Final Painting of 2012

Yesterday I completed a small batch of disparate figures that had been sitting around my painting desk for far too long.

First some Miniature Figurines American Revolutionary War figures:

An American general, using the MiniFig General Washington figure, painted from scratch.





And a Hessian general, using the same figure.  This was a repaint of a previously painted figure that I purchased.



New figures for Bland's Dragoons (American).  I previously had inherited a unit of nine of these from my friend Doc Ord.  With the acquisition of three more, they are now part of a six stand regiment.  The newly painted figures are the officer on the front stand and two of the four figures on the back stands plus three of those four horses.  I think I did a fairly decent job of matching Doc's paint job.

And the whole regiment together.  They will be used to help oppose my British cavalry - 17th Light Dragoons, Queen's Rangers, and the Loyalist York Dragoons (an "made-up" designation).

An Old Glory Darkest Africa figure:

This is the leader from the Old Glory bearers set.  I needed a senior leader for my Zanzabari units and he seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  He is a slightly taller figure than the rest of my Zanzabari so he'll stand out as their leader.



My Chinese Back of Beyond forces needed some additional leaders so I added the Pulp Figures PYG-14 Chun King warlord command pack.

The warlord in the center and the standard bearer will lead the entire Chinese force.  The two figures on each end will join one of his warlord infantry units to replace some leader figures who are getting promoted.  The bald-headed guy in khaki will lead my German uniformed Chinese forces.  He's armed with a submachinegun and looks rather nasty so he'll be a good guy to keep them in check.  The basing details correspond to the units that are already done to which these guys will be added.

And my early 20th Century "Pulp" forces got some additional stalwarts to increase the strength of the "Knights of the Cresent Moon."



Three Tommy Gun toting "Knights" from the Brigade Games line of figures.  They'll join the ones I already have painted.



To make a fairly heavily armed band to help protect the treasures of the Near East from those ravenous "tomb raiders" who plague that part of the world.



And finally, Bob Murch's Pulp Figures of "The Sergeants Three and Gunga Din."

Those three brave and rogueish sergeants plus the bugle tooting Gunga Din.  The bases aren't completed yet but they are ready for adventures.



British Navy and Egyptian Infantry

The last of my Imperial "troops" have now been completed.  They were two Naval Brigade Gatling guns and crews, three Naval officers, six sailors, and a platoon of regular Egyptian infantry.

The two Gatling guns are each manned with a crew of four gunners (one petty officer and three ratings each) and have a senior petty officer as the "battery commander."  The guns, senior petty officer (blue coat), and two ratings (brown leggings) are Ral Partha figures; the two petty officers in charge of each gun are Miniature Figurines (in yellow straw hats); and the other four ratings were cast by The London Warroom.

 The naval officers and ratings are a mix of manufacturers.  The officer in the center is the Parroom Station "Captain Jack Cole" figure.  The smaller officer on the front right is a Miniature Figurines. I cannot recall the manufacturer of the officer of the front left (unfortunately as he is a nice figure).  All six ratings are old London Warroom castings.

 

The Parroom Station officer will be my senior Royal Navy commander along the Green Nile.  I've decided to name him Captain Daniel Harrington.  He will be a distant ancestor of Admiral of the Fleet Steadholder and Duchess Honor Harrington. He is a nice figure with a stern gaze and is holding a cigar.

Finally, the Egyptian ground forces received their last troop unit, a platoon of regular infantry in the "older" white uniform.

As usual, my can click on each picture to get a larger image.

With the Imperial forces completed, I can now begin on the native forces.  This will be a larger contingent, consisting of a mounted leader, two 20-figure infantry units, three 12-figure cavalry units, and one 12-figure camel unit.  It will probably take me two months to complete them.  I'll posting pictures as they are finished.

Egyptian Cavalry

I am beginning preparations for my 3rd Annual George Carr, Sr. Memorial Colonial Game at the HMGS-Gulf South Convention in New Orleans in June.  The scenario will involve a small Egyptian garrison along the Green Nile branch of the Nile River that is under attack by a large group of former Madhists, Beja, and desert Arabs, all led by the Agandar of Karres, a successor of the Khalifa. [NOTE:  Who can guess from where I obtained the name of the Arab commander? I'll give the answer later this month after I have completed the Egyptian infantry and British naval figures upon which I am currently painting.]

The first figure is my overall Egyptian commander, Major Sariati Pasha.  He will be in command of the Egyptian garrison at the old British base at Wadi Zoum-Zoum (see Wadi Zoum-Zoum).  He is named for an actual officer whom I met while stationed in Germany and was engaged in military planning with a non-NATO North African country.  I hope he won't mind me borrowing his name.

The first unit of the Egyptian mounted column that will be used in the relief of Wadi Zoum-Zoum is a troop of the Egyptian Cavalry Regiment.  These 12 stalwarts are armed with lances, swords, and carbines.

They have also been trained to fight dismounted.

They will be joined by two other mounted units which were painted last year for my Assault on Fort Khalaam game.  This time they will play the roles of a troop of mercenary Baluchi cavalry and a troop of Bashi-Bazouk cavalry.

All of these figures are Ral Partha Victorian Colonials, which are still available from Great Endeavours.

I'm working on a platoon of Egyptian infantry for part of the Wadi Zoum-Zoum garrison and will be posting pictures of them later.

January 2009 Painting

January's painting total was an impressive 135 Olley points, consisting of 14 mounted figures, 104 foot figures, and 3 guns. But when one looks at the type of figures - all Victorian Colonial and almost all Dervish or Beja warriors - then the total is only impressive for the number, not the complexity of the painting.

Victorian Colonial native warriors, especially Dervish and Beja, are very simple to paint - brownish skin, off-white clothes, brownish shields, and weaponry. No turnbacks, lapels, lace on tricornes, etc., etc. But 121 total figures is still pretty darn good, if I say so myself.

You've already seen the Beja camelry and part of a warrior band in an earlier post, so here are pictures of most of the rest.

This is a complete Egyptian artillery battery organized per The Sword and the Flame (TSATF) rules that we use here in Jackson, Miss. It consists of three guns (Krupp breechloaders), one battery commander, and twelve gunners (four per gun). All the figures are Ral Partha (as with few exceptions are all the figures featured this month). The Egyptian gunners are supposed to be in blue uniforms, but I had already painted nine of the thirteen figures in white uniforms and wasn't going to change them just prior to a game. Maybe I'll repaint them later, or maybe not.

This is a complete TSATF Indian artillery battery armed with small mountain howitzers. Eight of the gunners and two guns were added this month to the officer, four gunners, and one gun that I already had painted.

This is a small part of one of the two 20-figure Beja war bands. They are armed with swords and spears, except for one warrior who has a rifle.

This is a small portion of the second 20-figure Beja warband. They armed the same as the first.

This picture shows the senior Dervish war leader (mounted, on left), a captured Egyptian Krupp gun with its crew, and a senior foot war leader.

Joining the Dervish war band that I have had painted for a number of years was two more, this being the first, consisting of 20 warriors armed with sword and spear.

And the second, also similarly armed.

A note: All the Dervish and Beja flags are courtesy of www.warflag.com .

I still have a 12-figure cavalry unit to paint to complete my Dervish forces, which will ultimately consist of two mounted units, five foot units, and two gun crews.

Next month, I'll get that mounted unit painted and begin work on my Pathan forces and maybe some British and Indian cavalry. With this year's theme being Colonial Adventuring, I will use it as an impetus to get as many of my Victorian Colonial forces painted as I can.