Napoleonics and Palm Trees

The Sikhs: A Splendid Little War

Introduction

by Paul A. Koch

I have been gaming now for the better part of twenty years. That is to say longer than many of the readers of THE COURIER have been alive. During that time I have toyed with and seriously developed armies in at least a dozen periods and three different scales, including my continuing love affair with our own Civil War. That is a lot of painting, and a lot of figures. Why have I gotten more or less seriously involved in periods of history?

Light Dragoons charging Sikh infantry. The Sikhs wear red pants and blue or white turbans. From a plate by H. Martens.

The reasons for becoming so immersed in so many epochs are varied. Some times a movie such as ZULU sparks an interest. Other times it is a painting or a book. In the case of my life long fascination with the Sikh Wars three separate items are to blame. First, Don Featherstone's account of the Battle of Aliwal in his BATTLE NOTES FOR WARGAMERS was so compelling that I vowed to refight it myself one day. The second item was the famous diorama of Edward Suren of the charge of the 16th Lancers at Aliwal. I studied and peered at those photos and built my early uniform information upon those glorious 30mm figures. Since that time I have read, and indeed own most of the scholarship on the wars that is available in the English language. After years of dreaming, study, conversion and painting, I have Sikh War armies which regularly bash each other about resplendent in their sartorial plumage. it truly is a splendid little period featuring good sized and colorful battles which are of quite manageable size for grand tactical rules. It is a wonderful change of pace from Napoleonics but still offers that charming mix of arms that makes the tactics as well as the visual impact of the horse and musket period so appealing.

More Napoleonics and Palm Trees: The Sikhs

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