"Russo-Turkish War 1768-74 Gaming" Topic

Does anybody game this war other than me? I have SYW Russians I use which I imagine looked no different than the Russians who fought the Turks a decade later. As for the Ottomans I have Greek War of Independence Turks but since I am anal about historical accuracy don't use them since there was probably a big difference in Ottoman uniforms of the 1770s vs. 1820s. I want to game the Battle of Kagul especially as I search for period Ottomans online and found a site that sells RTW Russian soldiers. This is a very obscure war with only one book ever written on it (at least in English) but still I'm interested if any other wargamers play it or have ever considered doing so.

I do the Russo-Turish War of 1806-1812. The Ottomans I use are the SYW as the uniforms are more or less the same thing (ignoring the new model army units, which are more of a novelty than actual field force). My fielding of them is strictly in 15mm because I enjoy a more massed look than one could get from the 28mm scale. You didn't specify which scale you're using, but depending on the scale, you're going to be very limited in figure choices.

Besides the language barriers, you're primarily dealing with massive illiteracy of the men on both sides that prevents the numerous memoirs and reports that appear for wars in Western Europe.

Though you might find uniform information, finding reliable orders of battles and maps is going to be a frustrating project that will likely bore you in time. Unless you can find fair information about multiple battles during that particular Russo-Ottoman war (as there are several such wars), then you're not likely going to be able to maintain interest in gaming it.

The Russian and Ottoman uniforms are going to be basically the same for the SYW and this 1768-1774 conflict. If you are unwilling to settle with having to use your best guesses where there are gaps in available information, then this is the wrong conflict for you to delve into. You need more than patience, you also have to be willing to accept that you're going to have to draw on information that doesn't have much in the way of citations or multiple sources.

I think it will interest you, gentlemen)))

The information you are interested in is quite a lot, but, alas, mainly in Russian.

The Battle of Cahul:

Russians are red, Turks are blue.

And this – either you or your colleagues on interest)))

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I game this period in 54mm. I find it quite fascinating. Hope to visit Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine some day to see the ground for myself.

Some more info and photographs here:

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Here are three links which might provide material of interest. They translate automatically into English if you have the right settings on

wars175x.narod.ru/175_1770.html

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Regards

We play the 1806-12 period regularly, using Shako II. There are adaptations for the SYW.

Playing Russians v. Turks essentially pits a late 17th century army against a late 18th century army. The Turks artillery does not move, and they have hordes of lousy cavalry. Of course, the Russians in this theater rely mostly on Cossacks for their cavalry, so theirs is not so great either. The games come down to knowing how to use your brittle Turks against the Russians.

The book Caucasian Battlefields, authors Allen and Muratoff (I believe) cover this war and most of the other Russo-Turkish wars in that part of the globe.
Also I believe DinofBattle who posts here on TMP plays that war. Surprised he didn't see this thread.

A lot of good information has already been given here. I wargame the 1788-1792 RTW (Potemkin helmets for the Russians, which I love).

Blog:

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The armies fought over the same ground in 1768-1774, 1788-1792, and 1806-1812. So if you can find histories of any of those periods then you should be able to see the terrain they fought over.

Now that I picked up a Russian SYW army I can now refight this war with the same Turkish army I was using for the later war.

Wargamorium gave the best link for Russian wars of the 18th century. Although translation can be tricky, it will still give you great maps and insights.

I'm assuming you have Davies' book on the war. I have it but haven't read it yet.

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Mike's recommendation of Caucasian Battlefields is good too.

Best of luck!
Eric