British Colonial history has always been of great interest to me since I saw the film Zulu at the age of five, my father wasn't sure whether I'd like it but after an hour or so I was leaning over the seat in front pretending to fire a rifle at the onrushing Zulu's! Anyway I digress, the focus of this article is not the British in Africa but rather the British in India or the North West Frontier (NWF) to be precise. I've gamed a number of actions and the odd campaign set in this most testing of theatres and the NWF remains a favourite of mine that I return to every now and again when I dust off my figures. As I game solo the small numbers involved and the type of action i.e. ambush, attack on Pathan village or British encampment lend themselves to the solo gamer. Many a happy evening or Sunday afternoon has been spent commanding a force of British and Indian troops battling against their Afghan/Pathan adversaries. I've built up a reasonable number of 25mm individually based figures over the years, primarily Foundry with some Redoubt and Britannia Miniatures thrown in. For anyone who hasn't seen these figures Redoubt do an excellent line of Zulu War and Sudan British which can be pressed into service on the frontier, Foundry had an extensive range which is now being reissued, good quality if a little pricey and Britannia do a smaller range specifically for the NWF which size wise fit between Redoubt and Foundry. I've focused my gaming on two periods, pre-Indian Mutiny (1840 onwards) and late 19thC (1880 onwards). The Pathans and Afghans during this period remain roughly the same armed with Juzail and Tulwar, but the British and Indian figures range from the red coated earlier period to the khaki later period. Although I understand the military advantages of khaki I must admit to a fondness for the old redcoat. In this way I've fielded one Afghan/Pathan force that can be used for both periods. An early period Anglo-Indian force with two units of red coated infantry with Havelock for the British, joined by a units of Indian Sepoys and a smattering of Ghurkhas, I've also included some British Light-Dragoons and European artillery to complete this pre-mutiny expeditionary force. My later period Anglo-Indian force contains two units of British Infantry in khaki with pith helmet, including a unit of Gordon Highlanders and a unit of Sikh infantry, but no artillery or cavalry at present. I e-mailed Hal a few weeks ago asking if he knew of any manufacturers who made mounted and dismounted Guide cavalry as I was looking to expand this later period and wanted to include some of the famous Corps of Guides. With the exception of Old Glory and the discontinued Foundry range I've yet to find any Guides, if anyone knows of a manufacturer please let me know. Despite having a number of unfinished projects in other periods, I turned my attention once again to the frontier having read Soldier Sahibs by Charles Allen, an excellent book on the 19th Century North West Frontier, if you haven't seen a copy and are interested in the period, as Hal would say "Highly recommended"! I'm not sure which other units I will look to add in addition to the Guides, although I suspect an Indian mountain battery could be on the cards along with some more British Infantry. For those already interested in the period I'm no doubt preaching to the converted, but to other MWANers who fancy a new period you could look no further than the frontier. The figures are fairly easy to come by and you don't need a great number to get a battle up and running, troop types are varied enough, but the khaki colouring means that you can get away without being the greatest painter. If you're short on ideas Charles Allen's book mentioned above is a good source and back to the film theme I started with, the Far Pavilions, based on M M Kaye's book of the same name features the Corps of Guides and the Cavagnari mission to Kabul in 1879. Back to MWAN # 123 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com