British for the Sudan

I think my interest in the colonial period was triggered by this photograph of the Queens Own Cameron Highlanders formed up in square in a barren stretch of desert. It is nothing, if not incongruous. Men from Scotland, dressed in uniforms designed for European conditions, in the middle of an expanse of desert that couldn't be further from the Highlands. It begs the question, what on earth are they doing there and why?

As it happens, I've yet to add figures in kilts to my collection, for now the majority of miniatures are from the Perry Miniatures plastic range that covers the period 1877-85. 

I've used them for a few different rule sets including The Men Who Would be Kings; Death in the Dark Continent and a variant of Sharp Practice.

I had initially based the figures individually, which made sense at the time as several of the rule sets required casualties to be removed. However, I've gone off sabot basing and moved over to multi-basing instead. In this case in groups of four figures. That's been the excuse to create this new post to reflect the new appearance of the collection. 

I like the compact look of the figures and the more seamless appearance of the basing.

Most of the commanders and leaders are from the same Perry plastic set. 

I've carried out a couple of very simple conversions to create wounded figures that I can use to replace a leader figure once a wound occurs. 

 

The two prone figures are also Perry plastics. In their case they come from the Zulu war British set, as the Sudan set doesn't contain any casualty figures. To say I 'converted' those two is to stretch things a little. I haven't even gone to the effort of giving them puttees. All I did was shave off the cuff details and piping and paint them in khaki.

I made use of a few spare Perry plastic figures to make up a suitable deployment point.

Also from Perry Miniatures is a contingent from the Naval Brigade.

Unlike the regular infantry figures these are all in metal.

I particularly like the command figures, which are full of character. 

One of the key contributions made by the Naval Brigade was to operate heavier weapons, like the early machine guns, in this case a Gardner gun. 

And a 7 pounder screw gun, once again from the Perrys.

I have a small mounted contingent from the 19th Hussars. Once again these are metal figures from Perry Miniatures.

While the vast majority of figures are from the Perrys, there are a few extras from other ranges. I wanted a group of figures that could represent something like a railway survey party or armed civilians. The intention is to use them as characters in scenarios where they may need to be rescued or escorted. This set below is from Wargames Foundry and come from their Darkest Africa range. 

Thinking along similar lines, I acquired this camel train and drivers from Empress Miniatures. Once again they could be a scenario objective or something to be protected and escorted. 

The Mahdist opposition to these units haven't required rebasing but do deserve a post of their own, one where I can compile the full collection in a single spot. That's a job I will get around to soon.

Additions to the Sharp Practice Sudan project

I'm going to be running Sharp Practice participation games set in the Sudan at the Lard Down Under event in January 2023 at Cancon in Canberra. Having played several games now I've identified a few extra game aids that I need, some of which will be particularly useful for those games.

Deployment markers are one of those things I've been meaning to get around to making ever since I started the project. I've made two for the Mahdists, both using Perry plastic figures which you can see below. A primary deployment point on the left and a movable one on the right.

At this stage I've made only a primary deployment point for the British, again using Perry plastic figures.

I've added a couple more British officers. I have in mind a scenario where a British survey party or a heliograph team have escaped an ambush and are defending a building until help arrives. I thought the figure on the left might be particularly suitable for that setting. 

For the British I've added a Perry 7 pounder screw gun and crew.

With another scenario in mind I wanted something that could feature as the focal point for an Escort Duty scenario. A camel train was an obvious solution. This is a lovely one from Empress Miniatures.

The two handlers are probably more suited to an Indian or Afghan setting but whose to say they haven't been brought over to Sudan by one of the British contingents that came from India? Painting them all in white was a way to keep them versatile for a few different settings.

I find casualty figures always come in useful and these are a set of Perry metal figures. My original intention was to use them to replace battle casualties and dress the table.

I've since rebased a prone figure to use as a replacement figure in a leader's sabot base when the leader suffers a wound.

The prone figure will represent a wounded leader who is unconscious and temporarily out of action.

I'll use one of the standing figures for a leader who has suffered a lasting wound that will impact his command ability for the duration of the game.

Last, I made up a very quick and simple conversion of a Perry plastic figure for a Mullah (Holy Man). I used one of the heads for the later Ansar wearing a skull cap. The waving arm is an existing one from the set and the other arm is simply one with a weapon removed.