Transylvanian Ally Finished

Here they are at last! Thirteen elements to make up a small allied contingent for my latest 15 mm Thirty Years War (TYW) army. The original plan back in August 2016 was to morph my Danish TYW army into a Early TYW German Protestant army with the option of a Transylvanian ally. Amazingly that's what has happened:



The allied commander who can be either Gábor Bethlen (reigned 1613 to 1629) or his "less active" successor George I Rákóczi. The flag details are here and there's more here plus a free sample offer. Figures are Donnington EC03 on TYH08 flanking a Legio Heroica general.





Boyars. I'm very pleased with how my first efforts at edge highlighting black armour look en masse. The crimson lances are purely for effect: there's no evidence for them. The figures are Donnington EC03 again with EC12 for the officer (second right) on a mix of horses: TYH03 & 08.

In Field of Glory Renaissance (FOGR) they can be either superior gendarmes or cavaliers (after 1629). The gendarmes are heavily armoured whereas the cavaliers are just armoured. Before 1629 the gendarmes are armed with a sword and heavy lance. Post 1629 both gendarmes and cavaliers are armed with melee pistols and a light lance.





Szekler or Hussar light horse. These are bow and sword armed. The figures are Donnington EC04 & 06 on TYH06. I have some pistol armed figures from Legio Heroica in the lead pile just in case I want to upgrade this battlegroup to carbine pistol.





Szekler or Hussar cavalry. These are armed with a carbine and melee pistols. The figures are Donnington EC05 & 10 on a mix of horses: THY03, 06 & 08.

The above provide an allied contingent of 189 points. This is under one third of a 650 point army and a quarter of a 800 point army. More importantly they will offer me the option to field cavaliers and bow armed light horse in what is otherwise a fairly standard pike and shot army. Plus I think they'll look very striking on the table.

All that remains is to paint the flags for the Early Germans and finish a few musketeers to provide some additional pike & shot battlegroups. Not forgetting: I must try to get a game sometime later this year!

Finally, some painting notes:

• The bright red is Plaka Signal Red 23 with just a touch of talc added to kill the slight sheen of the stock paint.
• Whilst painting these I made much use of a wet palette which kept the stock paints wet for weeks and made everything much quicker.