Perry Plastic British Infantry of the Sudan

I purchased some of Perry's recently released plastic British Infantry at Salute this year, for gaming in colonial Afghanistan or the Sudan and have thrown together a quick overview of what I think of them.

At this point, I should inform you that there is an excellent review  compiled by Stefan over at Monty's Caravan which is worth checking out.

Due to my usual slow progress in all areas, I have only managed to complete one infantry sprue so far, but have formed enough of an impression to hopefully give you all a helpful heads-up.

Here are the two types of sprues contained within the box; you get six infantry sprues (left) and two command sprues (right) giving a wide range of options for firing, loading and 'at the ready' positions for the private infantrymen, along with officers, drummers and sergeants on the command sprue. There is even a dog, Bobbie, a survivor of the Battle of Maiwand in Afghanistan between the 66th Regiment of Foot and local Afghan tribesmen in 1880.

Included in the box are some useful painting and construction guides, along with eight regimental colours, giving you the option to parade your men as a variety of colonial British troops (although, disappointingly there are no colours for use in the Sudan, despite the set being designed with that theatre in mind, albeit, as an afterthought, possibly).

A few of my favourite poses so far - with the usual apologies for my poor photography skills - illustrating what can be achieved with only limited modelling skills. I really like these figures and all are well detailed and proportioned with a wide range of possible poses. My limited painting skills are such that I go for the worn, dirty look; which is in keeping with desert deployments.

If I have any criticism it is with the sometimes fiddly assembly required; particularly with some of the riflemen and their two-part arm construction requiring a degree of dexterity (I am in no way ham-fisted, by the way) to achieve the desired effect. However, with practice, this was soon overcome. The lack of suitable colours for the Sudan, as already mentioned, was also a slight let down; if anyone knows of suitable examples elsewhere, I would be grateful to find out.

                                    

Finally, an 'action' shot of three Tommies facing up to a couple of plucky Perry plastic Fuzzies to give an indication of size, which, I think you will agree is spot-on.

All in all, I recommend these to any fans of colonial gaming and look forward to additions in this plastic range.

That's it, for now.

Monty

Belated, Random Update!

As threatened previously, I have returned following my blogging 'sabbatical' (which is a very popular but pretentious term used increasingly nowadays, particularly in the media) and while this isn't a gaming post as such, I hope it will be mildly interesting.

Very briefly, Mrs Monty and I have recently returned from our summer holidays, part of which was spent back in my home neck of the woods (literally) in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, where we were visiting family and friends. Whilst there, among other things, we visited Chepstow castle, situated on the Welsh/English border at the mouth of the River Wye as it feeds into the Severn Estuary.

Norman in origin and dating back to 1067, the castle was active for many years and its  position, perched high over the River Wye made it strategically vital. Among its many custodians were William Marshal and Richard de Clare to name but a couple.

View looking north at the remains of the Norman central hall, giving an ideal of the protection offered from the river and its cliffs.

(Mrs Monty ruining an informative shot of medieval stonework...huurrumph!)

Unknown to me, however, was the fact that Drogon's Welsh cousin, Blogon (I know) had decided to  make the castle its home, before suddenly and unexpectedly emerging from the inner bailey to ruin our picnic lunch. Hmmm.



On a completely different tact, I was able to make an excellent purchase for £2 of Zulu Dawn in a local charity shop situated in the nearby market town of Monmouth - which itself is notable for among other things,  being the birthplace of Henry V.The film, one of my overlooked favourites, has proven a nightmare to get hold of online, so this unexpected opportunity was most welcome.

I have been flirting with getting into Colonial gaming during my malaise - more of which in a later post. However, if it's anything like the vast majority of my other 'projects' it will no doubt result in abandonment as my attention drifts elsewhere.

Finally, for now, a quick glance at my painting table, back in the 'Eagle's Nest'; just to highlight some of the chaotic non-progress that is being made. I am painting stuff, with a few things almost ready for formal unveiling into coherent games...but I must achieve focus!

Hopefully, some of you are still reading at this point, if so, many thanks and I look forward to putting something useful up very soon.

That's it for now,

Monty

The Butt of all Jokes...

My usual slow plod has come to a temporary halt due to me being laid up following a minor operation on the old Farmer Giles; with the post-op convalescence of which I don't recommend to anyone, proving a considerable pain in the arse - boom,boom.

Suffice to say, I am unable to sit comfortably ('ooh, er, missus') for any length of time to paint, and in any case, my modelling stuff lives at my work flat in London; so I am separated from it for at least another week  - doh!

However, prior to this unfortunate occurence, I was cracking on (no pun intended) in two unrelated directions - nothing new there - primarily on...Warlord Games excellent 28mm 'Boadicea Triumphant!' model, which the little woman kindly bought me for my birthday.

As you can see, the chariot remains distinctly unoccupied at present, although both Boudica and her faithful charioteer are prepped, primed and ready to go; I decided to approach this project as three separate parts; horses, chariot and figures to maintain impetus. This is probably the single most ambitious  model I have attempted, despite 'wargaming' on and off since 1996; therein belies the extent of my achievements and vision in this great hobby to date! In fairness, I tend to concentrate on smaller scales primarily, so perhaps I am being a little harsh on myself...ho,hum.

I had intended the horses to be both white (cliché, I know, but who cares?), but after a couple of cock-ups with the washes I was using - I tend to overdo them - they ended up like this, which I quite like. My aim is to complete the model by Christmas - I know, my ambitions know no bounds!

...and secondly, some Colonial British infantry from my favourite 15mm manufacturer, Peter Pig, and their excellent 'Patrols in the Sudan' range. Those that have read my sporadic posts in the past may recall my liking of Two Hour Wargames (THW) and these troops  are the first finished for use with their Colonial Adventures rules set. All of THW's products are designed to use any basing systems you may already have, so I decided to base my rank and file on multiple stands -  to allow flexibility for use in other rules sets -  and the NCOs on separate bases as originally intended.

THW games can be as big or small as you like - the latter of which suits me perfectly - and still give a dynamic, entertaining experience. They are equally suited to head to head, same side or solo play and are designed with all three in mind.

I will post more progress reports once I get up and running again; my apologies to those of a reserved or squeamish disposition regarding the introduction of this post; but I believe in spreading my self-pitying misery to as many unsuspecting recipients as possible in a vain attempt at sympathy; and we all know where that can be found in the dictionary... :)

That's it for now,

Monty