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.

Help a Lady!

A special post for Valentine's Day on the fairer sex. The Sharp Practice rules include many instances where ladies can turn up and will obviously require rescuing. I have already shown you Front Rank's fine example of an 18th Century lady here, but having scoured the Net she was one of very few appropriate figures. However I did find and purchase some from Outpost Wargame. The lady is from their Highwaymen range, with a figure both standing and mounted (that doesn't sound quite right - he he). I was a little skeptical about these originally, but after having them painted up for me, I think they came up very well. I opted to add no additional base because the figure comes with a substantial base anyway, just a tad smaller than the washers I use. Adding the washer may have turned them into true Amazons, and as they stand now are a nice mix with our other figures. I bought two standing and one mounted (he, he) ladies. (Click the images to enlarge)

An Outpost Wargame's "Pink Lady" with a Front Rank companion.

An Outpost Wargame's "Blue Lady" with an Old Glory companion.

Outpost Wargame's horses on the other hand are not for me. Although it looks OK in the picture the figure is poorly cast and just looks wrong. Thankfully Front Rank came to the rescue with a beautiful horse that suited the seated (that sounds better) lady well.

An Outpost Wargame's standing and mounted (he he) "Pink Lady" on a Front Rank horse.

I think you'll agree the horse and lady look well together. For completeness I have included an image of the original Outpost Wargame horse along side the Foundry one. The surplus horse will become a dead horse figure or  dog food/glue pot counter.

Front Rank horse (left) and Outpost Wargame horse (right)

Lastly I have tried looking for some parasol bearers for all these pale European types, sweltering under the Indostan sun and have failed miserably. If anyone knows of a good umbrella bearer, please point it out in the comments below. In the meantime I have scratch-built a parasol myself.

Scratch-built parasol and Foundry bearer.

The parasol is made from a tiny washer and greenstuff, with a sleeve and brass rod attached. It was very simple to do and will be easy enough to replicate. The bearer figure is from Foundry's Indian Mutiny range and required a simple bend to position it's arm. Happy Valentine's Day!

Painted Old Glory Pathan Horsemen

I finally completed the Old Glory Pathan horsemen last night. We have been using these guys in various states of completion for many months now. After receiving a large parcel of even more cavalry, I thought it prudent to complete the ones I'd already started. It is satisfying to finally have them finished, plus, Dave is terrified of cavalry, so this bunch are worth their weight in gold!

Although they aren't the best poses, they are pretty nice. There are a couple of duplicate poses which are a little obvious, but mixed in a bunch they blend better. The horses are all individual, and there are some really nice poses amongst them. I really like the figures in the poshteens the most, but they sport two swords, or a curved sheath for a straight drawn sword, depending on how you see it. That's Old Glory for you. A couple of these guys also have modern rifles, a little out of period for what we are doing but really unnoticeable on the table. I've painted one horse black and his rider in red, should we need to nominate a leader amongst them. (Click the images to enlarge)

Old Glory - Pathan Tribesmen

I got a good deal on these mounted Pathan Tribesmen from Old Glory. I'm not a huge fan of OG but I think these are good poses and have character. There are a few tribesmen who have their muskets plastered again the sides of their heads and look a little odd, but the majority are good. I have posted some pics of a couple of the best ones, because finding images of them on the net is a bit hit and miss. They will serve many roles in our game.