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Seljuk Turk

Seljuk Turk

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Historical Overview Section

The Seljuq empire was founded by Tugrul Beg in 1037 after the efforts by the founder of the Seljuq dynasty, Seljuq Beg, back in the first quarter of the eleventh century. The Seljuk dominion initially expanded over the ancient Sassanid Persian domains, in Iran and Iraq, and included Anatolia as well as parts of Central Asia and modern Afghanistan but under one of the early leaders Malik Shah the Seljuk state reached its zenith.

The pivotal clash in this expansion was at the Battle of Manzikert, or Malazgirt, where the Nikephorian Byzantine Empire and Seljuq forces led by Alp Arslan clashed on August 26, 1071. It resulted in one of the most decisive defeats of the Byzantine Empire and the capture of the Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. In the battle the main Byzantine attack reached Arslan's camp, but both right and left wings of the Byzantine army failed to deal with the Seljuks classic hit and run steppe warrior tactics, and as the Byzantines withdrew back to camp as night fell treachery from the Byzantine rearguard contingent meant the army pulled back piecemeal and was overwhelmed by the Seljuks and utterly destroyed as by dawn the professional core of the Byzantine army had been destroyed.

After Manzikert Malik Shahs empire stretched from China in the East to Byzantium in the West, and that the reign of MalikshÄh was reckoned the golden age of "Great Seljuk". The Abbasid Arab Caliph titled him "The Sultan of the East and West" in 1087. When MalikshÄh I died in 1092, the empire split as his brother and four sons quarrelled over the apportioning of the empire among themselves. In Anatolia, MalikshÄh I was succeeded by Kilij Arslan I who founded the Sultanate of Rum and in Syria by his brother Tutush I. In Persia he was succeeded by his son Mahmud I whose reign was contested by his other three brothers Barkiyaruq in Iraq, Muhammad I in Baghdad and Ahmad Sanjar in Khorasan.

Th rapid expansion under Malikshah also left a legacy of a need for consolidation meaning the Seljuks were on the whole limited in their ability to cooperating with other Arab rulers against the First Crusade. The Seljuks easily defeated the untrained Early Crusader People's Crusade arriving in 1096, but could not stop the progress of the army of the subsequent Princes' Crusade, which took important cities such as Nicaea, Iconium, Kayseri, and Antioch on its march to Jerusalem, and in 1099 finally successfully captured the Holy Land, setting up the first Later Crusader States. The Seljuks had already lost Palestine to the Fatimid Egyptians, who had recaptured it just before its capture by the crusaders.

Subsequent rulers had to contend with the revolts of Qarakhanids in Transoxiana, Ghorids in Afghanistan and Qarluks in modern Kyrghyzstan, and nomadic Kara-Khitais invading from the East into Qarakhanid territory. At the Battle of Qatwan in 1141 the Seljuks lost all their eastern provinces up to the Syr Darya. During this time conflict with the Crusader States was also intermittent, and after the First Crusade increasingly independent local leaders would frequently ally with the crusader states against other Seljuks as they vied with each other for territory, but one such atabag Zengi eventually began the process of consolidating the atabegs of the Syrian States, triggering the launch of the Second Crusade. After the failure of the Second Crusade, Nur ad-Din's general Shirkuh, who had established himself in Egypt on Fatimid land, was succeeded by Saladin. In time, Saladin rebelled against Nur ad-Din, and, upon his death, Saladin married his widow and captured most of Syria and created the Ayyubid Egyptian dynasty, cementing the fracture of the never-entirely-coherent Seljuk Empire.

On other fronts, the Kingdom of the Georgians began to become a regional power and extended its borders at the expense of Great Seljuk. The same was true during the revival of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia under Leo II of Armenia in Anatolia. The Abbassid caliph An-Nasir also began to reassert the authority of the caliph and allied himself with the Khwarezmshah Ala ad-Din Tekish.

For a brief period, Togrul III was the Sultan of all Seljuk except for Anatolia. In 1194, however, Togrul was defeated by Ala ad-Din Tekish, the Shah of Khwarezmid Empire, and the Seljuk finally collapsed. Of the former Seljuk Empire, only the Sultanate of Rûm in Anatolia remained. As the dynasty declined in the middle of the thirteenth century, the Mongols invaded Anatolia in the 1260s and divided it into small emirates called the Anatolian beyliks. Eventually one of these, the Ottoman, would rise to power and conquer the rest.

Using the army in FoG

  • Don't take infantry they would just slow you down
  • Don't go for the Knight option at first - try out the LH/Cav first.
  • Split your points 60/40 LH and Armoured Drilled Cavalry all in BG of 4 bases
  • Take an IC to give you +4 initiative and if you win pick Steppes with a Gully, Gentle Hill with brush on it another brush and a broken. Take as your compulsary piece a double sized open space, but with the remainder of the terrain take the smallest size you can.
  • If your enemy is another Steppes army don't flank march, otherwise consider sending at least one BG of Superior troops off with FC on a flank march.
  • If facing shock mounted troops, send light horse in to pull them out of line and keep the cavalry back till you can get on the flanks of the enemy.

UK Tournament Results with this army

1 / 13 Seljuk Turk IWF 2008 15mm (open) 5 / 13 Seljuk Turk IWF 2008 15mm (open) 6 / 12 Seljuk Turk Chester Doubles 2008 (S&S) 9 / 12 Seljuk Turk Chester Doubles 2008 (S&S) 14 / 16 SELJUK TURK Scottish Open 2008 (open) 16 / 62 Seljuk Turk Britcon 2008 15mm (open) 24 / 62 Seljuk Turk Britcon 2008 15mm (open) 40 / 62 Seljuk Turk Britcon 2008 15mm (open) 1 / 20 Seljuq Turk Warfare 2008 15mm (S&S, SoA, EE)

User-contributed links about this army:

Seljuk Turks of the 12th-13th century or mirror

Allies

  • Arab Cities : Dates: Any Swords and Scimitars page 33 : A spikey load of lancer cavalry and LH, quite useful to add to most shooty cavalry outfits
  • Khwarazmian : Dates: 1237 Swords and Scimitars page 35 : Bw/Sw Superior Armoured Cavalry, and Bw/Sw LH or Protected Cavalry to support - fairly standard Arab ally
  • Khwarazmian : Dates: From 1153 Swords and Scimitars page 35 : Bw/Sw Superior Armoured Cavalry, and Bw/Sw LH or Protected Cavalry to support - fairly standard Arab ally
  • Mongol, Ilkhanid : Dates: 1256 to 1276 Swords and Scimitars page 52 : 6 Textbook Armoured Bw/Sw cavalry if you want, but loads of potentially superior LH or Cv Bw/Sw are the tasty bits

15mm Manufacturers supplying figures for this army

You can see some of the figures in the Ancients Photo Gallery also on this site. This listing only covers "arabic" figures - Turk/Hunninc/Mongol figures are omitted as nearly everyone does some of them.

Image Image Image Image

Core Troops

Which troops are absolutely needed for this army, and what are your thoughts on how to organise, paint and buy them.

Army Lists

Sample army lists for this army 800 AP as used by me at Hubcon 2010

  • 1 Light Foot Bows LF unprotected poor undrilled bow - - 6
  • 2 Turcomen Light Horse LH unprotected Average undrilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 3 Turcomen Light Horse LH unprotected Average undrilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 4 Turcomen Light Horse LH unprotected Average undrilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 5 Turcomen Light Horse LH unprotected Average undrilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 6 Arab City Bows LF unprotected poor undrilled bow - - 4
  • 7 Bedouin LH unprotected Average undrilled - Lancer Swordsmen - 4
  • 8 Nobles Cv Armoured Superior undrilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 9 Ghilman Cv Armoured Superior Drilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 10 Ghilman Cv Armoured Superior Drilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 11 Armenian Lancers Cv Armoured Superior undrilled - Lancer Swordsmen - 4
  • 12 Dailami MF Armoured Superior Drilled - Impact Foot Swordsmen - 4
  • 12 supporting foot LF unprotected Superior Drilled bow - - 2
  • 13 Arab City lancers Cv Armoured Superior undrilled - Lancer Swordsmen - 4
  • 14 Arab City Bedouin lancers LH unprotected Average undrilled - Lancer Swordsmen - 4

Similar 800 AP list also using Arab Cities allies for a cheaper general and more lancers Name of Army / Date

  • 1 Light Foot Bows LF unprotected poor undrilled bow - - 6
  • 2 Light Foot Bows LF unprotected poor undrilled bow - - 6
  • 3 Seljuk LF LF unprotected poor undrilled javelins Light Spear - 6
  • 4 Turcomen Light Horse LH unprotected Average undrilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 5 Turcomen Light Horse LH unprotected Average undrilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 6 Turcomen Light Horse LH unprotected Average undrilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 7 Arab City Bows LF unprotected poor undrilled bow - - 4
  • 8 Ghilman Cv Armoured Superior Drilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 9 Ghilman Cv Armoured Superior Drilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 10 Nobles Cv Armoured Superior undrilled bow swordsmen - 4
  • 10 Armenian Lancers Cv Armoured Superior undrilled - Lancer Swordsmen - 4
  • 11 Dailami MF Armoured Superior Drilled - Impact Foot Swordsmen - 4
  • 11 supporting foot LH unprotected Superior Drilled bow - - 2
  • 12 Bedouin LH unprotected Average undrilled - Lancer Swordsmen - 4
  • 13 Arab City lancers Cv Armoured Superior undrilled - Lancer Swordsmen - 4
  • 14 Arab City lancers LH unprotected Average undrilled - Lancer Swordsmen - 4

Include any notes you want here, including comments on how to use - or play against - the army.

Remember to leave a line before you copy the above section as a template for your own list

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Created by admin. Last Modification: Tuesday 12 of November, 2019 19:00:29 GMT by admin. (Version 24)
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