Dust

[ochoin]

I've been doing some work on my Anglo-Egyptian force for our December Show game: the Mahdist Sudan wars.
This is an existing force that I am adding to.

Several of the British units have grey coats & one infantry unit has red - makes a nice splash of colour.
The rest are in shades of khaki - the Hindu word for dust. The topic is what shades?

I feel I've done earlier units in colours that are too dark - using Vallejo 'English Uniform' & Vallejo 'Khaki'.
The 2, new, Indian units I'm working on will have Vallejo 'Dark Sand' as a base. This is very light.
I'm not keen to re-paint, but is it valid to argue that khaki, in the Sudan period, was of no fixed shade & that, anyway, it was susceptible to fading?
So, my English units in quite dark a shade were recently issued these uniforms in England, before venturing overseas whilst my sepoys have been wearing their lighter shades over several months in strong sunlight?

Or am I kidding myself?

donald

[Willz the Wargamer]

Donald whatever shade you like, it's your army your rules.
Several years ago I was putting on a wargaming display of various things at a local military modelling show.
One of the displays was of 20mm WW2 German tanks, some armchair arse was trying to tell me
that my German tanks were painted the wrong shade of gray they had a heavy shade of dry brushed dust.
Until this 86 year old chap speaks up and states that the Panzer 4 looks exactly like the ones he saw on the Russian front.
He happened to have been an anti aircraft gunner for a German flak unit in 1944, karma or what
THe armchair arse vanished, I gave the 20mm Panzer 4 tank to the 86 year old chap as a gift.

So your toys your rules.
Wiilz.

[ochoin]

Great story, Will. I laughed.

donald

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

THe armchair arse vanished, I gave the 20mm Panzer 4 tank to the 86 year old chap as a gift.

[ochoin]

Yes. Sometimes Life works the way it should.

donald

[Patrice]

Khaki (and greenish) dyes before the 20th century were rather unstable I think, after some time under the sun they could fade, or change (they often were a mix of two or three different colours which could evolve differently).

BTW when playing Sudan skirmishes with my gaming group we found practical to differentiate troop quality by their coat colour (red, grey or khaki) assuming that for some reason some coat colour meant they had more time for training or were already experienced (um, perhaps not historical, but it was easier to recognise them).

[ochoin]

BTW when playing Sudan skirmishes with my gaming group we found practical to differentiate troop quality by their coat colour (red, grey or khaki) assuming that for some reason some coat colour meant they had more time for training or were already experienced (um, perhaps not historical, but it was easier to recognise them).

My figures are in movement trays:



When we use TMWWBk's rules, with casualty removal, you have a mass of figures o sort through & re-organise. And yes, that certainly helped with the British. The Mahdists were a *lot* harder.
With Black Powder, this problem doesn't arise.

donald

[RMD]

Donald whatever shade you like, it's your army your rules.
Several years ago I was putting on a wargaming display of various things at a local military modelling show.
One of the displays was of 20mm WW2 German tanks, some armchair arse was trying to tell me
that my German tanks were painted the wrong shade of gray they had a heavy shade of dry brushed dust.
Until this 86 year old chap speaks up and states that the Panzer 4 looks exactly like the ones he saw on the Russian front.
He happened to have been an anti aircraft gunner for a German flak unit in 1944, karma or what
THe armchair arse vanished, I gave the 20mm Panzer 4 tank to the 86 year old chap as a gift.

So your toys your rules.
Wiilz.

Reminds me of a very similar conversation I overheard re the 'correct' shade of Desert Sand during Gulf War 1. The conversation was ended by one veteran pointing out that due to supply problems, his regimental QM was sent out to Homebase with the Regimental Credit Card... His entire troop was then painted in Dulux Magnolia, while the neighbouring troop went for Sandtex Oatmeal.