NWF - Last Stand at Gandamak

 This week is another visit to the North West frontier. I have had the Last Stand at Gandamak set  from Iron Duke in the lead pile since it was released and with a North West Frontier project working through this year I thought it was opportune to get this completed .

The 13th of January 1842 saw a battle near the village of Gandamak on the road from  Kabul to Jalalabad The 44th foot were the last remnants of the 16,000 that tried to retreat from Kabul in the First Afghan war.  . It depicts their last defence of a rocky outcrop just outside the village It is said that bones could still be found at the site of the battles up to the late  1970’s . Lt Thomas Souter wears the regimental colour wrapped around his waist under his Poshteen coat - something that saved his life as when captured they thought he was important enough to ransom. There was one acknowledged survivor of the whole column who made it out to Jalallabad , but several hundred others who were captured and eventually released .Of course it’s another in the line of great colonial disasters depicted in pictures of the time .

 

 

 

The painting by William Barnes Wollen 1898

I made the base up from a range of various sized MDF bases built up on an A5 MDF base raised with a piece of foam board and MDF bases then added , this is covered in filler and tile grout with lots of rocks etc

 

Rocks from my terrain stash, small ballast from cork and sand 

I have been really enjoying my painting this winter - with lots of stuff going on at home it’s been a joy to escape to it . With The end of March approaching that sees the end of the autum/winter plan so it will be time to devise the spring/summer focus. I usually get around 50% of the plan completed and that’s where it is now . My contribution to the AHPC is completed with over 1700 points - almost all of these being actual painting and not theme bonus points . I managed to post something every week so it’s been nicely productive .

There are a few big games in the coming months with D Day doing the rounds and some big ACW too , more on them later 

That’s all,for now! 

NWF / Sudan - Ghurkas

 Time for a little revisit to the colonial period . This time it is the full unit for my Ghurkas 

They will do duty on the NWF of course , but also they be deployed to Sudan this summer as part of my Indian Army forces . For Sands of Sudan they will be a 48 figure battalion , plus skirmish company -18 figures 

 

The figures are from the Perry Victorias Little Wars range - pretty clean and unfussy - simple to paint .

For the smaller NWF adventures I think they will make 2 x 24 battalions , plus skirmishers . 

I thought I had some suitable sabot bases for the skirmishers , but it turns out I don’t , so it’s a little order to Warbases coming on .

The first of the NWF frontier opposition in the form of Old Glory Pathans are on the desk - amongst a host of other things of course . 

Sudan - Ghurka

 Ok this is a bit of a “what if” addition for the Sudan . I had picked some of Perry Victorias Little Wars Ghurka figures a few years ago so time to get some paint on them . The Ghurka of course didn’t deploy to the Sudan but my take is that otheIndian army units did so it’s a possibility . 

In addition the will of course do duty for the NWF nicely too . I have even ordered some Old Glory Pathans to create a small force for it . 

These are the initial test paint skirmish group . 6 skirmishers . Plenty more to come