28mm Generic Indian light cavalry

[peachy rex]

Looking for suggestions as to the most affordable way to assemble a moderately significant force of generic very irregular 28mm light cavalry for early-mid 19C India - suitable for say, Second Anglo-Maratha to Mutiny. They would need to be generally compatible with Iron Duke/Mutineer/Perry, but not necessarily too close a match, as they'd be in separate units.

Options considered so far are :
- Iron Duke (2 sets of 4 available in Mutiny range, plus suitable horses; presumably more to come in the GAPS range)
- Mutineer (1 set of 4)
- Perry Afghans (multiple sets of 3 with horses)
- Foundry Indians and Afghans (multiple sets of 3 with horses)
- Wargames Atlantic Afghans (box set of presumably 12 whenever they appear)
- Gripping Beast Arab Light Cavalry (box set of 12)
- Wargames Atlantic generic horses (box set of 18 - might be suitable for mounting separate riders)

So - what else am I missing? Thoughts appreciated.

[WillieB]

You might want to take a look at these.

https://indusminiatures.mybigcommerce.com/indian-cavalry/

With perhaps some leaders from

https://eurekaminusa.com/collections/colonials-golconda-rising-18th-c-india-28mm/products/100gol46

[Codsticker]

I have some of the Indus miniatures pindari horse; perfect for what you looking for but quite finely sculpted. Probably the nicest figures currently languishing in my Mountain of Shame. Not sure about Iron Duke but probably match well enough with Perrys'.

[peachy rex]

Appreciate the advice. I've found that Iron Duke, Mutineer and Perry work very well together - you can generally tell which is which, sure, but they're definitely compatible.

Does anyone know how the Foundry Indian and Afghan cavalry scale? I was burned some years back by their British Mutiny range - the riders were on the small side, and the horses were absolute ponies next to Mutineer and Perry. But on the other hand, the Afghan infantry I got went very well with what I had - big strapping lads.

[Emir of Askaristan]

Foundry Indian cavalry is nice, but too small compared to the other ranges - the horses are pony like compared to the other manufacturers.

The infantry might work, or a best with a shim underneath but the cavalry won't do. I've had the same problem myself. I put a comparison shot of infantry on my blog, but I didn't bother with the Cav as they simply didn't go.

https://stuartinschwargames.blogspot.com/2022/07/sikh-wars-follow-up.html

[peachy rex]

That's too bad - Foundry has such a lovely range. Do you know how the Old Glory cavalry looks? (Both scale and quality.)

[huevans]

Wondering the same thing for the Mutiny period. I like the set of (non Maratha) Indian levy cavalry in the Empress range and was wondering if they have more than the 4 head variations pictured.

The existing GAPS cavalry appears to be clearly EIC. I was tempted anyway, but then considered that eventually Mike and Paul will start producing real Sikh light and heavy cavalry and maybe some personalities and started to lean towards waiting.

[peachy rex]

I have that Iron Duke/Empress set, and they're exactly as pictured in the catalogue. Like you, I'm looking forward to ID getting around to the Sikh/Gwalior/Scinde portions of GAPS.  (Unfortunately, the US distributor for Empress doesn't yet carry the GAPS figs, only Mutiny.)

[Codsticker]

You know what? I just remembered that I have some Foundry Noble Lancers from the Sikh Wars range; I will dig them out tomorrow and take a comparison photo with the Indus Miniatures cavalry.

[peachy rex]

Much appreciated. Any comparison pictures are useful, really - after getting burned twice on this project, I'm extra wary.

[Codsticker]

Just a few days late  but here they are:



Indus Pindari on your left, Foundry Noble Lancer on the right and an Indus matchlock musketeer in the middle. For some reason my memory was that the Foundry figures were noticeably larger but clearly that is not the case. There is stylistic differences in the sculpting of the horses, and the Noble Lancer's steed is burlier than the Pinadari's but that actually works as the Pindari were light horse mounted on smaller, poorer quality (and poorly trained) horses.

[Emir of Askaristan]

Nice,

Now if only the uk stockist of Indus (wargames emporium) would get some back in!!!

[peachy rex]

Is Indus still going? Their website doesn't look like it has been touched in years. Which doesn't necessarily mean anything... Mutineer's site looks pretty zombified, for example, but my latest order from them just arrived this week.

[Codsticker]

It's been asked a few times in the past few years. I haven't ordered anything from Indus in about a decade so I have no idea. Perhaps shooting an email to Wargames Emporium and see if they have some insight.

[WillieB]

No problems whatsoever ordering from Indus. Got my order( US to EU) in less than 2 weeks.