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The Siege of Vienna 1683 in six phases [90x75] (free version)
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In 1683 the Ottomans laid siege to Vienna, which I looked into for my studies, which in turn inspired me to create this map. I tried to make it as understandable as possible, which is why it doesn't perfectly capture the complex defensive structures of a 17th century fortress. But it should capture the basics.
The siege of Vienna in six phases and some historic inspirations that could be used for an adventure. Give your heroes supreme command of the defense of the city:
1. In July 1683 a huge Ottoman army marches on Vienna. Between 150,000 and 110,000 warriors, plus tens of thousands of non-combatants, besieged about 20,000 defenders (many of whom had very little combat experience). Vienna's only advantage was its relatively modern defenses and superior numbers of cannons. The weakest point of the swearing-in between two bastions entirely became the main point of the Ottoman attack, which should be reflected in this map.
Use the first untouched phase to let your heroes make preparations (for example, the suburb outside the walls had to be burned down so that the Ottomans had no cover). Describe how the heroes around Vienna saw the entire surrounding area go up in flames. 20,000 Tartars went ahead of the army and devastated the land, killing or enslaving everyone they could get their hands on. Many refugees come to the city.
2. The Ottomans begin digging a huge and complex trench system immediately after their arrival. While the city is being bombarded, the army digs its way closer with tens of thousands of shovels and pickaxes. They also begin digging the first mines that are supposed to lead under the defenses. Defenders described that they dug like "moles and badgers". Only minor skirmishes happen and there are also (unsuccessful) negotiations that could be lead by our heroes.
3. The digging continues and the Ottomans attack the defenses with canons, muskets and bows and test the defenses with smaller advances. In the cellars of Vienna, the knocking of pickaxes can be heard in the cellars. The mines are being driven forward. From now on, the defenders also start breakouts. They kill as many workers and soldiers as possible to stop the besiegers from advancing. They also run out with shovels and try to fill in parts of the trenches. Your heroes must fight and also decide when to retreat when the organized resistance of the Janissaries advances from the rear trenches.
4. In this phase, the procedure of the last phase is repeated. Losses increase and our heroes have to deal with many different things.
- The defenders must be mobilized (later deserters were hanged in the market)
- Morale must be maintained. The defenders were paid throughout the entire siege and had to be supplied with food)
- The rest of the city must also be supplied. Later there was hardly any food left, only bread and wine.
- Dysentery spread in the city and the dead had to be buried in mass graves or burned.
- The injured had to be cared for
- Attacks were repelled
- Countermines were started to be dug
- At the same time, a relief army is gathering in the north of the city, but it takes a long time (especially until the Poles arrive). Fearless people from Vienna try to cross the enemy camp to give messages to the army. Some made it, some were captured and tortured.
5. Now the first smaller defensive structure is stormed and the attack on the main wall and the bastions follows. Below, the first mines have reached the defenses. Rooms there get filled with gunpowder and simply get blown up. The walls above partially collapsed. Our heroes now have to go underground. Counter mines from the defenders hit the mines from the attackers and claustrophobic carnage ensues underground. Or they dig directly in front of the Ottoman tunnel and place a gunpowder charge and blow it up. The enemy tunnel collapses and buries everyone in it.
On the surface Warriors storm ahead and throw sandbags and rubble into the trench to fill it up. The defenders try to shovel it out again during the night.
6. The trenches are filled and the way to the wall is clear. Over 40 of the mines were blown up during the siege, and then the attacks through the rubble tried to break through the defenses. Now you have to imagine how a section of the wall blows up in two places next to you and then several thousand Janissaries attack. At least 24 of these assaults took place.
60 days after the siege, any attack could lead to a breakthrough. Days or hours separate the Ottomans from conquering Vienna. It is assumed that in this case all the inhabitants would have been killed. The Ottomans no longer had supplies to feed prisoners and tens of thousands allready got executed in the camp.
On September 12, 1683, the Imperial and Polish armies reached the city and in a big battle, the Ottomans were defeated. In the end, the defenders stormed out and the Ottomans fled, never returning to Vienna with an army.
I hope that with this map and my descriptions you can get closer to a typical siege in the 17th century and I wish everyone who uses the maps in any way a lot of fun! :)
-Your AtaraxianBear
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The assets used here are exclusively from Crosshead. Here you can get his assets: https://www.patreon.com/Crosshead
![The Siege of Vienna 1683 in six phases [90x75] (free version)](https://img5.unionfaps.com/storage/2/ab/vp/ba8889-019e8c51-a5a6-774f-a428-afbc1bf2d3a2.gif)
![The Siege of Vienna 1683 in six phases [90x75] (free version)](https://img5.unionfaps.com/storage/2/fg/je/ba8889-019e8c51-a5bf-7840-850c-20b2c18b919c.jpg)
![The Siege of Vienna 1683 in six phases [90x75] (free version)](https://img5.unionfaps.com/storage/11/zl/sm/ba8889-019e8c51-a5cc-7746-a3de-90032cb3daa3.jpg)
![The Siege of Vienna 1683 in six phases [90x75] (free version)](https://img5.unionfaps.com/storage/12/rj/tr/ba8889-019e8c51-a5ce-709b-8a54-d51c0d0a2b33.jpg)
![The Siege of Vienna 1683 in six phases [90x75] (free version)](https://img10.unionfaps.com/storage/7/gv/eg/ba8889-019e8c51-a5ce-727c-8d48-ee0f0ccf7c84.jpg)
![The Siege of Vienna 1683 in six phases [90x75] (free version)](https://img5.unionfaps.com/storage/9/kz/nw/ba8889-019e8c51-a5d3-74a2-a587-6645a2e57214.jpg)
![The Siege of Vienna 1683 in six phases [90x75] (free version)](https://img5.unionfaps.com/storage/10/zq/bz/ba8889-019e8c51-a5db-7b69-9a45-ccaef68d32fa.jpg)
Comments
AtaraxianBear
Well, that was a huge chunk of a map! It is not a perfect representation of the siege (I didn't manage to show complete breaches up to the streets of the city. Portable palisades (cheval de frise) were used there to immediately reinforce them after a mine was blown up. I'm also not completely sure whether the ditch arround Vienna was actually filled with water or just served as an obstacle because of its depth. At least I know it was full of rubble before the siege and had to be cleaned in a hurry. It is also documented that the attackers filled it with rubble and sand. If you have any questions about the siege, feel free to leave a comment :)
