Siege of Vienna 1683 (photo story)

[DintheDin]

On a hill, elite Janissaries with 10 cannon put a fierce resistance

[DintheDin]

More Ottoman troops arriving... A first wave of winged hussars penetrated deep in their positions, but it was a trap. The Ottoman cavalry made a semi circle and they had to retreat with heavy casualties. Sobieski ordered a general charge of the cavalry and soon the Ottomans started to give way, gradually escalating to a precipitous retreat...

[DintheDin]

Under pressure of the whole Allied front advancing, the Ottoman infantry cannot hold their positions and they start fleeing. The scales are tipped...

[DintheDin]

The Ottoman camp

A view of the Ottoman camp before it being sacked. Among other things, one may see Kara Mustafa's kaftan thrown hastily on his bed.
Paperwork, much research for items of the period.

[DintheDin]

The end

It was a crushing Ottoman defeat.

"The battle for Vienna was over. Christendom's bulwark had withstood the last great Ottoman attack. The Turks would never return. Ottoman losses were - 10,000 -15,000 killed in battle and 5,000 captured. Plus another 25,000 killed in the siege. All 149 cannon were also lost. The Habsburgs lost 12,000 men in the siege. 4500 were killed in the allied army during the battle".

"The whole Ottoman army degenerates into a disorderly mob pursued vigorously by the Polish and Imperial cavalry. A massacre ensues as the fleeing infantry are cut down in droves and he Poles loot the Ottoman camp. The remaining Ottoman infantry in the trenches desert, many cut down and the entire turkish artillery is captured".

Two passages from the very informative link:

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/battle-report-17-vienna-1683.386899/page-2

I would recommend the serious work of John Stoye - The Siege of Vienna by the Turks

I would like to thank warmly Miltiades (Miltiades) and Haris (Guldor) for their precious assistance to help me set up and photograph the whole thing. Guldor and I took the pictures. Miltiades was the gentle host, provider (and keeper)   of terrain items as well.

A general view of the whole battlefield from the Ottoman side.
 

[miltiades]

Awsome pics! Spectacular battlefield.

[Gangleri]

A wonderful display and presentation.  Clearly you put an immense amount of work into it, right down to the little details.  And it recreates the great violence of the final stages of the siege.  Fine work all around.

I second your recommendation of Stoye's book.

[DintheDin]

Awsome pics! Spectacular battlefield.

Thank you pal! You know well how your continuous support and urging helped this project to take flesh and bones...

[DintheDin]

A wonderful display and presentation.  Clearly you put an immense amount of work into it, right down to the little details.  And it recreates the great violence of the final stages of the siege.  Fine work all around.

I second your recommendation of Stoye's book.

Thank you! It took me many hours of reading and personal work to prepare all this, especially the city walls.
Please, have a look also at  

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=98689.0

The table was not enough to give more space for the troop deployment and I also had to make many concessions, mainly concerning the setup of Vienna. I put only a small part of the walls and other defenses constructed. I have even constructed the great Burg Neustadt building, (it was a prominent feature and took much damage by Ottoman cannonballs) which would be very huge to find place in such a small part of Vienna shown. I would need more depth, maybe when we play the actual battle - who knows...  

[Youngster]

Stirring story, retold in wonderful fashion. Magnificent work!
Regards,
Paul

[DintheDin]

Stirring story, retold in wonderful fashion. Magnificent work!
Regards,
Paul

Thank you! I tried to be as analytical and as brief as possible, I hope this lengthy post is not boring - by the way here is one source of my inspiration

  http://historyin172.blogspot.gr/2011/02/some-flats-between-siege-of-vienna-1683.html

[Marine0846]

What a wonderful setup.
So well done.
Thanks for sharing and all the work.

[Nikfu]

Wonderful, thanks a lot. Really have to do some siege of Vienna project some day, too. May I ask which miniatures you were using?

[TNugent]

Wonderful stuff and congratulations on completing the project. A great report and figures also.

I am slowly working on the same project myself so I know how much effort it takes.

[DintheDin]

What a wonderful setup.
So well done.
Thanks for sharing and all the work.

Thank you! I have to thank LAF also, for providing me the space to share this work with all of you.
I steel feel that the table area was not large enough, I hope we will find a larger table for the actual game.