Redoubt Miniatures Lithuanian unarmoured hussars upon Elite Miniatures horses. These guys actually managed to get into the thick of the fighting on their first outing on the weekend and broke and destroyed a Jannissary unit.

Polish cavalry screened by German mercenaries and Cossack cannon fodder.

First photo of a 6,000 point a side game of WECW. Polish right flank prepares to batter their way through the Turkish Jannissaries.

Second unit of a regimented Cossack regiment that could be used in a Cossack, Polish-Lithuanian or Muscovite army. These are Elite Miniature horse and rider from their Napoleonic Russian range.

Unit of 12 Cossack from a regimented unit. These figures are from Elite Miniatures Russian range. The Muscovite and Polish army used Cossack units dressed in Blue, Red and White.

Pike and musket Cossack regiment, my research seems to show that the pike should really be a half pike. The movie 'With Fire and Sword', shows the Cossack infantry recieving the charge of the Polish Winged Hussars with half pike. I am not going to cut the pike in half (steel pike so very difficult) but will only give them a +2 rank bonus at all times (pike in WECW usually get a +4 when recieving an attack). The regiment has 20 musket and axe armed figures (fight as a halberd) and 16 pike.

The third free Cossack cavalry unit. These guys usually work in two ways in a game, they get creamed or they actually work tremendously (no middle ground). The Cossack army is a great one but needs to be handled very carefully, any mistakes can be disasterous. The Swedes usually are the hardest to handle with all that good infantry, cavalry and artillery (have been severely hammered in the past). I will write up a report on a 6000 point game against the Ottomans in 2 weeks (26th June).

The second free Cossack cavalry unit, my cavalry units ussually are made up of 12 figures with standard bearer, leader and musican as per the WECW rules.

Close up of one of the free Cossack cavalry units.

Three free Cossack cavarly regiments await the hated Polish assault. All figures are from the Old Glory Cossack range, they have loads of detail and are a joy to paint. Each unit has a horsetail standard and flag, I will add another flag to each unit later. These are all based upon recorded flogs from the period, see the Dan Schorrs Great Northern War site for more details.

Another view of the wagon tabor, we use the rules from the Age of Chivalry supplement and they work very well. Our games are always big so I use a tabor of 8 wagons with 32 foot and 2 medium guns to protect them, I am happy to say that it has yet to be captured (even though the rest of the army of 5500 points has been completly routed by the dreaded Swedes).

Cossack Ataman with the Banner of the Arch Angel Michael (should be in red). The mounted figure is from Essex Miniatures and the 2 Orthodox priests are from a pack of 4 made by Old Glory for their Cossack rule set.

The Cossack wagan tabor should look like this, notice the light wagons. The Polish Film 'With Fire and Sword' shows some of the wagons with a small swivel gun on one of the corners. I will buy some from Eureka Miniatures who make them for their Pirate range and use the rules for the Scots frame gun in the WECW rules. The article on the Cossack Rebellion where this picture comes from can be found here http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/horsemusket/korsun/default.aspx

One half of the Cossack wagan Tabor that I built from scratch, the wheels are from Elite Miniatures but the rest is pastic card and thin wood. I looked everywhere for pictures of a Cossack Tabor but came up blank and based the wagons on the Polish and Ottoman model. Just after I finished painting the 8th wagon I got hold of pictures from the internet of how they should look and the Polish film 'With Fire and Sword' showed them in all their glory. So the Cossack wagons should be light and in all probability without the shield, so when I build them these wagons will be used for the Polish and Ottoman Tabors. The second battle of Chocim 1673 between the Poles and the Ottomans saw a large Turkish force vainly attempt to defend their Tabor from a Polish attack led by the future king Sobieski, see this link for the battle http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/chocim_1673.htm This website is also a great source of interesting infromation of the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth at war.

Cossack command with morale support from an Old Glory Orthodox priest. Old Glory sell these in packs of 4 and they are full of character (great for Cossack and Muscovite units).

A 40 man Old Glory regiment, these are from the specific Cossack range for the role playing system that they produce (fun system by the way). My Cossack army is nearly completed, 3x40 foot units (musket and axe armed), 2x36 man foot units (musket and pike armed), 5x12 Cossack cavalry, 1x7 Cossack cavalry brotherhood, 46 Tartar cavalry allies, 4 guns and a wagon Tabor of 8 wagons.

Close up of the Pancerni command group. I like to field these in units of 12, I have 2 units from Redoubt Miniatures and will purchase another 2 units from TAG with lance later when I can them past the better half.

Cossack left flank advances towards the Turkish horde.