Reporting for duty

As I mentioned in a previous post, The Men Who Would be Kings ruleset requires that each unit has a leader figure, so I have now added three more personalities to lead the Empire units.

Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred George Huyshe CB commands 1bn Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Berkshire) Regiment, Colonel Sir Cromer Ashburnham KCB commands 3bn King’s Royal Rifle Corps, and Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Henry Ozzard commands the Royal Marine Light Infantry contingent in HMS Tyne.

Left-to-right: Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred George Huyshe CB, Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Henry Ozzard, and Colonel Sir Cromer Ashburnham KCB.

Game markers and British unit leaders

I’ve finished a small set of 16 game markers, which I hope will be enough, and the three leader figures are ready for varnishing.

As I mentioned in my last post, the game markers are to indicate ‘pinned’ units and, specifically for the Beja, warriors who have ‘gone to ground’.

When I first saw Charles C Stadden’s plates of Royal Marine Light Infantry in the Sudan, I considered adding a red stripe to all the figure’s trousers. However, it was difficult to verify whether this was historically accurate in-theatre, so I abandoned the idea. My recent decision to add Lieutenant-Colonel Albert H Ozzard gave me the opportunity to add stripes to his trousers, so I am pleased about that. I’m also rather pleased with the way Ashburnham’s facial hair turned out.

Top-to bottom: Game markers for ‘pinned’ and ‘gone to ground’, which are intended to be positioned behind a unit’s leader figure; Charles C Stadden’s plates of Royal Marine Light Infantry showing the red stripe on their trousers; Huyshe, Ashburnham, and Ozzard.

Three more leaders and some game markers

The Men Who Would be Kings ruleset requires that each unit has an identified leader. To this end I needed three more personalities to lead the Empire units.

Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred George Huyshe CB commands 1bn Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Berkshire) Regiment, Colonel Sir Cromer Ashburnham KCB commands 3bn King’s Royal Rifle Corps, and Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Henry Ozzard commands the Royal Marine Light Infantry contingent in HMS Tyne.

The main additions are lanyards for the drawn pistols and characteristic moustache and sideburns for Ashburnham.

My Hadendowa are lead at rub level, with these leadership characteristics also applied to each band. Each band has an individual leader figure, so that an individual band can become leaderless.

Once I have completed the three British leaders all my units will have an individual leader figure. This makes leaderless units easy to mark. I am making some ‘pinned’ and ‘gone to ground’ markers; the former will be a shield on a small scenic base, with a tuft added for the latter.

Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Henry Ozzard, Colonel Sir Cromer Ashburnham KCB, Lieutenant-Colonel Alfred George Huyshe CB, and the first of the game markers.

Lieutenant Soltau’s pet dog

I have a set of Perry Miniatures’ plastic British Infantry in Afghanistan and Sudan 1877–85, and have been thinking about a way of using Bobby, the small dog. While reading around my current subject I discovered an account of an officer serving with the Berkshire Regiment in the Sudan who had a small dog with him.

Lieutenant Soltau was killed during the battle of Ginnis, 30 December 1885; the animal was probably a black Toy Spaniel, so I modified the miniature’s ears (see a previous post), and took some licence with its coat. I have now added the little chap to the Berkshire’s officer’s base.

The sad story of this little dog is told by Lt-Gen Sir William Butler in his autobiography Sir William Butler: An Autobiography:

We lost only one officer killed—Lieutenant Soltau of the Berkshire Regiment. He was shot through the head a minute or two after we gained the razor-back ridge. He was a splendid specimen of youthful manhood as he stood behind the men of his company, who were lying against the top of the ridge ; nor did he look one whit less splendid when, a moment later, he lay stretched on his back on the rocky desert with his sword still held firm in his hand. We buried him in the desert outside Ginniss. A touching thing happened at that simple funeral. Soltau had a pet dog, which he took with him wherever he went. It was a tiny thing, of the toy spaniel type, but, small as that animal was, it had the biggest heart of any dog I had ever seen. This was what happened. The body of the dead officer was carried on a stretcher behind the Berkshire Regiment as we marched from the ridge, and the stretcher, covered by a Union Jack, was put in a tent for a couple of hours while a grave was being dug in the desert. When all was ready, we followed the body to its last rest. The stretcher was laid on the ground a few feet from the grave, and the Union Jack lifted. The body, still in uniform, was then raised by four men and lowered into the grave ; but, cowering on one side of the blood-stained stretcher, in smaller shape than ever before, was the tiny dog. I have never forgotten the way in which that black atom dragged itself, crouching, from the stretcher along the few feet of sand to the edge of the pit, and lay there with its head hanging down into the grave. When some one lifted it away, it hung like a little dead thing, a sight sufficient to make strong men turn aside.

Lieutenant Soltau, perhaps, and the little dog.

Review of 2022

Firstly, Happy New Year! My 2023 opens with a small host of Empire figures to paint: KRRC, Black Watch, Royal Irish Fusiliers, and Bengal Cavalry – quite a bit of variety. There’s a handful of un-painted Beja warriors to do too, which I will fit in around painting the Empire units.

The Berkshires get stuck in!

But what of the past year? I seem to have been somewhat better at progressing my project than in previous years – here’s my tally:

Miniatures
– Naval Brigade unit
– RMLI unit
– Royal Navy contingent command group
– Army heliograph section
– Bennet Burleigh and Melton Prior
– Royal Artillery RML 2.5 in 7pdr battery
– Private Thomas Edwards VC vignette
– towed Gatling gun, limber, with ratings
– Hadendowa rub
– 19th Hussars
– The Berkshires
– Empire command group
– Mahdist command group

Terrain
– Sudanese huts
– terrain board upgrade
– ruin
– palm trees

On the bench I have three bands of Beja warriors at the varnishing stage, which I hope to get finished this month. Then on to my KRRC unit and the first of the Black Watch, which I plan to paint eight at a time … else the tartan will surely send me cross-eyed!

The Berkshires, two command groups … and a small dog

I have finally finished my first army infantry unit, and added command groups for the Suakin Field Force and the Red Sea Littoral Mahdists.

My latest unit has been a long time coming – I first posted something about my idea for it back in January. I wanted to include some of the character of contemporary eye witness war correspondents’ illustrations, typical of The Graphic and The Illustrated London News, and embodied by the painting by Karl Kopinski, which adorns the cover of Mike Snook’s Go Strong into the Desert.

The 24 figure unit is now finished, and I am very pleased with the way they turned out.

While finishing these fellows, and working on three more bands of Beja warriors, I assembled Lt-Gen Graham’s HQ group and Osman Digna’s command group. The former comprises mounted figures of Graham, a staff officer, and a red flag bearer (who accompanied the chief to indicate his location). The latter comprises a mounted Osman Digna, two flag bearers, a tribal leader, and a drummer.

Today I learned that a Toy Spaniel accompanied one of the Berkshire’s officers in the Sudan, which led me to think about the possibility of a small vignette. More of this in a later post.

Top–to–bottom: The Berkshires, Graham’s HQ group, Osman Digna’s command group, and a slightly modified Bobby from Perry Miniatures’ plastic Afghan/Sudan British infantry set.

Merry Christmas from the work bench

Merry Christmas to my followers and visitors. I hope you have a relaxing time over the next few days and get a bit of time for whatever kind of wargaming activity takes your fancy.

I am in the middle of basing the 1st battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Berkshire) Regiment (who look very keen to get stuck in), and Lieutenant-General Graham’s and Osman Digna’s command groups.

Also on the bench are some more palm tress and a cork-faced hill in three sections. Perfect holiday projects.

Command groups, Osman Digna’s on the left and Graham’s on the right, with the Berkshires getting stuck in at the front. (All Perry Miniatures.)