The Orange Sash Matchlockmen

Several years ago, I acquired a collection of figures to play in a game of Ponape at an Advance the Colors in Springfield. After that, they sat in a box until the Colonials bug bit me at the turn of the year. Through ebay, I acquired enough additional Foundry Baluchis to flesh them out to two twenty-man matchlock units and a fifteen-man sword unit.

Shamelessly stealing an idea from The Campaigns of General William A. Pettygree, I've designated them by the color of their sashes. The first unit of matchlockmen, the Orange Sash Matchlockmen, are shown below:

Each unit will have a chief, and maybe a sub-chief. If in British service, they may have a British officer. For the Orange Sash Matchlockmen, their chief is Mehrab Khan:

Ideally, he should be part of the sword-armed unit. However, since I now have two of the figure (from Foundry) and he looks sufficiently fierce, I've no real problem promoting him.

The Baluchis have also been a chance (along with the Sassanids) to experiment with shading and colors. Mehrab Khan shows two successful color combinations: the terra-cotta of his robes, and the yellow sash.

A color that's been giving me real problems lately is red. I have some reds I like for 15mm, but getting good shading on 25mms was quite difficult. I finally accepted the recommendation of Churchill on the League of Augsburg's Fighting Talk Forums. His painter for his 25mm Marlburian British cavalry uses a five-layer combination. First Vallejo Burnt Cadmium Red (70814), then Carmine Red (70908) for the shadows. The base coat is Vallejo Red (70947), highlighted by Vermillion (70909) and Scarlet (70817). It was a lot of work, and I was skeptical if it was worth it. However, I think you will agree that the results are well worth it:

The real joy is that this figure is a complete repaint. I'd initially tried to paint him in a white robe, and was bitterly disappointed with how it turned out. So I repainted the robe red, and the figure came out well!

Here you can see the Orange Sash Matchlockmen blocking a pass somewhere on the Northwest Frontier:

Who are they blocking the pass against? Who knows? Maybe Pathans, maybe the British. Maybe they're securing a weapons convoy to the Pathans somewhere in Baluchistan or Persia. Maybe they're around the Horn of Africa.

The advantage of the Baluchis is that they can fight for both sides!