Ottoman Turks

Last but not least (unless you were a Janissary) are the rest of the infantry. Starting with the Tufekcis Musketeers and the Balkan Sharpshooters. Both these units started to appear in the 17th Century armies.

The Tufekcis (I need a couple more units of these) as a more modern fire armed unit adopting a more western way of drill that had been rejected by the Janissaries. By this period the Janissaries had become a strong “political” force, even leading to the overthrow (usually fatal) of some sultans and pasha’s so had to be handled carefully. While the Janissaries had adopted firearms early and with great enthusiasm they resisted later attempts at modernisation.

The Balkan skirmishers could be either Muslim or Christian background but all had a reputation for marksmanship and courage.

And lastly we have the Azab or Volunteer infantry. In the 15th and early 16th century they were mainly bow armed later adopting the arquebus and then musket in the 16th and 17th century.

So I approached this by having a couple of units bow armed and a couple with musket to cover both the early and late periods. I than added a couple of units with hand-to-hand weapons who can then represent either bow or musket on the battlefield.

The added advantage is that the bows and hand-to-hand units can then be used to represent the dodgy levy units.

They are pictured below with their “mobile” field defences otherwise known as tethered baggage animals.