Hello all,

I'm on the precipice of starting a new project, the core effort of which will be a small British force dated around the 1860s/1870s - this should give sufficient coverage for a number of alti-history scenarios such as interventions in the American Civil and Franco-Prussian wars, Japan, and Italy, as well as some real conflicts such as the Ashanti wars and Abyssinian expedition. I understand uniform did change a little over this period though from what I have seen of the slates, it was not to such a degree to be noticable at 6mm scale.

My issue currently is which minis in question to use; 

I have been comparing Napoleonics, Colonials, and even FPW Republican French from their images on the store page, and I can't quite decide which would fit best, if at all! I'd be open to a little conversion if needs be but I'm not too dextrous with a knife - Id much prefer to 'convert by paint' wherever possible.

Has anyone else attempted a similar project, or have any input on which minis they would reccommend?

Maybe Austrian risorgimento-period infantry have the right mid-height shako?

But for Ashanti or Abyssinia, won't you need colonials in pith helmet?

The Risorgimento Austrian line infantry, and gun crews look good. The Piedmontese artillery pieces, having single trails, also look good as do the light dragoons. Lancers, hussars and heavy dragoons can just be Prussians painted in British uniforms. There were also some home service militia units in grey uniforms with kepis which could be sourced from Union infantry. The 1860s and 70s are pretty easy to do. The difficulty comes with the later home service helmet having a spike, but the pith helmet lacking the spike. Another alternative is to trim down shakos to create the pork pie field cap.

I like the sentence: I'm on the precipice of starting a new project... LOL l'audace... toujours l'audace!

To keep this thread updated (in case anyone else ever has a similar idea);

I followed the advice here and went for the Risorgamento Austrians. They definitely aren’t perfect, but they're the best option available and I'm a firm believer in the 4ft rule. They will suffice for 1860s regulars and Canadian (and other colonial) Militia.

These have been supported however by a number of units from CBR-01 and 02, intending to represent foreign service units still wearing locally acquired pith helmets with puggarees; these seem to have become practically part of the overseas uniform as of the 1857 mutiny and are seen widely in China in 1860. Again, using the 4ft rule its not too jarring to see the uniform helmets, and you can’t really tell there isn’t a puggaree.

Also in the infantry branch are a set of Napoleonic Skirmishing Highlanders, who have become a sort of diorama-regiment based on Robert Gibb’s The Thin Red Line. Skirmishers were chosen to make the line look less organised than the other regiments on the table, but they’ll still be based to 8 men per company, as opposed to my skirmisher regiments which are just 5 to a company.

Mounted officers are from the Colonial line, and fit the bill nicely, as some of them have the correct shako to begin with, and the rest Pith helmets.

Artillery has been provided by a mix of Prussian 4pdr Krupp artillery, to represent Armstrong BL models, and ACW Parrott rifles, to represent the segmented RML models. These are all crewed by Colonial British artillery, again using the evidence available from uniforms seen in China in 1860. I’m just going to take it as a personal rule that these men, like their infantry counterparts, are keeping their pith helmets wherever they go as a mark of their experience overseas!

They are supported by a battery of three Gatling guns – the order came with four but one of these has been swapped with my ACW Union force in exchange for another Parrott rifle.

As a bit of a funky side project, I also acquired some FPW Prussian Siege artillery; I intend for these to become the larger class of coastal gun employed by British forts in places like Malta. With a bit of trimming of Pickelhaube spikes their crews can be easily folded in with the rest of the pith-helmeted artillerymen.

For Cavalry, I selected two packs as a sort of test-purchase. The first being the Colonial era Dragoons, who are lovely models but I’m not particularly enamoured with them. They lack a lot of the pompous panache of mid-Victorian cavalry that I was hoping for. I had hoped I could just paint their pith helmets brass and come up with some creative solution for their finals, but that seems unlikely now I can see them up close. They’ll suffice for now though, and do well again as foreign veterans from India or China.

Light cavalry have been procured with Napoleonic British Hussars in busbys, who look perfect as far as I can tell. God bless Horse Guards and its refusal to change uniform until absolutely forced to.

As for where the project can go from here, I’m hoping to pick up a few more Austrians, particularly some in skirmish order to become the KRRC. I may also grab some more Colonial foot but I’m undecided on that front.

I’m definitely going to expand the cavalry, with some Prussian Uhlans as dourpuritan has suggested, and either some Prussian Dragoons or Napoleonic British life guards.

Artillery I’m happy with for now but that may change.

I’ve also been considering whether or not the ACW Zouaves in skirmish will suffice as Gurkhas, but I’m not entirely convinced on that either.

Pictures may follow at some point.

Yes, pictures please!

As an alternative option to consider I used the egyptians in summer uniform from the colonials range for gurkhas - trim down the fez a little to make a better approximation of the pill box hat and they are passable - certainly using your 4 foot rule. We have used such for second afghan war and the action at Peiwar Kotal. Alternatvely H&R do "proper" gurkhas but personally I dont like to mix the two brands - I find the difference in size is more obvious than any discernable difference in uniform when seen across the table and I'd sooner stick with Baccus where I can find a suitable proxy. Our little club do a lot of colonial gaming and your project sounds fascinating - I hope you post some photos at some stage

Aha! I'm sure many of you thought I'd forgotten about this little project...

The mid-victorian Brits finally had their first tabletop outing the other day, with a British training detachment in the South caught by an unexpected Union advance, and electing to fight it out alongside their trainees rather than submit to Yankee demands to surrender themselves as POWs. This is based on someone else's scenario, but I cant remember whose - if its yours, thanks!

I won't bore you with the full battle report, but suffice to say Her Majesty's men made a good account of themselves...mostly. 

Pic 1: Hussars and Reb Cavalry causing a traffic jam

Pic 2: A rifle battalion having the time of its life picking off Yankee junior officers.

Pic 3: Dragoons getting stuck into an American battery, while the infantry duke it out in the background.

Pic 4: The British Column setting out

Pic 5: The main action of the day, British and American infantry brigades meeting each other in just the worst ground either side could've possibly picked.

.

Overall completed for the Intervention force (IE: not counting the colonial troops, who inexplicably now outnumber the project they were supposed to be accessory to), I now have 5 battalions of foot, including one of highlanders, two of skirmishers (HLI and Rifles), 4 each RML and RBL Guns, 3 Gatlings, two dragoon squadrons, two light cav regiments (one lancers, one hussars), two units of Native American scouts, and two general officers.

Colonial brits have been completed as per the plan above, but found themselves co-opted into a zulu war project a few months back. Still very much suitable though, and will appear in theatre as and when needed. (perhaps to relieve Vicksburg, if I can be bothered planning the campaign)

Remaining in the unpainted pile are two more regiments each hussars and lancers, an indeterminate number of dragoons, two foot battalions, at least one more skirmisher battalion. I've no rush to do these any time soon, as next on the list are Indian troops, Hale Rockets, and Naval Artillery for the Colonial force (did someone say "Magdala"? Surely not...)

In terms of future ideas based on what I've been able to research and what I've already achieved, some AWI Canadian militia wouldnt go amiss as Metis militia, and perhaps some Napoleonic brits to stand in as...Canadian militia. Confusing, I know. Napoleonic scots greys cavalry may find themselves on the purchase pile, as well as potentially some French Grenadiers to stand in for the foot guards.

I apologise for the lengthy update, but in my defence it has been over a year's worth of content! Any questions from the hive mind, feel free to ask.

Congratulations Eltaylor2001 nicely done! That's the spirit!.

Looking like a successful proxy army.