Medieval Wallachia first gained its independence in 1330 when it defeated the Hungarians and established a principality. They allied with the Mongols but by 1368 again fell under Hungarian control. By this time the Ottoman Turks approached their frontiers and under Mircea the Old they defeated Ottoman attacks four times between 1394 and 1408. After the disaster of Nicopolis the pressure built and the Wallachians had to accept Ottoman suzerainty in 1417.
Of all the princes who seized power in the 15th Century the best known is Vlad the Impaler (1418-56). He had a number of successful attempts to hold off the Ottomans but eventually conceded (see The Real Dracula). Despite this Wallachia remained a Christian state and was never absorbed fully into the Ottoman Empire.
The figures below are 15mm Wallachian cavalry from my collection.
good job man!
ReplyDeleteHi. I am just starting researching for a Wallachian army, circa 1460's for the Impetus rules.
ReplyDeleteReally struggling to find books and content on the internet about troop types, orders of battle and deployment etc.
I would appreciate it if you could post any links to sites you have used in your own research or point me towards any useful books.
Thanks in anticipation.
Hi Rob The Wallachian army was a peasant army, mostly foot archers who wore white tunics and trousers of undyed wool and tall sheepskin hats. There were also similarly clad light horse archers. Nobles in Ottoman or Byzantine-ish armor acted as a small heavy cav. arm.Dracula (Vlad) promoted many of these from the free peasant class.There are good pictures of all these troop types at the military museum and national museum in Bucarest. Excellent army organization lists are found in the WRG(WARGAMES RESEARCH GROUP) books for DBM and DBMM rules by Phil Barker. Good Luck,
ReplyDeleteMike