From KenR 28mm - WW1 Mesopotamia Indian Battalion (190 points)

No surprise this week as I get firmly back on piste with the next full unit for my WW1 Mesopotamia collection.

This week it's a new battalion of Indian Infantry to join the forces of the Empire.

"Is it time for Tea yet, Tristram"

A full battalion under our rules is a 2 Fig HQ, shown above, who would initially in the Campaign would have been British Officers who had lived or were born in India who understood the language, culture and religious needs of their men. Later replacements from Britain lacked this knowledge and morale in those units often dropped as a result.

Added to that are 4 x 8 Fig companies and a HMG base of 3 figures plus the MG. My last full battalion submission was for 190 points and so this one, with the same number of figs should equal that.

The figures come from the Woodbine Design Company range which is an offshoot of Gripping Beast. The Indian figures come with a selection of two head types, the "Hindu" head as shown on these figures or a bearded "Sikh" head with a flat top turban. In fact it wasn't until I started research into the period that I realised how many official turban types there were in the British Army at the time.

So plenty more for Woodbine to get cracking on instead of the new version of SAGA.

I got into a bit of groove with these and have cracked straight on with a Battalion of Sikhs. With three weeks to go I am happy I will reach my target, some A9 Cruiser Tanks after the Sikhs and then hopefully some Mesopotamia Cavalry before Challenge End.

As ever, an extremely informative post to accompany the eye candy!  I'll bet the morale did drop when officers came straight from the rugby pitches of Eton into commanding the local battalions.... I dread to think about what the troops must have made of their new officers, so here's hoping those two you've painted survive for as long as possible!

Really nice stuff on the painting, this lot will look great alongside the others I'm sure and I'm looking forward to a shot of all of the painted figures together..... next week perhaps?

190 points is exactly what I make it too, excellent work!