Thursday, 3 December 2020

Sudan Colonial part 1. British

This little project demonstrates the perils of eBay browsing. While I've had a vague interest in Colonial warfare, when it comes to chaps in Khaki Drill I've more been playing Mesopotamia and Palestine in WW1. Well, sadly a very cheap lot of  unpainted 15mm Mahdist Wars figures appeared on eBay, and purchasing and painting duly followed.


Here are a couple of British units, with a heroic command base. I really like the look of KD with white webbing so I went for later period figures in Khaki rather than 'Zulu' style redcoats.


These figures are Two Dragons 15mm. I did them on my usual 30x30 bases but with three figures in line, which I think looks rather nice.


The commander is on his horse. I can't remember where I got the flags now unfortunately.


You can't do without artillery support, so one of the first things I got to supplement the eBay figures were some guns. A couple of RBLs in this case.


I think these are Essex, certainly I ended up buying quite a few Essex figures to supplement the Two Dragons ones.


You also have to have a Gatling Gun, so it can jam when the Colonel is dead. Also Essex I think.


A lovely little model.


I did some individually based officers for heroic Harry Faversham type activities. These are a mixture of Two Dragons, Essex and possibly some Peter Pig.


Where the British Army goes, so does its baggage. I got some pack mules, probably Essex, possibly PP. 


I didn't give them any handlers so I could use them for multiple periods. Burma or Italy anyone?


I also got a few pack camels, which add some tone to the proceedings. Along with the pack mules, they are all ideally suited to panicking and disrupting any well ordered square they happen to be standing inside.

12 comments:

  1. Hi David -
    Sweet! I particularly like the pack camels. Over the years I've collected a whole bunch of Airfix and ESCI WW2 pack horses/ mules and have painted and organised those for just about any period I want them for (though they are mostly for 1850-1950).

    I must admit, even for late 19th Century, I am more interested in 'great power' warfare than in colonial - except when the colonised dish out a few licks of their own!
    Cheers,
    Ion

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The pack animals have indeed been pressed into service in more sensible armies. I've done far more 'great power' nineteenth century warfare than colonials as there was an awful lot of it around, but colonials is a useful thing to have in the toy bag.

      Delete
  2. I do wonder if E-bay demands greater levels of focus than the average gamer has! They look very nice - any thoughts on rules/gaming system to use them?

    Simon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AS I said to Ian, my preference is Science vs Pluck and Broken Square. I've tried all sorts including Battles for Empire, Principles of War, Rudi Guedens Memoir 44 variant and even Horse, Foot and Guns.

      Delete
  3. 'Blood and Sand' from Realtime wargames (available from Wargames Vault) has some interesting ideas and is worth getting for the background material alone. I've just bought Peter Pig's Patrols in the Sudan to compare.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Colonial games I've enjoyed the most have been Science vs Pluck and Richard Brooks 'Broken Square'. tbh the others just leave me cold

      Delete
    2. The original PITS gave some interesting games. Don't know bout the new version.

      Delete
  4. Those look great- be interested to see what you do with them.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Pete. I've had them for some years but they rarely come out to play - which is probably good indication of how much I'm actually interested in Colonial...

      Delete
  5. I assume you have a copy of Science v Pluck already? I painted mine in red, so I could do Tel El Kebir as well. I sort of regret that now, and often think I should either repaint or rebuy to get the kaki fellows.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I've played a Science vs Pluck a fair bit. Generally more on the RPG end, I don't bother with the over complex combat rules and just throw a few dice instead.

      Delete