Historical background
In the year 1683 the Ottomans started their second attempt to conquer Vienna, the seat of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the door to further conquest in Europe. It was a major effort with a huge army (170.000 men at the start of the campaign) - too much for the Emporer, who left the City before the Ottomans arrived. After an epic two months siege an allied relief army (Imperial and Polish troops) reached the outskirts of Vienna and in the final battle the Ottomans were decisively beaten and had to retreat the way they had come.
The moment depicted is a Polish march column in the Vienna Woods west of the city. The Polish troops are in a bad state, as their way to Vienna was already long and exhausting. Even their king was ashamed of them and leading them through different ways to Vienna as the rest of the Imperial army.
The diorama
The figures are all from Zvezda. The challenge for this diorama was the problem that there is only one marching pose in the Zvezda set, so some conversions had to be made. Also some trimming had to be done to convert the figures into Poles (originally they were Russian streltsi). Uniforms were not very developed in this period, so each figure has its own colour variations. The tree is scratch built of wire, putty and some weeds from the garden.
Photos (click to enlarge)
In the year 1683 the Ottomans started their second attempt to conquer Vienna, the seat of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the door to further conquest in Europe. It was a major effort with a huge army (170.000 men at the start of the campaign) - too much for the Emporer, who left the City before the Ottomans arrived. After an epic two months siege an allied relief army (Imperial and Polish troops) reached the outskirts of Vienna and in the final battle the Ottomans were decisively beaten and had to retreat the way they had come.
The moment depicted is a Polish march column in the Vienna Woods west of the city. The Polish troops are in a bad state, as their way to Vienna was already long and exhausting. Even their king was ashamed of them and leading them through different ways to Vienna as the rest of the Imperial army.
The diorama
The figures are all from Zvezda. The challenge for this diorama was the problem that there is only one marching pose in the Zvezda set, so some conversions had to be made. Also some trimming had to be done to convert the figures into Poles (originally they were Russian streltsi). Uniforms were not very developed in this period, so each figure has its own colour variations. The tree is scratch built of wire, putty and some weeds from the garden.
Photos (click to enlarge)
Video (Youtube)
Sources
John Stoye - Die Türken vor Wien
Simon Millar - Vienna 1683 (Osprey Campaign 191)
Richard Brezezinski - Polish armies 1569-1696 Part 1 (Osprey Men-at-Arms 184)
Richard Brezezinski - Polish armies 1569-1969 Part 2 (Osprey Men-at-Arms 188)
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