Abu Klea 136th anniversary

Coincidentally I’m in the middle of Mike Snook’s chapters about the the battle of Abu Klea.

Beyond the Reach of Empire is a forensic account of the 1885 Nile Expedition, and in particular investigates the responsibility of the officer blamed by Wolsey for its failure.

I am reading this alongside the richly illustrated Go Strong into the Desert (also by Snook), Melton Prior’s Campaigns of a War Correspondent, and In Relief of Gordon, Lord Wolseley’s campaign journal, edited by Adrian Preston.

These are very different texts, offering corroberation, of course, and different perspectives on operations and life and death in the desert, and I would recommended them all.

Abu Klea casts a shadow.

Infantry units: to mix or not to mix

I have been thinking about the mix of figures for my RMLI and infantry companies, in particular the level of uniformity in the poses.

I have figures firing and loading from Perry Miniatures infantry firing line (SB9) and standing volley firing (SB10), and infantry in melee (SB12), so, Blu Tack at the ready once again, I thought to experiment with mixing the figures to see which I preferred the appearance of.

One of my objectives is to achieve some of the characteristics of the eye witness drawings published in The Illustrated London News, many of which are reproduced in Mike Snook’s excellent Go Strong into the Desert (highly recommended if you are interested in this era).

I also have an eye on future purchases, and the poses I am considering, particularly for Highland (Black Watch) and Mounted Infantry (KRRC) units, the former charging and the latter skirmishing. I am considering a box of plastic infantry to represent a company of the Royal West Kents, my late father’s regiment.

My preference is for a more standardised approach, for these two units, at any rate.

RMLI company with a mixture of volley firing, reloading, and melée poses.

Infantry company with a mixture of volley firing, reloading, and melée poses.

RMLI company with volley firing and reloading poses.

Infantry company with melée poses.

Infantry unit sizes and basing

I have been thinking about the sizes of my units from a number of perspectives: the number of figures specified by the rules I am considering (The Men Who Would Be Kings and Black Powder); the number of figures and different poses in each of Perry Miniatures’ packs; appearance – which will look right on the table; and cost.

With Blu Tack at the ready, and working with the figures I have so far, I considered: six other ranks plus two command figures, twelve other ranks plus two command figures, and eighteen other ranks plus two command figures. The six plus two option was for Naval Brigade detachments, since historically these units were usually small; but this just looked a bit mean when the figures were placed together on bases.

For now I have settled on twelve plus two for Naval Brigade detachments (I have enough figures for two of these), and eighteen plus two for other infantry companies (although I could see these going to twent-two plus two command figures).

I also need a couple of sergeants with fixed bayonets, so I will order an infantry command pack too. All this means that there will be a few spare figures, but I am certain these will find their way into other units or vignettes.

These combinations look right to me, should work with both sets of rules, and give a good visual distinction between the strengths of units from the different services.

I am likely to base four figures on a 60mm x 60mm base. This will give a slightly open looking deployment, which is informed by a post of Mike Snook’s on the (sadly, now defunct) Victorian Wars forum:

I have allowed a hypothetical one yard per two-rank file in calculating frontages, which is obviously an extra foot over the 24 inches of the ‘infantry drill’. There’s [sic] really two reasons for that. First this isn’t the drill square at Horse Guards, (where nobody fires volleys); rather it’s an undulating piece of rock-strewn desert. People give themselves that little bit more room to prevent the constant jostling effect that would otherwise arise from being dead shoulder to shoulder. Secondly, in order to fire, the book states that the rear rank men in the file come up on the left side of the front rank men. I have estimated the effect of these two things as being an extra foot per file. To be clear: two soldiers to each three feet of frontage where a company has turned towards the enemy and intends to fire a volley.

Naval Brigade, wearing sennet hats: six ratings plus two command figures.

Naval Brigade, wearing caps: twelve ratings plus two command figures.

The fellow on the left will be armed with a Martini-Henry rifle, which needs a sling and a cutlass bayonet.

Perry Miniatures’ Mahdist Ansar

There are plenty of reviews of Perry Miniatures’ Mahdist Ansar 28mm plastic figures on the web, but I thought to include a brief overview for completeness.

Nicely packaged and presented, the box contains six sprues: two identical command sprues; three identical ‘rank and file’ sprues; one sprue of bases; and a four page booklet. The informative text, written by Mike Snook, includes guides to tribal dress, and six flags.

The figures are cleanly moulded, nicely proportioned, and a good match for the twins’ metal range; if anything the plastic figures are ever so slightly bulkier, and a little taller. This assessment is based on the metal figures I have bought so far, limited to Beja rifle armed and camel mounted figures. There is likely to be more on this in a later post, I feel.

They assemble reasonably quickly, but reward careful matching of arms to torsos, and a little filler as required.

A pretty comprehensive four page booklet, written by Mike Snook, provides a brief history of the different tribes drawn to the Mahdi’s cause, examples of their dress …

… an overview of the 1881–1885 conflict, and even a small set of finely reproduced flags.

The command sprue features two figures, two ‘fuzzy wuzzy’ style heads, one head with a skull cap, one head in a turban, a sword, a Remington rifle, a drum, and a flag staff. There are two of these sprues in the box.

The ‘rank and file’ sprue features six poses, which are duplicated, twelve in all, with two Remington rifles, two sticks, two swords, eight spears, 12 shields …

… 12 Beja ‘fuzzy wuzzy’ style heads, five heads with scull caps (two styles), four shaven heads, one head with short hair, one head in a turban. There are three of these sprues in the box.

There is a lot of subtle detail in the mouldings …

… testament to the skill of the sculptor, the design of the sprues, and the quality of the tooling.

First recruits and sundries

This post marks the beginning of a project I have been thinking about for over 18 months. At the outset I read Mike Snook’s excellent Go Strong into the Desert, which led me to seriously consider the early years of the Mahdist uprising for my miniature adventure.

I like the idea of improvised armoured trains, paddle steamer gunboats, and marauding slavers, while the romance of the Nile and the desert are major draws.

Just before Christmas I received my first deliveries from a handful of manufacturers and suppliers. 

I needed some additions to my scenic palette to allow modelling of mimosa for landscaping and, importantly, zarebas. Accordingly I bought some rubberised horse hair. I also bought brown short and long tufts, and tall shrubbery in yellow/green and natural hues.

I am considering The Men Who Would Bed Kings for rules, and gave the organisation of my forces some thought, but failed to form any firm conclusions about composition for the British. So I decided to order miniatures for Naval Brigade, Royal Marine Light Infantry, and King’s Royal Rifle Corps units, with some medics and war correspondents for vignettes; I settled on early war Beja (the Fuzzy Wuzzys of Kipling’s poem), and ordered two boxes of plastic figures, metal rifle armed, and camel mounted warriors, all from Perry Miniatures.

I also bought the Blood on the Nile Black Powder supplement, principally for the Fred Burnaby miniature, but it turns out to be an excellent source of inspirational photographs.

I bought Union Flags and White Ensigns from Flags of War. I will need to buy some flags for the Beja too … The Virtual Armchair General’s extensive range looks suitable.

My first Perry Miniatures order: metal Naval Brigade, RMLI,
King’s Royal Rifle Corps, and Beja …

… more Beja, and a handful of tents …

… and Blood on the Nile for the Fred Burnaby figure, (the volume is full of great photos).

A range of accessories including Martini-Henry rifles, assorted loads, packs, and helmets, and a water cart, all from Empress Miniatures; assorted crates and bundles from Field of Glory; scale chain from Green Stuff World.

Union Flags and White Ensigns will stake out the territory the plucky Brits are hanging on to!

I needed some additions to my stash of scenics, and rubberised horse hair for mimosa thorn bush.