Spring Cleaning Darkest Africa

A word on flags.  I had a few to choose from and I’d like at least one in every unit, some will have two.  The Perry Sudanese Tribesmen box comes with some Mahdist flags on the information leaflet and they look good to me.  I’ve also got some Islamic flags from LBMS that I’ll use:

I like the bordered Perry flags for the Shuwa Arabs, the red and green Perry ones will go the the other infantry units.  The cavalry will get the larger LBMS banners but I love the black flag for the main savannah knights unit so let’s hope it looks good when I fit it.

The finished unit:

They started like this after the zenithed undercoat (leather brown over black).  Next  stage was Vallejo Bonewhite as a base coat on the clothing.

This basecoat doesn’t need to be too even as the next stage is a robust drybrush with white:

So now the minis have their clothes in the main colour of white with some tonal variation where the bonewhite shows through in the folds.  Attention was turned to the shields.  No clear evidence for what sort of skin was used for these shields.  The larger Touareg ones are a pale colour but I thought that buffalo or elephant were likely candidates for these ones from the savannah.  Therefore we’ll go for a deep tone.  The examples of historic Beja shields (usually hippo hide) show a deep grey/green almost olive drab colour.  I’m going to start with a layer of AP Speedpaint Gravelord Grey straight over the top of the undercoat.  I’m going to mix in a squirt of green at some point and then a bit of lighter grey so there is a bit of variation in colour.  They look quite dark in the photos:

After some consideration I’ve decided the shields are darker than I wanted but I actually quite like it.  I’m highlighting with a light dry brush of Vallejo Earth.  Then another highlight with Bonewhite.  Here they are after the first highlight.  (After reviewing these images I decided to go with the second, lighter highlight):

Now some focus colours.  First photos are metal which is Vallejo Gunmetal.  Then in the second some blue material using the same Speedpaint blues either neat or blended that were used on the Mungu archers.  At this point I also tidied up the skin with some leather brown and black – blended to match the relevant colour for the area being repaired.  Using this colour the handles of the daggers were also completed.

The completed unit.  You can see the subtle variation in the loincloth colours despite the limited palette.  Basing scheme as previously detailed.  These six bases come in at 24 points and can be altered or omitted to provide points that I can use to upgrade one of the mounted units to Shuwa Cavalry.

These are the selection of paints.  I started with deepening the skin tone as these allies are from further south.  Dark Wood Speedpaint in a slightly thinned (80:20 paint:water) even coat over all of the exposed skin.  Looks like this:

Desert Yellow on the quiver.  The strap was unpainted as it already has the leather colour on it from the final layer of the zenith undercoat.  The Air paint is pre-thinned and taking care not to get too much into the grooves or shadow areas it is possible to achieve a ready layerd effect:

Next I mixed a bit of Vallejo Earth into the Desert Yellow on the palette.  This was put onto the bows.  The stronger pigment in the Earth helps to create a more even coat.  Care was taken not to overpaint the shadow area where the hand meets the bow.

The two blue shades were used on the loincloths.  I started with the Pastel Indigo and painted three, then mixed in a drop of the bow colour that was already on the palette.  This desaturated the blue and gave a faded looking version of the same shade for another three models.  Next the darker blue went onto the palette.  This exemplar was painted with the neat Tidal Blue along with two others.  Then a couple of drops of the lighter mixed colour was added to the neat dark blue to provide a mid-tone and the final three were painted with that.

With the dark undercoat these blues don’t show strongly.  Instead you get quite a subtle blue hue with the highlights of the undercoat still showing.  I prefer this more subtle colouring for historical miniatures:

Finally Grim Black neat onto the hair.  This is the most saturated Speedpaint and you don’t get much of the lower highlights showing through.  I quite like that so didn’t thin it before use:

Two part zenithed undercoat and base colour for the warriors.

• Part 1 is Halford’s black with the models laid flat and sprayed from the base towards the head on one side, then when dry flip over and do the other side.
• Part 2 is AP Leather Brown zenithed from the top of the heads with the models stood on their bases.  This is worked round and angled slightly from four directions to ensure a good even coverage of the visible parts of the model.

This is what you get:

It is hard to see the difference that the zenith brings from the top but it is more visible when the model is laid flat (see below).

You can see on areas like the under side of the arms and the shadow created by the quiver that there is a darker layer and in some of the recesses this is still black.  Even on the skin a variety of tones are evident, under his pecs and in the recess of his neck for example.

This will help to provide a good looking final finish, even though speedy techniques are needed because of the volume of miniatures – there are 90 infantry here.

I looked at some landscape pictures of Chad and The Central African Republic and it looks pretty arid.  The colour of the ground ranges from a light sand colour to the red earth often found in Africa.  I’m going to stick with a colour scheme for bare earth that I know works and gives a convincing barren soil appearance.  It is a two part paint job using Vallejo paints.

This is stage 1.  A 50/50 mix of the two Vallejo Earth colours from the Game Color and Game Air ranges.  Strangely they are slightly different shades and I don’t mix them too much – just drop one on top of the other on a palette.  That way a slight variation occurs on the bases although it is hard to see in the final finish as they are remarkably similar when dry.

The miniature is the only fully painted model I’ve used.  He is a Foundry Tribal Chief.  I love his broad bladed spear, very Soudanese.  The leather box on his necklace would have contained verses from the Koran that were intended to be a charm of protection.  The old ways die hard apparently.  He has been rebased for this project.  Let’s finish him off…

The next stage is to dry brush with a bone colour.  This looks quite bright when applied but dries a bit darker and looks more natural whilst still providing a good strong contrast.

And now some tufts.

I’m a fan of GamerGrass and they do a lovely Dry Steppe set.  To have to use them for an entire army would be a bit too expensive so I’ve compiled a set of complementary sets, mostly from Tajima1 who is a local supplier.  Colours range from dark brown to dry green and then a golden straw colour, including some extra long dry grass tufts that will feature prominently on the skirmish unit bases.

There is a box of mixed flower tufts too.  I always mark commander bases with a flower tuft so we can see them more easily in the heat of tabletop action.

Three will be the maximum used on most bases.  Here’s our officer finished, including splendid floral clump.

This is the first unit of Kanembu warriors.  These are Foundry African Tribesmen.  These are the ones without any specific styling so are ideal for conversion.  I’m planning on adding the headdress which is a sort of cloth wrap.  There aren’t many details about what this was or what colour it was.  The only contemporary comment I could find about it suggested that it was sometimes used as a form of currency.

The picture I’m following is the same one as is used as the main image for the project.  I’ll show a comparison with it at the end.  I’m not going to do the animal skin wrap at the waist.  Not every image of Kanembu warriors shows this, some others show loincloths so we’ll stick with what’s already on the miniatures.

Here’s the greenstuff, rolled, cut into thin strips and then added to the miniature in two strips.  One over the mouth and ears and the other wrapped around the head from forehead around to the base of the neck and back.

And here’s what happened to the first unit.  The leader is painted already so no change there but the rest have been done:

Then the second unit.  This one is led by a Gripping Beast plastic Arab miniature.

This is what I was going for and one mini shown in detail.  I did the animal skin on this one as I had spare Greenstuff:

I’m still looking at colour schemes for this unit.  Thanks to @horati0nosebl0wer for his helpful suggestions.  In the meantime I’ve gone with a zenithed undercoat.  There are two stages.

• Firstly Halford’s grey primer on the sides – sprayed with the figure lying on its side – so two passes one on each side with a short drying time in between.
• Second stand the figure up and spray Halford’s white primer from directly above the miniature.  I like the highlight to be quite bright so I give the model a few passes from slightly different angles but all primarily from above.

I’ll be using AP Speedpaints 2.0 so this bright zenith will help to make the colours pop with the grey undertone providing some additional depth and contrast to the colours used.

This is the second unit of Shuwa Arabs.  Again mostly Perry Sudanese Tribesmen with the remaining five Agema Nubae metals.  Same process as the first unit and a similar mix of heads to give a more Bedouin look.  With this unit I ran out of arms from the Perry  set.  That is because I’m not using the rifles they include and the sprues have a lot on them so there aren’t masses of alternative arms given.  No worries, I have spares from the Perry Zulus.  These have a recess in the shoulder which needs a slight file to help give a better surface for gluing to the flat shoulder on the bodies.  I use Tamiya Super Thin on plastics as the melted bond is stronger.

Here’s the final result for today:

Here’s the first unit of Shuwa Arab infantry.  The Shuwa, also known as Baggara Arabs are nomadic people who were often found fighting for and against the various regional settled powers in the area of eastern Soudan (modern Chad, Sudan and South Sudan).  For example, they were a significant element in the Mahdi’s forces in Darfur.  In this army they provide auxiliary support for the Kanembu.

The miniatures are based on the Perry Sudanese Tribesmen set.  40 miniatures for £25 is great value.  There are other miniatures in use, a small number of Agema Nubae, one of whom is in this unit.  The Perry set covers a lot of options including the eastern Beja tribes who had the distinctive hair style and carried the round rhino hide shields.  To help to portray mine as more western Shuwa I’ve included some turbaned heads taken from the Gripping Beast Arab infantry and Wargames Atlantic Afghan infantry sets.  I needed extra heads as I also didn’t use any Perry heads with a fez as I’ll need these for another force.  Most importantly I’ve gone for a more local shield style which came from Gripping Beast’s Desert Frontier shield range.  Sadly the GB Desert Frontier miniatures are no longer available but the shields are still for sale.

As you can see these miniatures are based on M10 washers (25mm round).  This will give enough weight to counter to imbalance of a plastic model with a metal shield.

Here they are fully built and with the bases covered in the scatter.  I’ve kept plenty of kaskara swords either in use or being carried slung over the left shoulder, in the distinctive Soudanese style. A few warriors are also holding throwing sticks in their shield hands. The Perry plastics are well molded and there isn’t much flash.  The Perry bodies have a recess at the neck to take the slight protrusion on the heads.  The Gripping Beast and Wargames Atlantic minis both have a flat neck.  To help them fit a bit better I filed around the edge of the flat neck section on the heads so that a slightly raised neck was created, this then fitted into the recess on the Perry body.  The command base will have a leader, standard bearer and a drummer ( shown front left).

This second unit of light cavalry comprises Perry Miniatures Baggara cavalry from the Sudan range and Bedouin Cavalry from the Crusades range.  Cleanup was straightforward although the flash between the horses hind legs was irritating on a few.  No need for additions or conversions so with basing scatter added we finish today with this:

The first light cavalry unit.  These miniatures are Gripping Beast Arab Cavalry with the addition of the final one of the Perry Sudan Mounted Command.  Despite being figures for the medieval period they will be fine for the Bedouin cavalry whose fashion and equipment didn’t change much in the intervening 800 years although detailed source material is scant.

The main issue is with the bases, with one to attach and one double base to replace with singles.  I’ll also add some kaskara swords to the models without scabbards in place.  I’m happy with the mix of weapons as I figure there would be trade with North Africa where straight blades and scimitars are more common.

Here we have a couple of the new kaskara swords added.  They come from the Perry plastic kit:

Basing done.  The metal standard bearer has had a brass rod attached as his standard pole.  I’ve not decided if these will get repainted.  I’m not a fan of the original paint scheme but I can probably work with it rather than have to start from scratch.

I also finished the unit bases for the knights.  The sabot layer and base have to be glued together as suppliers no longer do this themselves.  A bit time consuming.  I wish there were an option to continue to buy them stuck together, I’d happily pay more.

Knights build completed today.  The cleanup on the North Star minis is minimal and the Perry sculpts are even cleaner.  There are a couple of head swaps, because I just can’t help myself.  The helmet head is from Gripping Beast Arab infantry and his feather crest is from Agema Republican Romans set.  The turbaned head is from Wargames Atlantic’s Afghan infantry.

The scatter basing is being done prior to undercoating as this makes it more robust in gameplay and helps enhance the final finish by adding some depth.  Here is my basic mix; kiln dried sand and tiny stones from GW.

I’m starting with the elite unit that will also contain the army general’s base.  They are the savannah knights – horse curtains galore!

These are the savannah knights as produced by North Star.  On the back row is the general and his imam.  These last two are Perry Miniatures from the Sudan range.  The Fulani style emirates were Islamic expansionist which partly explains their progress eastwards across the lower Sahara.  Therefore, they sometimes claimed to be fighting jihad as a reason for attacking pagan neighbours.  They were major players in the trans-Saharan slave trade so that was the ultimate objective when fighting non-Muslims.

The first issue with the North Star minis is the white metal spears:

Here we see the 3-part process of taking the bendy spears and turn them into something we can game with.  The big, broad spear blades are characteristically Sudanese and it would be a shame to lose these so I cut them and the balancing butt counterweights off both ends.  I then cut some similar gauge brass rod to a suitable length, (aren’t tin snips just great?  So much better than hobby wire cutters.)  Then a pin vice was used to drill out a hole in the blade and counterweight and then superglued the spear together.

And here we have the finished article with heads attached to horse and rider and spear in place.  I converted one into a standard pole by making it a bit longer.  I also swapped the butt weight for a spike from the Perry plastic standard.  This might look a bit too long but I’m a fan of LBMS banner transfers and they can often be quite big so I want to leave enough room for an impressive looking one.

The standard basing in DitDC is 60x30mm group bases with either 2 or 3 figures mounted onto each base.  Now this is a bit of a problem for me as I have a significant collection already based individually on 25mm rounds as I play Congo and other games with the collection.  I was also a bit troubled by the aesthetics of a small rectangluar base to represent skirmish or tribal warriors.  Without formal training to form ranks, warriors tend to group around friends or leaders in loose groups.  No straight lines evident.

As I needed sabots anyway I looked for ones not contained within regular shapes and both Warbases and Charlie Foxtrot do them.  I need 2 and 3 figure sabots, ideally with a similar frontage, as close to 60mm as I can get.  This is what got delivered:

Warbases look like this.  Disappointingly they are wider than 60mm but even more problematically they aren’t a consistent frontage either, the 2 base sabot is around 70mm wide and the 3 base one is nearer 80mm.  Now I’m very sure Warbases would happily make some to my specification but I’ve not got time for that so on to the next:

Here is Charlie Foxtrot’s version.  Pleasingly the 2 base and 3 base versions have the same frontage.  Even more pleasingly they are 60mm wide.  Sold – I’ll use these ones then 🙂

As an additional aside Charlie Foxtrot give you the bases that are cut from the sabot section, Warbases make you buy them separately.  That’s expensive when basing an army this size.

Next issue was cavalry unit bases.  Again the target is 60mm frontage.  All of my collection are based individually on 25x50mm rectangles.  I ordered 2×1 regimental bases from Warbases to see if they would work:

Perfect.  60mm bang on.  Sold.

So that’s unit basing sorted.  Charlie Foxtrot for the infantry and Warbases for the cavalry.

Time to get started as spring is here.  This is the army I’m working on.  If you have Death in the Dark Continent this army is based very loosely on List 11 – Bornu.  Specifically we have:

1 Unit Protected Heavy Cavalry (5 bases)
2 Units Arab/Kanuri cavalry (5 bases each)
2 Units Shuwa Arab warriors (8 bases each)
2 Units Kanembu warriors (5 bases each)
1 Unit Mungu archers (5 bases)

This will give us the recommended force of 300 points.  As usual I’m a bit off-piste here as there are no Shuwa infantry in the original list.  I wanted to bulk the force out but had used up the available infantry and suitable shields I already had for the Kanembu warriors.  I then looked into their neighbours and found that the Shuwa Arabs mentioned in the list were also known as Baggara Arabs in the east.  They were the nomadic Arabs that occupied the territory along the southern edges of the Sahara from the Nile to Bornu.  These can be represented with the Perry Sudanese Tribesmen plastic box.  Perfect, and they only mean a minor tweak to the original list.

Working clockwise from top left we have the Arab light cavalry, Shuwa Arab warriors, Kanembu warriors, Mungu archers, Savannah Knights who include the general and finally the part painted plastic Shuwa Arab cavalry in the bottom left corner.  Also on the front row is an Arab camel kettle drummer.  This will be used to indicate the special rule “Drums”.

As you can see there is plenty to go at.  Mostly bare metal/plastic and work to do even on those with the Perry plastics and Savannah Knights not fully built and the Foundry Kanembu metals needing some greenstuff work to make the distinctive head coverings you can see in the cover art.  For those who are interested the Savannah Knights are from North Star and the part painted plastic cavalry in the bottom left corner are Gripping Beast.  Top left corner are Perry metal Sudan Baggara and Crusades Bedouin cavalry.  There are a half a dozen Agema miniatures metal Nubae in with the Perry Sudanese, these are now produced by Footsore Miniatures.

NB: Use of Geographical terms. 

I think it helpful for the modern reader to have a clear idea of where this army is based and who they are likely to fight.  I will therefore make reference to modern states (like Chad) and geographical place names.  However, historically the map was vague at best and featured many areas of unknown territory, both to colonial forces and the local warlords.  Therefore, I’ll follow historical convention and refer to the area that this army is based in and will fight over as “Soudan” which covered the area below the Sahara from modern Mali right the way across the continent to the lands of the upper Nile, modern Sudan.