The Great Siege, no the other one

There are various sieges throughout history that have been seen as pivotal events. One of these, now almost forgotten in the English speaking parts of the world at least, is the Great Siege of Vienna in 1529, the highwater mark of the Ottoman Empire. 

Elastolin Turks and Landsknechts.

One expansion to my wargaming collecton that has been on hold for a few years is the addition of 16th Century Turkish forces. Rob has long wanted to put the 1565 Siege of Malta on the table  and at Huzzah I suggested that it was time to resume discussions about it.

So far, all of my 16thC forces are of the 1520 to 1550 era so while I am happy to bring any Turks I have to Malta, I want to stay with the earlier period for my own collection. Since Turks are back on the menu,  I started reading what little I could find on the first Siege of Vienna. It soon became clear why Elastolin produced a range of Landsnechts and Turks without Turkish cavalry. They had produced what was needed for the great sorties and assaults of the Great Siege of Vienna.

The 2nd Quarter (roughly)  of the 16th Century is a fruitful period for wargames. Apart from  the big events like Vienna, Pavia, Pinkie and Rhodes, there were many campaigns of raids and minor sieges where various parts of my existing collection could find employment in places like Italy, France, Scotland, the Mediterranan and in Hungary. 

It might be hard to find useful details of the Hungarian campaigns in English but luckily I am quite happy to make up imaginary castles to besiege.