Mahratta war British Sepoys

Here are a few photos of my British infantry and the Mahratta guns. Above is the nearly completed 12th Madras with green facings. To the left of the picture are the first couple of figures for my 3rd Sepoy battalion the 10th Madras. I am basing my initial forces on Wellesleys army at Assaye so there will be 2 British battalions, 4 Sepoy battalions and a unit of pickets, 1 British cavalry regiment and 3 Madras Native cavalry regiments.

Not sure how the above photo sneaked in! The red battalion from my Mahratta regular brigade.

Next is the completed 4th Madras with orange facings.

This unit is a mix of standing firing figures in the front rank and a variety of loading and at ready figures in the second rank. The firing figure is nice but I have found the ankles to be very thin and one broke even with gentle handling. The remaing battalions will therefore be in marching or advancing poses. Flags are by The Virtual Armchair General who do all regiments in both Wellesleys and Lakes armies and over 100 Mahratta flags. The added bonus is that the proprietor is an absolute gentleman and was very helpful in printing the flags slightly over size to complement the larger Redoubt figures.

A shot (round?) of my Mahratta guns collected so far. The mortar to the right is actually a Mysore Tiger Mortar but it will see service with my Mahrattas. The guns are by Elite and are from my Napoleonic collection ( a good cost saving).

The 4th Madras again....

Finally a couple of photos of the First Brigade commander Lieutenant-Colonel William Wallace who commanded the 74th foot and the 4th and 12th Madras at Assaye. Wallace is a Redoubt figure while his second in command is an Elite Miniatures staff officer (a lovely one piece casting).

That's it for now. I have another Mahratta cavalry unit on the painting table as well as a regular infantry battalion and I will post photos when they are done. Dave H.

Mysore Bullocks!

No this post is not about my painful medical condition but I couldn't resist the title!
In addition to the infantry and cavalry I have been painting some artillery and 'logistical' support.

First up are some supply camels and these can be used for either side. A huge number of camp followers (no sniggering Brian) and support personnel accompanied both the British and Mahratta armies (approximately 10 for every fighting man in the British army) and I feel this has to be represented on the wargames table. I intend to have a base of these camels for every brigade as De Boigne had 126 for each of his brigades. I think the defence and safe movement of the baggage train will make an interesting scenario in itself.

Now to the bullocks mentioned in the post title. Not just bullocks but Mysore bullocks, reputedly the strongest in India. Wellesley used these in his Madras army during the Deccan campaign and Redoubt make lovely models of them (which my painting does not do justice). They were used to pull the artillery and as the model represents a 6lb gun (attached to each battalion in 2 gun sections) I have used 2 bullocks to pull it. Bigger guns will have 4 bullocks, or even an elephant to pull them.

The gun and the limber are also by Redoubt who also make a bullock cart, a couple of which I will be adding to the baggage train.

The gun deployed for action. Actually most of the artillery personnel was European assisted by Indian Lascars but the British artillery crew which Redoubt produce are in the Bengal Horse Artillery uniform! I will use these when I paint up my galloper guns which accompanied the cavalry.

I hope the last three posts have been of some interest to people. In my opinion this is a lovely range of figures which, if not always entirely accurate, has a huge amount of charm and some really beautiful figures! I will post more photos as I complete further units.

Mahratta Regular Brigade

Here are a few photos of my first Regular brigade for the Mahratta army. They will have in addition an Najib/Matchlock battalion and each regular battalion will have a gun attached, to represent the 5 guns which De Boigne allocated to each battalion!

Figures are, as usual, by Redoubt except for the Brigade commander, which is an Elite French Revolutionary officer from their 30mm range.

The Green battalion - actually all the battalions will eventually be named, as in DeBoigne's and Perron's army, after great cities and fortresses - Delhi, Agra etc

I will paint another brigade, the first battalion of which is on the painting table, and these will represent the First Brigade, the 'Cheria Fauj', (The Army of Birds). They will be dressed as De Boigne dressed them in Scarlet coats, black belts and Blue Turbans.

Next up is some artillery and draft animals.

Mahratta Update!

My Mahratta project has taken a back seat this past year and a half without any new additions. However at the start of 2014 I have decided that I must push on with it and try to paint up enough figures to have a game. After all that is the whole point, these are not just for show!

So I sent away to Redoubt for some new figures and painted them up as soon as they arrived, which is quite good going for me ( I don't have the luxury of being retired John!). The first photos are of my new Mahratta cavalry commander. Actually I think he is more like a Rajput or Moghul Prince of high blood and he will certainly figure prominently in future scenarios. It is a beautiful figure.

Although the figures are on their final bases I have still to finalise how I will texture them.

Next up is another European/French mercenary commander and I have painted him based on the description of Colonel Pedron, captured by Lake at Aligurh, "an elderly man, clad in a green jacket with gold lace and epaulets". The figure is by Elite (from the 30mm range) and fits in nicely size-wise with the Redoubt figures.

Accompanying him is an Indian officer, one of my favourite figures that Redoubt do.

Next are some irregular troops. The two above are classed as Pathans on the Redoubt site and I intend to mix them in with my Matchlock men to make up the najib battalions which formed part of the regular brigades. They can of course be used independently and as garrison troops.

Lastly is a figure of an Arab mercenary, which is lovely, and I intend to have a unit of these also.
That's all for now but I will post some further photos later of the other units I have completed. Dave H.

Mahratta Command

My Mahratta project continues to proceed slowly but I have made an early New Years resolution to push on with this in 2013. My first Mahratta regular brigade is almost finished and I have started to paint and base some command groups. John posted a photo of my first British command group in a previous post. The photos here show my first completed brigade command base for the Mahrattas. In 1803 most of Scindias brigades were commanded by Frenchmen so I decided to use a Revolutionary period figure to represent this. The mounted figure is by Elite Miniatures and the foot figure is a Redoubt Indian commander from their Wellington in India range.

I am quite pleased at how the base has come out and my painting does seem to be improving. I plan to have 3 or 4 of these brigade commands in the Mahratta army to lead the infantry brigades. They will wear different coloured jackets to differentiate them.

I have 12 figures currently on the painting table to complete the regular element of my first brigade and plan to have the brigade complete and based during the Xmas holidays. I will post some photos once I have finished.

Maharatta Infantry

I (Dave) have finished adding the flag and basing my first infantry unit. They are Mahratta regular infantry of the army of Daolat Rao Scindia and will be led by Colonel Pohlman commanding from the back of an elephant. Pohlman is painted and is awaiting the arrival of his elephant. The flag I have chosen has an elephant motif and the other battalions in the compoo will also have the same motif, although the flags will reflect the turban colour of the unit.

I am quite pleased at how the basing has turned out. I wanted to try and capture the Indian hot, dry earth but with patches of greenery. I may in the future add sum grass tufts of more autumnal colours. Still I am pleased with my first attempts at more then simple flocking.

Next up for basing is the Red Turban battalion, they already have their flag attached, followed by the Orange Turbans. As I have said before, the Mahratta regulars will be colour identified which is perfect for the failing eyesight of the group! (figures by Redoubt and flag by The Virtual Armchair General).

Mahratta Update

Here are a few photos of my first Mahratta unit to receive their flag which has just arrived from The Virtual Armchair General (TVAG) who is based in the U.S.

TVAG does a comprehensive range of flags to cover the 2nd Anglo Mahratta war. For $35 I received almost 100 flags and, while they are obviously not of the quality you would expect from, say GMB, they are a good balance of quality and price. I really like them.

Patrick Wilson the owner of TVAG is a real gentlemen and answered any queries I had promptly and with good humour. The order was dispatched the same day I confirmed it and would have arrived in 7 days if the Her Majestys Customs hadn't got their mits on it!
   I will post more photos soon as the units receive their flags. Figures as usual are by Redoubt.

 

Mahratta Wars

It has been a while since I (Dave) posted about my Mahratta Wars project. This year I have decided to push on with it and get to a point where I can actually play some games! With this in mind I have been keeping my eyes open for any painted figures and terrain to supplement my very slow build up of forces. I picked up this lovely Foundry elephant from Ebay a couple of weeks ago for the same price as the unpainted casting (+ the additional foot figure). I think I got a bargain. My mate Michael purchased it through his Ebay account and has offered to cover the cost in exchange for me painting some Napoleonic British command figures for him. So, in effect, this beauty has cost me nothing! Thanks Michael!

The figure above is one which I have just finished painting and is a colonel of the 74th foot, William Wallace, one of my infantry brigade commanders. He is a Redoubt figure, as is the majority of my collection, and is a lovely sculpture.

Above he is shown with another command figure I have just completed. This Indian Prince will either represent Daolat Scindia or another Mahratta chief, I have not decided yet. Again the figure is by Redoubt.

Another shot of the Prince.

Next I thought I would show some of the books I have used whislt researching this fascinating period. The first three have been published by Leonaur and I was made aware of them through reading the blog "Joy nad Forgetfulness". I would recommend this blog to anyone as it is thought provoking and well written but above all very entertaining.

The first book is my latest purchase and I have currently read about half of it. A great read which adds flavour and insight to the period and which has determined me to have a unit of Skinners horse eventually!

The next book charts General Lakes Northern campaign in Hindustan and, although I intend to build my forces around Wellesleys Deccan army, gives some great ideas for scenarios. Of course I will expand my British to include some of Lakes units at a later date.

The next book, written around 1900, is less impressive but still gives some useful information, especially regarding De Boigne and George Thomas (the latter I was not aware of until reading this book).
The downside of the Leonaur books is that they do not contain maps or diagrams and there is no index! This makes it more difficult to go back and cross reference, an essential part of researching armies and ideas for rule ammendments. Still, they are fairly cheap!

I was a little disappointed with the above book as it covers a long period of time and therefore only a small part touches on the time of the 2nd Mahratta war. However I was still able to glean some useful information from it.

Burtons book was one of the first I bought and although it gives some useful information on Pindarries for example, I could probably do without it in my collection.

The Grant and Asquith booklet does what it says on the label! It is a useful wargamers guide with good info on the various armies and a potted history of the Mysore campaigns against Tipoo as well as the 2nd Mahratta war. It also has some scenario ideas and simple maps which will enable the wargamer to set up interesting games. Highly recommended.
   One book I have omitted to show is Wellington in India by Jac Weller. I picked up my used copy last year for only 20 quid and it is simply essential reading for anyone interested in the period. A good narrative history and a cracking read.

  As i mentioned at the start I am determined to push on with this collection and have already made some key purchases in building my armies. I have recently received another package of figures from Redoubt and these arecurrently on the painting table. Also I am anticipating the delivery of some flags this week from The Virtual Armchair General who does a comprehensive range for the 2nd Mahratta war. Once these have arrived I will get them on my completed units and post some pics.