Royal Marines Light infantry Officer

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!!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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