Playing Ottoman Turks

Ottoman Turks (Manu) vs Venetian Republic (Manoj)

Manoj played the Venetians vs Manu's Ottoman Turks.

The Turkish Janissaries can be really effective if given proper protection and support. In my first game I made the mistake of keeping them on my flank where there was not much space to manoeuvre. When I tried manoeuvre one of my units to close the gap I effectively opened the unit's flank to enemy fire. Fortunately one of my other Janissary units in the middle had done enough damage to keep the enemy busy. Being a "cavalry man" myself I was using these elite infantry troops as cavalry.

In the revenge match I had my objectives clear. I decided to not wait for the enemy to move. To attack whenever I had the initiative. It had to be a full frontal attack by the Janissaries supported by cavalry. Throw in some cavalry units in the left to hold off any flank attack. It worked.

From my experience playing Ottoman Turks, the main battle line should be made up of Janissaries covered by skirmishers. Attach a General if one can be spared. Protect the flanks using heavy and medium cavalry. Aim to concentrate on a single point. I would also recommend to keep a swirling mass of light cavalry ready to disorient the enemy line. It is futile to wait for the opponent's move. Attack the enemy on the designated point as soon as possible. The Janissaries are most effective in attacking and in Piquet you do not know how long you will have the initiative.

[report] Ottoman Turks (Manu) vs Venetian Republic (Manoj)

Rules: - Piquet Master Rules + Band Of Brothers (Late Medieval and Renaissance) supplement

Manoj played the
Venetians vs Manu's Ottoman Turks.

In the first game, the Turkish Sipahis charged the line of venetian
arquebusiers and routed them off the board, thus
blowing a hole in the Venetian lines.There were no reserves to close
the gap but the Turks didn't have anything to follow up this attack
either. So there was frantic maneouvering on both sides, with Manoj
swinging around some cavalry units from his flanks to cover the gap
and Manu trying to advance his Janissaries into the gap. Manu tried to bring over
another Sipahi unit from his left flank to charge into the gap but got
severely mauled by another unit of Venetian Arqubusiers who poured
flank fire into the Sipahis from cover of a forest. The mauled Sipahi
unit was then meleed by Venetian pike men, ably supported by
determined arquebus armed skirmishers and after a valiant melee the
Sipahi unit was wiped out, and unfortunately the Turkish CinC
was part of this unit. The death of the CinC sealed the fate of the Turks.

In the revenge match, The Turks did much better. Manoj's move to use a
command composed fully of Skirmish cavalry to turn the Turkish left
flank backfired due to lack of impetus and "cavalry in open" cards not
turning up frequently enough. The Turkish main line advanced, with
Janissaries in the middle and the cavalry on the right flank. The
cavalry on the Turkish right engaged furiously with the Venetian
cavalry and got a "locked in combat" through out the line which lasted
for almost 3 turns(!). With the cavalry thus engaged, the Janissaries
advanced and forced back the Venetian arquebusiers with massive fire
power , followed by "fearsome" effects caused by "courage" cards.
However the Venetians fell back disordered (vs fleeing
precipitately like ine the previous battle) so the Turks couldn't quite follow through.

Meanwhile
another Janissary unit blew massive holes in the Venetian Caracole
cavalry (who had managed to run off the Sipahis by then, but were
disordered as a result of the long melee) and they promptly routed ,
allowing the Janissary unit to get on the Venetian flanks. At this
point we declared a marginal victory for the Turks.