Mahratta War Command Figures.

These figures have been sat waiting to get painted for ages ! after the rather fiddly conversion work ( see http://tonystoysoldiers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/a-bit-fiddly.html ) it's nice to see them finished ! . Above we see Major-General Arthur Wellesley and Aide and a couple of Brigadiers for the British - all converted Mini Figs 15mm .

The Regular Battalions of the Mahratta army were trained and officered mainly by the French and so I decided to paint up a couple of bases for the Brigade commanders for these .

There seems to be very little information how these officers dressed - if they wore native or European uniforms ? . I decided to use figures from the Mini Figs 15mm Napoleonic Revolutionary range , the mounted officer may be Napoleon (?) . The foot officer I decided to give a standard bearer as well to fill up the base better . I'm in the process of painting up some more of the Mahratta regulars which will appear here when finished.  

A Bit Fiddly.

One of the first problems with 'Wellington in India' is the lack of command figures for the British . Everybody does mounted Napoleonic British Generals but nobody does a version of Wellington in his early career in India , the Officers didn't wear the cocked hat - it being far to hot and sunny and it seems they used wide brimmed hats in either felt or straw - as above . 'A' had been using some ordinary Minifigs British Generals but being a nerd and a glutton for punishment I decided to try and convert some. 

Years ago converting figures was a common practise but now you can get any figure you want people don't seem to do it as much . I noticed that there were a few spare British infantry in the box of unpainted figures 'A' had given me so I decided to cut off their heads and replace the mounted General's heads with them. A long time ago I can remember reading in the Airfix magazine that the best way to swap heads on figures was to cut a V down into the chest area on both figures as this ensures a better and stronger fit . So carefully with my trusty razor saw I started operating on a couple of figures as seen in the above figures - Wellington (blacked up ready for painting), a Brigadier (same head but the plume removed) , a Aide De Camp (was carrying bicorne hat - but I replaced it with a 'Green stuff' one) and in the front one of the donor figures . This was rather fiddly and I wouldn't want to repeat it on a large number of figures but I think it will be worth it when I get them painted up.

Wheeling And Dealing .

One of the advantages of going away on holiday is that it allows me to sort of step back from the hobby and think about where I'm going with it , I tend not to do much 'navel gazing' on the subject but now and again it focuses my mind to what I want to do in the future. I decide there were certain figures and rules I was not going to use again and announced to my circle of wargaming colleagues that they were for sale/swap and was pleased to say that there was much interest shown !. I managed to dispose of a few boxed games and several collections of figures , one of the deals struck was with wargaming colleague 'A' which resulted in me becoming the proud new owner of his 'Wellington in India' collection . Its not often I buy painted figures but was very impressed with his rendition of this period .

The collection is mainly made up of 15mm Minifigs and a few FreiKorp figures thrown in , above are some of the Mahratta regular infantry and battalion guns . They had quite a few battalions of these well trained by the French and commanded by them .

They have an impressive array of artillery as well. 

They have lots of poor quality light cavalry .

They also have some slightly better quality regular cavalry .

The British have East India Company Sepoy regiments and a couple of British regular battalions .

They have a good selection of artillery pieces which were allocated to individual units as battalion guns and to the cavalry as 'gallopers'.

The British have mainly EIC cavalry with only one regular British unit . They are based up for use with 'Black Powder' and 'A' kindly supplied me with his home crafted 'playsheet' with the 'stats' for the troop types. There is also the inevitable box of unpainted miniatures  (which no collection is complete without !) that will enable me to expand the armies . I very pleased with my new period and have started reading Jac Weller's 'Wellington in India' to gain more insight into this interesting period.