Sudan - 21st Lancers and first British Infantry

This week’s efforts have been exclusively British. I enjoyed painting the 10th Hussars previously so I pushed the 21st Lancers up the painting queue and past the various native troops that had been prepared and awaiting their turn on the painting table.

So we start with the 21st Lancers. Nothing too much to say about them other than they painted quite easily. I did experiment with putting some lance pennons on - but making, cutting out the swallow tail and gluing them on would have been a punishment the Spanish Inquisition would have been proud of. So I stayed with the small red tassle (or something) that was cast at the top of the lance.

Then we move to the first of my British Infantry - two battalions worth.

Remember I noted at the outset that I was mixing up the units that appeared in theatre and was not building for a specific year or campaign. In keeping with this relaxed approach, I know the British stopped taking their colours into the field a few years before the Sudan campaigns started - in 1881 during the Boer War. However, colours are colours and they make these units stand out - especially the khaki on the desert bases. After all, I am going to be playing a game - not making a documentary :)

So first we have the 1st Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment. They are dressed in khaki and will be the way a few more units are painted. A bit of googling showed me that the Regiment was formed in 1881 from an amalgamation of the 65th and 84th Regiments of Foot. As I could easily get my hands on Napoleonic Wars colours, I picked those of the 65th which were the most pleasant to my eye of the two.

Then we have the first of what I plan to be two battalions of red coated infantry. These ones are the 1st Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment. This regiment was formed from the 38th and 80th Regiments of Foot (as well as various Militia units) and I've used the colours of the 80th Regiment here as I could get my them easily. While the British Army had largely switched from sending the red coated troops into battle, the rush to get units into the Sudan meant they arrived in various uniforms. It is reported that this battalion wore red coats at Battle of Kirbekan on 10 February 1885.