Indian 18th C. Army - The Cavalry

I'm not sure when my facination with all things Indian began but it was certainly the excellent articles in the first dozen issues of Minaiture Wargames in the 1980s (by Paul Stevenson) that focussed my attention on the wars of the 18th Century. In terms of converting this interest to the tabletop I had done nothing much more than search lists of 25mm figures for a suitable range and tinkered with converting Spencer Smith plastic grenadiers into matchlockmen. Then during a Seven Years War game with my friend  Nick, I mentioned my ambitions to extend the  conflict to the Indian subcontinent. Nick was full of enthusiasm for this idea, having been contemplating similar,  and so a joint project was born!

Mysorean cavalry Silhadar from Miniature Wargames issue 11

The issue of figure availability was still the main stumbling block. Nick being a fanatical adherent to 25mm miniatures, the opportunity to use easily converted smaller scale figures was not an option. The few ranges with usable examples were tracked down and then we moved on to looking at anything similar that could be drafted in with minimal conversion. Saracens and anyone else in a turban was considered.  The cavalry were the key part of 18th Century Indian armies, so many were required and a nice variety of poses and armours would be authentic for the irregular feel of the army. My first unit was mainly made up of figures from Essex Miniatures Sudan range, which had a nice selection of Arab cavalry with open hands for ease of weapon choice.

Our wishes were soon to be answered however as Wargames Foundry  issued their lovely Sikh Wars range of figures, sculpted by the Perry twins. Amongst all the 19th Century sepoys and uniformed regiments were the irregular cavalry of the Khalsa. These were not just great figures with multiple variations in their pose and equipment, but were perfect for the 18th Century Persian inspired armour prevalent across India. Result. Naturally we both bought scads of these little beauties, despite Foundry being the pricier end of the figures market. Mixed in with or previous scratchings and lighter cavalry from the Foundry ranges our units of  cavalry would have a mercenary and disreputable look that summed up the period perfectly to my eyes.

Indian cavalry, these are mainly Foundry figures.

Of course, buying the figures and actually getting them on the table are two very different things and I have to shame-facedly admit I let Nick do the heavy lifting of churning out the cavalry, whilst I got distracted after the first few units. I allowed myself  to be distracted to the fun parts of the Indian armies: the war elephants, Pathan Jezzailichis, huge siege guns and elephants with guns on. Once we had 18 Piquet style units of cavalry between us there was less impetus to paint more as we had plenty for many a fun game over the years that have followed.

The approach of another of these games after a few years' hiatus led me to pull out the unpainted lead to see if the urge was there to get something new on the table. A few easy subjects leaped out at me (not literally, although those boxes were pretty tightly packed!) A command stand and some camel mounted rocket chuckers were crowbarred onto the edge of the painting table for immediate attention. I also totted up my remaining cavalry castings. Crivens!  My only mitigation is that I can not resist adding Ebay bargains and "just a few" samples from any likely looking ranges that come along. I will have to put a bit of a dent in that total before I commit myself to another cavalry heavy army with the prospect of the Ottoman Turks.

Before I produce some more undercoated / half painted and forgotten units I thought it might be useful to do a comparison photo of what is easily available for the aspiring Maharrata leader in terms of cavalry figures. Since I started this project ranges from Bears Den and The London War Room for the period have sadly come and gone, and the tiny range from Falcon Figures UK have crossed the pond to US ownership.

Foundry: Still available, still a little bit pricey, but lovely nonetheless. The Sikh Wars Indians now reside under the name of "Noble Warriors".

Old Glory: Produced their own version of a Sikh Wars range with similarly useful cavalry but less choice (pretty good value though.)

Redoubt: Their "Wellington in India" range should be perfect for this but the figures are in fact 35mm tall and a bit lacking in choice and character amongst the cavalry.

Indus Miniatures: A boutique range so growing slowly. Great little models all sculpted and cast excellently.

Eureka Miniatures: Don't have any of these as they come from waaaaaay the wrong side of the planet making them very expensive.  If  the Pound remains valued in  beads and shells into the future, then I never shall.

(Click on the photo for a larger version of the image)

As can be seen(?) the Foundry figures sit between the dinky Old Glory cavalry and the Redoubt figure. The Indus cavalryman is a little slimmer  than the Foundry models but match up pretty well overall. The only figure that might work well with the Redoubt rider is the (now defunct) London War Room example. The lower half of the figure is moulded to the, quite large, horse. A shame, as the Redoubt figures have a lot going for them: quite cheap, paint up nicely and look authentic. For me however variety is the spice of life so I have mainly confined Redoubt figures to command stands and artillerists.