Sudan 1880 & 90s

[paulr]

Thanks for the help Maenoferren, PM sent

My thinking now is to get a couple of representative forces which will hopefully not require too many figures.

The Imperial forces will need; Guards, Highlanders, British line (some in grey, khaki & one in red), Naval troops, Egyptian, Sudanese, British cavalry, Egyptian cavalry, Camels, Gatling guns, screw guns, normal guns [I better stop] Indain infantry, Bengal lancers, ...

What I am not so sure of is what would be a representative mix for Mahdists; warriors, rifle infantry, cavalry, camels, artillery, ...

I see there are multiple 'tribes', did they fight together or were they regional

A couple of Imperial Infantry Brigades and a Cavalry Brigade seems a reasonable force, with enough extras to allow for a variety of forces.

If I get enough Mahdists to attack them that will be more than enough if they are on the defensive.

[Leman]

No Post Office Volunteers in blue?

[paulr]

No Post Office Volunteers in blue?

I was tempted by the New South Wales Contingent but they didn't see much action

As was mentioned on another thread it is all about the variety of 'toys' on the table

[Leman]

Throw them into the mix anyway - it is a game after all rather than a re-enactment.

[Maenoferren]

I have a mix of grey, khaki and red..? Just for the look of the thing The Marines are in grey with pipe clayed leather and helmet cover. Some have black webbing, some khaki etc.
Regarding the tribes if we take the Berber contingent above it was made up of:
Ababda, Bisharin and Barabra tribes.  Each would be led by their own emir in this case: Abu AL Majid Nasr AL Din Abu l-kailak  who in turn was under command of the 'general' ( for want of a better word) Musa Wad Hilu (apologies for the lack of squigles over the different letters)
My different forces are on the painting forum ( I have far too many Dervish horse - but, as I ride I thought what the heck )
My progress can be found here:)

http://www.pendrakenforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,9952.0.html

[paulr]

Thanks Maenoferren, I had a good look at that thread last night on the train home, very useful

[Leman]

This thread has got me all excited, and I could be found this morning starting to print out my copy of Science v. Pluck. But, should I go 6 or 10 (10 has naval brigade but 6 has Gardner guns).

[Maenoferren]

What about 2nd El teb as a starting point?  2 infantry brigades plus a cavalry brigade with independent commands of Naval brigade Gardner guns, royal artillery and engineers against 6-8000 Dervish with artillery  add in imaginary cavalry and a pretty good starting force.

Leman I am not sure which version I have as I didn't bother printing the front cover
I have done 15mm for the officers ( when things go wrong)

[Leman]

Mine is 3rd edition, with a covering note saying a fourth is on the way, but that was a couple of years ago, so I'll just stick with the 3rd.

[Maenoferren]

I got mine from Wargames vault so it is probably the same one.

[paulr]

What about 2nd El teb as a starting point?  2 infantry brigades plus a cavalry brigade with independent commands of Naval brigade Gardner guns, royal artillery and engineers against 6-8000 Dervish with artillery  add in imaginary cavalry and a pretty good starting force.

That is the sort of "typical" forces I'm looking for

Given the cost of postage to NZ I try and do one order projects  ...I did say try

So I will want to include some extras that I can sub in to get some variety, Guards, Camels and Egyptians being the obvious candidates for the British
Cavalry and Camels for the Mahdists...

Inspired by your pictures I did some calculating last night and came up with 924 figures

That includes a couple of Bengal infantry battalions and a unit of Bengal Lancers and about 12,000 Mahdist

How widely were the Bengals involved, nice to have the variety but I could save over 70 figures if I drop them

[Maenoferren]

The 15th Ludhiana Sikhs battle of Tofrek 1885 and Suakin 1888
28th Bombay Infantry as above ( if I remember correctly some of these chaps broke and ran at Tofrek causing a bit of a hole. The Sikhs and the Berkshires held firm. A squadron of the lancers heard firing and advanced. Seeing a maelstrom of men and baggage animals fleeing towards them went into extended order to allow them through and then counter charged the pursuing Dervish.
9th Bengal lancers basically Feb to June 1885. 150 officers and men (3rd Squadron) were ordered to remain in Suakin until November 1885. So if you are doing 1884 you won't need them.

Hope that helps

[Maenoferren]

It wasn't the 28th,  it was 17th Bengal I got North and South of the Zeriba muddled up, but to be fair the cavalry evading the Dervish rode straight through them followed by 2000 plus enemy warriors, a couple of ragged volleys isn't going to stop that lot.

[paulr]

Thanks again for all the help

What size bases did you use, 40x20mm?

Did you consider RT7 Turkish Bashi-bazook for your Bbashi-bazook? Which ACW Zouaves did you use, old RM15 Zouave, battle line or new ACW21 Zouaves in turban?

[Leman]

This is all good stuff - keep it coming. I think I am coming down on the side of 10mm.

[Maenoferren]

Thanks again for all the help

What size bases did you use, 40x20mm?

Did you consider RT7 Turkish Bashi-bazook for your Bbashi-bazook? Which ACW Zouaves did you use, old RM15 Zouave, battle line or new ACW21 Zouaves in turban?

40x20 for infantry and 40x30 for everything else.
I hadn't realised there was RT7 which is why I went for AC21.
I must get my Egyptian cavalry done. I didn't go for Egyptian artillery and as I am doing the earlier period I am not going to bother converting any Egyptian camel corps.

[Maenoferren]

Paul, sent you a PM I think... Can't see any evidence of it being sent though. Give me a shout if it doesn't appear.

[paulr]

Paul, sent you a PM I think... Can't see any evidence of it being sent though. Give me a shout if it doesn't appear.

Shout, no evidence of PM arriving

I did however get a rather useful email from you

Many thanks

[Maenoferren]

Doh! No wonder the PM didn't appear. Thanks for letting me know.

[paulr]

No problem