New Stuff for Indostan

In preparation for an Indostan game this weekend (hopefully if all goes as planned) I have completed quite a few new units and individual figures. I have found it a great motivator to paint certain miniatures required for an impending game.

I plan on writing a short interlude using some of the following images to detail what has happened to our hero Keen and the current state of Indostan. For now they will show off what I've managed to complete.

A group shot of some of the new stuff

It was always planned that Keen would lead some native troops before getting a European command. We have had these Indus Miniatures "Peons" for quite some time now and they have sat in different stages of completeness. At first I thought the figures were a little too thin and wiry compared to my Foundry stuff, but when completed as an entire unit they are fine. The marching Peons have a few head changes to break the monotony of the same pose. They will serve proudly as sepoys of our "Madapras Native Regiment".

Indus Miniatures marching Peons

Indus Miniatures firing Peons

I also made two banners for the forces of the Honorable East Indostan Company. One may well be appropriate, featuring a banner I read was used by the East India Company, and consists of the "Grand Union Flag", but I'm not 100% sure. The other is purely fictitious and is actually taken from a coat of arms for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and their villainous version of the EIC. Regardless I like them and they will add some grandeur to the British.

The new banners of the HEIC

 And lastly what would Indostan, or this blog for that matter, be without some goats. These fine specimens are from Magister Militum and are a bit closer to what I think an Indian goat would look like, well at least before being made into a vindaloo. They were quick and easy to do and I painted them a traditional black and white. Here are our other goats.

More goats...

Colonial German Marines

Sometime in the near future, Christian and myself, are planning to put on a "Darkest Africa" skirmish spectacular. We have quite a few miniatures between us, both painted and bare metal, that should allow us to field about four factions.

We are going with a Native, Slave Trader, Ruga-Ruga and German faction at the time, with the option to expand those in the future. I will contribute to the Germans, Slave Traders and the Ruga-Ruga. A lot of my stuff is thankfully already painted (not by myself) but could do with a re-base.

Below is a small part of the German faction, including some marines, their sergeant and an envoy. Again most of these were painted by another but I have used Army Painter on them to try and unify their look with ones that I will need to paint. They have been re-based as well. The figures are all Copplestone, except the umbrella bearer, who I believe is from Foundry. (Click the image to enlarge)

The German Marines

More Foundry Gladiators

Here are some of my latest additions to the arena - all from Foundry. (Click the images to enlarge)

A barbarian Dimachaerus.

A Myrmillo with a face mask.

Another Myrmillo.

A dwarf Retiarius.

A dark skinned Thracian.

Royal Navy Sailors and Captain

While planning the start of our Indostan campaign, Dave and myself decided that the first scenario will involve some Pirates and the Royal Navy. We already have a handful of sailors and a stack of pirates that belonged to our late mate Rotary. Unfortunately he never really got a chance to game with them himself, so hopefully he can have a chuckle looking down on our little games.

To even out the Royal Navy I painted up some Foundry pirates, that Dave had bought for the very purpose, in royal blue and white. Although during the period there was probably no uniform to speak of, it gives the figures the impression of belonging to a crew. The other sailors are from the Foundry Napoleonic boarding crew, are so out of the time frame completely, but are such nice figures.

The Captain is a ring-in, one of the better figures from the Old Glory European Captains pack. Again there are many typical Old Glory shockers in there that suffer from contortionist like poses, broken swords and pigeon chests, but they are fairly priced at $20 US and can be used for many different purposes.

They were all painted with "house paints" and Army Painter. (Click the images to enlarge)

The Captain and some of his crew.

All aboard a little tender.

Old Glory Pathans

I purchased a bag of Old Glory "Pathan Tribesmen with Muskets and Jezails" a long time ago and they have been kicking around on the lead pile since. I must say that Old Glory is usually a bit hit and miss, but their Pathans are probably some of their finest figures. In saying that they do exhibit a bit of Old Glory "charm".

I have gotten around to prepping most of the 30 figures (that are pretty reasonably priced) and during this process discovered that all the Pathans in a firing stance were missing the right sleeve of their poshteens (Afghan sheepskin coats). This isn't a huge deal, but does pose a problem when painting them, because their robes and their poshteen are different colors and meet at the shoulder. I remedied the problem with a small strip of greenstuff, that will hopefully give the illusion of a sleeve.

Quite a few of the Pathans are kneeling or sitting and these are my least favorite poses. I understand that Pathans would adopt these poses in real life, but kneeling/sitting miniatures can look a little odd, especially when out in the open.

Below are the first two I've done. Painted with "house paints" and Army Painter, they were fairly quick and easy, and for Old Glory don't look too bad at all. (Click the images to enlarge)

Two Pathans walk into a bar.

A Pathan with fashionable greenstuff sleeve.

Some Foundry Gladiators

Here is a small collection of some of my old Foundry gladiators, painted many years ago when our group first got into gladiatorial combat. Some of them have had new bases attached and sand applied.  I've used a touch of Army Painter here and there to refresh my pretty ordinary paint job. The minis have been used off and on for years and have lately seen a revival with my latest renewed interest in arena combat.
In the day, Foundry was the only range with some decent gladiators, but since then Crusader have come out with a very nice set. The Crusader range, in my opinion, tend to be more historically accurate, having done a reasonable amount of research on the subject. I have a large pile of them at the top of the lead mountain. (Click the images to enlarge)

Dimachaerus

Myrmillo

Myrmillo

Myrmillo

Secutor and Retiarius

Secutor

Thracian

Noble Indostani Cavalry

After the recent poll on whether to use a flash when photographing miniatures returned a fairly mixed response I have decided to return to photo taking without the flash. Most people said they would use it on occasion when necessary, but those who voted no, outweighed those that said yes. I am happy with the advice.

Below are some recent paints of what I am dubbing, Noble Indostani Cavalry. They are actually Foundry Mounted Sikh Nobles, but are close enough. They were actually pretty good to paint and with a good part of them being chain, relatively easy. They do require a bit of planning with their coloring, but should allow me to go even more garish in the future. The rightmost guy has parts of his plate painted green, which makes for a nice change to the all metal look. I have about 20 or so more of these guys to do, half of whom have lances. They are painted with Army Painter and the pics were taken without a flash. (Click the images to enlarge)

Mounted Indian Tribesmen Completed

Here are the horsemen from yesterday's post, Dullcoted, based and flocked. I always find it is hard to judge how well you have done painting until the miniatures are based - it makes such a difference. I only have two variants of horses and riders, so they do get a bit repetitious. (Click the images to enlarge)

From in front.

Showing their slung shields.

A low close up - they do look pretty intimidating.

WIP - Mounted Indian Tribesmen

After a long hiatus from painting and with the arrival of some cooler weather, I have managed to make a good start on some Foundry Mounted Indian Tribesmen. Dave was kind enough to give me a good head start with these by giving each of the gee-gees a base coat of their appropriate color. I do find painting horses a little tedious. Thanks Big D!

The forces of Indostan are seriously lacking in cavalry and these will go a little towards correcting the issue. I have two units of mounted armored Sikhs and another three units of mounted tribesmen to get done. That's a lot of horse flesh. Dave? Dave, are you there?

Below are a couple of images of the first lot. I have just applied the Army Painter Strong Tone dip. I always apply it with a brush and have never done it by dip. The scrooge in me couldn't stand to see the wasted dip after all that furious flicking! I find that I can move the dip around where it should be quite easily with a brush. It does tend to pool a lot in the creases in the clothing and on white, this can look a little too much. After it has settled I simply brush over it again to remove excess. Enough will eventually pool again to look right.

It really looks a mess at this stage after application and I always think to myself, I've just #$*!ed these miniatures. But I now swear by this stuff. Without Army Painter most of my painting would look very basic. When they are finished I will show the finished product and hopefully you'll agree. (Click the images to enlarge)

Shiny, shiny from the Army Painter.

I can see these running from the British volleys already.

Purple Indostani Regulars

Here is a small unit, of what I am dubbing, Indostani Regulars. This "uniformed" force is meant to represent Indostanis that have received European training and are capable of fighting as a cohesive unit with some skill. I chose marching figures for the entire group to help define their uniformity, as well I painted them all the same color. I hope to do 12 more purple matchlockmen, to form two Sharp Practice groups, or if you prefer, a half company. (Click the images to enlarge)

The command figures.

The mounted officer.

The class photo.

These were all painted with mostly acrylic house paints and Army Painter. I don't consider myself a painter at all (and rarely enjoy the chore), but I'm happy with these. Army Painter  is very forgiving and gives me a good confidence boost. I think it has helped me to improve my painting skills. I thoroughly recommend it to all other mediocre painters out there. Kevin Dallimore eat your heart out!