were. Those in Arabia for example, had no fire arms, but did come equipped with bows and other traditional weapons. Most of the Sekhans raised in the Balkans were equipped with muskets. Over all, the best came from Albania, and most of these roamed the Empire as mercenaries filling the ranks of such famous armies as that led by Mahomet Ali Pasha who threw the British out of Egypt, and destroyed the power of the Mamlukes. Serbian Sekhans were also quite good, and many can trace a proud military heritage to the Austro-Turkish war of 1787, where they were organized and trained by the Austrians to defend their own territory. I organize my Sekhans into regiments of 18-36 figures. Depending on their size, I usually divide the larger formations into two units in the same manner as I do the Janissaries. Figures are readily available, but one need not limit oneself to "official" Sekhan figures. Any Turkish infantry figure from the 16th through early 19th Century will do, as will Moghuls and Arabs. Jacobite makes some nice looking Albanians, or one can also use dismounted Renaissance Cossacks. Some of the older Minifigs Polish Drabant arquebusiers look very much like Bosnian, Serbian, and Bulgarian Sekhans. Just below the Sekhans in quality are the Fellahin and other levies of their sort. These were the wretched, unwashed masses of hastily gathered infantry swept up out of every village, farm, and brothel, organized into hordes, and sent out as bullet catchers. They were armed with whatever came available, such as spears, swords, clubs, knives, etc.... Apparently it was possible to raise large numbers of them. Chandler estimates that Ibrahim Bey had upwards of 100,000 of them in Cairo during the Battle of the Pyramids. Again, uniforms are not a problem. Just paint them up in whatever native costume suits the figures. Figure availability is the same as for the Sekhans. I organize them into units of 24-36 figures, but do not divide them as I do the Sekhans andJanissaries. Rayas and Derbants are specific types of infantry raised in the Balkans. Raya as a term refers to the Christian peasants living under Ottoman rule. As fighters, the Rayas are like frontier style jagers who serve in the same skirmish mission. They are native huntsmen and mountain peoples organized into company sized units and attached to Janissary units as light infantry. Unless in open revolt against their masters (as in the Serbs from about 1804-1815), they are rarely used in larger units. Derbants, like the Martolos of Greece, are local militias. Many are former bandits and most are experts at guerrilla warfare and mountain fighting. Derbants are used mainly for local defense. Azaps were organized early in the 16th Century and were originally the provincial counterpart of the Janissary Corps. They were full time soldiers of Muslim birth who served as fortress garrison troops. Eventually their duties expanded to include acting as sappers, assault troops, and marines. On the march with the ammy, they would assume a position to the front of the Janissaries and the artillery, protecting the two until they had time to deploy. During the Napoleonic time period, the Azaps had been officially split into two main parts, the Kale Azaplari, or fortress troops, and the Deniz Azaplari, or naval troops. The original campaign role no doubt was taken over by the Sekhans. One of the best known of the Feudal troops are the Sipahi cavalry. In many ways they compare to the old feudal knights and retainers of their Christian enemies in that they are granted land in exchange for their service. These land grants were called timars and depending on the wealth produced on each timar, the sipahi had to provide both his own services and that of several retainers. However, unlike the Christian knights, the timars were still considered a possession of the Sultan and were not generally passed down as an inheritance. In their heyday, the Sipahi were the elite main striking force of the Ottoman army. However, by the Napoleonic wars their quality had decreased considerably. Theoretically, they were organized into units of 1000 men, and there were approximately 100,000 available for service. 10,000 of them were called up each year near Istanbul for training. There is no standard uniform, however most are armed with the lance and are well trained in its use. The majority of the Sipahis came from Asia. The single most famous cavalry in the Turkish army are the Mamlukes. Indeed, there seems to be more information available on these characters than any of the rest of the Ottoman army other than the Janissaries. Perhaps this is due to the fact that when they fought against Napoleon, they so impressed him that he took a troop back to France with him and attached it to his Imperial Guard. The Mamlukes were originally warrior slaves who overthrew their masters and formed their own ruling class. Even as late as the Napoleonic wars "volunteers" were usually "recruited" from the Circassian provinces of the Turkish Empire or else captured in slave raids against the Russian border states. New slaves would be brought in as young boys and raised in the Mamluke warrior tradition. There were 12,000 Mamluke cavalry in Egypt, and as cavalry go they were quite good, though a little wild and undisciplined. They were often accompanied by a dismounted infantry element made up of their servants, whose job it was to kill anyone left wounded on the ground by the Mamluke charge, or else to safe keep valuable hostages. They would probably be very much like the fellahin in nature, though a bit better trained. Mamlukes were known to serve in all parts of the Ottoman Empire, although they were never found in as great a number as they were in Egypt. The Mamlukes virtually ruled Egypt as an independent nation, and often had to be brought into line by Ottoman armies. Their power was finally destroyed by Mahomet Ali Pasha. The remainder of the Turkish cavalry were made up of irregular light horsemen who signed up for the privilege of looting the enemy. The traditional Turkish method of waging war would find thousands of these horsemen sweeping into the enemy territory burning farms and villages and spreading terror and destruction. Originally called Akinjis, which means "raiders", they were done away with after a particularly costly revolt. The light cavalry role in the Napoleonic era was then taken over by the Yoruks and Djellis. Djellis were mainly Bosnians, Serbs, and Croatians, whose job was to act as a light cavalry screen and as guides. Being famous for their ferocity, they were also callec Bashibazouks (crazy heads). Apparently they managed to survive in one form or another, for there were Bashibazouks serving in the ill fated Hicks expedition against the Mahdi in the 1883. Thc Yoruks served similar roles to the earlier Akinjis, and were also used as a frontier defense force. Just about any Turkish light cavalry figure can be used to simulate these horsemen. I personally use Eastern European light cavalry figures from my Hungarian, Polish, and Muscovite Renaissance collections. Of course, Akinjis also do double duty as Yoruks and Djellis For those interested in the slightly earlier period of the 18th Century, the Ottomans also employed huge numbers of Tartar light horsemen. I also use them in the Napoleonic period, figuring that somewhere in the Empire there were Tartar tribes surviving to serve the Sultan. Additionally, other non-European provinces provided their own brand of native light cavalry to the army, and so one can make use of anything from Moorish Berbers, to Moghul and Persian style light cavalry, and maybe even Cossacks. Provindal armies also came equipped with contingents of artillery most of which were of an older, 17th century nature equipped with heavy obsolete cannons. In the Balkans however, many newer, lighter six pounder guns were supplied by the French from their Dalmatian province. Most of these served with Ali Pasha of Janina and the Bosnians. The Ottoman provincials also obtained quite a number of guns from the Russians, who supplied them to rebellious Turkish warlords. Additionally, quite a few Russian crews deserted over to the Turkish side. Of a more exotic touch, the British had supplied Ali Pasha with a battery of Congreve rockets! For flags and banners, something as simple as a green flag with a white crescent moon and a star will more than suffice. The same pattem can also be made using a red flag. For something more sophisticated, one might try adding some arabic looking writing to represent lines from the Koran. Light yellow, white, blue, green, and red are all used in their flags along with gold and black markings. Films like "The Wind and the Lion" and "Lawrence of Arabia" provide good designs to choose from. All of these flags can be used for any time period. The Sultan's Standard was similar to that used by the Mongol leaders, and consisted of six horse tails. Ranks below him also had horse tail banners, but with reduced numbers of tails. The Grand Vizier had three tails, as did the Grand Admiral and certain very powerful provincial governors. A mere Pasha had only one or two. To be able to command an army, a Pasha had to have at least two tails in his banner. The majority of the provincial governors probably had only two tails in their banners. The flag of the Sultan was light green with three white moon crescents. Flag poles were usually red. From all of the proceeding, one should be able to determine that the Turks are the ultimate reuse army, whose figures serve well in all time periods from the 16th Century through to the end of the Napoleonic wars. And if you want to push things a bit, you can also use them for 19th Century colonial campaigns in the various Islamic countries of Southwest Asia, India, or North Africa. A unique trait of the Turkish army as compared to the other great powers in Europe is that they lacked permanent higher level comrnand structures like corps, and instead organized themselves much like their fathers and grandfathers did in the 17th Century. The Kapikulu would form one element of the army while the provincials would be organized by province. The provincial ortas would be grouped according to their districts or Sancak. The commander would be a "Sancak Bey" (Standard Bearer). Sancaks would then be organized beneath their provincial govemor who held the title of Beylerbeyis (Bey of Beys). The Sancaks would closely resemble brigades and the provinces would represent corps and divisions. Size of the Sancaks and Province organizations would have to depend on the size and wealth of the region of recruitment. Thus there probably was no standard size or table of organization. And having been raised by their own local leaders, the ortas would not take too well to being transferred back and forth between comrnands. An example of how I reflect this would be my assigning of all Moroccans into one or two brigades comrnanded by the Bey of Morocco. To be strictly historical, one should never assign the Janissaries and Nizam-i-jedid together in the same brigade. Representing, as they did, differing views on reform within the army, the two groups hated each other worse than they did their enemies. And in fact, if both are used on the same battlefield, they ought really to be assigned to different wings of the army. Since many of the troops are feudal by nature, one should probably restrict the use of different nationalities to fighting within their own provinces or major areas. For example, one shouldn't use Egyptian Fellahin to fight in the Balkans. However, Albanians seem to appear just about everywhere, and were used in quite a number of the private territorial armies. This is also true of the Martolos of Greece. There were once 10,000 of them recruited to fight in Persia. Whatever the case, common sense should prevail. I personally prefer to launch occasional, Empire wide Holy Wars (jihads) and take the whole bloody army out against an enemy. Makes for an interesting time. Additionally, Ottoman armies were largely limited by their feudal nature to a limited campaign season, usually lasting from May through November. An interesting "what if' would be the Army of Mahomet Ali Pasha of Egypt. Ali Pasha and his son Ibriham were two of the Ottoman's greatest and most resourceful generals. Wherever they seemed to go, victory soon followed. Ali Pasha was the illiterate son of an Albanian, and was bom in the same year as Napoleon. He was part of the army that was defeated by Bonaparte at Aboukir and eventually retumed to Egypt with an army made up largely of Albanian Mercenaries. With it he defeated the last remnants of Mamluke power and also threw the British out of Egypt. For a time he was content to make peace with his Sultan, and generally ruled Egypt as an independent vassal of Istanbul. But, an ambitious and resourceful man, he saw the need for reform and quickly adopted the new European methods of drill and discipline within the ranks of his army. Starting in 1815, with European technical help he began building the most powerful naval fleet in the Eastem Mediterranean and used it quite effectively. He sent expeditions into the Sudan, along the Red Sea Coast, and eventually, in 1811, to fght rebel tribes in Syria and Arabia. Shortly after the Napoleonic period, Ibriham was sent with 11,000 men and the fleet to help suppress the Greek revolutionaries, which they did most effectively. Mahomet Ali eventually raised an army of 100,000 regulars, revolted against the Sultan, invaded Syria and threatened Istanbul. It took major power intervention to finally force him to withdraw back into Egypt. Those wishing to simulate Ali Pasha's army would have to remember that it in the beginning, it is made up largely of A1banians and probably Egyptian Sekhans. Cavalry types are uncertain, but I would assume that they'd be remnants of the Mamlukes, any local light cavalry and perhaps some Arabs. And don't forget about the Fellahin. His Albanians began giving him almost as much trouble as the Janissaries were giving the Sultan, and so he sent them to Arabia to fight the Wahhabis. There they were ambushed and largely wiped out. Ali Pasha then tumed to the conscription of Egyptian peasants who, much to everyone else's surprise, made excellent soldiers. Ali Pasha's Albanians should be largely as good, if not better than the Sultan's Janissaries. And after 1815, they should all be treated as regulars equipped with bayonets. They would therefore be as capable, if not more so, than the Nizam-i-jedid. I have no unifomm details, but have read descriptions of the Albanians. They appear to favor costumes similar to that of the Greeks with white skirts, dark green, red, or blue jackets and white pants with yellow boots. On their head is a red or pink skull cap. I like the Albanians. They are quite handsome when painted up. Picture what would happen if these guys were deployed against some of the Empire's traditional enemies, especially the Russians in the 1806-1812 war. As it were, Ali Pasha's legacy was an independent Egypt that was on the road towards modemization and becoming a powerful nation state. Other provincial leaders also raised regular type regiments. Amongst them were the 11,000 regulars of the Mamluk warchief Elfi Bey, a chief rival of Mahomet Ali. There were the 2-3,000 regulars raised by Husrev Mehmed, also of Egypt. And Ali Pahsa of Janina used European officers to train many of his troops. Whatever their origin, the Sultan was always jealous of the ability of his govemors to raise modem armies, while he was restricted to having to make do with his reactionaryJanissaries. As for those who are slain in the cause of Allah, He will not allow theirworks to pensh. He will vouchsafe them guidance and ennoble their state; He will admit them to the Paradise He bas made known to them. - Holy Koran, Surah XLVII, Verses 4-6 One important element that I've incorporated into my Turkish army are my Sudanese religious fanatics led by a charismatic leader I call the Kalifi. These wonderful fellows are mostly armed with swords, spears, and a few muskets, and it's their job to weaken the enemy by senselessly throwing themselves upon the enemy's formations. In a way, it's like using them as an artillery preparation. I began this quaint custom in the early days before I knew any better, and decided to retain the idea since it fit so well into traditional Turkish military custom, it adds a bit of flavoring to the army, making it unique. For those thinking it unrealistic, I might mention that Napoleon had some trouble with an Egyptian fanatic named Ahmed, who called himself "the Mahdi". Ahmed rose up and declared a jihad against the French invaders. His revolt, occurring in the Nile delta region in 1799, right before the Battle of Aboukir, attained none of the success of his later Sudanese successor. Instead, after massacring a small French garrison, his several thousand followers did battle with a French force led by one General Lanusse. The "Mahdi" had informed his men thatAllah would protect them from the French bullets. When this proved false and many of the rebels started dropping dead and wounded, the rest panicked and fled, possibly killing their "Mahdi" in the process. None-the-less, his example does create an interesting "what if" that more or less justifies my Islamic fanatics. Additionally, the armies facing the Turks were often surprised by the ferocity of the Ottoman soldiers, and it is likely that I am not fielding my fanatics in sufficient strength. The point being, as unstructured as the Ottomans are, why not use your imagination to come up with something original? One could have a force of similar purpose and design, and it's not important that they be called Sudanese. They could just be a group of dervish inspired zealots out to become martyrs. Things in the Turkish Empire were somewhat inexact, and in such a state of flux, that there will be times when you could be more than justified in raising an entire army of Janissaries, or even of irregulars, without a cannon or Janissary to call their own. So to worry too much about historical accuracy is to chase after something that might not exist. My best advice would be to just use common sense and not get carried away. More Ottomans in the Napoleonic Period Using Ottoman Turks on the Wargame Table Related: Ottoman Army at Vienna Ottoman Army at Vienna Part 1: Introduction Ottoman Army at Vienna Part 1: Army Organization Ottoman Army at Vienna Part 2: Standards and Flags Ottoman Army at Vienna Part 2: Irregular Forces Ottoman Army at Vienna Part 2: Christian Foe Ottoman Army at Vienna Part 2: WRG Army List Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #68 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1995 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com