British Riflemen in Skirmish Order from WoFun Games Peninsular Starter Pack

A company from the 5th Battalion/60th Rifles.

I enjoy playing with Toy Soldiers and I love the hobby; having said that, remember at the end of the day we are playing with Toy Soldiers.

When I posted my recent purchases on several popular miniature gaming boards, I was surprised by several reactions on one board:

Of course this allows people to afford to wargame and bring more people to the hobby, which are good reasons but:

1. Nice idea but their research is a bit sketchy; white facings?

2. The colours are in the wrong positions for honour. (Referring to British line infantry battalions)

3. OK! It just makes one wonder why wargamers, even those just starting in the hobby bother with tomes of historical battles, uniform research, sable brushes, paint etc. Oh! And in some cases, conversion, to painstakingly strive for uniform accuracy of each individual figure. The Napoleonic uniform was one of the top reasons for drawing me to the hobby. I wonder what drew others?

The original photograph that caused the "controversy".

As a retired Colonel of Infantry of the US Army, Military Historian, and semi-mature adult, I wisely (in my opinion) did not decide to respond and go down those rabbit holes. I only made one response to the last comment:

"Maybe the fun, the social activity and the fun of gaming?"

Anyway . . . in my experience yes the uniform regulations say one thing, but the reality? Heck, even during my service in the "modern" era, I didn't always wear what the regulations said (where did that British scarf and German fur line boats come from anyway?).  Basically, it's just how you want your armies to look, parade ground or what they looked like in the field. Even today, modern dyes fade and there were color variations. In the late 18th Century and early 19th Century, it was even worse - and I won't even discuss the issue of resupply!

My preference for most of my armies is for them to look like what they would look like in the field at gaming distance. I'll be the first to admit though, my Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard look like they just came off the parade field because they are the Grenadiers of the Imperial Guard. It's your army!

They way I looked at the British rifle figures with white facings, grey trousers and white trousers is that you can make them whatever unit you want. They can be the 95th Rifles, the Light Infantry of the King's German Legion (KGL) or the 5/60th rifles with just a little work. I decided to paint the facings red to make them a unit from the 5th Battalion, 60th Rifles. Now the "regulations" have them wearing grey trousers and some of my riflemen have green trousers. Why? Because that's all I had! As for the "white" trousers at gaming distance to me they are faded grey with variations of the Iberian Peninsula shining on them from different angles.

Sure many of us like to do meticulous research and want our units to look just right. I'm doing the same thing know as I am getting ready to paint some Indian Service Troops and Highlanders for the Northwest Frontier Uprising of 1897 to1898. But don't ruin the hobby for others just because the buttons should be faded brass instead of shiny gold.

The completed unit.

"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams." H. G. Wells.

Afghan Tribal Force Update #5: Time for Up Close and Personal Fighters

 

Time to gather the clan.

For my core Afghan Tribal force I am building 2 units of Tribal Infantry and 3 units of Irregular Infantry.  I like the alternative basing method of 3, 2, 1 for The Men Who Would be Kings (Paid Link), which allows me to create mini vignettes with the basing, and I organize my figures that way when I paint.

For my core force (so far!) I'm using the hard plastic Afghan Tribal Infantry (Paid Link) from Perry Miniatures which can be assembled in a gazillion ways. The above leader, and I always base the leaders this way, will be based as a single figure. 

I got the idea for my leader from the above illustration from the late 1890's.

For The Men Who Would be Kings (Paid Link) the recommended size for a unit of Tribal Infantry is 16 figures. This is the force, though it has some fire power, whose main job is to get up close and personal with the enemy and make the British Indian Army (plus my Imperial Russians) wet their pants. I have finished the first 12 of 16 figures for my first unit. By request I'm painting the last 4 as an assembly and painting guide for Pashtun Tribal forces.

I had a lot of fun with the above figure. It gives you an idea  how you can let your imagination run wild with the Perry Miniatures hard plastic Afghan Tribal Infantry (Paid Link) since the box comes with a multiple of extra arms, heads, weapons, etc. to create unique forces for your army.

I just like the animation and look of this figure and copied it from an assembly example that was in the pamphlet that came with the box. The figure is typical of the "rank and file" of Pashtun tribal warriors that fought the British Indian Army from circa 1840 to 1920.

Here are the 3 figured based units. My unit will have 3 bases of 3 figures, 1 base of 2 figures and 5 figures mounted on single bases.

Afridi flags captured by the 36th Sikhs in 1898.

Time to close with the British Indian Army when it tries to disengage!

The Mad Mullah: Sartor Faqir

Here is a great character for In Her Majesty's Name, The Men Who Would be Kings (Paid Link), or other popular Colonial, Victorian Sci Fi or Pulp games.

Sartōr Faqīr (Pashto: سرتور فقير; died 1917), also known as "Mullah Mastan or Mullah Mastana", Pipi Faqir or Saidullah in Pashto and by the British as "The Great Fakir" or "Mad Faqir", "Mad Faqir of Swat" or the "Mad Mullah", was a Pashtun tribal Yusufzai leader and fighter. His name Mullah Mastan translates to "God-intoxicated" as a reference to his religious convictions and his belief that he was capable of miraculous powers and challenging the British Empire.

Sartor Faqir was born as Saidullah Khan in the village of Rega Buner in the Buner Valley and was a member of a branch of the Yousafzai tribe. In order to further his religious education, he lived and travelled throughout India and Central Asia, before setting in Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan for a period of ten years. In 1895, he returned to Buner.

In response to the British occupation of the North West Frontier Province of modern-day Pakistan, and the division of Pashtun lands by the Durand Line, the Faqir declared a jihad against the British Empire, unsuccessfully in 1895,then successfully in 1897. In late July, he led from 10,000 to 100,000 Pashtun tribesmen in an uprising that culminated in the siege of Malakand, which ended with the British being relieved on August 2.

Fighting at Malakand

Although the Faqir continued to lead further attacks against the British, the siege of Malakand marked the height of his power and influence, which declined as the British made agreements with other local tribes and rulers to counter him. The Faqir eventually made his own agreements with the British government, with the revelation of an exchange of presents and correspondence with the British political officer of Malakand leading to accusations of the Faqir being in the pay of the British government. This and the Faqir's advancing years led to a further decline of his movement, which broke up upon his death in 1917.

The original figure from Brigade Games and Dr. Watson from Wargames Foundry.

This was a fun figure conversion. As I am building forces for the NW Frontier uprising of 1897 - 1898, I just had to include the Mad Mullah as a character (in fact there appears to be 2 or 3 identified during this conflict!). I started with the Imam figure from Brigade Games, and in a moment of extreme dexterity (I only stabbed myself once) I cut off his arms.

I added the hard plastic arms that were drawing a tulwar from a scabbard from the Perry Miniatures Afghan Tribal Infantry (Paid Link) box which once again confirmed to me the value of hard plastic miniatures for conversions. I did some repainting and ta - dah; the Mad Mullah.

I will be publishing some suggested rules and character profiles for the "Mad Mullah" for both In Her Majesty's Name and The Men Who Would be Kings (Paid Link).

Afghan Tribal Force Update #4: The first Irregular Infantry Unit is Complete

Here is my first force of Irregular Infantry for the game The Men Who Would be Kings (Paid Link) which I attempted to paint as Pashtuns from the Afridi tribe. The Afridi's are noted as wearing black and blue garments; put from contemporary photos, illustrations and diaries, this is not a hard and fast rule. The team photo also gives you an idea of the variety of combinations that are possible with the hard plastic box Afghan Tribal Infantry (Paid Link) from Perry Miniatures.

Next: Who's going to start the Uprising of '97? Time to convert a figure.