"1879 Charasiab terrain completed..." Topic

Well, virtually completed. Finished up the latex caulk road system and put up a post on my blog showing the results. Still a couple of small things to add and possibly one big thing -- a very tall mountainside on the North-East corner of the table -- but for all intents and purposes… it's done, which is a good feeling.

Here's a few teaser pics…

Kabul River along Western edge of the battlefield…

Logar River and Khairabad Swamp along Eastern edge…

…and a link to a some pics and info -- and thanks in advance for your time if you're interested enough to visit!

link

EDIT/EXPLANATION: originally posted this on 19th Century Discussion with plans to CROSS-POST to Victorian Colonial and Terrain and Scenics -- but unfortunately the TMP system had other plans, so I was left to repost it a second time, during which I did succeed in cross-posting between Terrain & Scenics and Victorian Colonial. Anyway, if anyone wastes time double-dipping into my thread because of this I apologize, and if the Editor or his associates can fix the problem and cross-post all three boards, I would be very grateful indeed.

That's quite something – the scale and quality are both impressive.

Spectacular work, very inspiring, well done!!

Looks great

Xin

Now where will you be using this magnificent creation? At a convention?

Jim

Well done as usual. We will devour the AARs..

Well done indeed! The blend of incised features (river, swamp), surface ones including lay on pieces like the fields and villages, and the larger relief pieces placed on the table is extremely successful.
It's quite excellent.
Now you just have to build the Bala Hissar ;-)
EC

Thank you kindly one and all for all your positive comments!

Col.Campbell… methinks you already know the answer to your sly query -- but if not, I very much hope to bring this layout and the Anglo-Indian & Afghan armies which shall inhabit it, to Colonial Barracks V this coming November, where if I'm lucky I'll get to meet you in person once again!

Eclaireur… Ahhh-haaaah -- trying to lead me down yet another multi-year 19th Century Afghan War terrain build are you??? In fact thanks to you I now possess the key reference work to enable me to do just that -- whether I attempt to build it myself or design it and then contract it out or some combination thereof, so I guess I'll have your friendship to blame if and when it comes to that!

But for now I'm all about trying to get some play-tests done, and when I do I hope to report back, complete with some pics actually showing figures on this terrain for a happy change!!!

Bala Hissar. Hmmm? That's sounds ideal for Chris the Modelmaker. Can you imagine what he could do with that project?

Damn, Mad Guru, that is amazingly cool.

I hate it that I'll be in Ethiopia instead of New Orleans in November. I'd purely love to play on your table !

Looks awesome. Makes me want to game 28mm NWF.

@Ringyll: oh, yes, my friend, I have been imagining that on-and-off for a number of years now, ever since I got my hands on the Camerone Hacienda and accompanying buildings he made for me. But even just one corner of the Bala HIssar (which is what I will need for my Christmas 1841 First Afghan War scenario) would be an order of magnitude larger. For the past few years I've spent a lot more hobby time building than spending, so maybe I could pull it off, but I haven't convinced myself yet -- and then there's the process of getting Chris to accept another commission. I'll see how things go work-wise this year and maybe go down that road…

Chick Lewis: HAH!!! Of course you will be in ETHIOPIA!!! Oh, man, that is a bummer on the timing front, as you may well have taken a Jingle bus down either the East or West road on the table en route to Kabul during your younger travelling days. Come to think of it I remember you were out of town during my 150th Anniversary Camerone game on April 30th 2013, visiting some other Back-of-Beyond destination!

Blake Walker: thanks for the compliment! Of course if I gamed in 15mm the ground scale and figure scale would be closer, though still not 1:1. I'd probably need 3mm for that. One nice thing about NWF gaming is you don't need too many troops to get started, though you wouldn't know that from my own Second Afghan War games!

EDIT:

Here's a new pic showing some local inhabitants of Khairabad village going about their business prior to the arrival of General Roberts and his army…

MG, Do you have any suggestions as to what the uniform colors are for the 2nd Derajat based on this black and white photo or any other sources you might have. I am planning on repainting the Foundry crews that I have to be less generic and more accurate as far as uniforms.Do you think the jackets could be red in color? They don't look khaki compared to the trousers and puttees? The turban colors are a question I have as well.

I'm familiar with that photo and my educated guess would is the tunics are blue, which was the standard uniform color for Indian mountain artillery gunners. I know some batteries wore red turbans with their blue uniforms, so that's a possibility for the turbans in the photo.

At the same time it's also possible the jackets are just a darker shade of khaki, maybe more brownish or grayish than the trousers -- though looking closely at the cut of the tunics I thikn it is more probable they are blue "service dress" or "full dress".

I'll double-check in my Carman Indian army uniform reference book when I get a chance later tonight and report back any findings specific to the Derajat Battery…

Seems like I was generally on target with the blue tunics and red turbans.

Carman says Punjab Irregular Force Mountain Gunners were officially uniformed all in khaki going back to at least 1865, when special Dress Regulations for them were published in Lahore, assigning them "Drab" (aka: khaki) uniforms and drab turbans with red fringe on the ends as well, while Light Field and Garrison batteries were officially assigned blue uniforms and red turbans with blue on the ends.

But… he notes that there are pictures from multiple artists showing the 2nd/Derajat Mt. Battery in particular wearing red turbans and also points out that the 2nd/Derajat Battery actually wore red turbans for "full dress" -- despite being officially assigned turbans that were "drab with red ends". So… as with most everything involving uniforms of the British Indian Army… a definitive answer is hard to find!

If you want to match the photo above and/or don't want to paint your Indian mountain gunners in straight-up khaki, I'd go with blue tunics, and if you are feeling extra colorful, I'd throw in red turbans, which could look very cool -- though I feel obliged to say that the turbans in the photo above look to me like they could easily be various shades of "drab"/khaki as opposed to something more colorful like red.

Hope this is of some use.

Thanks. I think your are right about the tunics being blue.The shade is too different to be even a darker khaki unless almost brown. The puttees look lighter or at least the same color as the trousers and in the past I have always painted the puttees darker. This is an interesting photo as it is from 1879 I would imagine would be the uniforms worn at Charasiab.