Croats and Cossacks

This blog post takes a look at my latest Thirty Years War Imperial units; Croat light horse.

My latest unit of Croats 

It is over a year since I finished my first unit of Croats (see here).  My latest units are a mixture of Warlord and The Assault Group (TAG) figures.  On this first unit the horses are all TAG and the rider are a mixture.  The flag is from Flags of War.

I now have three units of these light horse and so I've got enough Croat light horse for my Imperial force. These units will also see service as part of the new Polish army I am building for the war in Prussia during the 1620s.  The Polish 'Cossack' light cavalry had a very similar dress to the Imperial Croat light cavalry; not only were they all influenced by the Turkish and Hungarian models of dress favoured in Eastern Europe, but the term 'Croat' was used for all Imperial light horse whether their origin was Croatia, Hungary, Walachia, or Poland.  Indeed, some of the 'Croat' light horse at Lutzen were recorded as being Polish Cossacks.

The term Polish Cossack can be confusing in itself.  The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth referred to its own light cavalry as 'Cossacks', while 'Cossack' was also the term for the semi-independent people living in what is now the Ukraine and South Western Russia, who in this period typically fought on foot.  My Polish Cossacks will need a different cavalry standard, and also one or two men in mail armour and/or carrying a shield, just to add some Polish character to the units.

I've painted my Croat units with a mixture of colours representing their irregular nature and lack of uniform.  Based purely on wargamer’s fancy each unit has one predominate colour, that also matches the unit’s flag; in this case it is red.

The Croats are based on Warbases 2mm MDF 50mm by 60mm bases with a selection of static grasses on top of a mixture of sand, paint and PVA.

Here is the view of the Croats that a lot of my Swedish cavalry will be seeing - the sight of evading light horse, dashing out of harms way.

Here is a further unit of Croats that I finished a while ago.  These are themed in blue, and hopefully you can see the subtle shift in colours from the previous unit, while still presenting an irregular appearance. 

Another Flags of War cavalry cornet (cavalry unit flag) mounted on the ‘lance’ from the Warlord Pike and Shotte plastic cavalry box set.

These were fun units to paint.  I like painting cavalry, although doing the horses do slow me down. I like the poses of the riders with their variety of weapons and costumes.   They will be expected to do a fair amount of skirmishing and so I’ve made sure to have some of the figures with carbines. The spare carbines in the plastic Warlord Pike and Shotte cavalry box come in very handy here where the figure doesn’t come moulded with a carbine. 

I look forward to getting these new units on to the wargames table with my other Croats, and I’m sure my Swedish baggage is now extremely worried!  

My previous post on Croats for Lützen is here link.

Until next time!

Andy @ FoGH.

We march for plunder!

"God save us from famine, plague and the Croats!"

German prayer during the Thirty Years War

This blog post describes the latest unit for my Thirty Years War collection, based on the armies at Lutzen, 1632; the Croats.

Surely the most colourful troops that fought during the Thirty Years War were the Imperial Croat cavalry.  These light horse men were recruited from the Imperial lands that bordered on the Ottoman Turkish empire. Originally made up of Croatians, as time went on their ranks were filled from many ethnic groups from the South East of the Empire, such as Hungarians, Wallachians, and even Cossacks.  All experienced in the frequent minor border clashes with the Turks.  What ever their origin, they became collectively know as the Croat horsemen, and became feared wherever the Imperial armies campaigned.

A Croat horseman

On the battlefield they were perhaps no match for heavier horse in a straight fight, but in scouting, plundering, and the general 'beating up of quarters' there were none better.  They had a fearsome reputation for plundering and were feared by the civilian population on both sides.  The Croats became the 'bogey men' of which parents warned their children, and contemporary pamphleteers horrified their readers

The Croats were classic light cavalry.  Unarmoured, and riding hardy but nimble ponies, they would skirmish with their carbines and pistols, before closing with their sabres when they had found an advantage, or sufficiently weakened an enemy.  They were famed for their canny ability to lay or avoid ambushes, after many years learning from the wily Turks and their Tartar allies.   Even rivers were no obstacle, as they were able to cross bodies of water thanks to their strong swimming mounts.

I have been looking forward to collecting and painting the Croats since I started this period.  They are something quite exotic compared to the more regular pistol armed horsemen of Central and Northern Europe.  Warlord Games make Croats for the Thirty Years War (here), and The Assault Group (TAG)  also have Croats (here) as well as covering Poles, Cossacks and Tartars that can be used for Croats.  Wargames Foundry have a set of Cossacks (here) in their Severn Years War range, including mounted Cossacks that I think also can work as Croats. They are riding really characterful ponies, and have a great range of poses.

This unit is made up of the Wargames Foundry figures, with the addition of a TAG Croat trumpeter.  They carry a banner of a shape peculiar to the Croats, made by Flags of War (here).  The figures reflect the typical clothing and equipment of the Croats; brighter shades of red, blue and green, the long eastern style of coat, sometimes worn as a cloak, often braided, knee boots, fur trimmed hats, curved sabres, pistols and carbines.  I think they look like a fearsome bunch, and my Swedish baggage train had better look out!

All of these figures were a real joy to paint.  This range from Foundry have real character, with each pack and figure named.  It was easy to imagine a story building around the unit and its piratical members as I painted the figures.  I can't wait to get them on to the battlefield so that they can start bringing some of those stories to life.

Until next time!

Andy @ FOGH.