BULGARIAN LEGION OF THE RTW

 
Outpost Figs of the Bulgarian Legion of the Russo Turkish War (1877-78).

Greetings, fellow shut-ins.  In this post, we continue along our Balkan paths.  Turning aside from the earlier-completed Romanians, we diverge into the Bulgarians.  Specifically, a unit of the Bulgarian Legion of the Russo Turkish War.  

These were volunteer units, six battalions in all, that were equipped by and served in the Russian Army in the Russo Turkish War.  The major difference in their kit was their distinctive headgear.

For the Bulgarians, as with other balkan states, the Russo Turkish War is their War of Independence. The Bulgarian uprising against the Ottomans, and the subsequent Ottoman brutality against the Bulgarian populace, was a major catalyst that brought on the Russo Turkish War.  No wonder, then, that a substantial and highly motivated Bulgarian volunteer force made its way into the ranks of the Russian Army. 

The Bulgarian Legion was part of the Russian force that conducted the desperate defense of the Shipka Pass, one of the turning points of the conflict. The defenders, with their ammunition dwindling, at one point resorted to rolling rocks and logs down onto the attacking Ottomans. It is a dramatic story well worth reading about (at the above link) if you are unaware of this conflict or this particular episode.  Well, that's the background: here is my study of how I rendered this unit (as usual, you may clix pix for BIG PIX):

Followers of this blog may pick out the previously reported upon Billy Badass the Bulgarian among the figures. I chose to represent them in the winter green trousers as opposed to summer white. I also very much appreciate that these figures are actually portrayed in combat order as opposed to weighed down with equipment (see rant in previous post about encumbered figures). 

Deployed as a brigade using single stands as battalions. 

The Bulgarian Legion was organized into three brigades of two-battalions each. I have two versions of my current VnB variant for the post-Napoleonic era, one that uses two stand battalions and one that uses one stand per battalion.  Had I to do it again, I probably would have done four stands in order to give me the ability to field brigades (either one, at two stands per battalion, or two at one stand per). When I do finish my Chocolate Box Wars system, this unit will fit right in as a volunteer or auxiliary option for the Russian force.

Three veterans of the Bulgarian Legion photographed sometime in the early 20th Century--a formidable looking trio even in their advanced years.

[Finally, this is an appeal to fellow bloggists who may be more tech savvy than I: for some reason, when my blog is updated and comes up among lists on other blogs, there is no accompanying thumbnail image (for those blog lists that have this enabled). This seems a recent issue, having come up on a previous post in the last week. I haven't changed anything about my blog settings or the way I'm posting images. Can anyone enlighten me as to why blogger is not picking up a thumbnail to preview on blog lists, or how I might fix this?  Feel free to email me directly at edmuel@gmail.com with suggestions if you would rather do that than commenting: thanks!]

 Excelsior!