WMMS 2018 is on Sunday 18th March.
Please have your show pre-orders to us by Wednesday 14th March.
Aldersley Leisure Village
Aldersley Rd
Wolverhampton
WV6 9NW
For more information visit the Alumwell Wargames website - http://www.alumwellwargames.co.uk
WMMS 2018 Sunday 18th March
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Sally
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Re: WMMS 2018 Sunday 18th March
The Wyvern wargames club will be presenting a 12mm Battle of Varna (1444) game at WMMS on 18th March and Salute on 14th April. Hussite war wagons at the ready!
Battle of Varna 1444
Ottoman Empire v Christian Papal army
On the 9th of November 1444 a large Ottoman army of 50 to 60 000 under the command of Murad II advanced towards Varna and in doing so effectively trapped the Papal army, which had a combined strength of 20 to 30,000, between lake Varna, the Black Sea and the steep slopes of the Franga Plateau.
Janos Hunyadi persuaded the Christian commanders that the best course of action would be to make a stand and give battle; “To escape is impossible, to surrender unthinkable. Let us fight bravely and honour our arms.” So the decision was made and on the 10th November Hunyadi deployed the army, which was under the symbolic command of the young King Wlayslaws of Poland, in a sweeping arc between Lake Varna and the Franga Plateau.
The Battle
The various accounts of the battle describe a fluid situation of cavalry charges and counter charges in which early Christian gains were reversed by flank attacks by Ottoman Sipahis and Akinci cavalry. At one stage a gap in the Ottoman lines enabled Vlad Dracul’s force to charge through and plunder the Ottoman camp. Janus Hunyadi gathered the now disorganised Papal forces and captured much of the ground around the Ottoman centre in which the Sultan and his Janissaries stood behind a line of stakes. At this crucial point of the battle the young King Wlayslaws took upon himself to lead the knights of his Polish and Hungarian bodyguard in a frontal assault on the Ottoman centre. However, this vain attempt at glory resulted in him having his head cut off and impaled on a stake! After this the Christian forces started to disintegrate and many tried to flee across the River Devnya and were slain in the surrounding marshland.
Legacy
The Ottoman victory at Varna prevented the sending of Christian relief forces to assist the defence of Constantinople. It also paved the way for the expansion of the Ottoman Empire towards Central Europe until this was halted at the siege of Belgrade in 1456.
Battle of Varna 1444
Ottoman Empire v Christian Papal army
On the 9th of November 1444 a large Ottoman army of 50 to 60 000 under the command of Murad II advanced towards Varna and in doing so effectively trapped the Papal army, which had a combined strength of 20 to 30,000, between lake Varna, the Black Sea and the steep slopes of the Franga Plateau.
Janos Hunyadi persuaded the Christian commanders that the best course of action would be to make a stand and give battle; “To escape is impossible, to surrender unthinkable. Let us fight bravely and honour our arms.” So the decision was made and on the 10th November Hunyadi deployed the army, which was under the symbolic command of the young King Wlayslaws of Poland, in a sweeping arc between Lake Varna and the Franga Plateau.
The Battle
The various accounts of the battle describe a fluid situation of cavalry charges and counter charges in which early Christian gains were reversed by flank attacks by Ottoman Sipahis and Akinci cavalry. At one stage a gap in the Ottoman lines enabled Vlad Dracul’s force to charge through and plunder the Ottoman camp. Janus Hunyadi gathered the now disorganised Papal forces and captured much of the ground around the Ottoman centre in which the Sultan and his Janissaries stood behind a line of stakes. At this crucial point of the battle the young King Wlayslaws took upon himself to lead the knights of his Polish and Hungarian bodyguard in a frontal assault on the Ottoman centre. However, this vain attempt at glory resulted in him having his head cut off and impaled on a stake! After this the Christian forces started to disintegrate and many tried to flee across the River Devnya and were slain in the surrounding marshland.
Legacy
The Ottoman victory at Varna prevented the sending of Christian relief forces to assist the defence of Constantinople. It also paved the way for the expansion of the Ottoman Empire towards Central Europe until this was halted at the siege of Belgrade in 1456.
- War Wagons at the ready
- Papal infantry
- Wallachian archers
- Hungarian Crossbows
- Hungarian Cavalry
- Hungarian infantry