builds 
We are very excited to announce a new 28mm range has found a home at Empress Miniatures.
These will be available from our stand at Salute 2015! We highly recommend emailing us to pre-order these for collection at the show, as stock may be limited.
The brain-child of renowned historian Colonel Mike Snook (who should be known to some of you), this premier range starts with one of our favorite periods, the Indian Mutiny, and promises to approach the subject in depth and detail.
Over to Mike for Iron Duke's first bulletin:
Greetings, all!
A brand-new caper, but one which I hope the wargaming community will consider well worthwhile and enjoy to the full. My first duty is to express gratitude to all those illuminati of the wargaming world, good friends all, who have helped with their advice and encouragement in getting IDM off the ground. I thought it appropriate in the bicentenary year of Waterloo to name the new company after the great man, so Iron Duke it had to be. The company's genre will be 28mm Historical, with a twin-track emphasis on top quality sculpting and historical authenticity. As I have absolutely no expertise in the first of these fields, you won't be sorry to learn that I've had no choice but to rely on a number of quite exceptional sculptors. And a fine job they are doing of it, believe me. The second field I can probably take a stab at myself.
Retail of IDM products has been placed in the hands of the good people at Empress Miniatures, the firm with which customers will be trading directly, where they can be sure to receive the efficient service they both expect and deserve. IDM figures will be retailed in a mirror image of the tried and tested Empress model, with codes consisting of four infantrymen or two cavalrymen complete with trusty steeds. Pricing policy will also mirror that of Empress. We get the ball rolling with an extensive range for the Indian Mutiny of 1857-8. This dramatic and historically fascinating conflict will be addressed by IDM in three major phases:
- Phase 1
- Brig. Gen. Henry Havelock's operations (Allahabad Moveable Column)
- Phase 2
- Siege of Delhi
- Phase 3
- Sir Colin Campbell's operations for the 2nd Relief of Lucknow
It follows that not every unit which fought in the Mutiny will be replicated, but between the three major campaigns listed above, the scope of the range will be very extensive and certain to embrace all significant troop types. There will be plenty of time to talk about Phases 2 and 3 as we go, so for the present this first bulletin addresses only the opening shots of Phase 1.
The first items we will release will be 16 codes covering the five small battalions with which Brigadier General Henry Havelock set out to relieve Cawnpore and Lucknow, namely, HM 64th, HM 84th, HM 78th Highlanders, 1st Madras Fusiliers ('Neill's Bluecaps'), and the Ferezopore Regiment (Brasyer's Sikhs). We hope to have all 16 codes on the Empress stand at this year's Salute: I'll also be somewhere nearby, and will be happy to field any queries on the new toys and the nature of combat in the Mutiny. One of the important historical factors we have gone to some lengths to address is the distribution of weaponry in Havelock's force. Only the Madras Fusiliers were fully-equipped with the P1853 '3-band' Enfield Rifle. In the Queen's battalions, there were only enough Enfields to equip the flank companies, so the centre companies continued to carry the P1842 percussion musket. There were no Enfields in Brasyer's regiment. The figures are equipped with the right type of pouches for the weapon with which they are armed.
The numerous actions fought by these five regiments were always in the offensive mode, so we have reflected this in the animation of our codes, with the front rank of centre companies attacking with bayonets at the charge, and the second rank with arms at the slope. It would be entirely legitimate to have whole units at the slope, a mixture of both poses, or whole units at the charge; three options which reflect the drills adopted by the infantry as the distance to the objective progressively reduced. In addition, there are skirmisher codes to screen your battalions or secure your flanks. Command codes come with a company-grade officer, an ensign, a sergeant, and a drummer/bugler (or piper in the case of HM 78th). One ensign: what about the other color? Fear not, following on very shortly will be a pack of four ensigns clad in shell jackets, each of them able to legitimately find a place in any Queen's or HEIC European battalion.
Havelock's force was rushed into the field, with no time for the Queen's battalions to make preparations for hot-weather campaigning, so the three units in question were obliged simply to strip down to their shirtsleeves and improvise ways of protecting their heads from the sun. There was no appreciable difference in dress between HM 64th and HM 84th, so codes IMBC 1-4 inclusive address both these battalions, and moreover are also adaptable to many other purposes: for example, they will serve perfectly well as HM 32nd (no Enfields) – the battalion which defended Lucknow. There will be later codes addressing the 32nd fighting in defensive mode, but these will do nicely for the action at Chinhat and the many raids carried out by the regiment against Sepoy batteries and strongpoints in the city.
It is worth noting that there were changes in the dress and equipment of Havelock's force as the campaign to get to Lucknow ground on. In essence, the troops were equipped with smock-frocks and flannel shirts (like those worn from the outset by the Madras Fusiliers); were re-armed with Enfields; were issued with personal waterbottles; and, certainly in the case of the 78th, were issued with a cane sun-helmet. All these changes will be reflected in subsequent editions of the Madras Fusilier codes, so there is no need to set about converting from the outset.
In due course, there will be bhisti water carriers, Gunga Din types, complete with a bullock to carry the waterskins, to support the Indian troops who did not carry water for reasons of caste, and the thirsty Queen's troops who quickly came to appreciate the need for personal water bottles in a hot-weather campaign (mutinies can be so inconveniently timed), but who could not at first get their hands on them – little wonder heatstroke was so prevalent. Later releases will also include mounted field officers to lead your battalions, and casualty figures to serve as gaming markers and, I dare say, a reminder of the unpleasant realities of war, so keep your powder dry for those.
I can state with confidence what releases our customers can expect to see in very short order post-Salute. Thus far, we have three HEIC field guns, together with the appropriate limber, ready to go: a 6-pounder, a 9-pounder, and a 24-pdr howitzer. The heavy and siege guns are also well on the way, an 18-pdr, a 24-pdr and a 'Tiger' gun for the nawabs and maharajahs. The first type of draught animal for the field limber will be bullocks, with horses to follow in due course. The first gunners to appear will portray the gallant Captain Francis Maude's battery (he won the VC at Lucknow). You will, of course, be needing some logistics to get your column on the road, and we have two excellent bullock carts, complete with Indian drivers, just about ready to go. As soon as we have these items out, we will turn our attention to mutinous sepoys, the dollies and weaponry for which are already done. What of the cavalry? Well, we have some superbly animated horses ready, which are presently being fitted with their saddlery. The first cavalry codes will be the volunteer horse and Oudh Irregular Cavalry for Havelock's force (the latter will also be suitable as mutineers), with Bengal Light Cavalry for the Nana Sahib's forces and the first few mounted personalities.
There will shortly be a website at irondukeminiatures.co.uk which will deal in bulletins, historical notes, painting guides, and such like. It will feature a front page link to the Empress Miniatures webstore where customers will be able to view Iron Duke products and ruin themselves financially by buying them in unbelievably large quantities. May your Enfields arrive soon and your sepoys remain true to their salt. In the meantime, what about a spot of tiffin?
