The Anglo-Indian Intervention Force in Japan, Part Five (Cavalry)

After a long absence from this project, I finally made a big push to get the last combat troops for it done and dusted last week. When I started out, the plan was to do something along the lines of the British expeditionary force in China in 1860, with one British and two Indian regiments. As I went about planning, though, I decided that I wouldn't be able to choose between a Lancer or a Hussar regiment for the British, so I may as well go with both. Later on, as I was doing some reading on the 1860 campaign, it stuck out to me that the merits of heavy cavalry in particular – in this case the 1st Dragoon Guards – were heavily emphasised in the British reports, and that therefore, I probably ought to have a heavy dragoon regiment to hand, too. The end result was that I went from just three cavalry regiments to five.

None of the regiments depicted here had any particular history with Japan; I simply pulled out three British regiments that were stationed in India in late 1867, plus two Indian regiments with interesting uniforms, and called it a day.

Each British regiment comprises nine men, one NCO, one musician, and one officer; the Indian regiments have eight men, one NCO, one musician, and two officers, one Indian and one British. This is enough to do either a full Group of eight men, plus Leaders and a musician, for Sharp Practice, or a single 8-man unit for The Men Who Would Be Kings.

5th (Royal Irish) Lancers

This regiment was the first one I finished, way back in October. There never seems to have been a standardised uniform for the then-five Lancer regiments, so while this lot may look a bit 'generic' their particular combination of uniform features is unique. The musician's uniform, though, is a bit uninspiring, with the only difference being the cap.

Figures are all Perry BIF.

3rd Regiment of Bengal Cavalry

This Sikh regiment I finished just before Christmas. I have to admit that I'm not sure if I quite got this one correct uniform-wise. To my understanding, in 1868 this regiment, originally raised as the second regiment of Skinner's Horse (though this distinction had long since lapsed by 1861, when it formally became the 3rd Bengal Cavalry), wore red uniforms with blue facings and silver lace, and a light blue turban with darker blue stripes. I am not 100% sure, however, and I also know for a fact that I did the officer a little bit incorrectly based on a different regiment.

The British officer is by Perry, converted from a Naval Brigade command figure from either the Sudan or the Zulu War range, and the NCO and two of the men are from their Victoria's Little Wars range. The remainder are all from Artizan's Second Anglo-Afghan War range.

19th Hussars

My first regiment of the new year, the 19th were a pretty obvious inclusion given that they were originally raised in India as a European unit in 1858. Supposedly, the laxer height requirements that the Company army had for European troops led to the 19th being dubbed 'The Dumpies' by some less kind comrades elsewhere in the service! The 19th Hussars' uniform wasn't too tricky to deal with, and in any event most Hussar uniforms were pretty similar, with some minor variations in what exact colour went where. The one bit of fun was the musician's alternating blue-and-white lace, which you can just about see from this angle.

Figures are all Perry BIF.

1st Regiment of Bengal Cavalry

I couldn't exactly ignore the iconic Skinner's Horse in this project, could I? Following shortly on from the Hussars, I did this one up in pretty short order, despite the yellow tunics. What did cause a bit of a headache were a) my desire to give lances to figures with swords drawn, which I have to admit I don't think I did a brilliant job of (I really ought to have used natural rather than synthetic thread), and b) the fact that the turban at this time was not blue with yellow stripes as seen in the early 20th century, which a large number of depictions opt for, but instead red with yellow and black stripes, and I am not just saying that because I may or may not have had to repaint a bit...

The Indian officer and three of the men are Artizan Second Anglo-Afghan War figures; the rest are from Perry's Victoria's Little Wars range.

2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays)

Finally, early last week, I finished off this lot. I have to admit that I was a bit underwhelmed by what I found of the Dragoon Guards' uniforms, which are just a little bit plain and workmanlike. Still, it gave me a chance to test out some new metal paints I'd got (Darkstar's Molten Metals), although my tendency to go for relatively subtle colour differences I think has meant the effect I got on the helmets doesn't show up well in the photos. As far as I could tell, the 'bays' in the regimental name were entirely nominal by this stage, hence the decidedly non-bay horses on show.

Figures are from Great War Miniatures' Crimea range, with a little bit of cutting at the back to get rid of the coattails so that the tunic better resembles the later stable jacket.

Final Review

Please ignore the slightly Liliputian effect caused by the glimpses of some 20mm ancients that were caught in shot...

Well, at long last that means all of the combat troops for the British project are now done and dusted. What remains are a handful of supporting figures, and then I can finally say, definitively, that it will all be finished! Probably. I think.

Progress Review

1. Indian Infantry (complete)
2. Naval Forces (complete)
3. Artillery (essentially complete)
4. British Infantry (complete)
5. Cavalry (complete)
6. Support Figures (a few done)

Unfortunately I have a big chunk of time coming up where I will not be able to get any painting done, so I'm hoping to get the support figures finished before then. If not... well, see you again in the second half of April!