Sikh Wars British

Its been a while since my last post, a lot has been happening, but hopefully I'll be able to post regularly as I get some painting done. There is a it of a backlog on the basing table, and I've made a start on some GrandManner buildings for the Peninsula project, which has also expanded to included Spanish forces for Sharp Practice 2, but more of that another time.

Below are two of the Queens Regiments that I've painted for the Sikh Wars.
The figures are 1/72nd Newline Designs, flags are from the Virtual Armchair General. Both provide excellent customer service.

The units are, with the red or scarlet facings, the 53rd Regiment. Their battle honours at the time of the Sikh Wars included Nieuport, Tournay, St.Lucia, Peninsula, Talavera, Salamanca, Vittoria, Pyrenees, Nive, Nivelle and Toulouse.
The unit with the yellow facing dis the 29th Regiment. Their battle honours at the time were, Ramilies, Peninsula, Roleia, Vimiera, Talavera and Albuera. The battle of Gujerat was the last occasion that the colours of the 29th were carried in action.

I chose these regiments as the first I painted because they both served during the first and second Sikh Wars.

Information taken from Armies of the 19th Century: The British in India 1825 to 1859 by John French., published by Foundry Books. This is an excellent book and worth searching out if you're interested in period covered.

Irregular Sikh Infantry

Finished the irregular infantry for my Sikh army.  The figures are 1/72nd by Newline Designs and the flags are from The Virtual Armchair General. This little lot provides 4 units and a command group, I'm really pleased with the way the army is shaping up, will have to schedule some more regular units onto the painting table soon.

Sikh Infantry, Dragoons and Artillery

I've made a bit of a start on the Sikh Army. The figures are 1/72nd Newline Designs.
Flag is by The Virtual Armchair General.
I'm finding the figures quick to paint in comparison to the usual 28mm and a pleasant alternative. 

First up are some Sikh infantry, Fauj-i-ain (regular infantry).
A Dragoon Regiment (I need to pick up command because I neglected to place these on my order!),  and finally some Sikh Artillery. These are probably my favourite arm of the Sikh Army, reputed to never surrender, preferring to die with their guns, and after the bayonet was run through them they were recorded as throwing their arms around their guns and kissing them before they died.

I'm really looking forward to fielding my Sikh Wars armies, I've only just discovered the period and I'm finding it one of fascinating engagements between two well matched armies, the Sikh army has superb regular line infantry and artillery (more than a match for the British forces, and in the case of the artillery superior), only let down by the quality of the cavalry (numerically superior but not as effective as their opponents).

I've currently got a batch of irregular Sikh Infantry on the painting table, and will be working on these a bit at a time inbetween other projects, I find this approach tends to increase my output as I don't get bored with one period or type of figure.

Click on any picture to enlarge

Sikh Wars

This is the first posting on the mystery 20mm project - or 1/72nd Sikh Wars to be more precise.

I've been eyeing the Newline Designs 1/72nd Sikh Wars for sometime and finally decided to take the plunge. Ospreys ordered, figures arrived and all seemed to be going nicely to plan until I looked for some suitable flags...problem, all my usual sources came up blank.
It was then that the Internet came to my rescue and I found The Virtual Armchair General (TVAG) who just so happened to carry an extensive range of Sikh War Flags. Order was placed and despite being held to ransom by Customs and the Post Office the flags duly arrived. I can recommend TVAG for a rapid response and excellent customer service, all the flags you'll need for covering the First and Second Sikh Wars are available, well worth considering as you get lots of flags for your money.

The Newline miniatures are very nice, castings are crisp with a little flash which is easy to remove.

First up are a couple of units of Bengal Native Infantry Sepoys. Newline Designs do packs of 4 figures and unit deals of 24 figures. However the unit deals only contain one standard bearer (my fault for not checking first). I spent some time considering basing, unit size etc. and finally decided on 16 figure units based 4 figures to a 40mm square base. I also decided to use a single standard bearer and to incorporate the second flag on a marker base that sits behind the unit on the table. I've always preferred my game markers to be a part of the table or unit having some visual appeal rather than chits of paper or randomly placed dice (which I have the habit of picking up in error).

The marker base is for use with Black Powder rules and contains a slot for a token indicating the brigade the unit is associated with, a slot for a D6 to indicate casualties and another slot for a marker to denote shaken etc.  I will include more pictures of how I made these markers in a separate post for those interested. 

Click on any picture to enlarge