As part of my Anglo-Zulu War forces I’m adding a small force of Natal Carbineers. The NC was a relatively small force – one of the smallest of the various para-military units in South Africa, numbering I believe just 60 at the time of the war in 1879 (with a total of 71 men serving during the course of the entire war). Of these at least 22 perished at Isandlwana (along with 26 Natal Mounted Police; and incidentally 2 NMP were also present at Rorke’s Drift – one of whom also perished, the other being wounded). The figures I chose are from the (classic) Wargames Foundry range, as these were the best figures I knew of at the time compatible with my existing Foundry, Perry, Castaway, and similar figs; and they can double as Natal Mounted Police at a pinch if needed… Continue reading “I say, it’s the Natal Carbineers!”
Tag: Figures
Here come the Bengal Lancers
As my colonial forces expand to cover the NWF (North West Frontier) now the Sudan and Zulu Wars are well catered for I have endeavoured to make some units ‘multi-use’ (i.e. suitable for more than 1 campaign/theatre if possible). As such I am constructing 2 Squadrons (or TSATF ‘units’) of Bengal Lancers, one Sikh and one Muslim. Here are some photos of the completed figures so far, based, and just waiting for lance pennants and suitable texturing of their bases… Continue reading “Here come the Bengal Lancers”
English Civil War in 15mm
15mm Parliamentarian English Civil War figures from my collection – most are Essex with some Frei Korps making up the numbers. These are no longer in my collection as I moved away from figure scales smaller than 20mm in the early 2000’s…
Continue reading “English Civil War in 15mm”Graf von Schnyder
For my Colonial Games using TSATF I like to have a few ‘personality’ figures to add to the games or campaigns over and above the standard units and commanders. Graf von Schnyder is a German Adventurer and Big Game Hunter who has travelled to the southern-most reaches of the Sudan and beyond retracing Samuel Baker’s epic journey, in addition to visiting other parts of Africa and the Pacific. Independently wealthy Schnyder is on a self obsessed mission to become world famous ‘somehow’ with the currently popular ‘Geographic Society’ and earn his immortality!
Continue reading “Graf von Schnyder”Doctor Ernesto Furtwangler
For my Colonial Games using TSATF I like to have a few ‘personality’ figures to add to the games or campaigns over and above the standard units and commanders. An Austro-Hispanic Missionary & Doctor who has done charitable work in Khartoum and Kordofan and is well travelled (South America, India, China). Dr Furtwangler has travelled much of the world doing his missionary work for various Catholic Churches & Societies, and has learned several dialects.
Continue reading “Doctor Ernesto Furtwangler”The Egyptian Army: Sudanese Infantry
A Sudanese Infantry Company (the 1st as you can tell by the Blue Company Flag) – they mostly wear blue uniforms as per the Egyptian winter uniform (or perhaps they are from the XIIth Sudanese who wore a ‘Gendarme’ blue uniform). The Company NCO is in charge of the standard and there is an Egyptian Lieutenant or Captain (or Agha), while the Company Bugler is in somewhat non-regulation dress (he’s actually been requisitioned from the Perry’s Bazinger command pack). The Sudanese Infantry Battalion HQ features a mounted Egyptian Colonel (or Bey); a Veteran Sudanese NCO (or perhaps a trusted irregular scout – with Revolver & Sword and a non-regulation uniform – he’s actually a Perry’s Bazinger figure), an Egyptian Ensign with the Battalion Standard, and the Battalion Musician (another Egyptian, this time a Drummer), the latter two wear Sudan manufactured Brown (or perhaps dark khaki) uniform. Continue reading “The Egyptian Army: Sudanese Infantry”
The Egyptian Army: Fellahin Infantry
Egyptian Infantry Companies (the 4th on right as you can tell by the Yellowy-Orange Company Flag, the 3rd Company having the discoloured White Flag on left), supported by a Section of Artillery. Behind can be seen the Battalion HQ with the Colonel on horseback, and the Green Battalion Flag (of the 3rd Battalion), plus drummer and such. Battalion HQ consists of the mounted Colonel (or Bey), Battalion Senior NCO/Ensign with Standard, Battalion Musician (Drummer), and a fellahin rifleman guarding the colours completes the quartet.
My full Egyptian Infantry force consists of the Battalion HQ, 2 Fellahin rifle companies, and two supporting 6pdr artillery guns (along with 2 companies of Sudanese). All figures are Perry’s including the Krupp 6pdr Light Field Gun. The bases of these figures actually still have some minor work done to complete them (i.e. additional detailing).
Mystery Colonial Italian Gun?
Can you identify this mysterious Italian Mountain Gun…? Askari Miniatures produce the illustrated Italian Mountain Gun – and while it is modelled on actual photographs of Italian guns it has not been positively identified exactly what model and calibre the weapon is.
Askari describe it thus: “Italian Mountain gun from the 1890s. Used by the Italian Askari camel and mule-mounted gun companies.“
I am attempting to identify exactly what weapon it is, when it entered service with the Italians (and for how long, i.e. was it still in use in WW1 or even WW2) and whether it may have been used by Nations other than the Italians (if it was for example an exported Krupp or DeBange gun or similar).
Order from the Flag Dude Arrives
My order from The Flag Dude has arrived for my Colonial Troops – I’ve been keen to get this as its the first time I’ve ordered from Rick O’Brien and I was looking forward to seeing first hand what his flags are like – now I can push on and complete my units now and give them their nice new flags. I’ve also taken photos of the Flags on arrival to give people an idea of what they look like!
The following is a random selection of flags I have purchased from Rick O’Brien, the Flag Dude, for my 28mm Colonial Forces. I’ve put these up to give anyone interested a good (but quick) view of some of the flags in a higher resolution than is available on Rick’s site.
Continue reading “Order from the Flag Dude Arrives”28mm Askari Miniatures Figure Comparison
I recently ordered some sample figures from Al Maurer at Askari Miniatures as I was looking at using some of his ranges and wanted to see how they compared with my existing Perry Miniatures & Wargames Foundry figures (that make up the vast bulk of my 28mm Colonial armies), and to get a feel for how they compared to Gerry Webb’s Castaway Arts figs.
Talking to Al about it I also promised to report back to him how they compared, in my opinion, as he advised he hadn’t directly compared them previously since the ranges didn’t really ‘crossover’ (e.g. Perry’s’ Sudan range is 1880’s while Askari’s French & Italians are later, the Italians being in fact 1930’s)…
London War Room Closed
The London War Room has apparently had to close indefinitely. The business has been run by husband & wife team Vince & Sharron for 15 years, however Vince has apparently walked away from the business at short notice. The business is being dissolved and hopefully it (or at least the masters) will get picked up by someone quickly – it includes good ranges of Wild Animals, Colonial Guns, Ships, and various other items not well covered by many other 28mm Manufacturers (although it’s suggested the range of Houston’s Guns may not be available again regardless). The site linked to above is currently offline but Sharron has stated she may get a temporary one back up to list what remaining stock they have left for sale until the business is sold. Sharron has posted a detailed account of what has happened on the Colonial Wars Yahoo Group for those interested – Hopefully things will work out for both the current owners and it will quickly find a new owner, I have purchased many Colonial Guns & Animals, and some long boats from them and they are on the whole a very nice range of castings…
Building the Quatre Bras armies in 28mm
For a long time I had been musing over what to do about Napoleonics. However now I am back into Napoleonics full time in 28mm, re-enthused by the release of SHAKO II and possibly also LaSalle. I’ll be documenting here the assembly of my forces for Quatre Bras, along with gaming notes and more. Eventually I’ll be hoping to expand my forces to cover a portion of the Waterloo battlefield – Megalomania? What’s that!
It was my intent to include a SHAKO Order of Battle for the forces of both sides – but the new rulebook includes such an OOB in it! However I probably will be doing an expanded OOB at a later date to allow for the expansion of the battle beyond the critical stages as covered in the SHAKO II Scenario – allowing it to be played in a mini-campaign format, and to do ‘what ifs’ covering the possibility that Ney acted sooner and more vigorously…