Wednesday, 26 January 2011

Charlie don't march?

Thinking of matters Colonial, I have been looking at the options open to the C18 expansionist.  I must say they are rather dire.

I want "Oriental" troops in a marching pose.  Manufacturers seem to like such figures in a wild charge or at best skirmish poses - See the many "Pathan" and "Berber" ranges out there for examples.  The Sepoy shown in the contemporary watercolour to the left would be ideal.  He wears a mixture of native and European clothing and looks suitably exotic.

As the location of the Colony is intended to be somewhere on the fringes of Araby/India I have a great deal of latitude with the appearance of the troops.  That said, I cannot for the life of me find an Arab/Berber/Pathan marching and holding a musket.  I can find them with spears and sabres but all musket toting figures are far too energetic!  The closest I have found is a "Tufengi" from Dixon's old Ottoman selection.  He is walking with a musket held accross his chest - so not ideal.

Redoubt's Bengal Sepoy and the infamous IN 110.
Casting my net toward the Sub-Continent, there are a few marching troops knocking about.  Redoubt's "Wellington in India" range has some Sepoys that are in the right pose.  Sadly their equipment is rather British (as it should be) and their uniforms distinctly early C19.  Lurking in the "Irregulars" sub-category is a chap (IN 110) who is spot-on in terms of attire but Murphy's Law dictates he is in an "iffy" position...

Parkfield Sepoys.
Parkfield may be the best option as their "Clive in India" figures have a couple of interesting Sepoys.  The downside is that these are older figures and sport what I term "Pumpkincephalus"  On the other hand they are cheap and have a good selection of similarly sculpted and sized Europeans to act as NCO/Officers.





Finally there are some great troops in the Wargames Foundry pack IND 210.  Unfortunately, I am not going to pay the ridiculously high premium demanded by Mr Ansell.

If any of my readers are aware of something that may be suitable I would greatly appreciate a pointer or two!  Now back to IR.10...
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8 comments:

  1. tidders226 January 2011 at 12:37

    1st Corps have got some French and British sepoys in their SYW range - advancing pose.

    Another range that may be of interest is the Mughal range from Bears Den Miniatures.

    I haven't recruited my sepoys yet - I'm torn between Parkfield or 1st Corps

    -- Allan

    http://adventures-in-the-indies.blogspot.com/

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  2. kendo26 January 2011 at 13:29

    I am sure Greatwhitezulu will be able to help you

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  3. Ritter von Krautheim26 January 2011 at 13:52

    Hi Tidders, I like the idea of the 1st Corps figures but they all look a little drunk to me. They seem to be staggering rather than advancing. Perhaps someone spiked their lassis?

    CH - where do I find this GWZ? Will he care that my ancestors slaughtered his kin in the C19?

    :-)

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  4. abdul66626 January 2011 at 15:18

    GWZ, since he launched his 'Golconda' blog, now regularly posts on the TMP; so if you post your query on the TMP 18th C. forum ['discussion' and 'products' boards] (and maybe in his case cross-posting on the 'Australian wargaming' board) he and maybe other wargamers knowledgeable in late 17th - early 19th C. India will read it. And the 18th C. bunch is friendly and obliging.

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  5. abdul66626 January 2011 at 20:23

    Since it's for 'exotic looking' troops of the army of an European Imagi-Nation, take a look at troops types of a slightly later period with uniforms combining 'Local' and European features.
    Remember that while Turqueries were indeed fashionable in Western Europe, most Western Europeans mixed up Turkish, Persian and even Indian costumes as merrily as some Hollywood costume designers!

    And 'local' attempts to build 'modern' regiments trained along European lines generally gave birth to uniforms combining 'local' tradition -to respect national pride- with European features. Such combinations, not being blatantly linked to European uniforms of a precise decade, are rather 'period-free' and, within an imaginary context, can well be field 50 - 75 years before their historical date.
    For instance mid-18th C. Neo-Byzantium (the army of which moonlights as French 'Corps du Vin') will field Ottoman (Old Glory) Nizam~Cedit (ca. 1815) as 'Guard Rifle Light Infantry' for Byzantium and 'Legion d'Orient' for the 'Corps du Vin'.

    I wonder if, along the same lines, 'regular' Sikhs from the 1st Sikh War could not fit in your project?

    I *hate* manufacturers that don't provide photos of their products!
    Then, these minis were certainly bought and painted by other wargamers, some of them may have a blog or a Photobucket (or the like) gallery? You could ask on the TMP 19th C. forum?
    (Foundry also do 'offer' (!!!) Sikhs: 'All the Indian irregulars that they call "Warriors" are from their old Sikh War range (as well as the ones called Sikhs, naturally.)... (: (:

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  6. greatwhitezulu27 January 2011 at 02:57

    Hi guys,

    Next figures from the sculptor are Mysorean and Bengali sepoys in march pose! There will be an officer, standard bearer, musician and march pose for each. I expect the greens in about 2 weeks.

    Pics of previous figures is at:

    http://golcondarising.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-hindu-greens.html

    I expect that the next figures will be just what you are after. Scaled to fit in with Foundry

    gwz

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  7. Ritter von Krautheim27 January 2011 at 10:52

    I look forward to these with relish!

    Abdul - you and I think along similar lines. The C18 depiction of "Turks" was very fanciful and thus attractive. This is something I think was captured rather well in Gilliam's "Munchausen" flick (recently re-watched after 20 years - painful) It has a flavour akin to a good production of "Die Entführung aus dem Serail"!

    I had investigated the Sikhs and like what I saw - fairly generic and with yellow coats etc would look "in period". Posted in TMPs C19 forum and have (when I last checked) got little response.

    HOWEVER!

    I visited GWZ site last night and saw just how nice those Parkfield fellas can look with Crusader(?) Europeans and decided I may well give them a crack for one Regiment.

    Also they got the Wife's vote of approval being nicer than the Sikhs.

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  8. greatwhitezulu28 January 2011 at 12:04

    I agree! I like my Parkfield sepoys a lot!

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