Cat's Silver Bayonet (Better Naming)

[Cat]

Bad Squiddo recently released a pack of Snake Cultists that got me to rethink my thoughts for a more central Ottoman squad from the Carpathians and go for the full Egyptian flavour.
 
In the stash of collected figures, I had picked up a number of West Wind's Egyptian cultists, diggers, and that ilk to use as cultists in the game.  Theory was they had followed Napoleon back to Europe to reclaim the stuff he stole from their temple.  This backstory fits Egyptian Expeditionary Force player squads perfectly.
 
The Temple of Wadjet needs their holy objects and enchanted items back for the defense of Lower Egypt.  The EEF squads have been known to ferociously attack European squads whom they think are in possession of any of their objects, letting out a blood-curdling battlecry of "Eayzin nastaeid hajtina!"
 
Although it is reported from those who have consulted some of Napoleon's Savants that this merely translates from the Egyptian dialect as "Nous voulons récupérer nos affaires !"  (We want our stuff back!)
 
Spent a pleasant late night rabbit hole with a wee dram of whisky figuring out what the heck would be a good Native Scout from the outer fringes of the Egyptian sphere of influence.  Finally settled on an Ethiopean huntress, and most easily accomplished by carving a Victrix Greek Slinger to a female form with several layers of hides carved down from the original tunic, and a jezail added.
 
Other mods to figures include swapping in Ottoman style pioneer tools for a sapper and conscript diggers.  Tools and added jezails from Trent Miniatures.
 
Other figures include a Bad Squiddo Harriet Tubman as a doctor, a Dixon pirate lady as a duelist, and a Newline sailor as Seaman Mapleton an American who was fleeing a press gang in Naples where the Egyptians were looking for someone to help commandeer and handle a small boat.
 
Officer for the second squad is a Cowboy Wars figure with her hat modified to a more Egyptian look, duster carved to be more flowing, and her rifle backdated with a firing lock added.  Rifle acquired from the British during the aforementioned hijinks in Naples.
 
If not being used as a player force, they can still appear as NPC cultists on the same mission.

[Kourtchatovium104]

Those Snake Cultists make me think about the famous painting "La charmeuse de serpent". It could be an interesting inspiration for your original Silver Bayonet setting. 

[Cat]

Yes, a most charming painting indeed!
 
Got the figures all spray painted in their primary base colours today.

[Cat]

The IDs I had put on the units' bases with white paint marker and black outline turned out to not be very legible on the table.  So I redid them in a style I have used successfully for my Mean Streets figures.

I painted a white band across the back half of the bases.  When this was thoroughly dry, lettered with a black .05 Micron pen.  Then painted over excess white area with brown paint to make it easier to focus on the name part.

At first, painted both first and last names on the Transylvanian unit.  But even given that I had used short names, they wrapped around the perimeter too much and that made it harder read at a glance.  So I redid those.

Mostly just painted first names.  Officers got last name or rank added, and some civilian characters got short honorific titles added; but those characters are all readily identifiable by the minis and don't rely on the added names.  Jean-Baptiste, l'artilleriste has a long wrap-around first name, but also a distinctive figure.

[Aethelflaeda was framed]

Love the Haitians!  I may have to paint up some if just to send back to the West Indies for the expedition force supporting the French vampire spy network in New Orleans, but now maybe Calabria also has a Voudou cult presence.