Going Strong Up The Nile!

I'm excited to announce a new theatre of war for this blog...the Sudan. I bought a copy of Kevin Calder's 'Up the Nile' years ago, but never really studied it thoroughly. Finding some time last week to sit and digest it, I really liked what I read. I knew I would, as I love his ACW game which uses many of the same mechanics.

I am forming a cunning plan to use smaller 20mm figures from Newline Design, but to keep the base sizes and ranges the same. I did think about scaling the 50mm bases down to 40mm, but decided to make life hard for myself by adding an extra couple of figures per base. 

I just like the idea of keeping the bases the same size as suggested, it's nice to start a rule set from the beginning and stick to the guide lines. I have spent too many sleepless nights worrying about rebasing armies.

Newline Designs have a nice range of 20mm Sudan figures. Many of the gaps missing in the range can be found in the Zulu British lists, like the Naval Brigade etc. Also Zulu war lancers and mounted police can be easily converted into Hussars with some green stuff and brush bristle swords. The large Perry's Hussars above are great for reference.

There is so much to take in and learn when researching a new era...but I'm getting there.

Both sides in the conflict have their own charms and challenges to get right. It's such a characterful period in more ways than one. The rules do a fantastic job of bottling some of that Victorian flavour with the special rules for officers. 

Each unit is given its own separate command figure who's attributes have to be diced for. This will obviously have a huge effect on his ability to give orders in the heat of battle. It's a nice touch and gives an element of dread to the firing results if commanded by a buffoon.

The is also a section on solo play using a table to calculate the Mahdist's actions. This is a lovely touch and I suppose there's nothing from stopping you playing two players against it. A friend sharing the command of the British, while the enemy plays via the random table.

The Camel corps are straight out of a boy's adventure book, you couldn't get any more Victorian if you tried.

I did start painting beautiful 28mm British from Artisan a few years ago. However, I ran out of steam with the project. The figures are very nice but I struggled to get a foothold with it. I'm hoping with this smaller scale of mini, I can crank through some Sudan units. 

It's not a total loss with my paused 28mm British, as I learnt so much about painting them. The bonus of keeping a blog is it's all still there to look back on. The Dessert yellow spray will hopefully do a lot of the heavy lifting with the project.

 

I've been giving the Sudan a lot of thought and this had lead to me picking up tiny stones in the garden. As the figures will be 20mm, the terrain will have to be in scale too.

As well as pea gravel, my little boy's sand pit has been raided. There must be a ton of dry sand on the ground, bleached dry in the baking sun recently. This has been scooped up and given its own tub ready for basing.

I'll have to get another copy soon...one for best!

A page from the rules regarding base sizes...I must say I am very excited about getting into this colourful era.