Later Serbian Empire

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Historical Overview Section

At the beginning of the 1300's Serbia was at the center of a shifting web of alliances and was always more or less dependent on some of the neighbouring states — the Late Byzantines, Later Bulgarians and Later Hungarians. After 1325 and the accession of King Milutin, Serbia grew stronger despite having to occasionally fight wars on three different fronts. King Milutin was an apt diplomat much inclined to the use of a customary medieval diplomatic expedients — dynastic marriages. He was married five times, with Hungarian, Bulgarian and Byzantine princesses. Medieval Serbia reached its apex in the mid-14th century, during the rule of Tzar Stefan Dušan. Dušan doubled the size of his kingdom seizing territories to the south, southeast and east at the expense of Byzantium and conquered almost the entirety of today's Greece without Peloponnesia and the islands. After he conquered the city of Ser, he was crowned as the Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks by the first Serbian Patriarch in 1346. Before his sudden death, Stefan Dušan tried to organize a Crusade with the Pope against the threatening Turks. He died in December 1355 at the age 47

Tzar Stefan Dušan was succeeded by his son Uroš, called the Weak, a term that might also apply to the state of the kingdom, as it slowly slid into feudal anarchy. This is a period marked by the rise of a new threat: the Later Ottoman Turkish sultanate, which gradually spread from Asia to Europe and conquered Byzantium first, and then the other Balkan states. When Tzar Uroš died shortly after the Battle of Marica the Nemanjić dynasty was over. Lazar Hrebeljanović then emerged to unite most of Serbia with war and diplomacy, but before he was able to complete the task a greater threat, the Ottoman Empire began its first raids on Lazar's territory 1381, with the real invasion came in 1389.

Lazar gathered every soldier he could, leading an army consisting of Serbians, Bulgarians, Bosnians, Albanians, Vlachs and Czechs. On the 28th of July 1389 the two armies met at Kosovo, in what became known as the Battle of Kosovo. The attack began with the Serbs penetrating the first 2 lines of the Turkish army, and completely destroyed the right flank, under the command of the sultan's son, Yakub. At one point in the battle, a Serbian knight Miloš Obilić managed to assassinate the Ottoman sultan, Murad I. His son, Bayezid I, took command of the army and managed to defeat the Serbs and to capture Prince Lazar and execute him. The losses are unknown, but it is said that the Serbian-led army fought to the last man. After the Battle of Kosovo there was no army among the Balkan states capable of halting the advancing Ottoman Empire and the first victim was the Later Bulgarian Tarnovo state, which fell four years later. Serbia however managed to recuperate under despot Stefan Lazarević, surviving for 70 more years, experiencing a cultural and political renaissance, but after Stefan Lazarević's death, his successors from the House of Branković did not manage to stop the Ottoman advance. Serbia fell under the Ottomans in 1459

Using the army in FoG

include your tactical tips or advice in here

UK Tournament Results with this army

3 / 8 Later Serbian Godendag 2008 Doubles (EE)
4 / 8 Later Serbian Godendag 2008 Doubles (EE)

Useful Links

User-contributed links about this army:

• Battle of Kosovo academic overview
• Serbian Empire DBA Figure Gallery for this army - from Fanaticus
• Later Serbians DBA Figure Gallery for this army - from Fanaticus
• Serbian Flags at Matt Haywoods site
• put the link text readers will see in here write some more detail about the link here

Allies

• Ottoman Turk, Later . Date restrictions: From 1380 Book: Eternal Empire Page: 8 - Bw/Sw Cavalry & LH in any combination of armour and quality you might wish for, plus some Balkan Lh Lancers and a nice6-strong Janissary Bw unit
• Byzantine, Late . Date restrictions: Before 1380 Book: Eternal Empire Page: 19 - A mix of compulsary Lancer and Bw/Sw Cv/LH units makes this an ally worth being aggressive with. The cheap LF units add bulk too.
• Hungarian, Middle . Date restrictions: From 1380 Book: Eternal Empire Page: 46 - Knights, and LH of almost any flavour you wish. Don’t bother with the average knights though
• Albanian . Date restrictions: From 1380 Book: Eternal Empire Page: 54 - Whats the point of J/LS LH or Cv in this period ? Move along….

15mm Manufacturers supplying figures for this army

This list includes some Generic medieval manufacturers.
You can see some of the figures in the Ancients Photo Gallery also on this site.

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• Essex Miniatures - Many generic and specific medieval ranges
• Fighting 15 Sell the Polish-made Oddmial Oddzy range in the UK for Lithuanians
• Donnington C15 Europe Range,
• Gladiator Miniatures by Fighting 15's (Previously Black Hat) - East European range
• Old Glory 15's, large number of medieval figures
• Minifigs Medievals are in 2 large and separate 100YW Crecy & Agincourt ranges, plus large WOTR selection
• Vexilia Carry several east European ranges
• Isarus - sold by 15mm.co.uk E European Medieval range
• Viking Forge
• Irregular Miniatures 60 medievals in a range spanning East/West Europe from Late Feudal to C15
• Lancashire Games Around 30 generic & English medievals
• Tin Soldier 40 C14 & C15 medievals, including Swiss and equipment
• Battle Line Miniatures (NZ) 60 generic Medievals
• Gallia 21 Late Medievals (a little small)

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

Dave Fairhurst's Later Serbs - 6th at Britcon 2009

• IC and 2 TC's
• 4 x 6 LF bow undrilled poor
• 3 x 4 LH bow sword average
• 1 x 4 LH lance sword average
• 1 x 4 LH light spear sword bow average
• 4 x 4 KN heavy armoured,lance sword superior

& 1 x 6 mob

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

eBay Listings

UK Bookstore