Tibetans

[Drihten]

Afternoon, all.

I’m giving some serious thought to starting a Tibetan army. As the Tibetans are a bit obscure, can I ask what miniatures others are using?

• Copplestone’s Tibetans are the obvious starting point for irregulars and cavalry.
• Copplestone’s Chinese infantry in fur hats could work for British trained regulars (don’t suppose anyone knows what colour their uniforms were?)
• 1st Corp’s Tibetan Heavy Cavalry might work for lancers, in this case wearing outdated armour.
• The Tibetans had foreign advisers, which could work for some of the commanders although I’d like to give them some local leaders as well.
• I’m struggling to find good options for characters, monks, machine gunners and artillery crews. Any suggestions?

Oh, and it looks as though Tibetans are missing from the morale chart at the back of the book. Would they count as Central Asians?   

[Von Stroheim]

Caliver books In their Forgotten Front /Setting the East ablaze have some Tibetan Monks and weapons pack. Especially useful is their pack of muskets with rests.


http://www.miniaturefigurines.co.uk/Catalogue.aspx?ScaleID=15&CategoryID=51&SubCategoryID=253

[WuZhuiQiu]

Judging from contemporary photographs from the 1930s, the British-trained units would seem to have worn a uniform resembling those from British India. Long ago, I was going to convert Copplestone WW I British in tropical uniform and pith helmets, mainly by lengthening their trousers. However, some of these Empress figures may already be close enough, with suitable trimming of facial hair and possibly noses!:

https://www.empressminiatures.com/jaz18-2352-p.asp

https://www.empressminiatures.com/jaz19-2353-p.asp

https://www.empressminiatures.com/jaz20-2354-p.asp

https://www.empressminiatures.com/jaz21-2355-p.asp

https://www.empressminiatures.com/jaz22-2356-p.asp

https://www.empressminiatures.com/jaz23-2357-p.asp

https://www.empressminiatures.com/jaz24-2358-p.asp

They also had 10 pdr BL mountain artillery, but I don't think that anybody makes those in 28mm yet.

http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/tibet/photo_2001.35.396.41.4.html

http://web.prm.ox.ac.uk/tibet/photo_BMR.86.1.62.1.html

Other images show less British-looking troops with Tibetan-style fur hats:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Army

[Drihten]

That’s helpful, thanks.

I was thinking the Tibetan regulars in fur hats would be easier to model, since I can use Copplestone’s Chinese infantry without the hassle of converting faces.

[coggon]

Pulp Figures makes unarmed monks

https://pulpfigures.com/products/view/241

Dixon has "Monks in Robes" in their Samurai line.  I think those are the ones that Ignatieff uses in his games.

I think maybe the figure on the right in this picture

http://i1023.photobucket.com/albums/af354/manic57/20171229_140353_RichtoneHDR_zpshmwdvhqv.jpg

[Nogbad]

There are precious few possibilities for 28mm Tibetans sadly. On the plus side, if you trawl online you will find numerous photos of regular Tibetan soldiers of the rough period - and none of them ever look the same, so the world's your oyster! Sometimes wearing pith helmets, sometimes wearing oversized fur hats - possibly summer/winter issue although it may just have been officers who got pith helmets. They also even wore those Australian slouch hats pinned up on one side. In terms of uniform colour, that too varies - sometimes a light khaki, other times looking more of a dark green like the Gurkhas (tho difficult to tell from B&W photos).
PS would be interested to know if the Miniature Figurines Tibetans are the same size as Copplestone range. Anyone know?

[S J Donovan]

Tiger miniatures has a British mountain gun on pack mules PM05.  They also have a Sikh crewed (BC16) and Indian crewed (BC26) mountain guns.

[Von Stroheim]

A history of the Tbetan Army some interesting photos but mostly mid -20th Century.

https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Tibetan_Army

[v_lazy_dragon]

Foundry did a limited edition Tibetan Jingal and crew years ago, which surfaces on eBay from time to time

[The Dalai]

In my role as the Tibetan leader in Ignatieff's League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers campaigns I have built up regiments of monks based on the Dixon Japanese monks with a mix of shouldered weapons.  I also use a lot of the Copplestone Tibetans to create large irregular units.  (In reality the monks mixed in with the rank and file, but it adds a bit of flavour.)  I have some of Caliver's figures which will be mixed into more units and as special personalities.  I also have the Copplestone cavalry for the usual irregular cavalry.  However I used the 1st Corps ancient Tibetans for the armoured cavalry picture in many photos - they come with great shields which are notable in the photos as well.

All of those figures mix in well.  If you are early enough there will still be Chinese garrison troops armed as Imperial Chinese, spearmen, swordsman, archers/matchlockmen which Foundry cover well.  Then would come Chinese Warlord modern trained troops - Copplestone.  Following British involvement the Tibetans started to gather modern weapons as well as a modest modern trained army.  It's difficult to find anything that would cover those troops specifically so it's best to pick a range that has the attributes that suit you and perhaps do some head swaps or other scratch building.  The British 7 pounder Screw-gun (like the one in the Perry's Sudan range) was certainly used by Tibet.  It started as a muzzle-loader and then developed into a breech-loader and used as a mountain gun.  I think that design came in many other variants.

Of course our campaigns have gone off in some amazing directions with Tibetan Zeppelins etc.

I think a lot of interest has been shown in Copplestone bringing out more Tibetan figures, but nothing yet.  Perhaps a group of us need to get together and fund a commission to fill the gaps we all want filled.