Beja unit

Finally got the last 6 figures completed for my first unit of fearsome Beja warriors. These are all Perry plastic figures. Easy enough to paint up. Just wish someone could put them together for me.

So that is 3 units completed for the Mahdi. Atleast 3 more to do before I think about adding any extra options.

Gaslands Pre season

It's race 4 of the clubs Gaslands pre season as we all pick up the rules. The first 3 were simple affairs of everyone using 1 or 2 cars with a machine gun as we got used to the mechanisms. Not a great start for my team, wrecked in race 1, last in race 2. Race 3 I did pick up 1st and 2nd, more by luck I think.

Race 4 was against Mitch with 50 cans team. Proper upgrades etc. Mitch took 3 cars, all wirh mines. I had 2 cars and a performance car. To the race.

The start was carnage as one of Mitchs car's slid across the track, causing everyone to swerve to try and avoid damage.

It did however allow Tonto in the performance car to get ahead in the race which he held for much of the race. Bugs though was wrecked at the 1st gate hitting some mines, though the explosion did damage Mitch's cars. After some exchange of fire, Cammi in the second car forced his way into 2nd place behind Tonto to provide some protection.

With Mitch's cars continuing to slide, spin and wipeout I picked up quite a lead. However the nuances of the figure 8 track meant Mitch layed plenty of mines to block me. He even sent 1 car the wrong way to hit Tonto head on, wrecking both cars.

Cammi then did some rather spiffing driving to get through the mines, take out Mitch's 2nd car, only to be undone at the last moment by a simple machine gun burst.

Please excuse the tissue as we didn't have enough templates to represent all the Mines Mitch put down. Overall a poor result for my Blackdog Racing Team, all 3 cars wrecked, but a fun race. Mitch's last car was down to its last 2 points. Looking forward to the racing season in the New Year.

Slow progress

I'm finding it difficult to get the time to paint, dark and stormy nights aren't helping and when I do get time I'm decorating. So these guys are all I have to show for 2 weeks work. Very basic paint jobs, though I did go back and add tufts to all of the other completed figures. So once more 7 extra Beja warriors from Perry miniatures.

I do still need to add a flag and the last 6 figures of the unit have now been started. Here are the rest to prove I have done the bases.

So nearly 50% through the Mahdist forces. Hopefully be able to get a game in the New Year. In the meantime tonight af the club, it's Gaslands, should be fun I hope.

For the Mahdi

A little more progress on my colonial project. First up is 6 more irregulars with rifles to complete a second unit of Nile Arabs for the Mahdists.

I have also made a start on a 3rd unit, this time some Beja warriors. The first 3 warriors are complete. I have another 7 on the painting table, where I'm thinking of adding a little more variation to the clothing.

At some point I will have to decide whether or not to add some suitable tufts to the bases.

On the club front we have a potential move on the cards to a smaller premises, which is cheaper and we have our own lockable room, allowing games to continue over a number of club nights. Just need to see how the rest of the members think.

More Mahdists

Finally finished the basing on another 8 figures. 6 more tribal warriors to complete myfirst unit and 2 more riflemen for the irregulars.

And a picture of the completed unit which gives a better idea of the basing and helps with the irregular feel for the units.

Just need to print off and add the flag to this unit. I also have the last 5 riflemen nearly complete on the painting table.

For the Mahdi

I eventually got around to sorting out the first of my Mahdist force. I don't have any completed units yet as I'm just putting them together 1 sprue at a time. I've also gone with an idea I had based on the 3-2-1 basing for irregular troops. Instead of circular bases I went for more irregular shapes. A bit of a pain creating them, but meet my needs.

First up is some tribal warriors, all Perry plastic miniatures.

Just another 6 to add. I went for a mix of cream and white for the clothing. The second batch is the start of some musket armed troops. These are a mix of Perry and 2 Darkest Africa figures from Foundry.

Pretty happy with how they turned out. Kept to a simple paint scheme as it is how they look as a mass that works for me. Just another 78 to go

Rebels vs Redcoats

Thursday night at the club saw Thom and myself dust down our AWI collections for a simple straight up fight. Can't remember the last time the figures were out of the box.

It was a simple scenario with the Rebels trying to block the advance of the Redcoats. I had 2 brigades of Continentals  and a brigade of militia of very dubious quality.  Thom also fielded 3 brigades, 1 of which was made up of some Loyalists. The other 2 were regulars with light infantry and Grenadiers. 

With orders to advance into the cover of the woods, I had an inauspicious start. Only the militia advance with the Continentals looking on. The Loyalist infantry came storming up the road with both brigades of regulars on the flanks.

It was first blood to the Rebels with the militia and artillery hammering the British legion, who quickly disintegrated. Meanwhile the regulars began to probe my flanks.

Eventually both flanks came under heavy attack. On the right my militia began to wilt under pressure and still my Virginian Continentals looked on. Over on the left the first clash routed 1 battalion and force my Marylanders back. This was not good. I threw in some cavalry to check the Redcoats. 

Eventually the Continentals got some motivation to engage. Just in time as the militia broke. The Loyalists had also ran out of steam and retired.

With hard fighting on both flanks, both sides started taking heavy casualties (we both rolled terribly for morale). It all came down to who broke first. Luckily my artillery got in the decisive fire to first disorder then rout some regulars forcing the brigade to break.

A great game and hard fought. Though a victory to the Rebels, it didn't leave much of an army left. Though I broke 2 British brigades to 1, both my remaining brigades were on the verge of collapse. Discretion would force both sides to retreat and recover.

Sound of the guns

I couldn't help myself and added an artillery piece to my force. In my defence the crew from Foundry have sat in my lead mountain for years as I didn't have a gun for them. So a little search on the internet and I came across Ever Victorious miniatures which sold the 9lb artillery as a separate model, so purchase made. I'm not sure how often it will get used, but it gives another option to the force.

Next was a simple re-basing of some mounted Boers. These will form the basis of some volunteer cavalry. All 3 are from Blacktree. 

The intention is to add a couple of mounted figures from the Northstar Africa range and some Perry miniatures Frontier horse command to round out the regiment.

More Firepower

Well it had to be done. To support my Colonial force I added a gatling gun from Perry miniatures. A lovely model. It gives me an extra option for my core force of 24 points.

I also completed 'C' Company of my Royal Marines.  Again these are all Perry plastics from their Zulu war British box set.

And here is the whole force in a square, ready to receive a charge from the local  natives.

I just need to complete the 9lb artillery piece and a unit of irregular volunteer cavalry. If I add the unit of Boers, that would give me two 24 point forces. I've now made a start on building some of the Perry Mahdists.