If you are By Fire and Sword players or are interested in history of 17th century no explanation is required, but if this period is new for you should know he was one of the best commanders in Polish history and performed well both as an organizer and a tactician. He achieved mastery in fighting Tartars and Turks. Sobieski was able to use both maneuverability of Polish cavalry as well as combined arms tactics. Since 1674 he was the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania. His greatest victory was (what a coincidence!) battle of Vienna when he – as commander of allied armies – smashed the Turkish army of Vizier Kara Mustafa who was besieging Vienna. The capital of the empire was rescued and the power of the Ottoman Empire broken – after this began a gradual displacement of the Turks from Europe. After the victory Sobieski sent a captured banner of Kara Mustafa’s to Pope Innocent XI and paraphrased the words of the well-known saying of Julius Caesar: Venimus, vidimus et Deus vicit (We came, we saw, and God won). Sobieski had a French wife – famous Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d’Arquien, know in Poland as ‘Marysieńka’. He was also a strong supporter of French policy, he even tought about leaving Poland and moving to France! It make him a perfect character to include him both in French and Polish faction.

The mace he carries (buława in Polish) is a symbol of his military office – hetman. Hetmans were the highest rank military commanders in Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth. In real history Sobieski was promoted to hetman in May 1666, but in our world we decided to make it a little bit earlier. Diplomatic mission in Vienna is the first task of the new field hetman.

Sobieski is a collectible model and may only be fi elded in specifi ed scenarios.