From The Deserts of Sudan 1-TMWWBK

 

Fresh from learning to love Lion Rampant v2. I turned my attention to The Men Who would Be Kings(TMWWBK).  Another Dan Mersey production. I’ve had a copy from the get go. I also have a bunch of Peter Pig figures for the Sudan. Badly painted because back then I was using ink wash for the first time. And getting it wrong.

Turning to the sample Army Lists I saw I could field the British one, A Beja variant and nearly the River Arabs. I was 3 cavalry short for them. I set about repainting the little fellows.

I think there is a knack to painting Peter Pig figures. They have a lot of detail. Getting that right is the difference to between a good result and a bland one. Fortunately I now have a lot of Peter Pig painting (SCW,RCW) experience to stand me in good stead.

I decided to paint the British infantry as two units (Companies?) of infantry and one of Marines. The cavalry were to be Hussars.

British uniforms in the Sudan were eclectic. Some in khaki, some in red coats, grey, blue/grey sometimes in the same unit. Add tea stained topis and what’s not to like? I wanted a pair of regimental flags and didn’t want to buy them. Online I found a pair of 19th Century Colours for the Enniskillen’s. That is what you will eventually see here. At this scale they suit any blue flag British regiment. 

The Royal Irish were in the Sudan we just need to squint a bit and it is their Colours we shall see.

 

For the Mahdi’s men I did some visual research. Skin tone varied a lot in the Sudan. Sometimes simply by region and sometimes because of a historical mixing of African and Arab peoples. I wanted to reflect this. 

The Mahdi (above) was a Sufi, a mystic strand of Islam that seeks spiritual enlightenment. He, I read last week, was Shia rather than Sunni as I had wrongly assumed. Sufi devotees can be found among both sets of Believers. 

Forgive me a digression. Another famous Sufi of the period was British soldier, explorer and diplomat Richard Burton. He practiced the Sufi way with enthusiasm. Should you want a good read the most recent Burton biography delivers in spades. 

Burton, is well known for his translation of the Perfumed Garden and the expedition to find the source of the Nile. There is much more to know about Burton. There is also a lot we will sadly never know. His wife burned his papers to "protect his reputation". End of digression.

Anything else on books? Yes, and directly on point. The Mahdi of Sudan by Fergus Nichol is informative drawing as it does on both  British and Mahdist sources. Well worth reading.

Basing made me ponder. Not so much the shape, squares for regular Infantry and round for everyone else. No, it was the terrain. I have settled on rocky sand as it makes the uniforms and Jibbas stand out nicely.

Here are the Beja who "broke a British Square” as Kipling noted. We might pause a moment and think of those men who waded, sword in hand, through a storm of bullets to accomplish that.  Brave barely covers it. 

It inspired Kipling's poem. He knew what Lee-Metford rifle bullets could do to human bodies. I often think that poem must have come back to him after his son died in the 1914-18 War. There firepower met firepower rather than swords and spears. Men fell like autumn leaves.

Here are some Baggara Cavalry. A British officer who saw them charge wrote "You never saw anything so stirring or so recklessly brave." Eventually I will have two units of them. 

As the Mahdi regime continued the characteristic Jibba became more highly decorated. The originals were patched by necessity rather than choice. Mine are sort of mid way.

In theory I only needed to buy a single pack of Mahdist cavalry and it was job done. Too easy by far.  

What about Beja camelry? Well yes, you have to have them,

Shouldn't the British have a gun? Of course they should.

Isn't Mike Snook's book reputed to be very good? Everyone says so. A must have for Sudan Gamers apparently.

In for a penny, in for pound then. I ordered the lot.  After all I had saved on the flags.

Much more on this project soon.

Perchance the Gardens of Japan have popped into your mind.  We might get there yet. I have some Samurai mostly painted.