Sudan River Arabs-TMWWBK

 

TMWWBK gives us a suggested list for a Sudanese River Arab Force. As suggestions go it is a good one and it is where I began.  It is not where I ended up as you will see. I can in fact field a fair few variants of a a River Arab array. The reason being I found three units I had already painted and put away safely. Very safely, I'd forgotten them.

Here are the Baggara Cavalry.  They were a nomadic tribe with the usual attributes. Tough, fierce, predatory and self interested.  The Mahdi won them over, no easy task, and they fought hard for him.

The first unit here is from Essex. It is one of the foundlings. They are rated Tribal cavalry and could be upgraded as suits.

This one is from Peter Pig. I have another 3/4 done.

Now the Jihaddya Rifles who we have discussed before. I have three units, two from Peter Pig and one from Essex. They are rated as Irregular Infantry.  Contra the list, mine won't be poor shots. Essex above.

Peter Pig next.

Some camelry. They could be a half unit of mounted Irregular Infantry or serve in the cavalry. Figures from Essex. Nice enough I think.

Now for the hard hitters, Ansar Warriors.  Rated as Tribal Warriors and crying out for the Fierce and/or Veteran upgrades. Read the literature. I have three units. An Essex and Peter Pig mix first.

Decades ago I read that Ansar means Pure, it does not. Ansar means Helpers or Supporters.

Nice figures and look, the correct River Arab shield. I dislike the cast on flag. I have another such unit that looks pretty much the same.

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Above, something seldom seen. This unit mixes Peter Pig, Essex and Lancashire Games Archive figures. I'm greatly taken by the latter. 

When the Mahdi started out he maintained that fighting was to be done with sword and spear as in the days of the Prophet. All the same he carefully collected rifles and ammo captured from stricken foes. When his policy changed selected men of aptitude were given firearms. They seem to have the most impact in sieges where they certainly shot straight.

The Beja next on this project. I note people are now spelling it Bija.  How ever you spell it, it is apparently pronounced Beejah. Every day is a school day.

Sudan Progress-TMWWBK

 

Things proceed apace. Mike Snook’s Book has arrived. I’ve not read it yet but I have paid attention to the pictures.  All very helpful.

I wanted to get my British infantry finished. The first “Company” above. It carries the Colours which makes the officer the Colonel or at least a Major.  I may have to paint him a bigger moustache. All Peter Pig and 12 figures in all.

 

Another 2 “Companies” each of 12 figures in the same uniform. My Sudan British Regular infantry are done. 

They are versatile too. This uniform will do for the North West Frontier as well.

I had thought of varying my British Companies, Marines, other regiments sort of thing. On balance I chose not to. By way of compensation I may add some Sikhs. That will depend very much on whether Lancashire Games Archive figures match well with Peter Pig. I will be reporting back on that.

A unit of Jihaddya Rifles next. These fellows are Sudanese  originally in Egyptian employ.  Everyone agrees that they were first rate soldiers. In fact, Dan Mersey gives them the same stat’s as British Regulars. Only when under regular command mind you.

All the same they remained formidable when fighting for the Mahdi. He inherited them when he defeated the Anglo-Egyptians. I’m fielding them as Irregular Infantry with an upgrade, not sure which one yet.

The point being they were well trained men who knew how to use and look after their rifles. As for motivation, swopping sides seemed not to bother them. Twelve figures per unit. I will run to 2 or 3 units of them.

It is a bit of a caution to find out this was still the age of the Slave Soldier. All very Mamluk and seemingly non the worse performing for that.

Still with firepower here is a Beja rifle unit. The Beja got loads of Remington rifles from their defeated foe. Ammunition too. They liked to mass skirmish effectively screening and shooting in the charges of the Beja warriors. I wonder if that tactic can be pulled off on the tabletop?

Depending when, we might rate these lads as poor shots. They didn’t know how to maintain their rifles and as time went on might be forced to use the wrong ammunition for want of supply.

Another Beja Warrior unit here. Peter Pig again.

I'm using different shades/colours on the Beja robe. That seems to be right.

I have much more on this project to come.  By way of more TMWWBK fun I have discovered an unpainted Afghan force long forgotten.

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.

League of Augsburg- Great Danes

 

My Danish collection began life as a contingent for the Williamite Army in Ireland.  Since then it has grown into its own.  I now have enough Danes to take the Swedes on in The Great Northern War. Above and below the first battalion of the Garden til Fods.

Below we see the second battalion Garden til Fods.  All flags by David at Not by Appointment. Figures mostly from Essex and Irregular.

Next, Regiment Fynske/Funen, figures from Irregular and Flag from David at Not by Appointment. 

One battalion of Fynske served with William in his Irish Campaign. These are they attired for that theatre according to Mr McNally in his Boyne book. The regiment appears to have had a range of attractive uniforms in our period. White on green seems best for Ireland.

Once more figures from Irregular and the flag is from David.  A winning combination I find. These boys have been hard at it. Only one Grenadier survives and the officers have lost their red coats.  Regiment Fynske had more than one battalion and as it happens I have another too.

This one carries the Colonel's and the regimental Colours and will be good for Continental engagements. The Flags are from Barry Hilton 28mm and shrunk to size.

Here are two often found in English or Dutch Service.  First the Sjællandske Infantry Regiment.  I have used light blue facings, others prefer a mid blue.

The Prinz George Infantry in grey and red.

Flags from Mr Hilton, scanned and reduced.  The Danes had given up the pike in favour of added fire power. Consider that the Swedish Army often fielded forces with a plurality or even a majority of hard charging horsemen.

The Danes didn't take any artillery to Ireland.  They do need some if they are going to fight the Swedes.  

Two pieces here from Irregular. The violet and green uniform was hard to resist.  Below the Danish Grenadier Regiment created in the early 1700s.

All from Dixon who seemed the best match for the cap and with a flag from David.  A striking colour combination.

Below we have the 1st Squadron of the 3rd Jyske Cavalry. I'm not sure who made that flag.

Here you see the 1st and second squadrons of 2nd Sjællandske Cavalry. 

David of Not By Appointment blog provided the flags.  

Just the ticket, thank you David. 

I recently came across a definitive answer to the Danish cuirass question.  Not in Ireland and no buff coats when in Foreign Service. Yes to both when at home.  My source, a post from the late, and much missed, Dan Schorr on the League of Augsburg's Fighting Talk.

Permit a GNW diversion if you will. It happens that most of my GNW Collection is from Dixon. Consequently they are slighter than most of the Danes you see here.  Not that that will stop me using them together.

My GNW Swedes are all in turnback coats and tricorn. I'm happy with them. That said were I to be starting such a collection I would go with Irregular.  

The reason being that the Swedes could be better represented with a mixture of Irregular Marlburians and League of Augsburg figures. If that's of interest check out Khurasan's Swedish offering. Irregular's Marlburians would make fine GNW Russians. 

For our next League of Augsburg foray we are going to look at the French.  We will start with the Guard infantry.

Before that we may see some plastic Ancients in 15mm. Late Romans and Huns.

Final USA units- American Revolution

 

Above, the Light Infantry.  Below, various Brigadiers. Both pic's show QRF figures.  

Another view of the commanders.

Below, the Green Mountain Boys who enjoyed a fighting reputation.  The usual mixture of manufacturers Essex, Minifigs and QRF.

Is that it?  Not quite I have a Minifig unit of Light Infantry to do. Not sure when I'll get to it. Happily another collection has been put on a firm footing.