Friday 1 May 2015

15mm Mahdist Figures for Sudan 1880's


These are the first of my 15mm Sudan figures, painted up and ready to go. They are all Old Glory and were purchased just last month. I decided to do them in the 'mahdist uniform' of plain white robes with irregular coloured patches sown on. If you've read anything about the dress of the Mahdist/Dervish army, the sources for their dress are somewhat sketchy and varied. Although several do mention the style I've used here.

The army was divided into three 'flags' (each about the size of a Corps). Each of these were under a commander, or Emir with their own banner and again sub-divided into three 'rubs'. The photo here shows a lesser commander with a banner that represents him as leading three units of the dark green flag. This I've conveyed by painting his banner with a dark green edge on white background. The next sub-unit commander will probably have a dark green edge and yellow background and so on. Despite what many think, the Dervish army was in fact very well organised!

If you're wondering, the banner inscription was actually taken from a Hamas flag I saw on the internet somewhere - although I did hear of someone using a Syrian Airlines logo on their Mahdist flags once!!


My Sudan models left to paint also contain Peter Pig figures. I'll have to keep these in separate units however, because the latter are on the smaller side. Nevertheless, I still like both manufacturers but will have to ensure I don't mix them on the same stands.

One of the cats also gave "help" with the basing too.....


3 comments:

  1. Very nice job...and cat!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very nice. Can't wait to see these guys on the table-top. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, I'm also a big fan of Old Glory 15's miniatures. I've painted several thousand Franco-Prussian and Franco-Austrian armies and am considering doing colonials. Your figures definitely are getting me more interested!

    ReplyDelete