"15mm Bashi Bazouks/Egyptian Gendarmes" Topic

One major gap in my 15mm Sudan collection for 1882-86 has been mounted bashi bazouks and mounted Egyptian gendarmes. Peter Pig offers the former but they don't fit well with the rest of my Blue Moon collection. Essex does some early dragoons which have their own uses but I wanted the gendarmes armed with carbines/rifles not swords. Irregular Miniatures to the rescue. They do a very nice bashi bazouk in three variants closer in size with Blue Moon together with a mounted Egyptian officer in fez. They also offer an Egyptian cavalryman with carbine/rifle in boots or shoes. I need to take a closer look as there might be frogging on the front of the jacket but it was not noticeable on initial inspection. If there is, should be easy to remove with scalpel and file. These figures can be found in their Russo-Turkish and Crimean War ranges.

A very useful tip for 18mm Sudan gamers!

I am most interested in the rise of the Mahdi, before British intervention and there really is a dearth of figures for the numerous but auxiliary troops type compared to our 25/28mm brothers. Bashi, Bazingers, and Egyptian gendarmes in particular. With Irregulars Egyptian cavalry, I am likely to either do some head swaps or try and sculpt turbans around their fez to give them more the look from Snook's book. However, a good start.

I find the earlier part of the conflict more interesting as well.

The unreliability of Egyptian government troops gives an entirely different game from the usual well trained and steady lines of British regulars. Will the bashi bazouks hold the line or run off in terror at the first sign of the enemy? Great fun.