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"Transylvanian Haiduks for Thirty Years' War?" Topic


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499 hits since 30 Jul 2024
©1994-2024 Bill Armintrout
Comments or corrections?

thestoats31 Jul 2024 11:16 a.m. PST

So I'm looking to wargame the campaigns under Bethlen Gábor in the 1620s, but I'm having trouble representing the haiduks that made up a significant portion of the Transylvanian army. I am looking into using the By Fire and Sword miniature range for this project, which I've heard scales well with Khurasan's TYW range and has sets that are pretty accurate even though it's meant to represent the Army of Transylvania three decades later. In the BFaS range, the Haiduks are mounted/dragoon-style handgunners.

Now, I don't doubt these are perfect for the Deluge but from what I've read in Ardelean's work on the Army of Transylvania, in the 1620s the Haiduks appear to be closer to traditional Hungarian-style cavalry. He does mention they used firearms alongside lances, but also cites Bethlen's 1620 regulations that set the standard haiduk equipment as a good horse, helmet, breastplate, hussar saddle, and either estoc or broadsword.

I understand that these regulations were ideal and probably not enforced strictly, but I'm curious how the Transylvanian Haiduks generally fought in Bethlen's campaigns. Did they fight like the dragoons/mounted arquebusiers represented in BFaS? If they didn't and were instead more melee focused, were they mostly armoured or unarmoured? Did they use lances or swords?

I guess the two main questions I'm asking are:
1) Were haiduks mostly impact cavalry or dragoon-style shooters?
2) If haiduks were impact cavalry, did they use lances or swords more often? To what degree were they armoured?

Shagnasty Supporting Member of TMP01 Aug 2024 6:19 a.m. PST

The several thousand Transylvanian cavalry at White Mountain in 1621 were referred to and acted as light cavalry. They rode away as the Bohemian forces crumbled under the onslaught of the vengeful Imperial troops.

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