The Will of the Sultan, an Araby Siege Cannon

If you follow my blog, you'll know I'm currently working on an Araby Army list for 3rd Edition WFB. I'm working from a mixture of the Warmaster Araby army list, and Mathias Eliasson's excellent fan-made Araby army book for 8th Edition (Which is available *here*, it's well worth a read!) Although I'm deviating from both lists a bit to make the army use more gunpowder weapons. In my canon this is due to extensive trade links with Cathay where the use of such weapons is commonplace. 

As part of the list, one of the options is for a huge siege engine called a Basilica Cannon, so I thought I'd build one:

More photos and descriptions after the break....

My idea for the cannon was to make the absolute biggest, hugest piece of castle destroying artillery possible, in the Ottoman Turk tradition. It has a crew of five; two loaders, two labourers to move the huge loading carriage and one spotter/firer. The cannon itself is breech loading, with a flintlock mechanism operated by a rope that the spotter pulls to fire the cannon. 

Construction-wise, the barrel is just a piece of aluminium tube with brass banding, with the arabic-style detailing done in green stuff with an Arabian texture roller from GreenStuffWorld, it's a great tool, I've got several now. 

The figures are just plastics from Gripping Beast. Although I wasn't planning on using them in the army, they're perfect for conversions like this, and they're actually not that bad, size-wise compared with older models. The hands are still less caricatured and in scale than old Citadel stuff, but as they're wearing headdress it makes them less 'pinhead' looking compared to older, more exaggerated sculpts. 

The cannon itself is given the name 'The Will of the Sultan', and has seen action repeatedly over many years. It has it's own dedicated dhow and construction crew, along with many oxen to transport it to wherever it is needed. 

The crew, seen here in their blue and white robes with black keffiyeh of the Futuwwa Al-Kale-lob, (lit. 'Guild of Castle Smashers') operate the cannon in the following manner: 

• Firstly, they move the loading platform away from the breech.
• Next, they roll one of the huge cannonballs in front of the breech, (either solid iron or a hollow metal ball that can be filled with naptha or a mix of nails and explosives)
• the loading platform is moved closer and the ball is lifted using the winch.
• the platform is moved all the way up to the breech and loaded into the cannon
• Next, the wadding and carefully measured gunpowder charge is loaded before the breech is closed and clamped shut. 
• The platform is moved away from the gun, and the order is given to the spotter that it is safe to fire. 
• The spotter fires the gun, using a telescope to observe trajectory and damage, in order to adjust the next gunpowder charge in necessary. 

Operating the loading winch:

The spotter's screen, with telescope poking through:

Two crew push the loading platform forwards while the loader steadies the cannonball:

The spotter, ready to fire by pulling the rope when told the cannon is ready:

The cannon's trajectory can be altered by adjusting the massive chains holding it up using the loading winch:

I used an old Marauder Dark Elf shield to use as the back of the breech, i think it works quite well:

Full side view:

Top view, showing the gunpowder stores hidden away behind the ruined wall they've set up behind:

So, there you go, another rather niche unit finished for the forces of Araby. All I need to do now is create some rules for it!