The janissaries are professional soldiers, hardened by arduous training and given the best equipment in the army. As a force, they are the cream of the Ottoman army but, in comparison to some other nations, they fight in a slightly old fashioned way. This is small comfort to those who stand against them, as the janissaries are personally brave to the point of foolhardiness. They are also given to festooning themselves with weapons and hurling themselves into any fray!