"Which war should I do?" Topic

I'm currently considering doing one of two 19thC wars. Trouble is I don't have time to do both.

Which should I choose and why?

Franc-Prussian(1870-1)
Russo-Turkish (1877-8)

Thoughts gentlemen?

My vote would go to Russo-Turkish because it is a bit off the beaten track. Of course, that may also be a disadvantage when it comes time to buy figures.

Given the choice of those two, I'd lean towards the Russo-Turkish War. Primarily because you can get double use out of both armies. The Russians fought constantly with tribes in the Cacasus Mountains throughout the later 19th century. The Turks can be used against Arab slavers, rebellious Egyptians etc. Plus plenty of what ifs against French or British colonial forces.

Franco Prussian. You can use the French for 1914 battles too

Franco Prussian War.

There are so many more books and rules sets available as well as a better range of figures in all scales.

Also you can also use your French for Crimea 1854 and Italy 1859 and you can use the Prussians for 1866.

Just my opinion.

Russo-Turk. It's different.

Plus you get to use Bashi-bazouks.

How fun is that to say. C'mon, say it out loud. See?

Kind of an easy decision now, isn't it?

As per Broglie,

Tally Ho!

I suggest it may depend on your figure scale. I have leapt toward FPW but in 15mm (first time ever) because of the figure availability issues and the size of battle I want to fight. I'd suggest that the FPW is still a marginalized conflict in the English speaking wargaming world. I don't know anyone personally who's into it.

It's this

or that

Not an easy decision.

I think the editor would co with the fez. :-)

What do think would be more interesting to paint? You like both but if you can only pick one, pick one that you will get the most enjoyment out of.

I think the Russo-Turkish War would have more interesting uniforms.

I know the NWF is pretty plain. Mostly white(ish) or khaki cloth.

it's more red fez against red trousers?

Fez's are cool….

It would ( at least for me ) depend on the chosen scale. My Prussian Army is 10mm because of the size of the battlefields ( the earlier war against the Austrians saw the battle of Königgratz and I visited the battlefield ( now Karlovy Vary in Chech Republic ) was gigantic.
I have Eureka Russians for the war against the Turks ( summer uniform ) and meant them to be used in the Great Game ( a what if, of course ) . Later on Askari too made fine looking figures.
Also read "Sabres of Paradise" , by Leslie Blanch
( link ) for the struggle in the Caucasus. Not only magnificent reading but also chockful of possible scenarios. And, last but not least, als the Ottomans of the period did more than fighting just the Russians… ( ;- ) ) .

Miss that Dr. Bow ties are cool too. :-). I had forgotten about the red fez.

Russo-Turkish War. There's a nice variety of different troops (Bulgarian Legion', Bashi Bazouks, etc), interesting uniforms, and everything from the great Siege of Plevna to open field actions to small scale actions in mountain passes. The FPW is an interesting war to game but for me the RTW had that little extra oomph I was looking for. But to each their own. I used Rank and File 15mm miniatures and like them a lot. There are more alternatives available now then when I put together my collection. I *think* Lancashire may have a line of 15mm RTW minis.

If you want to use cavalry in charges FPW (failed as they will be). If not RTW.

The Osprey on the Russo-Turkish War has some very nice pics of the uniforms……..it has spurred me into that direction…..I'm re-purposing figures from ACW,Crimean and Napoleonic ranges for 'fun' in 1/72……!

FPW because before you know it you'll find yourself using the Prussians for the APW and the French for 1859. Three wars in one, what could be better value:)

RTW is a bit niche for me.

There is a good Strelets 1/72 range for RTW. It is not complete but has the main arms of the two armies

FPW,
readily abailable information, figures (in various scales)and rules
figures usable for other wars/theates
open battles, skismishes, sieges, irrgular warfare (esp in the later period), irregular forces (also in the later period)
altogether much more colorfull than RTW

I was looking at Russo-Turkish not long ago. Very tempting. Striking uniforms and terrain, although my impression was that it is basically a handful of decisive siege and storming operations and some hellish fights in forsaken rock patches. Pendraken does fair sized ranges in 10mm.

I would have to go RTW. The nations, the uniforms and the terrain are more exotic, and each of them can punch the other pretty hard.

FPW. I think there are more "what-if's" in that war that make it very interesting. There's also a lot of decent books on the fpw.

Defiantly FPW. We use TDFG. Lots of scenarios for such a short war. Great uniforms to paint. The OG 15mm FPW line is one of their best.

Damn the choice, do Crimean war, Lots of French,Russians, British and Turks. And believe it or not, almost all the French were still using smoothbore muskets as well as 90% of the Russians. Even the British forth division had smoothbores the first year of the campaign