Ogniem i Mieczem - By Fire and Sword

Hello to all from West Texas and Lincoln County NM. Ran across these rules and I'm jumping in with both feet. I have always been fascinated with the Cossack heritage and am putting together a Cossack host. Curious as to which would be the best force to build to fight them as I tend to do more solo gaming, but would probably introduce this to my local gaming store. I am leaning toward Tatar or Transylvanian, but am undecided.
It might also help to wait on the rule book before I assemble my forces, but where is the fun in that.

Hi and welcome.

Please share your Cossacks when build and painted.
It might help to wait for the book, so you can see the lists, however, it can't hurt to start with starters anyway.

As a force to fight them...
Tatars is indeed an idea, as in 1654–1656 they were allied with the Commonwealth fighting the Cossacks.
Transylvanians were allied with the Cossacks and Sweden, fighting in Poland (as far as I know they didn't reach the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but could be wrong).
The best force, historically speaking would be the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for the period of 1648–1657.

It can't hurt to buy some Tatars anyway. I guess in some point you will get to the division level and then you can have 1 Tatar regiment as allies in your Cossack army (Tugay Bey!).
I also thought Cossacks fought the Moscovites.
I was looking for some "proof", but can't really find good periods, but I know there are some historians here who can help us out.
I think, 1659-1667 there was a Cossack host fighting with the Polish crown against Moscow (Mykhailo Khanenko, later hetman of Right-bank Ukraine). He also led raids against the Ottomans apparently, so skirmishes against them might be cool too.
In the same period Petro Doroshenko was supporting Moscow and fought Mykhailo Khanenko; so a Cossack civil is cool too (and good way to build up to a division).

Hope it helps!

Welcome to a great game.

Historical the Cossacks fought: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Russia, Crimean Khanate (Tartars), Ottoman Empire and Cossacks.
Game wise I don't think Cossack-Tartar battles is a good match-up. Better historical opponents for a good game are Polish-Lithuanians, Ottomans and Russians.
I guess also Transylvanians can be a nice opponent, game-wise, but historicaly they didn't fight that much.

In the end, just try to find a second army that you like, and go from there.

Cheers,
Zagin

Thank you for the feedback. I will have to delve deeper into the background and history, but you've both given me a decent start. I thought I'd read somewhere that they'd fought Transylvanians, but I cannot find it now.

Cossacks were involved in political struggle in Moldavia and Wallachia in 1653, where they had a opportunity to fight (a wee bit) against Transylvanians.

Hey El Paso! I'm in Tucson and know two players in Phoenix. Haven't played the game yet but I'm almost finished with a Cossack Division (we never do anything small). I also have Tartar and, of course, Commonwealth figures. I'll let you know when we get enough painted to have a game.