Colonel Barnaby for the Sudan

Another lovely morning in the desert, hunting Mahdists..Colonel Fred Barnaby from Perry Miniatures

Just a lone 28mm figure to share in this post - this is a 28mm figure of Colonel Fred Barnaby sculpted by the Perry Twins. The figure came along with an order I made to Perry Miniatures a while back, and since a lot of my recent hobby-ing and painting has been involved with my 28mm Sudan Revolt collection, I thought it would be fun and quick to paint this lovely figure.

Another great sculpt from the Perrys...

Barnaby is something of a larger-than-life hero of the colonial era.  Much smarter people can tell you about his rather amazing life.  Barnaby's adventures took him to the Sudan, where he participated in the campaign around the Red Sea port of Suakin, and was later killed in action at Abu Klea during the campaign to relieve Gordon in Khartoum. For my part, I thought the figure was lovely (as all the Perry sculpts are) and it was fun to keep in a bit of practice for the Sudan as Curt's next Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge looms.  

This figure will now wait for another game in the Sudan...

I think Barnaby will make either an excellent command figure or just some manner of bonus token or marker within a British square during games of Black Powder. The sculpt is wonderful, and I have really been enjoying painting different Perry miniatures through the fall.

So there you have it - a lone 28mm figure, not a heck of a lot to share. But I have been painting some stuff for a new period, and I hope to tell you more about that soon...

A Few More Mahdists

Fresh Mahdist troops prepare for rebellion in my kitchen...

Another unit is ready to join my growing force of 28mm Mahdist warriors! There is a warband group of warriors and another group of individual riflemen to act as skirmishers. The figures are 28mm metal castings from the incredible line of miniatures sold by Perry Miniatures.

A mix of weapons on the bases...a rifle, spears and a swordsman

The small group of individually-based riflemen will join the slowly expanding group of skirmish troops that will accompany the Mahdist main force to battle.

The Mahdist command base sports a banner downloaded from a free online flag source

The warband is a mix of figures painted years ago, topped up with some additional figures I painted recently in the wake of finally completing my re-basing efforts for this collection. I have tried to blend the weapons a little bit, with a mix of spears, swords and even a couple of riflemen here and there.  There are 29 figures total in the unit, ready to bravely assault the forces of the British Empire, and overall there are now four full "warband" units at the core of my Mahdist forces.

Mahdist riflemen ready for skirmishing

You can never have too many Madhists for a Sudan game, but I'm pretty pleased with how the collection is coming together, bit by bit, building into the sort of bunch that will be able to be part of a full-on Black Powder game.  I'm looking forward to getting these fellows on the table for a scrap, hopefully sometime this fall.  Imagining the searing heat of the Sudan might warm us as winter prepares to blanket Winnipeg once again...

A Scattering of Mahdist Skirmishers

Mahdist riflemen - 28mm plastic figures from Perry Miniatures

Since I finally dug out my 28mm Sudan collection earlier this month and finished re-basing these models (a project I started back in 2013), I find I am inspired to add to the collection while I'm working with it.  With that in mind, this post features a small group of Mahdist skirmishers I painted up recently. The warriors are armed with rifles. They are 28mm plastic models from Perry Miniatures. 

Another view of the Mahdist riflemen

During their revolt in the Sudan the Mahdists made extensive (if not altogether effective) use of rifles captured from the diverse Egyptian garrisons they overwhelmed and punitive expeditions they obliterated during the course of their uprising. They turned these rifles on the final Egyptian garrison in Khartoum and on the diverse British relief forces which went into action in a vain attempt to relieve General Gordon in that garrison.  While the rifles were not decisive in any encounters with British and allied forces, accounts from the period consistently mention harassing fire from Mahdist skirmishers - sometimes coming around the clock, through the night, into the zareba encampments.  This small group of riflemen will represent one of those harassing-style forces on the table.

I tried to give some variety to the cloth on the Mahdist fighters

While these plastic Mahdist figures from the Perrys have been available for several years now, these figures were still new to me and it is the first time I worked with them.  The box has enough parts for 40 miniatures inside (a great value).  While most of these figures are to be built carrying spears as their armament (and I'm pretty mixed on plastic spears), there are enough extra figures to put together a few riflemen, so I thought I would make them into a skirmishing unit.

These plastic figures are pretty easy to assemble, and paint up very quickly! These were the first Mahdist figures I had painted in many years, so I was a little rusty, but once I figured out the colour palette again the old experience came back to the brush quickly, and they painted up pretty fast.

Ready to fight the British oppressors

When it comes to colonial gaming, I don't think you can ever have enough Mahdist figures available - especially for Black Powder games!  I have more Mahdist warriors on the painting table right now, and hope to add another unit (or even two!) to my 28mm Mahdist collection before moving on to other painting subjects.

The British Arrive - Sudan Re-Basing Part 2

"Steady lads!" The 28mm British forces ready to fight the Mahdists in the Sudan...or in my kitchen...

This is part two of the long, long, long-delayed completion of the re-basing of my 28mm Mahdist Revolt collection. Here are the British infantry forces and commanders on their new bases.

For the British infantry I wanted to go with a very narrow frontage for the figures.  They were generally in squares for actions in the Sudanese theatre, and were greatly outnumbered in the battles. Your firing line is going to be compact, the men close together, firing volley after volley, hoping the enemy will break...I hoped the figures would represent that, so the frontage is narrow - 15mm per foot model.   With 24 models per infantry unit that works out to a frontage of 180mm in line, which is very reasonable for battles on 6' x 4' tables.

I'm pleased with how it turned out - narrow enough to give the solid look to the battle line, but still large enough to take up a decent amount of space on the table, and not too large in contrast of the Mahdist warbands.

Screw gun and crew hold the flank near the stout members of the KRRC.

My original effort had centered around painting the units involved with General Graham's forces who were based at the port of Suakin on the Red Sea coast.  These units engaged Mahdist forces in the battles of El Teb and Tamai in the spring of 1884.  My first British infantry were a group of Yorks & Lancs (who could probably represent one of several units present, as several battalions had similar-looking uniforms and kit issued to them), then a group of Cameron Highlanders (at least, I think they were Camerons...I tried my best with the tartan.  Maybe they are Gordons? But they are not the Black Watch) and associated support.  This would include the notorious Gatling and Gardner guns, and a screw gun.

General Graham and assorted supporting officers to represent the overall command and brigade commanders in "Black Powder"

In 2013 I worked to expand the British side of my collection.  I painted up a group to represent the King's Royal Rifle Corps, who had black leather belts and pouches.  I also added some cavalry - figures representing the 10th Hussars. There is a mix of figures with sabres and with improvised lances in that unit. The British cavalry found themselves turning to these lances in order to deal with terrain that, while nominally "flat" and "open", could often be very broken and difficult for cavalry troopers trained to operate under European battle conditions.  The Madhist warriors would make things tricky, lying low and lying down and making it hard for the mounted troopers to hit them. Lances were a solution...

One of the iconic pieces of this setting - a Gardner gun - deadly for Mahdists until it jams! Some naval ratings are present to the left and behind the gun.

Gatling gun in position at the corner of a brigade square.

In 2013 I also wanted to work toward some games set on the Gordon Relief Expedition, particularly the engagements at Abu Klea and Abu Kru involving the British Camel Corps. To this end I painted a group of figures to represent one of the Camel Regiments present in that column. These are some of my favourite figures from the setting, as they sport things like neck curtains, goggles, ammunition bandoleers and sword bayonets that offer a unique look.

The Yorks & Lancs (and potentially a number of other units) on their new bases.

Highlanders prepare to deliver a volley!

As "Black Powder" is a pretty easy-going set of rules, I didn't need to re-base the gun teams right now.  I might do that at some point, but as a blog visitor Murdock pointed out in the comment section of the previous post, the round base kind of lines up with the map symbol for artillery - I like that! At any rate, everything is measured easily from the barrel so these pieces will be fine, and they stay as originally painted back in 2007!

The 10th Hussars, sporting an assortment of weapons.

Another view of the Hussars...turns out I had painted 13 models, which is kind of...odd...anyway, one extra lad at the back.

This force is not totally coherent...the Camel Corps figures would not have seen action around Suakin for example, while the Highlanders and Hussars would not have been present with the Desert Column.  I don't think the Rifles were there either...but I'm not sure - the elements of the Desert Column are always a little confusing as the Regiments in question were pulled from volunteers from various units, including cavalry regiments and the Guards regiments.

But anyway, coherence aside, it will do for "Black Powder" games! Hopefully these lads will see action in the sands of the Sudan on the gaming table sometime this fall. 

From The Dust Of The Sudan...New Life For An Old Project

Re-based and ready for mayhem in the Sudan - my 28mm Mahdist collection has - FINALLY - been re-based for "Black Powder"

Over the past couple of years, friends in the gaming group would, during in a break in the gaming action at the Fawcett Conscript gaming table, periodically ask me "Hey, what ever happened to your Sudan collection?"

What did happen?

Well, in this hobby, re-basing your figures is one of the worst things you will ever do, right...?

***

So, first to backup. About ten years ago I started a collection of figures to game the Mahdist Revolt in the Sudan in 28mm. The figures, by the Perry Twins, are a total joy to paint and I was very excited to dive into (what was then for me) a new period.  Of course, a critical decision you make when you start a new project is the basing.  At that time, I made a fateful decision - I based all of the models individually, thinking I would do skirmish games (even very large ones) where each figure represented one warrior/soldier.  Back at the time I couldn't figure out or find any decent rules to represent the massed encounters that occurred during the Mahdist Revolt on the gaming table, so I based all the models on surplus round GW bases.

Mahdist army command base, combining two figures which had been previously been based separately.  It occurs to me that it would probably make a fine command stand for a game of "Hail Caesar" or even be a fun warlord stand for a "Saracen" warband in "SAGA"

We ran a number of fun games using, of all things, the "Lord of The Rings" skirmish rules.  This was before we started maintaining this blog, but I think the games were generally well-received by the group.  One game has even managed to achieve a rare level of infamy among veteran Fawcett Avenue gamers, an infamous circumstance in which the faith and devotion inspired by a Mahdist religious leader allowed a lone Beja warrior to overcome a whole group of Yorks & Lancs...

Mahdist warriors assembled in a "warband" formation - note the bendy spear holding the standard...won't be long till that finally gives out but I hope to get a couple more games in before that happens

Sometime in 2009-ish (smarter people will correct me if I have the wrong date) Warlord Games released "Black Powder", an excellent rule set covering battles from the 18th and 19th centuries.  This included the Mahdist Revolt, and in fact the beautiful rulebook included a set-piece game featuring the Battle of El-Teb. Since it was the Perry Brothers and company, the figures and game of course looked amazing - and it opened my eyes to the possibilities of using these 28mm figures to represent a larger mass-type battle...I was torn.  My figures were already based individually, but "Black Powder" looked so fun...what to do?

In 2013, Dallas hosted a game where we managed to try it out.  We used sabot trays as a bodge for the British, while the Mahdist figures just moved around in hordes. It was fun - see it here on the blog.

Mahdist cavalry...can probably bust this down into two different units for a game

That game really stuck with me.  And while at the time I thought I would just use sabot trays so I would not have to re-base my figures, that notion didn't get very far. I dislike the look of the trays - it's just not my preference.  In particular the British Troops should be very close together - after all you are shoulder to shoulder in the face of a vast enemy, so you are going to bunch up! And while the individual horde of Mahdist models looked the part, it was time-consuming to move 30 figures one-at-a-time and realize you have only moved one unit...

The "horde" effect of these large warbands is fun - the warband in front is armed with captured rifles; generally I will add future rifle units as individually-based skirmishers but I thought one big rifle unit would be fun for the Sudanese players, just as something of a counterpoint to the massive (and deadly) musketry of the British forces

So while I had painted another batch of figures for the Sudan period in the Spring of 2013 (part of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge that year) I resolved I would re-base the models. I measured out the basing plan I would used and placed a big order. Grimly, I took to the hobby knife out and got started digging the approximately 200+ 28mm figures out of their bases...

***

And so four years passed.  Re-basing is a tough slog, and of course I was always diving into, and painting other periods and settings, especially 30k.  Painting is always more fun, and this took priority in my hobby time.  Re-basing was just...the worst...and this big notion of mine languished...I finished one Mahdist unit right away, but NOTHING happened with the rest of the collection...and once you have started, you kind of should not stop...but I did...

Oh man, one of my all-time favourite models, the captured Egyptian Krupp gun with Egyptian "volunteer" crew being "encouraged" by their Mahdist overseer...the artillery pieces in my collection didn't actually require re-basing, as "Black Powder" is pretty flexible and you can measure everything from the gun barrel. The round base didn't matter in this case, which is nice, although I may put the weapons on a square base one day...

As I re-based, I noticed several downsides to this new "Black Powder" plan.  First of all, a lot of the paint jobs on the figures, which are pretty old and have moved to two different new houses with me, and have also traveled to Regina a couple of times, are showing damage here and there, as spears begin to bend and paint rubs off. Re-basing increased the rate of damage, requiring a lot of touch up paint as I went along.

Spear-armed warband - going forward I will try and work a few guys with captured Remington rifles into each unit, but for now these groups are fairly uniform in their armament

Finally, while I absolutely love the mass effect, at the end of the day a collection of what felt, to me, like SO many models when I started out on the re-basing only works out to a few Mahdist units for the table.  As you can see in the photo, the whole effort turns a sprawling force into three formed units of warband infantry and one cavalry unit (there is also a group of camels which is not in the photo - I'm leaving them on their big round bases as mounted skirmishers for now).  It's a bit depressing, especially when you see how the real Sudan gamers like Dave D do their super-amazing Sudan collection (check it out at this link - prepare for your mind to be BLOWN).  It was super hard to be motivated to re-base what suddenly seemed to be an inadequate collection...

And so these figures, once one of the proudest parts of my painted miniature collection, sat in a closet...and years went by! When the guys would ask about it, I would mumble something about re-basing and move along...I would occasionally make a commitment, sometimes out loud to others (always unwise when it comes to the hobby) to get them finished "in a couple weeks".  But NOTHING happened for years...

***

Two weeks ago I came across these models in the storage and got really mad at myself.    It's been over four-and-a-half years since I had played or run a Sudan game, and it's been even longer since I painted any of the wonderful figures from this Perry range.  I finally snapped my own crayons, buckled down, dug out the Liquitex and f****ing got to work.

Another view of the re-based commanders...the mounted Imam has great notoriety among veterans of our gaming group

So the Mahdists have - finally - been re-based!!! After four and a half years!!! I am planning to line up another couple of units in the painting queue to enhance the force. It will never match Dave D's collection, but it will allow for "Black Powder" fun, which is all that matters!

Stay tuned for a follow-up post on the newly re-based British forces...and hopefully the Fawcett guys will be up for another Sudan "Black Powder" game this fall...it really has been too long!

28mm Madhist Cavalry and Infantry Command

Madhists ready to fight the crusaders!

Some more castings from the Perry Twins.  They were oh-so close to being done in time for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, but you what they say about where "close" counts :)  I must still be jacked up from the Challenge, however, because I keep saying to myself "hey, this would have been another 60 points!".

Madhist leader

Flags from TVAG

These are Madhist command figures - one set of cavalry leaders and two sets of infantry command.  Each set contains one leader, one musician and one standard bearer.

Beja warriors bearing inspiring messages of the prophet - or not, I can't read the script, so who knows what it says?

The flags are from The Virtual Armchair General.  Learning from previous experience I dispensed with the pewter staffs for the flags and went with steel rods instead.  These flags are not going to bend.

Large flag for the leaders of the Baggara horsemen

Baggara Emir will lead the Madhist cavalry

These guys will contribute to further Madhist mayhem on the table in games of either Black Powder or LOTR-type skirmish gaming.

Colonial Sudan - 28mm British Medical Team

28mm British Sudan medical vignette from Perry Miniatures

Here is the last of the posts highlighting my Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge submissions - a 28mm British Medical team from the Sudan, once again from the Perry Miniatures range.

Wounded fellow being tended to by orderly

Dallas brought me these as a gift from his trip to Salute in 2012.  I feel like it is good gaming karma to paint figures that are gifts, especially ones that travelled all the way from Salute! 

Stretcher bearers carry a wounded trooper

The team consists of a doctor, a two-man stretcher team bearing a wounded soldier, and another wounded fellow being tended on the ground by an orderly. You also get a little box with some medical tools on top.  I split the models into three pieces - the Doctor on his own, the stretcher bearers on one base and the other wounded fellow and orderly on the larger round base, together with the box of tools.

Poor guy...just imagine the thirst and the heat while traveling across the Sudan...

Being wounded in any war must be miserable, but in the Sudan was particularly daunting.  The wounded were carried along with the columns, enduring the punishing heat, the pain and every single bump along the way, hoping and waiting for a chance to be evacuated by steamer along the Nile, or to a hospital ship off Suakin.  If they held on.  These Perry sculpts capture that sense beautifully.

The Doc supervising things

I plan to use these figures as accents for the Sudan gaming tables, adding character to a camp scene, or the inside of a brigade square.  A big thank you to Dallas for these guys - sorry it took me so long to get to them...

Camel Corps Command - 28mm British Colonial Sudan

So...we volunteered for this, right?

Well, you can't have the Camel Corps without camels, right?  This was another submission from the closing days of the Analogue Hobbies painting challenge - British Camel Corps Command, mounted, from Perry Miniatures' awesome 28mm Sudan figure line.

Bugler calling out the Camel Corps 'tunes

I love these sculpts - they look suitably awkward atop their camels. I don't think the British troops in Sudan ever fought while mounted on the camels - or at least, not in the major actions - but these models will be neat command models, or just character pieces for Black Powder games.

I love how the officer looks just a bit uncomfortable on top of the camel...probably not a skill covered at Eton

These also work for skirmishes - you can just imagine some officer riding off from the column for a little look-see at something, and ending up with a surprise visit from the Madhists...that sounds like a fun scenario right there...

Love these figures - bandoleers, goggles, neck curtain, khaki - classic Sudan

Another figure in this submission was a Camel Corps guard - he is supposed to be watching over a group of sitting camels - but the sitting camels haven't seen the brush yet.

These figures (as well as those from the next few posts) helped me cling to 10th place in Curt C's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. As things wrapped up, I managed to stick in 9th place - considering that I finished with 1323 points, and the winner had over 4000, I feel pretty good about that.

KRRC - 28mm British Colonial Sudan

KRRC ready for action in the Sudan

Another unit painted for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  This group of 24 figures will represent the 3rd battalion, 60th Regiment, King's Royal Rifle Corps.  The models are 28mm Perry castings.

Officer, musician and NCOs in the group

The KRRC served in General Graham's force out of Suakin, fighting at El Teb and again at Tamai.

Of course the riflemen always have to be DIFFERENT somehow.  No mullets or volley guns with this group, but but their straps and bags are black leather, different from the other British units in the theatre.  Somewhere - either the Perry bros' awesome page, or maybe an Osprey - I saw a reference to a print that showed the Rifles in action wearing their more "traditional" green.  That would be cool, and I thought of painting a few like that, but in the end I stuck with the traditional khaki look.

I have ordered some sabot-type bases so I can use units like this one for Black Powder games to fight as a battalion-sized unit.  Otherwise they can fight on their own in skirmish style games.  The Challenge has one day left, but I have a few more entries still left - keeping my fingers crossed to finish tenth!

General Graham - 28mm Colonial Sudan

General Graham by Perry Miniatures

The entries for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge continue.  This is a very short/small entry - a figure representing General Gerald Graham, commander of the British forces out of the Red Sea port of Suakin.

Winner of a VC in the Crimean War and a senior commander during the British intervention in Egypt, Graham commanded the Suakin Field Force.  He led the British into battle at El Teb, and through the close call at Tamai.  After Khartoum fell he once again went to battle with the Madhists at Hashin and Tofrik.

The majority of my Sudan painting and game has been set around Suakin, so I figured General Graham was the right officer to start with, serving as a commander for games of Black Powder.

Ideal figure for Commander in Chief in Black Powder colonial games

I was a little concerned with my paint job on this figure.  I was thought he looked a little more like the Man In The Yellow Hat than a hard working VC recipient. A quick Devlan Mud wash took care of it a bit...but still...

The Perry range is very comprehensive, and they have figures for Wolseley and Stewart as well - I hope to get to them soon, perhaps even before the painting challenge wraps up.