19th Century Sudan Wargames Armies 1883-1885

Beja Camel riders completed

2010-11-13T22:25:00.004Z

I haven't been able to paint at all lately as I have been in Abu Dhabi but I managed to finish my last four camel mounted Beja for the battles of 2nd El Teb and Tamai today. At my chosen ratio of 1:33 I need 18 mounted fugures to represent the forces involved and here they are. I won't need any more of these just the odd figure to use as a standard bearer for my infantry units. In fact the Beja cavalry was spread around the army in smaller units but if I reflect that organisation then we would only have units of two figures so, for wargaming purposes, I am going to use them as a "big wing" (or maybe two).

Here is a picture of a Beja saddle for a camel. The saddle posts are distinctive and, as ever, are accurately modelled on the Perry Miniatures figures.

Another Sudan Wargame...

2010-09-22T14:26:00.012+01:00

The British patrol on the left had to reach the outpost in the centre

Well, almost exactly one year after my last wargame I was back at Guildford having another Sudan game organised by Keith and joined, this time, by Matt and Alastair, authentically commanding the Black Watch.

This time we used a set of rules I hadn't come across before called Flying Lead. These are a semi-skirmish set which allow for either unit or individual movement. All actions are dice activated and contain a high element of chance as whilst each individual or group can throw up to three activation dice if you fail to meet the activation level of your troop types on the majority of your dice (eg: only get one out of three) then your turn finishes (even if you have only moved one person) and the other side gets their go.

Initially, I have to say I found the rules totally baffling (I have always found the gaming part of wargaming tricky!) but by the end of the second game I was starting to work out some of the strategies involved and would happily give them another go. I think part of the problem was that I didn't have a copy of the rules so it was somewhat akin to trying to work out how to play a trumpet just by observing someone blowing and making seemingly random moves on the valves.

But I will to pick up a copy of Flying Lead as they seem ideal for small actions: we had about 35 Beja against about 13 British and a Gatling Gun (which was horribly powerful-when it worked!).

The leafy Sudan

Keith set up a rather leafy part of the Sudan (we decided it must be very close to the Nile) and the objective of the first game was for a British patrol at the edge of the board to reach their stronhold in the centre. Keith and I, as the Mahdists, had to stop them. We had one unit of 10 Beja with rifles, one unit of 10 with spears and five camel mounted cavalry (the first time I had used them in a game) plus a late resevre of another unit of 10.

Skulking in the wadi

Keith had trouble getting his Beja with rifles to move at all and once I had been on the receiving end of some rifle fire I decided to hide my troops in a wadi or a palm grove, much to the derision of my opponents. However anytime any of my chaps put their heads out of cover they promptly got shot: too much open ground to cover with too short a movement phase. The first game ended with the Black Watch arriving at their stronghold with very little opposition.

The Beja strike back!

In the second game, Keith increased the amount of cover available close to the outpost and this time I did manage to close to action and actually inflict a few casualties but it was another clear win for the infidels.

The nasty Gatling gun

On reflection, I think that the rules are maybe a bit too generic for the Sudan and we probably didn't have enough men on the Mahdist's side to make a closer game of it. Outnumbering by two to one against troops armed with rifles and a Gatling gun is not enough! They would work much better against similarly armed and equal troops and look forward to trying them out for WW1 for example.

Nevertheless, it has enthused me to try to finish my unit of Beja camel troops. I painted another two for the game, including a standard bearer, and applied some of the Citadel dead grass to the bases. I think I only have to paint four more and I have the eighteen I need to represent the Beja mounted force at El Teb and Tamai.

Perry plastic three ups

On a wider Sudan front I am very much looking forward to the Perry plastic Mahdists and hope they will contain some early Ansar. I have seen a picture of some of the three ups and they at least contain plastic Beja and the later post Fuzzy hair beja (presumably a head option).

Splendid cover too

Talking of the Perries, I bought a copy of their new book on the Sudan Wars Go Strong into the Desert by Mike Snook when I was at Colours the other week. It really is definitive and has fabulous illustrations, including fascinating present day photographs of the battlefields. Everyone who wargames the Sudan should get a copy!

Dead grass

2009-10-15T13:52:00.002+01:00

I just picked up a tub of Games Workshop's new Dead Grass. I have been looking for something like this for ages for my Sudan bases. They are all completely foliage free at present but even in the Sudan there were some clumps of grass. I will put some on to see how it looks over the weekend.

A Sudan Wargame!

2009-09-15T18:35:00.013+01:00

The British Outpost - lovely model!

It's over three years since I started this blog and my interest has, as ever, waxed and waned somewhat. However, I still regard this as my main period so was delighted to actually get a game in for the first time at Guildford on Monday. This was down to Keith at the club who suggested a game as he has some Sudan War figures (some very nicely painted Camel Corps made an appearance) too.

We decided to use The Sword and the Flame which I had played once before about four years ago and Keith had never played. There was, as a result, a lot of rulebook consulting which, hopefully, next time won't happen quite so much.

Guy's Rub of 60 figures comes around and over the hill

We played the attack on a British strongpoint scenario. Keith had a unit each of Kings Royal Rifle Corps, Camel Corps and Royal Marines Light Infantry plus a Naval Brigade Gatling Gun (inevitably). I had six units of Beja. We didn't fuss too much about points values of each side and this seemed about right. My little boy, Guy, joined me on the Mahdist side which was just as well given we had over 120 individually based figures to move per turn. It makes me realise that my plan to refight El Teb and Tamai with 300 on the Beja side will be an all day job!

The RMLI had already driven off one unit and are dealing with the second

Keith had a nice desert building but it wasn't quite big enough to hold his force so we spread the British units out a bit with the RMLI outside the compound. This had one negative effect (for the Beja, anyway) in that because the fortified area wasn't at the centre of the table any Beja attacking the RMLI who were driven back (3xD6 of running required) exited the table and were lost. We must make sure that next time the defended area is exactly in the centre giving the attackers a chance to regroup.

Osman Digna sends in his first unit against the Naval Brigade Gatling gun

Tactically, the Beja weren't brilliant in that they attacked in three groups. Given Keith only had four units we should have spread our six units out more. But the table was against one wall and Keith was sitting on the other side of the board (although he sportingly offered to move) so we naturally kept largely to one side of the board too. I could always argue that perhaps this reflects some terrain issues but next time we need to be more flexible in our deployment!

The Gatling Gun struck first but wasn't as destructive as we had feared (I suspect we were lucky-under the rules you can suffer up to 12 casualties). The Beja took a few casualties but carried on in their charge.

It's nice to get some use for my wounded figures

One of Guy's units was very quickly seen off by the RMLI proving how difficult it is to attack formed Imperial infantry who get a plus one on every dice roll. The same unit them put paid to the force I sent in to assist.

My first unit got bogged down in rough terrain so it was my second that charged and took the Gatling Gun. We were not quite sure if we were handling the rules for attacking artillery correctly as we had 18 Beja against 4 Naval brigade so they didn't have a chance in hand to hand combat. But then, on every occasion we found that the rules worked reasonably realistically so maybe the lesson is don't use a gun without infantry to defend it.

A date with destiny (or at least a Gatling Gun)

One of Guy's units was driving the KRRC back and I was at the gates of the strongpoint when we had to stop (it was a school day and was well past Guy's bedtime!). If we had continued it could have gone either way. The RMLI had destroyed two of our units but we still had four on the table. The KRRC were on the run but the Camel Corps were safely ensconced in the building and were shooting away from the rooftops.

A few things we need to check:

1. The rules for charging artillery.

2. The role of extra-unit leaders (morale?)

3. Two units attacking one.

4. Throwing spears during a charge.

A few things I learnt: Beja swordsmen get an extra 1 added to their dice in melee which brings them up to the British level - Perry order going in! Spread warband units out as the shooting arcs are tighter than in WAB, for example. If playing as the British ensure there is infantry support to defend a gun.

Hopefully we can get another game in after I return from my next batch of travels. I will have finished my first unit of Beja -mounted cavalry by then too!

Fourth Unit of Beja

2009-09-07T20:21:00.007+01:00

Beja in Ambush

I'm now entering winter painting mode which means that I can't paint shading in the evening as it's all under artificial light. Currently, mornings are still OK but as I'm heading off for work at 7.00am there isn't a lot of time. So tonight I just did some work on the bases of the last five figures I need to complete my second Rub of sixty Beja for the game next Monday. They are well on the way and should be ready on time, I hope. That said I am off to see my friends in Bath on Thursday for a couple of days so will lose Thursday night, Friday and all day Saturday. Sunday is Colours in Newbury so I won't have that much time then either. It looks like my plans to finish some more camel mounted cavalry and start my field gun look doomed! Oh well, hopefully Keith, my opponent, will enjoy The Sword and the Flame and we can play regularly which will incentivise me to get more figures (including the dreaded Gordon Highlanders) done.

This unit is one I started ages ago and uses the evocative "Beja in Ambush" figures from the Perries. I gave one of the spearmen a flag from The Virtual Armchair General even though it rather gives away their position!

Anyway, this post gives me the chance to post a few of the nice period photographs of Beja sent to me by Louie Blades who must have wondered what happened to them as he sent them in April!

Note the large blade on the spear

A particularly flared kaskara scabbard.

This lot look pretty tough. It makes you realise how well the Perries sculpted their faces.

Sudanese Kaskara Swords

2009-08-06T09:49:00.002+01:00

My 19th Century Kaskara sword

I'm painting a big batch (over 40) Beja at the moment for our game next month. Many of these carry swords and the Mahdists often used to organise their swordsmen into units (more on this shortly).

The characteristic sword of the Beja, as accurately modelled by the Perries, is known as the kaskara. Superficially it looks like a typical 11th century Northern European Dark Ages sword and for some years (particularly during Victorian times) writers thought that it really was modelled on the original Crusader swords or even that some of them were surviving swords passed down for 900 years. Today it is known that they first originated in the 15th or 16th Century so are very unlikely to have been modelled on a sword from 500 years earlier. They are much more likely to be based on medieval Arab swords and there may be some Turkish influence.

It is true, however, that many of the blades were made in Europe: primarily Solingen, Germany; Toledo, Spain; and Belluno, Italy. They were then shipped to the ports of Tunis, Tripoli, Alexandria, and the Moroccan coast to be traded. Some blades were produced locally as were the scabbards and grips.

The blades vary from about 24” to 36” in length with most coming in at the longer length. The edges are parallel (although sometimes there is a slight taper) leading to a spatulate tip. The blades can be flat or have a fuller running down part of it. The sides of the blade are relatively blunt as they were generally used for thrusting rather than slashing (although some of the Perry figures are shown in a slashing pose).

Abstract patterns on the blade

Some blades were etched with inscriptions from the Koran but others contain abstract talismanic patterns. Such inscriptions were meant to impart spiritual power to the weapon (like Warhammer Runes!) and inspire the warrior to fight valiantly for Allah.

The swords have a simple crossguard and most have a languet, a short central extension towards the blade that fits over the scabbard when sheathed. Interestingly, whilst the Perry figures accurately show these on the sheathed swords they do not appear on the models with unsheathed blades. The cross-guards could be iron or brass.

As the blades were comparatively light compared with European swords the pommel didn’t have to act as a counterweight and so Kaskara swords are a flat disk made of wood and, like the grip (usually of round cross-section), are covered in leather strips. More expensive versions would have silver or gold decoration.

The scabbards are characteristically made of red-brown leather although sometimes more exotic skins like crocodile or monitor lizard were used. The leaf-shaped distal flaring is also typical. More high status examples would have a metal chape (scabbard tip).

The swords were carried on a long leather strap that went over the shoulder and attached to the scabbard in two places. using metal rings.

The Kaskara, a was a prized possession, and was carried whenever the owner was outside his home. Many Beja continue to carry them to this day. The Sudanese were relatively late to firearms compared with neighbouring African countries. This may either be because they didn’t have the technical expertise to maintain them or there was a theory that Sudanese warriors disdained firearms on moral grounds with guns for mercenaries and slave soldiers only. By the time of the Mahdist revolt however they were well armed with around of a third of troops armed with firearms.

Sudan Wargame in prospect!

2009-07-02T09:16:00.003+01:00

I haven't painted any Sudan figures for months but I recently got an e-mail from Keith at Guidford Wargames Club (see his blog here: http://scallwargaming.blogspot.com/) offering a Sudan game. I still haven't got enough figures painted (around 85 Beja and 50 British) but he has 60 Ansar and some British too so it looks like we are all go for August 24th! This will give us both time to paint some more figures. I have already dug out some Beja I had based but not undercoated for working on this weekend and I will get going on some more Highlanders too. This gives me a real incentive to move the army along! I'll be spending a couple of weeks, at least, with my wife and children (work permitting: I am trying to organise visits to Canada and Argentina so they don't clash) at the family house in Cowes for some of the school summer holiday and usually get quite a few figures done down there when we're not sailing.

I suspect it will be a fantasy Sudan battle as Keith's British figures seem to be mainly Camel Corps and mine are from the earlier battles of El Teb and Tamai but it will be great to get them onto the table for the first time. I will start the John Wilcox novel Siege of Khartoum this weekend as well, to keep me in the mood!

General Gordon message from Khartoum for sale

2009-01-27T09:29:00.004Z

Up for auction this week is a tiny note from General Gordon written whilst Khartoum was under siege.

Dated June 22nd 1884 and written in Arabic it says "...Mudir of Dongola Khartoum and Senaar in perfect security and Mahamed Ahmed carries this to give you news and on his reaching you give him all the news as to the direction & position of the relieving force and their numbers and as for Khartoum there are in it 8 000 men and the Nile is rapidly rising on arrival of the bearer give him 100 reals mejide'h from the States C G Gordon."

It was beleived that it was smuggled out of Khartoum, probably in the courier's hair.

Guide price is £500-£700 and I am very tempted by this! The problem is that now it has been in the newspaper it will probably go for much more and I really need to get a new PC this month! Whoever buys it might also get press coverage and my wife would have a fit if she found out I had bought it when she is demanding new shoes!

Music to paint by

2008-10-27T22:07:00.004Z

I am totally unable to paint without music and usually, when painting Sudan British happily listen to the Complete Marches of Kenneth Alford (alright Alford, real name Fredrick Joseph Ricketts, wasn't born until 1882 but it sounds right) on my computer. Whilst painting Highlanders I also have some Scottish military music but, honestly, there is only so much bagpipe music I can bear. I was very pleased, therefore, to acquire this weekend a cd of the soundtrack for the film Khartoum (1966) with music by Frank Cordell (1918-1980). The score is a mix of cod Walton and Elgar and Islamic (well, "Egyptian") sounding music. John Williams, when writing about the music for the throne room scene of Star Wars (1977) said that he wanted an English feel like Elgar. Frankly, he must have been thinking of Cordell's overture to Khartoum; the similarities are, er, remarkable. As to the "Egyptian" sound, the whole exotic "Egyptian" scale, with its flattened supertonic was invented by Verdi for Aida (it's about as authentic as Sir Walter Scott's version of Scotland) but everyone since has used it from Maurice Jarre in Lawrence of Arabia to Jerry Goldsmith in The Mummy.

Anyway it makes a change from all those wailing bagpipes (it does quote Highland Laddie)!

Painting Tartan

2008-10-27T12:11:00.004Z

The uniform illustration by Michael Perry

The site which really helped me on this was:

http://www.angelfire.com/tx/ToySoldier/tartan.htm

I used quite dark colours: Humbrol 104 (Oxford blue -appropriately!) and 91 (black green). 104 is my generic dark blue for the likes of French Napoleonic infantry and ACW Union troops. 91 is the colur I use for Napoleonic British riflemen (I see the new Sharpe is on this Sunday). I used a slightly lighter green (Humbrol 30, Dark green) for the small squares and 81 (pale yellow) for the yellow lines. Normal Humbrol yellow (24 trainer yellow) was too bright.

I drew on the squares with a soft pencil, having used the Perry Uniform guide to get the scale of the squares on the kilt, and then painted with a 000 Windsor & Newton Series 7 sable brush. It needed quite alot of touching up and the rear of the kilt, with the pleats, was a nightmare as I tried to estimate where the patterns would fall.

Never mind, I will do some more on the next batch tomorrow morning now we have light evenings for a while.

First Gordon Highlanders painted

2008-10-27T07:41:00.007Z

Well, I have, at last finished four Gordon Highlanders (only 18 more to do). I don't think I have ever found figures so stressful to paint but now that I have done them I do feel more relaxed about the others and have even started on the next four (I don't think that I can face more than four at a time!). The tartan looks OK (from a distance) and now that I have a technique for doing it it's not such a worry. I need to work at the hose as I used colours without enough contrast so the diagonal check doesn't show at all in the pictures.

Here is the corporal; lots of character as you would expect from the Perry twins.

Sudan War Correspondents and general update

2008-10-07T07:20:00.005+01:00

I was just looking at the on the workbench section of the Perry Miniatures site and noticed these Sudan War correspondents. An unusual choice to say the least but I will have to get them!

Apart from the horse holder I will be able to use them for the Zulu war as well.

I have been banging on for some time about the lack of British Mounted Infantry in the range. At 1/33 I would only need 4 figures to represent the 120 or so troops so maybe that's why they haven't bothered. What I have done, though, is bought a pack each of Camel Regiment and some cavalry figures and have put the camel riders on the horses. It looks pretty good and so I will paint them up when I get back from the Gulf.

The real shock is that I have started painting four Gordon Highlanders and I have actually finished the first kilt and it looks OK! In fact I am well on the way with them and hope to finish them if not this coming weekend (I don't return from Dubai until Sunday pm) then next weekend. I am so pleased and relieved I have even based up and undercoated the next four figures! They do take ages, each kilt needs six stages of painting, so I can only face four at a time!

New novel about the Sudan War coming out

2008-09-05T15:42:00.006+01:00

I don't like the new cover style. I preferred the older ones which featured Victorian paintings!

I enjoy John Wilcox' novels about the colonial period even if they are far from great literature (or even great historical novels) but they have certainly improved a lot since his first (really not bad anyway) novel The Horns of the Buffalo set in the Zulu war of 1879. The second (and much better) novel The Road to Kandahar took our hero, Simon Fonthill, to the North West Frontier. In the third book, The Diamond Frontier, he was participating in the bePedi war and then moved straight to the First Boer War for amother of the better books, Last Stand at Majuba Hill. During my holiday last month I read his most recent, The Guns of El Kebir which deals with the British invasion of Egypt in 1882, very much a precursor to the Sudan conflict and involving many of the same leaders (Wolseley and Graham) and units.

Now I notice that his next novel, due in January, will feature the Sudan War. Entitled The Siege of Khartoum it will take "Simon Fonthill, one time subaltern and ex-Captain in the North West Frontier's Royal Corps of Guides, together with 352 Jenkins, ex-batman and servantto Khartoum. They're on an urgent mission from Sir Garnet Wolseley to reach General Gordon, England's hero, who is being besieged by followers of Mahdi, the infamous religious leader who has declared a jihad against Egyptian authority in the Sudan. Their journey on camel-back through the Sudanese desert is treacherous. When they finally reach the General, an unexpected attack makes them realise that they have little time to make contact with Wolseley, who can dispatch troops to rescue General Gordon. As they leave in darkness to cross the Nile, they're set upon by a brutal Dervish patrol. Can Simon and Jenkins survive a Dervish interrogation and make it back to the General before Khartoum falls from British hands?"

I can't wait! There are very few novels about the first Sudan War (in fact I can only think of Wilbur Smith's The Triumph of the Sun) so this will be a very welcome addition. All of Wilcox's books are full of wargaming possibilities, whether big battles or skirmishes. It will be interesting to see if he covers any of the big battles, such as El Teb or Tamai as well (ideally another book covering the period up to Ginnis would be welcome!)

Major General Sir Gerald Graham VC

2008-08-04T15:21:00.018+01:00

This is the commanding officer of my Sudan Expeditionary Force, Major General Sir Gerald Graham VC.

Graham was the only son of a Northumbrian doctor and was born on June 27 1831 in Acton, Middlesex. He was educated in Wimbledon and Dresden (he spoke and wrote fluent German and even translated some German technical texts relating to the Franco Prussian War).

Graham was a huge man, six foot six inches tall and broad shouldered and the ultimate fighting Victorian soldier.

The RMA at Woolwich in the mid-nineteenth century

He attended the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich from 1847 and then went on to the School of Military Engineering at Chatham. The Royal Military Academy at Woolwich trained officers for the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers from 1741 until 1939. In 1947 it was amalgamated with Sandhurst (which had trained infantry and cavalry officers).

The buildings at Woolwich today. It is currently being turned into luxury apartments.

Graham was commisioned as a Lieutenant into the Royal Engineers in 1850 and found himself in action in the Crimea; taking part in the battles of Alma, Inkerman and Sebastopol. It was at Sebastopol that he won his Victoria Cross, leading a ladder party during the assault on the Redan on June 18th 1855.

Graham as a new VC holder

A very brave man (Wolsey called him "the bravest man I have ever met") he was also made a Knight of the French Legion d’Honneur, received the Crimea medal with three clasps, the Turkish Crimea medal and the 5th Class of the Order of the Medjidie.

The Taku forts. Graham was hit by a ball from a jingal fired from the ramparts.

In the Second (or third, depending on how you classify it) China War he was seriously wounded in 1860 during the taking of the Taku forts but recovered to enter Peking with the victorious British Army. As a result of his services in this campaign he was made a Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel and a Commander of the Bath and received the China medal with two clasps.

He returned to England in 1861 and for the next 16 years he was Commanding Engineer successively at Brighton, Aldershot, Montreal, Chatham, Manchester, and York. In 1877 he was appointed Assistant Director of Works for Barracks at the War Office.

In 1882 he was, to all intents and purposes, unemployed when the call came to accompany his old friend Sir Garnet Wolseley to Egypt as a Brigadier General commanding the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division thoughout the campaign. He was present at El Magfar, Kassassin and Tel-el-Kebir where he was in the thick of the action as usual. He was made a K.C.B. and received the thanks of both houses of Parliament, the Egypt medal with clasp, the 2nd Class Order of the Medjidie and the Khedive’s Star.

Graham and his staff at Suakin.

Following the Sudan campaign he was again officially thanked by both Houses of Parliament, promoted to Lieutenant-General for services in the field, granted the 1st Class Order of the Medjidie and awarded two clasps to the Egypt medal. He commanded the Suakin Field Force in 1885 for which he was thanked by both houses of Parliament for the third time, made a G.C.B. and received another clasp to the Egypt medal.

General Graham was placed on the retired list in 1890. He was made a G.C.M.G. in 1896 and awarded the ceremonial post of Colonel Commandant of the Corps of Royal Engineers in 1899. Lieutenant-General Sir Gerald Graham, V.C., G.C.B., G.C.M.G., died of pneumonia at Bideford on the 17th of December, 1899, and is buried at East-the-Water Cemetery, Bideford, Devon.

Graham's grave in Bideford

His Victoria Cross is currently owned by his Great, Great, Great Grandson, Oliver Brooks, and is on display at the Royal Engineers Museum at Gillingham, England.

Sudanese Throwing Sticks

2008-07-29T12:08:00.010+01:00

Some of the Perry Beja figures are shown with throwing sticks. These don't look that threatening but a throwing stick is one of the oldest weapons known to man. The oldest known throwing stick was dug up in Poland and was 20,000 years old.

Duck!

Developed for hunting, (Egyptian nobles have been depicted hunting birds with throwing sticks) they evolved into a weapon and then dropped out of use in most cultures to be replaced by other missile weapons such as spears, slingshots and arrows. However they persisted in the Sudan where they were first seen in neolithic times (6,000 BC) and were used by the local steppe hunters.

Sudanese throwing stick with leather grip (1850)

The Sudanese throwing stick, the Trombash (Bang in the South), had a curved end and was used to bring down camels and horses. Made of hard wood it would turn end over end in flight.

Beja throwing stick (3rd quarter nineteenth century)

Infantrymen from the New South Wales contingent to the Sudan describe a "throwing stick shaped something like a boomerang", the boomerang being, of course the most sophisticated throwing stick. The Australians refer to a non-returning hunting boomerang as a Kylie.

A Kylie. It's Australian, you chuck it but it doesn't come back. As Olivier Martinez has discovered!

In some parts of the Sudan the sticks, which were carved from branches or, sometimes, tree roots, were used as a defensive weapon to hook spears or swords away from the body.

Throwing sticks can have a range of 100-150 yards so are quite effective, although not as accurate or deadly as a slingshot, but are better against small multiple targets like birds or animal legs.

Back painting Sudan again..

2008-04-28T09:18:00.005+01:00

I have been painting all sorts of other stuff lately, especially a lot of Darkest Africa stuff, but my recent visit to Egypt has got me preparing some more Sudan figures again.

I currently have about 10 more Beja undercoated and ready to go and hope to get them done in the next two weeks. I have actually put the first paint on my initial four Highlanders and I have based another three Beja on camels.

I put in another order to the Perry brothers today (and resisted buying any plastic ACW!). I've ordered some more Beja on camels, which I want to convert to standard bearers. The ones with rifles look to be in the right sort of pose. I've also ordered another three packs of ordinary Beja to enable me to finish my next two units.

For the British, I have ordered the high command pack, as I think it is about time my army had a commander, and the screw gun set, to be the Scottish Royal Artillery contingent.

I'm quite enthused about getting on with them again!

First Egyptian Regiment

2008-04-06T23:10:00.004+01:00

I have finished the Egyptians I bought on eBay the other month. They are going to represent the Cairo Gendarme Battalion which formed part of Sir Valentine Baker's 1st Brigade at first El Teb on February 4th 1884. No doubt they will be used as other Egyptian units as I need them too!

At this time Egyptian forces (the Gendarmes dressed in the same uniforms as the regulars) still wore white with the officers wearing blue. By 1885 the Egyptians were wearing khaki and puttees rather than gaiters.

The Turkish (which was the flag of Egypt at the time) flag is a slightly tarted up version of one of The Virtual Armchair General's from the Mahdist Wars Flags Collection.

I need to paint about another thirty of these to finish the Ist Brigade. They are pretty quick to do, though.

The British Ambassador's Residence in Cairo

2008-03-20T16:02:00.006Z

Lord Cromer's Room

I spent a few days in Cairo the other week running a meeting with the Egyptian Government in the British Ambassador's Residence. This desk was used by Lord Kitchener and is now the Ambassador's. I hope the Ambassador didn't mind me sitting in it for a few minutes! It certainly made me want to send expeditions up the Nile to give the Fuzzy-Wuzzies a good thrashing!

This room was where Kitchener planned the reconquest of the Sudan. I had a jolly good breakfast there!

The Residence was completed in 1894 during the time when the first Earl of Cromer was Consul General in Egypt. Lord Cromer had arrived in Cairo as Sir Evelyn Baring in 1883 to become HM Agent, Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General. He moved into the Consulate, a large rambling house in poor condition, on the Rue Maghrabi. By 1885 Baring was looking for a plot of land on which to build more functional offices and accommodation. He first considered surplus land adjacent to The English Church, which was bordered by busy roads. But there was a considerably more attractive plot adjacent to the Nile in what became known as Garden City.

The lobby of the Residence.

The original plot of land covered the area which is now the Residence and garden and used to run down to the Nile until the construction of the Corniche which cut off the house from the river. The plot was purchased in 1890 for a total sum of £2,580 and work began on the Residence, which housed both the offices and living accommodation. Work was completed in 1894.

Royal Naval Brigade Completed

2008-02-23T21:43:00.004Z

In finishing the Gardner Gun today I have finished the Naval Brigade. At the ratio of 1/33 I am using I should really only have 5 figures to represent the Brigade but with two guns with crews of four I am obviously going to be well over this. I have decided that as a wargaming unit I will add four sailors as well. So here is the complete Brigade ready for action.

The Bluejackets of the Naval Brigade were the first British Troops to land at Suakin in February 1884. At El Teb the 125 men, three Gatling Guns and three Gardner Guns were attached to the 1st Brigade and formed the front two corners of the square. When the Beja first charged it was three of the machine guns, that had been run out in front of the square, that fired first. Later Admiral Hewett led a charge of the sailors with fixed bayonets.

At Tamai the force was slightly larger at 163 men. They were in the 2nd Brigade in the left hand top corner of the square. When the Black Watch charged they left the Gatling and Gardner guns stranded outside the square. When the Beja charged some of the guns had to be abandoned and the Beja subsequently threw one of them down a ravine, although the sailors managed to pull it out later. Ten of the naval crew were killed and seven wounded but not before they had disabled the guns. It was whilst defending one of these guns that Private Tom Edwards of the Black Watch won the Victoria Cross.

Later about half of the Naval Brigade served with the desert column. But that is another story and another army!

Right, there is no excuse now, I have to start some Highlanders!

Royal Naval Brigade: Gardner Gun

2008-02-23T20:32:00.011Z

The success of the Gatling Gun soon encouraged others into the market The Gardner Gun was invented in 1874 by a former Civil War Captain in the Union army William Gardner of Ohio.

Origninally it had only two barrels and a crank loaded and fired each barrel in turn.

Francis Pratt

He needed finance to produce it, however, so went to the newly formed Pratt and Whitney Company. Francis Pratt had worked for Colt and had a reputation for being one of the top gun designers working.

Mechanism of the original two-barrelled version.

It was developed in conjunction with Pratt and Whitney but despite successful trials from 1875 until 1879 the US Army declined to buy the gun, as they felt it was not an appropriate weapon for their only military activity at the time, against the plains Indians.

Inside the crank case for the five-barrelled version.

The Royal Navy, having already bought the Gatling Gun, were more interested, however and Gardner was invited to England to demonstrate the gun, which by now had a five barrel version as well.

The two-barreled version on board ship.

The Admiralty were impressed enough that they not only adopted the weapon but bought the rights to produce it. Gardner stayed in England to supervise the construction of the weapons in Leeds and lived there for the rest of his life, dying in 1886. The British Army bought the gun in 1880 but its actual introduction by them was delayed because of opposition by the Royal Artillery.

The gun was light, reliable and could fire over 800 rounds a minute.

A few more Beja

2008-01-20T22:11:00.000Z

I've not been feeling very well this week and have hardly got any painting done. Added to that the weather has been horrible and it's been dark. Also I have suddently developed a great urge to paint some gladiators so have been trawling through the lead pile to see if I had got any (I had).

Nevertheless, I have managed to finish six more Beja, so not a total write off. Perry Miniatures are closing down for three weeks next month but I still have plenty of figures to paint. I want to finish the Gardner Gun and get started on the Highlanders.

Royal Marines Light Infantry: Completed

2008-01-06T20:15:00.000Z

The Royal Marines, along with a force of sailors, were the first British troops landed at Suakin. The 464 men and 14 officers of the RMLI were commanded by Lt Colonel (brevet Colonel) Henry Brasnell Tuson, Royal Marine Artillery.

At El Teb the Marines formed the rear of the left hand flank of the square as it advanced, behind the York and Lancaster Regiment. As they approached and skirted the hill where the Beja were located they became the closest British to the Ansar lines. The men in the square were ordered to turn 90 degrees which put the RMLI in the front as they advanced on the dug-in Beja. The first Ansar charge of the battle caused the Yorks and Lancs, who had outdistanced the Marines as they moved forward, to fall back about 40 yards. The RMLI rushed up to close the gap and oust the Beja who had entered this gap in the formation. The Marines, along with the Naval Brigade and the Yorks and Lancs, were involved in bitter hand to hand fighting as they pushed the Beja out of their first position. The Marines had 2 officers wounded and 3 men killed.

At Tamai the RMLI formed the rear of the 2nd Brigade Square under Major General John Davis and accompanied by Graham himself. When the Black Watch charge opened up the square and the Beja flooded in, the whole British battalion was forced back onto the RMLI completely disrupting their formation. As the Second Brigade began its fighting retreat the Marines were a key element in keeping the steady discipline needed as troops from all the units in the Brigade became hopelessly intermingled. The Marines lost 3 men and 15 wounded at Tamai.

100 RMLI later served with the Guards Camel Regiment in the Desert Column but that is another Army (about 2010)!

Royal Marines Light infantry Officer

2007-12-09T23:22:00.001Z

Despite a trip to the US last week I managed to finish the officer and two more men for the RLMI; so that is a third of them done.

Although the RLMI had white leather equipment in the Sudan the officer's revolvers holsters and belts were brown.

Gordons Arrived!!

2007-12-08T22:01:00.000Z

I ordered these just before I left for California last week and they arrived whilst I was away.

There do seem to be an awful lot of them! I liked the NCO figures so much that I cut a stripe off one and made him into a lance corporal, just so I could put him in the unit. You are only allowed one NCO in TSATF but I didn't want to leave him out so, for gaming purposes, I will only count the sergeant.

There was quite a bit of flash on one set (well, a lot for the Perries, anyway) but I sat down and got them all filed and based whilst watching Strictly Come Dancing with the family (that Alesha Dixon is a fine looking woman, I must say).

Alesha Dixon: Even more attractive than a Perry Highlander!

And talking about gorgeous figures I love this officer holding up his helmet. This is the sort of figure the Perries do so well; oozing with character. I'm not going to put him in the unit, though, but am going to use him as a test figure for the tartan. I still need to finish the RMLI so mustn't start the Highlanders. I can start this one-off, however. And I am going to give him a red coat!

Another Sudan Wargames site

2007-12-03T17:04:00.000Z

I've added a link to David Bickley's pages on his Sudan army. Nice to see another madman taking this on. I'm very jealous of his scenery!

http://www.freewebs.com/talesfromghq/sudanwargallery.htm

Highlanders!

2007-11-29T21:45:00.000Z

I can't avoid it any longer. There were two big Highland regiments at El Teb and Tamai so I have just put in an order from the Perries for the Gordon Highlanders which I will try and get painted up over Christmas. A big 22 figure unit. So now I will have to paint tartan. Giles Allison, on his AWI site, had a tutorial I think!

Not looking forward to it!

Royal Marines Light Infantry: Painted 1

2007-11-25T23:41:00.000Z

Well, I got three painted rather than the six I was aiming for this week, but that's because I did some more Spartans and some GNW Swedes.

They look quite striking with their white equipment and helmets, I think. I'll try and get some more done this week but it looks like I may have to go back to America on Saturday so won't be able to paint next weekend.

John Wilcox: The Guns of El Kebir

2007-11-19T11:48:00.000Z

So, having done the Zulu War, the first Boer War, the Bepedi war and the Afghan War, John Wilcox is sending his Sharpe-like hero, Simon Fonthill, to Egypt in 1882. Surely, in the next book he will be interacting with General Gordon?

This next book comes out on December 27th and I may even order the hardback in advance so I can read it over the extended Christmas holidays! If only the Perries made the slightly earlier British infantry! Perhaps it's just as well they don't!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guns-El-Kebir-Simon-Fonthill/dp/0755327209/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195472979&sr=8-3

Next unit: Royal Marines Light Infantry

2007-11-17T20:57:00.000Z

The next unit I'm going to do is the Royal Marines Light Infantry. There is no disagreement on the numbers in this unit; all the sources agree on 478 which is 14 figures at 1:33.

Stuart Asquith in his recent War in the Sudan 1884-1898 describes the RMLI as being dressed in undress blue with white helmet and black or white leather equipment. I'm not convinced by this and suspect it refers back to the earlier Egyptian conflict in 1882. There is a watercolor sketch in the Victoria and Albert Museum that shows them wearing grey. Crucially, Count Gleichen in his book With the Camel Corps up the Nile, describes them as being in grey uniforms with white helmets and equipment so that is what I am going for.

Two very small illustrations I found on the net seem to confirm the grey uniform. Firstly, this illustration from the official Royal Marines website; you would assume that they would get it right.

Secondly, this photograph of a number of Royal Marines outside their medical tent in Suakin in 1884. This looks like a grey not a navy blue uniform to me.

Given that they are light infantry I wanted them in rather more active poses and looking a little less regimented. They need a lot of work so I would think that it will take three weeks to get them done. Right, that's enough typing now I better get the rest undercoated!

Painted: 2nd Battalion The Princess Victoria's Royal Irish Fusiliers

2007-11-12T19:57:00.000Z

Here is the completed unit. It looks rather small but they were a small force, less than 350 men!

The Royal Irish Fusiliers landed at Trinkitat in late February 1884 and immediately began patrols with the Black Watch and the 19th Hussars into the surrounding country. There could be a few imaginary skirmish scenarios here! On 28th February they moved out, with the rest of the Expeditionary Force, to head towards El Teb, bivoucing overnight at Fort Baker. The RIF made up the forward section of the right hand side of the square with the KRRC next to them in the battle the next day.

At Tamai, in Buller's second brigade, they formed the front left hand corner of the square. The square, whilst heavily engaged, managed to drive off the Beja with rifle fire before they came into hand to hand combat, unlike their unfortunate comrades in the first square.

The Second Battalion (former 89th foot) returned to England in 1884 and were replaced by the First Battalion (former 87th foot) who joined the river column in the 1885 campaign, but that's a whole new army!

Egyptian Infantryman

2007-11-11T23:41:00.000Z

I finished my first Egyptian and apart from the amount of white paint I had to slap on he was quite easy to paint. I will continue to do a few a week until I have my first unit to keep some variety.

Beja in Ambush

2007-11-11T21:33:00.000Z

I finished four of the Perries nice Beja in ambush figures today. I am going to do a unit of twenty just because I like the look of them. Sometimes the Perries make figures which are almost more diorama than wargames figures and I find that these are often their best, like the recent "French cuirassiers at rest".

The Alexander Korda version of The Four Feathers (1939) had a great scene where the Fuzzy Wuzzies (played by real Beja) materialise out of the rocks at night and silently move up to the attack.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Four-Feathers-June-Duprez/dp/B000LXHJLO/ref=sr_1_1/202-5958963-9779040?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1194824167&sr=1-1

Walk like an Egyptian

2007-11-04T22:23:00.000Z

Perry Sudan figures don't come up on eBay very often so I was pleased to pick up a bunch of Egyptian infantry at a (not very big) discount. Well I saved £7 or £8 I suppose. I got six command figures, 12 marching infantry and a field gun.

I have undercoated one just to have a see how he goes. They will either be really quick to paint or a nightmare. Humbrol white often needs three coats, even over a pale grey undercoat and so it would be sensible to do the undercoat for the rest in white.

I work with Egyptians quite a bit and should be going back to Cairo in March. They vary in skin tone enormously but I think I will be going for caucasian looking skin for the Egyptian infantry, darker skin for the Bazingers and very dark for the Sudanese units. I will shade the Egyptians with darker colours and see how this looks.

2nd Battalion The Princess Victoria's Royal Irish Fusiliers

2007-11-04T21:08:00.000Z

Depending on the sources there were between 334 (Asquith), 343 (Preziosi) and 350-400 (Featherstone) troops of the Royal Irish Fusiliers present before El Teb. At 1:33 this gives between 10 and 12 figures. I am going for the lower figure of 10. This is small for a TSATF unit as British units are supposed to be 20 figures but until I have played a game I won't know if this works or not.

The Royal Irish Fusiliers had been formed in 1881 from the 87th and 89th Foot and some local militia forces from Armagh, Cavan and Monaghan. Both regiments had been formed in 1793 as a result of the war with France. The 87th served in the Peninsula where they became famous at the battle of Barossa on March 5th 1811 when the first French Imperial Eagle was taken by Sergeant Masterman (and not Richard Sharpe!).

The 1st Battalion were with Graham in Egypt in 1882 and saw action at Tel-el-Kebir.

There are several sources which describe them as wearing the new grey uniforms and they are illustrated like this in the picture in the Royal Engineers museum in Chatham. I have already painted four figures in this uniform so only need to do another six which I will try to get done next weekend.

3rd Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps

2007-11-04T20:01:00.001Z

Here is the completed battalion. Figures given for the KRRC for EL Teb vary from 630 (Featherstone), 610 (Asquith) to 546 men and 19 officers (Preziosi). At 1:33 this would give 19, 18 or 17 figures. I have gone for the middle one mainly on the basis it would give two equal ranks.

The KRRC were at El Teb and Tamai comanded by Lt Colonel (brevet Colonel) Sir Cromer Ashburnham (1831-1917) his ADC was Lt Colonel William Lewis Kinlock Ogilvy (1840-1900). At El Teb four companies formed the rear of the right hand side of the square with the rest of the battalion inside the square. As a result of EL Teb and finding this formation rather unweildy for a force of over 2,500 men Graham, at Tamai formed two squares, one for each brigade which advanced in echelon. The KRRC formed the rear of the 1st Brigade Square.

Here is a single rifleman showing the KRRC's red piping on the front of the jacket, the cuffs and the collar.

This is my second completed British unit and I really enjoyed painting them. They were certainly much quicker to paint than the Naval Brigade; I got the whole lot done in three weeks. Next up is another 1st Brigade unit the 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers.

King's Royal Rifle Corps: second batch

2007-10-28T22:25:00.000Z

I finished the second half dozen figures today so only have six more to finish the unit. Hopefully, I will get them done this week. This batch includes the bugler and the last one will contain the officer.

King's Royal Rifle Corps: first batch

2007-10-21T21:40:00.000+01:00

I finished half a dozen of these today. They are the first Sudan figures I have completed for nearly two months. Now they are done I am glad I went for the green jackets as they look different. I used to have an Osprey on the Zulu war which had a picture of the 1879 KRRC uniform in it but I sold it on eBay earlier in the year so I based the uniform on a cigarette card illustration of the uniform of the 1880's.

THE KRRC had 610 men in the 1st Brigade, under Buller, so, at my 1:33 scale, that would make 18 figures, one of the bigger British units. This batch includes a sergeant and the the next group, which is under way, includes a bugler. TSATF rules make no use of musicians but the Perry figures are too good to ignore.

The unit which fought in the Sudan was the 3rd Battalion which had been moved from South Africa to Malta. It was from here that it was called up to fight in Egypt in 1882. In South Africa during the Zulu War it saw action at Ginghilovo, Hlobane (where Buller won his VC), Kambula and Ulundi (where it was also under the overall command of Garnet Wolseley). It stayed on in Africa for the 1st Boer War, now under the command of its CO in the later Egyptian and Sudan campaigns, Lt Col Cromer Ashburnham. It was engaged at Laing's Nek, Ingogo and Majuba Hill.

For an enjoyable novel about this, not very well remembered, conflict with the Boers read John Wilcox's Last Stand at Majuba Hill.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Stand-Majuba-Simon-Fonthill/dp/0755327195/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/202-5958963-9779040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193001007&sr=8-1

Let's hope Wilcox manages to get his hero, Simon Fonthill, into the Sudan!

Green or Grey?: The King's Royal Rifle Corps in the Sudan

2007-10-12T21:14:00.000+01:00

The reason that I haven't painted anything for the Sudan for a bit is that I had intended that my next British Unit, after the Naval Brigade, would be the King's Royal Rifle Corps (formerly the 60th foot: the Royal Americans of Napoleonic wars fame). However, I have run into a problem as regards their uniform.

The recent Perry uniform guide in Wargames Illustrated showed them as wearing the same grey uniform as the other troops, except with their usual black leather equipment. I started to paint the 18 figures I needed in this way. Then I picked up the Mahdist Wars Source Book from TVAG and there it said "Marling mentions that while in Egypt after Tel-el Kebir the 60th rifles wore green serge jackets". Then it mentions a print of the Battle of El Teb at the Royal Engineers Museum at Chatham which shows them wearing green jackets with red collars, Black trousers and white helmets. The Donald Featherstone Osprey, Khartoum 1885 says the same thing.

Now "Marling" is Lieutenant (later, Colonel Sir) Percy Scrope Marling VC of the KRRC who served with the mounted infantry (why don't the Perries make a mounted infantry pack?), won his VC at Tamai and published his memoirs Rifleman and Hussar (London: John Murray, 1931).

Here is his grave in All Saint's Church, Selsley. He died in 1936.

Now my thinking has gone as follows: both the Osprey and the Savage and Soldier article reprinted in the Mahdist Source book are fairly old items (around ten years). Also, the uniforms worn in Egypt in 1882 were different from those worn in 1884 (line troops wore red in the Egyptian campaign, for example). If new uniforms were going to be issued specifically for this campaign then surely they would have been issued to everyone? I would also have thought that the Perries research would have been more up to date.

Yet, there is a quote that says that when the KRRC arrived in Suakin from Egypt they wore "stained and tattered fighting kits" which indicates that they were not, in fact wearing the new uniforms (introduced in January 1884).

So, on balance, given the existence of the coloured print in Chatham (I am going to try to get hold of a reproduction of the print from the Royal Engineers Museum) which, interestingly shows all the other troops, accurately, with grey coats (as opposed to most contemporary paintings which show the red home service uniforms in a bit of artistic licence) then I think I will go for the dark green uniform.

The black, rather than green, trousers are, again, a bit of an oddity. Whilst during the Napoleonic Wars the 60th foot wore grey trousers (as opposed to the 95th's green) I can see no evidence that their trousers would have been a different colour from their jackets and indeed, later photographs of the KRRC in the Boer War show them wearing jackets and trousers of the same colour (even though it is well know that the green of their jackets was so dark as to almost look black).

The white helmet is odd but not unknown (the Royal Marines had white helmets in the Sudan) although earlier in the Zulu War the Rifles helmets were dyed khaki (with tea, usually).

I think the final decision was made for me this evening when I painted up the base colour of one of my riflemen as green. He just looks better! Of course it will be a fiddle painting the other five figures green when I have already done their black belts but the rest will just need a quick coat over the top.

Maybe now I will actually get going again.

Finally, here is my grandfather, Hadden Perceval Bowen Harris, in his King's Royal Rifle Corps uniform thirty years later. He soon got bored with all that infantry rubbish and joined the Royal Flying Corps where he learned to fly and ended up working for AVRO, after the war.

A little work on the blog..

2007-09-24T17:00:00.000+01:00

Nothing new painted up but that doesn't mean I am not doing anything. I am currently working on the Kings Royal Rifle Corps and the last part of the Naval Brigade: the Gardner Gun. I visited Colours at Newbury and picked up enough figures to build the Royal Marines Light Infantry unit as well.

I also bought a few more Beja to be going along with. The problem is that I have had four weeks of the last five out of the country and it looks like I am off to Los Angeles on Friday. Added to this is the fact that the days are getting less light and I seem to be distracted by Early Saxons and Great Northern Wars at present.

Finally, I have updated the links on the blog to serve as an index.

Gardner Gun: Part 1

2007-09-02T21:40:00.000+01:00

Having finished the Gatling Gun, it's time to do the Gardner. I made the mistake of assembling the Gatling before painting it but I'm not going to do that this time!

Firstly, I decided I had better clean all the parts and check them carefully. With the Gatling I threw away a small piece thinking it was just spare metal from the moulding. I still haven't replaced this bit, which is a lever of some sort, but I can make it with a bit of spare Gripping Beast spear.

So here are all the pieces. I needed to check the picture on the Perry website to see where all the bits fit. In particular, the small piece on the top right wasn't easy to place but looking at the unpainted picture of the gun I could see that it fits underneath the breech section at an angle (circled).

It's not quite as clear as the Gatling Gun. I will undercoat it tonight but I am off to Mexico for a week tomorrow so won't get any more done for a bit. It also looks like several of the crew are designed to stand with their hands on the gun so I will have to break my usual rule of separate bases.

More Beja Camels

2007-08-28T20:38:00.000+01:00

I haven't just been painting Royal Navy troops but have been getting on with some of the eighteen Beja camel mounted cavalry I will need. A mix of sword, rifle and spear armed troops.

The Beja cavalry were virtually all camel mounted.

I love painting these Perry camels for some reason; much more than horses, which I hate painting.

The Beja (especially the Bisharyyin, Ammar'ar and Haddendowa tribes) were great camel breeders (as they are now) and their off white Bishari camels, bred in Kassala and the Red Sea Hills are quite distinctive. When the reconquest of the Sudan took place in 1898 the British made sure that they had Bishari camels rather than the motley cocktail Redvers Buller pulled together to populate the Desert Column.

They are comparitively small and strong and today these camels are highly prized for racing.

Here are some camels in Suakin. Note the distinctive mud brick buildings.

Royal Naval Brigade: Uniforms: Officers

2007-08-28T20:08:00.000+01:00

RN officers wore dark blue double breasted jackets with gilt buttons. Some wore white single breasted jackets. They wore white shirts with black ties. Trousers were white or blue. All leatherwork was black or brown, including shoes, although boots were worn as well.

Helmets were white with blue pugarees (or puggaree, pugree or pagri depending on how you spell it. From the Hindi for turban, anyway, derived from the Sanskrit parikarah).

Rank insignia were in gold on sleeves and were as shown:

http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3761

Royal Naval Brigade: Uniforms: Ratings

2007-08-26T21:27:00.000+01:00

I have completed my unit of Naval Brigade sailors. I have painted 14 figures, which is more than I need: five or six would be more accurate at a ratio of 1/33. But I felt that I needed a few extra for smaller skirmish and non-historical actions.

Uniforms

The information about uniforms for the sailors of the Naval Brigade is probably more unclear than for any other British unit in the Sudan. Partly this is because they are not a homogenous unit but consisted of sailors from a number of different ships. Even working out which ships they came from is not easy as these changed over the course of the campaign. Also artists of the time have shown them in different uniforms. I suspect they would not have displayed such a heterogenous look as I have depicted them in.

Headgear

White covered (or blue, i.e. without the cover) round caps with black headbands, black ribbons and the name of the sailor's vessel in gilt wire on the headband.

An alternative was the wide-brimmed straw Sennet hat. Sennet was a particular type of straw much used in the Orient. Naval slang for this hat was a Benjy. They were abolished by the Royal Navy in 1921.

This is a Canadian version from the early Twentieth Century.

Perry Miniatures do not offer a figure in a Sennet hat, even though Michael Perry mentions and illustrates the hats on his useful uniform guide on the Perry miniatures website.

http://www.perry-miniatures.com/index2.html

(go to The Sudan-Extras).

Copplestone Castings used to do RN sailors in Sennet Hats but they have withdrawn them.

Redoubt do some but the figures are crude and I suspect that they are far too large to use with the Perry figures.

http://www.redoubtenterprises.com/shop/?page=shop/browse&category_id=731095ef8c2b705fb650fd93fcea3595

There is a picture from the time illustrating sailors in Sennet Hats and white trousers.

Jackets

These are mainly illustrated as dark blue serge blouses worn over a white shirt with a black neckerchief. White blouses are illustrated too. With the dark blue blouse the collar could be light blue with three white stripes (as I have done them) or plain dark blue (no stripes) to match the blouse. With white blouses the collar was, again, light blue with white stripes or plain white. No buttons of course.

Trousers

Dark blue or white.

Leather belts and equipment

I have seen these described as black or brown with brass buckles.

Shoes

Everyone seems to agree that these were black.

Leggings

Brown or drill canvas or black leather.

Water Bottle

I have seen this described as having a grey felt cover.

So, it seems that you can use pretty any combination of these and probably be right!

Tomorrow I will look at the officers' uniform.

Royal Naval Brigade Gatling Gun and crew

2007-08-18T21:45:00.000+01:00

I finished the Gatling Gun and crew during my holiday last week. Nothing sums up the Colonial period like a Gatling Gun and they are often used as a symbol of appalling British Colonial tyranny by apologists when speaking about the British Empire.

The Gatling Gun was invented by Richard Jordan Gatling in 1861. It had 6 barrels originally and an effective range of 1200 yards. Despite the date they only saw limited service in the American Civil War.

The British adopted it for Colonial service in the 1870s and the RN mounted them on board ships as a deck-clearing (prior to boarding) weapon. It never saw action in this capacity, combat by boarding having long finished.

The RN Gatlings were made under licence in Britain and had ten .65 calibre barrels (not the more usual .45 calibre), and with the side cranked mechanism used had a rate of fire of 800 rounds per minute (in theory).

It's first use by the British in action (by Naval Brigade troops) was at the battle of Gingindlovu on 2nd April in the Zulu War of 1879. The model used in the Sudan (as in South Africa) was probably the 1871 model. It was deployed in the Ashanti war but didn't see action (other than a demonstration to impress some Ashanti envoys!).

The cylindrical magazine was called a Broadwell drum after L. W. Broadwell, an agent for Gatling's company. Inside were 20 stick magazines arranged around the central axis, each holding 20 cartridges with the bullet noses oriented toward the centre. As each magazine emptied, the drum was manually rotated to bring a new magazine into use until all 400 rounds had been fired.

Valentine Baker had (and lost!) two Gatlings at first El Teb. The Mahdists had one of these Gatlings available in their battery at Second El Teb (recaptured by the British at the battle) although I haven't seen any accounts that they actually used it during the battle (unlike the Krupp Guns). Graham had three Gatlings (all with naval crews)which saw action at second El Teb and Tamai. Unlike the other artillery which was transported in pieces by mule or camel the Gatlings and Gardeners were moved purely by the muscle power of their bluejacket crews.

I only need one for my force and one Gardner, which I have bought but not built. I made the mistake of building the Gatling gun before painting it and the whole operation was a lot more difficult as a result. The Gardner will be painted and then assembled! These sailors have the grey felt covers for their water bottles that were issued at the time for naval personnel.

I have a particular affection for the Gatling gun (horrible thing though it must have been, particularly if you were a tribesman armed only with a spear and hide shield) as my father bought me a model one when I was a little boy. It was grey plastic and mounted on wheels. You dropped those little silver balls that you decorate trifles with into a hopper on the top, turned the handle and they spat out the barrel and mowed down my Timpo soldiers very effectively. I would pay quite a lot of money to find one of those models again!

First Rub completed

2007-07-29T17:16:00.000+01:00

Here is my first completed Rub of 3 "bands" which, with the addition of a mounted emir, make a "tribe" in TSATF rules. Using a 1/33 ratio this would actually be more like two Rubs, as they numbered between 1,000 and 1,200 troops each. You'd have to drop to a 1/20 ratio to get a Rub to equals "tribe" in TSATF. That would mean Mahdist armies of 500 which is pushing it for individually based figures! I'll just have to live with the disconnect!

I painted the first figures last August so it has taken a year to paint them, althought I have painted a lot else in the mean time. More relevantly I have painted more than thirty figures since the beginning of May.

Nile Arabs and Flags

2007-07-26T20:40:00.000+01:00

I haven't posted anything for a while but that doesn't mean I haven't been painting anything!

Here are my first Nile Arabs; a box of standing troops plus half a command set. I don't really need them for the first couple of battles I am looking at as they were Beja only forces but will need some for the future. In this early period the patches on the clothing were small and by no means universal.

It may just be me but they seemed a bit more solid than the Beja, with fatter legs. I'm not going mad on painting these to a high standard as I just have too many to do.

The flag is from the new ones made by The Virtual Armchair General and designed by Eric Cox and these were well worth getting.

http://www.thevirtualarmchairgeneral.com/

They are a mixture of historical flags (most from the later Sudan conflict, actually) and a number of speculative but historically informed ones. They come in sets of four smaller flags and then a larger flag for the Emir. (I ordered the complete collection and there are well over 150 scale flags - enough for even the biggest army (plus a sheet for the Egyptian Army which will also be useful). They come printed on thin but strong paper and are quite splendid. The dimensions are historically accurate and make me realise that the flags I have done for my two completed units of Beja are too large so I will have to replace them with the smaller ones.

The Sword and the Flame Rules do not make any allowance for standards but these were pretty defining features of Mahdist armies. I want each Emir to have a standard so I am contemplating doing something I never do and making a multiple figure command base of an Emir, a Standard bearer and maybe even another figure on foot. With the camel mounted Beja this will need to be a pretty hefty base!

Paddle Boat

2007-06-19T22:16:00.000+01:00

Here is a better photo of my paddleboat, as requested. This was made for Darkest Africa games but it's not quite finished. Maybe I will get it done now.

It was built using the Gary Chalk instructions from Wargames Illustrated (above) but I thought his was a bit short so I have lengthened it a little and added a few details like steps and lifebelts which I got from a model boat shop. I'd never done a modelling project like this before so it was a tribute to his instructions that mine turned out OK!

Beja Shields 2

2007-06-15T06:54:00.000+01:00

Here are some more pictures of Beja shields. They were reportedly made from elephant, rhino or crocodile hide. But, as one of my sources points out, rhinos are not that common in the Sudan and also postulates giraffe or simple cow hide. Whatever, a plainer approach to painting is called for.

Beja Shields

2007-06-12T22:27:00.000+01:00

Finished three more figures today. Two more riflemen for my fourth unit of Beja, who will be an ambush type unit in crouching poses, and another camel mounted tribesman.

Decided to do the shield on this one differently. I had been copying the painted ones on the Peryy website which had a sort of star effect on them. Real Beja shields were more uniform in colour however. I think I overdid the contrast on this one so will tone it down for the next ones.

I have now based another nine infantry which will finish my third unit of Beja. I have now painted 53 infantry, 3 camels and the command group. Not bad progress.

Three more Naval Brigade sailors

2007-06-10T21:38:00.000+01:00

I've been away all week in Scandinavia so haven't had any time for painting but I did finish these three sailors today who now join the one on the left that I had already done. Except now I look at them I notice I haven't done the ships name (or at least an impression of it!) on their hat bands. A job for morning light I think! I'm glad there weren't more Naval Brigade troops in the Sudan as they are right fiddly to paint!

The ship in the background is my Darkest Africa paddleboat; an extended version (I thought his original was a bit short!) I made from the the Gary Chalk plans from Wargames Illustrated a few years ago. It's still not finished as it needs its rear canopy and a few other details.

Another Beja on a camel

2007-05-29T21:20:00.000+01:00

I finished this yesterday, the first of my June figures. I probably won't get many finished for a while as I have about 30 figures underway and they will take time to reach completion. Next week I have to go to Copenhagen and Helsinki as well.

The Naval Brigade figures now have all the base colours done so I need to do the shading for which I need natural light.

I am painting the last three Beja with rifles and some casualty figures (you need wounded figures for TSATF-well you could knock the figures over but that doesn't look too good!).

I have also started work on the Nile Spearmen and the last four camel mounted Beja. I am really enjoying painting the camels but seem to do them as a whole figure one at a time rather than as units for some reason. I am sorely tempted to get a British Camel Corps set just to have a go but that would be my next army and would be cheating!

Scorched Grass

2007-05-29T21:14:00.000+01:00

I am painting all my figures with a plain sandy base at present but Games Workshop have some scorched grass coming out next month and I was quite hopeful. I just want really pale yellowed grass for some bases but this looks like it has got red(?) in it. I'll have to see or try model railway suppliers.

http://uk.games-workshop.com/storefront/store.uk?do=Individual&code=99229999067&orignav=9

Mounted Beja Emir

2007-05-26T21:43:00.000+01:00

The Sword and the Flame rules require a mounted Emir figure to lead a tribe of three bands of 20 figures. The Beja hardly ever used horses so I have used a camel mounted figure for my first Emir.

Looking at this modern picture of a Beja boy the colours for the animal skin and the camel's harness are quite dark. Given that the sword hasn't changed I suspect nothing else has either!

I also managed to finish another three riflemen so that makes the rifle contingent for the third band complete. I just need some command figures and spearmen to finish it but I will try to paint some more figures before I order any others!

I based some Nile spearmen today so might do some of them next as a change from Beja.

Tomorrow I am going to have another go at the Naval Brigade figures.

Sudanese Skin

2007-05-22T23:37:00.000+01:00

Giles Allison has just painted some Beja

http://wdlovesme.19.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=1107&start=25

and was wondering about skin tone and lip colour. Here is a current inhabitant of Suakin as a guide: more like the riverine Nile tribesmen. Definitely Humbrol 186!

Had lunch with some government officials from Egypt today. Their skin tone varied from Mediterranean to the sort of colour seen above. May have to go to Cairo again soon. I enjoy sending e-mails from Lord Kitchener's desk (now the British Ambassador's desk) and having breakfast in the room in which Kitchener used to plan his campaigns in what is now the Ambassador's residence (his staff do a fabulous breakfast!)

The Beja are still fighting in the Sudan. This recent picture could have been taken a hundred years ago except for the AK 47s. Note the sword, almost identical to those used in the 1880s and 1890s.

A contempory Beja warrior

The Beja still use their famous white camels.

Beja women are gorgeous!

Vice-Admiral Sir William Nathan Wrighte Hewett 1834–88

2007-05-20T21:44:00.000+01:00

Here is the commander of my nascent Naval Brigade. It has to be Admiral Billy Hewett VC. Admiral Hewett was Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy's East India Station and commanded the 150 seaman, 400 Royal Marines and six gardiner guns that comprised the Naval Brigade. He arrived at Suakin on 16thDecember 1883 in his flagship, Euryalus. Following Baker's disastrous engagement at First El Teb Hewitt was put in overall military charge and the 15o Seamen and marines he landed to preserve order were the first British forces officially deployed in the Sudan.

At Second El Teb he personally commanded the Naval Brigade from the Square and led a charge at swordpoint! No wonder he was known as "The Fighting Admiral"! He won his VC in the Crimea when, having been ordered to retire from a Naval Brigade Battery being threatened by Russians, he shouted: 'Retire? Retire and be damned! Fire!'

He died in 1888, in Haslar Naval Hospital, and is buried in Portsmouth where he has a suitably nautical headstone!

Beja Riflemen

2007-05-20T21:24:00.000+01:00

Here are six Beja riflemen I painted this week on stage one of my new desert base. Four of these complete the second tribe of 20 Beja now that I am using five rifles per unit. This means I have done two units of 40 and eight of the third unit. This is roughly a sixth of the Mahdists I need. Could be worse. I will finish the next unit of Beja and then do one of Nile Arabs for a change.

Beja Swordsmen

2007-05-13T19:25:00.000+01:00

These are the first Beja I have finished for six months. Pretty rapid paint job as I have hundreds to do! I can't understand why these swordsmen don't have scabbards!

Next I'll do some more riflemen. A couple of people on The Miniatures Page have said that rather than doing seperate units of riflemen as TSATF rules suggest, they just add 4 or 5 to each normal band of warriors. This sounds like a good idea and makes it easier to deal with the 1 in 4 riflemen to warrior ratio. So I will add 5 riflemen to every warrior unit. I reckon if I paint 4 more riflemen I will have 2 full units of Beja.

Royal Navy and Royal Marines badges of rank

2007-05-08T13:04:00.000+01:00

I am about to start painting some officers so needed to find out about rank badges.

This is for the Royal Navy:

http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3761

This is for the Royal Marines:

http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.00h001004001009

These are the modern ones but I don't expect they have changed that much!

First Naval Brigade Sailor Completed

2007-05-06T22:14:00.000+01:00

Here is the first sailor, looking very much like he has come off a Players cigarette tin. I am quite happy with him and will work on the rest of the unit now. I have decided to keep it at 14 men, and even that is a bit high proportion-wise, but much less and they won't be a viable unit I think. In the pictures below I hadn't painted the brass end of his scabbard yet. This is now done!

My order arrived from Perry Miniatures (with one wrong code-as usual. This is the second time it's happened). The Gatling gun is great and I will do that in combination with the rest of the sailors. I won't order the Royal Marines until after I have done the KRRC (and some more Beja!).

Here is the whole unit as it is now. In reality there were only 150 sailors in the Naval brigade which means I should only have about 6 figures. But I want 4 figures to guard each gun plus officers. I also need to be able to field a bigger unit for non-historical battles.
I probably won't get any more done on them this week as I have to finish the Greeks for Saturday.

Naval Brigade: Ships

2007-05-04T22:30:00.000+01:00

The Naval contingent attached to the expeditionary force consisted of 150 seamen and 400 Royal Marines. They came from a number of ships lying off Suakin which joined others at Trinkitat to offload the Expeditionary force.

HMS Hecla

(lying off Suakin 1884)

HMS Dryad

(wooden screw sloop)

HMS Briton

(wooden screw corvette-this is her sister ship HMS Thetis)

HMS Carysfort

(steel corvette-this is her sister ship HMS Constance)

HMS Euryalus
(Flagship - iron screw corvette)

HMS Iris

Naval Brigade: First coat, first figure

2007-05-03T20:51:00.000+01:00

I put the base coat on the first figure to get a feeling for what colours I was going to use. The white stripes on the collars are a right fiddle. In the end I lost my light and had to stop so I will have to fill the gaps another day. A good start though.

The desert..

2007-05-03T16:27:00.000+01:00

I am planning to build a small scenic base to photograph my completed figures on as I can't keep putting them on what looks like a field in Kent. Eventually I will need to make suitable scenery for a full size battle. Either by buying a mat or using foam squares. The price is about the same (£100) but one is obviously quicker!

I had a look for pictures of the desert in the Sudan to get an idea for colours and the appearance of rocks etc.

The colour of the sand looks not very different, not surprisingly, from the sand I saw in Egypt (as shown in my profile photograph). I am using Humbrol 121 for the bases (I can't deal with acrylics and I have been using Humbrol enamel since 1970) and this looks not far off.

I have not put any grass or foliage on my bases but it is clear that there is some scrubby grass and bushes in some places. I need to find something appropriately dried out looking.

Michael Asher, in his book Khartoum, mentions black outcrops of rock sticking up from the sand and this must be what he was talking about.

I remember a scene from The Four Feathers (The Alexander Korda one, which was filmed in the Sudan, not the recent Heath Ledger abomination which was filmed in Morocco and therefore looks wrong) set on rocks exactly like this. The sand in this shot is spot on for Humbrol 121!

Closer to the Nile there is more greenery, of course but it's still not exactly lush.

Acacia trees are mentioned a lot in my books and today, as the source of gum arabic, they are a great natural resource for the Sudan. Realistic Modelling Services make a few trees that would serve as acacias, primarily the African savannah and olive trees.

http://www.realisticmodelling.com/catalog.asp?subrange=Trees

Fortunately, I have quite a few of their olive trees so I can use them for my base.

Naval Brigade: Full Steam Ahead!

2007-05-03T10:02:00.000+01:00

Although I am still painting my last 18 Greeks progress is good and I won't have any trouble finishing them by next Saturday. So I took the opportunity to at least start on the Naval Brigade figures that I have. As usual with the Perry figures they are a bit "rough" in patches and the faces are a bit bland but the anatomy, animation and detail more than makes up for this.

I hope the rest arrive soon.

Unit sizes for a TSATF army

2007-05-01T12:46:00.000+01:00

I have made an attempt to get the actual numbers in the units of the British Expeditionary Force down to a maneagable level for TSATF units. The basic British unit is supposed to be 20 figures for infantry and 12 for cavalry. The numbers engaged in early 1884 were quite small but, according to the TSATF weighting system, for every British figure you need about 2.25 natives. I have read that units as small as 10 are quite viable under the rules so I have decided on units that look like this:

1st Battalion 75th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders) 750 men 20 figures
3rd Battalion 60th Regiment (King's Royal Rifle Corps) 630 men 20 figures
2nd Battalion 89th Regiment (Royal Irish Fusiliers) 400 men 14 figures
1st Battalion 42nd Regiment (The Black Watch) 750 men 20 figures
1st Battalion 65th Regiment (Yorks and Lancs) 450 men 14 figures
Royal Marine Light Infantry 480 men 14 figures

10th Hussars 300 men 9 figures
19th Hussars 400 men 12 figures
Mounted Infantry 150 men 6 figures

Total 129 figures

This is about four to six months painting if I don't get distracted (ho, ho).

Guns I will deal with later.

Unit sizes are based on the number of figures in the Perry packs, as they come in sixes for infantry and threes for cavalry. So a 14 man unit is two regular packs and two officers. A 20 figure unit is 3 regular packs and two officers etc. I suspect I have ordered too many Naval Brigade figures and 12 would have been more than enough but I can always sell them on. Total cost is about £120 (without artillery), which is not too bad.

The only figures that the Perries don't make are mounted infantry on horses. They do them on foot. Hopefully, they will come out with them at some point. Otherwise it wouldn't be that hard to convert the six figures needed.

The only problem is that I need to paint 290 Mahdists to oppose them. Never mind I have already done 36!

Uniforms: First British Expeditionary Force Feb - Mar 1884: Cavalry Brigade

2007-04-30T22:56:00.000+01:00

Cavalry Brigade

10th Hussars

The 10th hussars had also arrived from India and were wearing khaki.

19th Hussars

Mounted Infantry

Another order off to Perry Miniatures

2007-04-30T10:04:00.000+01:00

I have just sent off another order off to the Perries. They usually come back pretty quickly but it doesn't matter as I still have 12 days worth of Greeks painting left! It will be nice to have the next units based up and ready to go for after that, however.

I have ordered enough figures to complete a unit of 20 of each of KRRC and Naval Brigade. So another 12 figures for each plus command packs. I also ordered one each of the Gardner and Gatling guns to complete the naval contingent. The Perries don't do the naval guns and crews used by the brigade but I am sure I can get suitable guns elsewhere and just adapt the crews.

Redoubt have a few items that might prove useful which the Perries don't make, such as their camel train carrying a screw gun, but no doubt the figures are huge. It may be easier to buy an extra gun and disassemble it to mount on some camels, as the Redoubt figures and animals are a bit crude.

Next British Figures

2007-04-29T00:59:00.000+01:00

I made good progress on the Greeks today so could spare some time to file and base my next British figures. Latterly, I have started to try to paint complete units rather than odd groups of figures but in this case I had a couple of spare packs I could start work on stright away. I will have to order the figures to make up these units next week.

Firstly, I have a pack of the Naval Brigade figures. When cleaning these up this evening I realised how very good these Perry figures are. I can't wait to paint them!

Secondly, I have a pack of firing figures, to which I have added a spare officer and sergeant to begin my Kings Royal Rifles Corps unit. This was my Grandfather's regiment so I better paint them nicely! I think the firing figures are best for Riflemen so I may get the firing line pack next. The Sword and the Flame Rules make no use of musicians but there are some lovely drummer and bugle figures in the command packs so I may just have to replace a normal foot soldier with a musician.

I really need to make a desert base to photograph these figures against!

British Line Officer and Sergeant Early 1884

2007-04-28T08:29:00.000+01:00

These are my first British troops, painted as line infantry in the grey uniform issued to the expeditionary force. Perry Miniatures of course.

For El Teb (or et-Teb, as I have also seen it written, notably in Michael Asher's book) and Tamai there were no line troops wearing this uniform as they were all Highlanders, Rifles, Naval Brigade or troops in khaki Indian service dress. These chaps will have to wait!

Uniforms: First British Expeditionary Force Feb-Mar 1884: 2nd Infantry Brigade

2007-04-28T07:19:00.000+01:00

2nd Infantry Brigade

1st Battalion 42nd Regiment (Royal Highlanders - the Black Watch)

Ist Battalion 65th Regiment (Yorks and Lancs)

Another regiment that had arrived from India.

Royal Marine Light Infantry

Naval Brigade

Some artist show them wearing sennet hats but as the Perry figures have caps I will stick with these.

Royal Artillery

Uniforms: First British Expeditionary Force Feb-Mar 1884: Ist Infantry Brigade

2007-04-27T11:08:00.000+01:00

These are what the different units wore for El Teb and Tamai. Pictures are scanned from the Miniature Wargames article by Michael Perry. An online version can be found on the Perry Miniatures Website. Look at the Sudan Extras page.

http://www.perry-miniatures.com/index2.html

As I paint the relevant figures I will add pictures of them as well.

1st Infantry Brigade

1st Battalion 75th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders)

Wearing the grey uniforms specially devised for the campaign and their normal kilts. It is very difficult to get an idea of what shade of grey was used. I have seen it depicted as everything from a light blue-grey to quite a dark almost slate grey. I am going for a light battleship grey.

3rd Battalion 60th Regiment (King's Royal Rifle Corps)

Wearing the grey uniform with their normal black leather accoutrements and buttons. These should be the quickest figures to paint anyway!

2nd Battalion 89th Regiment (Royal Irish Fusiliers)

They had arrived from India so wore the India service khaki uniforms.

6/1 Scottish Division Royal Artillery

British Expeditionary Force Sudan 1884: Historical organisation

2007-04-26T22:29:00.000+01:00

This is the British force I have decided to build first. Most of the troops can be used for later in the campaign too.

General Sir Gerald Graham VC

This was the force commanded by General Sir Gerald Graham for the battles of El Teb and Tamai (with approximate numbers).

Major General Sir Redvers Buller VC

1st Infantry Brigade - Major General Sir Redvers Buller

1st Battalion 75th Regiment (Gordon Highlanders) 712
3rd Battalion 60th Regiment (King's Royal Rifle Corps) 565
2nd Battalion 89th Regiment (Royal Irish Fusiliers) 343

26 Company Royal Engineers 62

6/1 Scottish Division Royal Artillery 7 pdr screw guns 150

2nd Infantry Brigade - Major General John Davis

1st Battalion 42nd Regiment (Royal Highlanders - the Black Watch) 623
Ist Battalion 65th Regiment (Yorks and Lancs) 435
Royal Marine Light Infantry 478

Naval Brigade 3 Gatlings, 3 Gardner guns 150
26 Company Royal Engineers 100

M/1 Royal Artillery 2 6cwt and 2 8cwt Naval guns on field carriages 126

Major General Sir Herbert Stewart

Cavalry Brigade - Major General Sir Herbert Stewart

10th Hussars 251
19th Hussars 362

Mounted Infantry 124

Abyssinian Mounted Scouts 100

Khartoum and Second el Teb

2007-04-26T06:56:00.001+01:00

Having decided to re-start work on my Sudan figures I have just begun to read "Khartoum" by Michale Asher. This is a terrific book and I cannot imagine a better one being written for a very long time. Asher was a serving soldier (SAS) and also lived in the Sudan for ten years so has a very good feel for the people and locations.

I'm about a hundred pages in and have just read his tremendous account of second el Teb. This easily provides enough information to put together a wargames refight and as the battle involved quite small but diverse forces on the British side (Highlanders, Riflemen, Marines, Naval Brigade, Hussars, Khaki clad infantry etc.) I think I'll make it the model for my first British force. What I'll need to do next is get some sort on breakdown of troops involved and then try to convert them to wargames sized units. Then I'll try to work out the uniforms involved.

Command Group

2007-04-24T21:21:00.000+01:00

I haven't posted on here for ages but I am starting to feel that once I have the last Greeks finished for Cynoscephalae then I won't want to paint another Ancient for months. The Perries have just announced that they are about to start the Egyptian army for the Sudan so I think I will go back and finish some of the figures I have started.

I have also picked up some cavalry in the interim so will do some of those too.

In the meantime here is my army command group. The Perry figures are so nice even my dodgy painting can't spoil them.

I have ordered the new Mahdist sourcebooks from the Virtual Armchair General which should prove very useful and they have a great offer on flags as well.

http://www.thevirtualarmchairgeneral.com/

Some more progress

2006-10-22T18:39:00.000+01:00

Although I am spending quite a lot of time on my new Crusader Punic Romans I am still working on the large group of Beja on the workbench. I have now put sand on all the bases and painted the black parts on most of the figures. I am going to the USA tomorrow for 10 days so won't get anything done.

First camel troops

2006-10-08T19:29:00.000+01:00

These are the first camel mounted troops. I am going for one yellowy camel and two pale "white" ones. They are very large models standing nearly two and a half inches high. They should look good in a group. I have three more ready to be filed and based, which I bought at Colours in September.

More riflemen

2006-10-08T19:27:00.000+01:00

These are the next 12 riflemen under way. I have six already completed but this means I will have to buy another pack to finish them to make a 20 man unit.

The next batch

2006-10-08T19:19:00.000+01:00

I have started on the next group of Beja Swordsmen. They are painted with Humbol 186 and this pot is rather lighter than the previous ones I have used. It will give some nice skin tone variety when I mix them in with the existing ones.

Organisation of Beja Foot

2006-10-04T15:53:00.000+01:00

This is the organisation of my first group of Beja according to The Sword and the Flame rules. Each band is 19 figures plus a leader known as a sheikh.

Three tribes make a larger force called a tribe that require a mounted Emir to lead them. I am making one of the three tribes armed with rifles, even though you are only supposed to have one in four units with rifles. I can deal with this when I paint my first unit of Nile Spearmen.

2006-10-03T18:52:00.000+01:00

Riflemen

These are the six riflemen I have painted so far. The Sword and the Flame allows you one unit of riflemen per three sword and spear units. Annoyingly the figures come in packs of six so I am going to have to get excess to finish the unit. I already have six more underway.

2006-10-03T18:30:00.000+01:00

Swordsmen and Spearmen

Here are the 30 figures I have finished so far; I need to paint another 10 to finish the second unit. A good many of these were painted over the summer holidays in Cowes.

The animation of these figures is some of the nicest I have seen on any figures anywhere and so I forgive them the occasional roughness in texture in places.

2006-10-03T18:21:00.000+01:00

Concentrating on Beja

I have decided to experiment with just painting one type of figure for a bit. I have put everything else back in their boxes and am planning to paint just Perry Beja tribesmen for three weeks. I did this over the summer holiday and got on quite well so I am hoping to be able to do this again. This is my first unit for The Sword and the Flame rules-20 figures; quite manageable.

2006-08-29T22:44:00.000+01:00

The Mahdi's Camel

This is just a test as I am having trouble uploading photos onto this site so may have to start again.

Here is the Mahdi in progress. Having been very pleased with the camel I have just read that he had a white camel. Curses! I am not repainting him though. I'm sure he rode more than one!

2006-08-21T14:22:00.000+01:00

Having set up a couple of blogs based on armies I meant to work on but then got distracted from I thought it might be a better idea to actually do one where I am making some progress!

I chose the Sudan campaign 1883-1885 largely because of the wonderful new range of figures sculpted by Michael Perry of Perry Miniatures http://www.perry-miniatures.com/index2.html but also because I have wanted to build an army of Colonial British in pith helmets for some time. I bought my first metal figures six or seven years ago largely because they had British in pith helmets (Foundry's darkest Africa). I didn't want to do the Zulu wars because I couldn't face painting hundreds of nearly identical Zulus. Britain's opponents in the Sudan were much more varied in appearance and the British forces themselves, including Royal Marines, Royal Navy, Highlanders and Camel mounted troops were also more interesting.

Experience is also showing that I actually get these figures painted, rather than just looking at them for months!
Another key element for me is having a really good book or two and, preferably, a film for inspiration.

I picked up Wilbur Smith's recent novel about the siege of Khartoum, Triumph of the Sun, http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0330412655/202-4106162-1167063?v=glance&n=266239&s=gateway&v=glance at Gatwick airport. I have only read a couple of Wilbur Smith novels before and this one started well but then seemed very rushed at the end but it inspired me to buy the DVD of the 1966 film, Khartoum, starring Charlton Heston http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000089AUD/202-4106162-1167063?v=glance&n=283926&s=dvd&v=glance which, while also not perfect, is certainly well worth seeing, despite a rather eccentric portrayal of the Mahdi by Laurence Olivier. Interestingly the Perry figure looks more like Olivier playing the Mahdi than the historical figure!

I had already picked up some Perry figures at Salute 2005 but reading the book and watching the film inspired me to get some painted. I took a group of 18 Beja with me on holiday last month and, much to my surprise painted them all. With the ones I had done earlier in the year they were starting to look like the beginning of a proper army. I have just bought a more few packs from Perry to complete some more units and hope to get these painted in the next few weeks.