Your Mahdist units, mixed or single type?

[Smokeyrone]

What's your opinion for SATF Dervish units of 20 figs?

For instance, should I have a mixed unit of Bejas and Hadendowa or one of each?

I will have seperate Ansar and Fuzzy units, but what about weapons?  Mixed prob

All spear units, all sword?  I have played in games with mixed and single, can't remember which one I prefer.

Spearmen get a +1 bonus in melee, but it doesn't matter if their are some or all in a unit, as melee is individual one on one.

I think I'll have a rifleman or two in most units, and a seperate, 20 man strong all rifle unit.  Right?   (In my seige games, every melee unit has one designated sniper, as a bonus 21st figure, who fires for his unit  , and doesn't have to charge with them.  Often, the snipers of each unit shoot together and stay clear of the melee)

[Plynkes]

I'm confused. What's your distinction between Beja and Hadendowa? My understanding is that the Hadendowa are a subgroup within the Beja. If that's the case then Hadendowa are Beja.

[Smokeyrone]

Yes Plynkes, you are right, but in terms of minis sold in packs, they are distict in terms of "Beja with Spear", Hedendowa with spear", and then a "Mixed Fuzzy Pack".

   

[Plynkes]

That's interesting. How do the models differ?

[oxiana]

Plynkes is right. The Beja ethnic group are made up of three main subdivisions - the Hadendowa, the Amarar and the Bishariyin. The Hadendowa were the grouping that through their lot in with the Mahdi - Osman Digna was a Hadendowa (well, half-Hadendowa). The differences, as I understand them, are more to do with kin and location than anything else. The Hadendowa are from along the Red Sea coast - one reason why the British/Egyptians had such trouble with Suakin. The Bishariyin were from closer to the Nile, and I don't think were so belligerent in the conflict, primarily because they were more scattered. They're known for their camels, and give their name to an especially prized breed of racing camel.

[Gluteus Maximus]

Yes Plynkes, you are right, but in terms of minis sold in packs, they are distict in terms of "Beja with Spear", Hedendowa with spear", and then a "Mixed Fuzzy Pack".

   

I'm assuming you are talking about Old Glory? From the ones I've seen (admittedly all jumbled up together in a big painted mob) there isn't any obvious difference in the dress/hairstyles of the figures in the packs. The Perry versions are all the same style and will mix in perfectly with each other - the same for the Redoubt. I don't own any OG, but will probbly end up getting some one day. You can never have too many Beja 

As for weapons - mix in as much as you can, including those nifty throwing sticks if possible. I don't think they cared what they used to kill the infidel, so long as it was nice and lethal 

Of course, if you want to make units more obviously different for ID purposes, you can always have some with far more spears than swords and vice-versa, or maybe have one unit in predominantly greyish clothes and the next in brownish etc. Don't paint them in pristine white though, as they appear to be mostly dressed in rather grubby shades of browns, greys and khakis.

[HerbyF]

I separate my Beja & Ansars into different units. I mix weapons, even throw a few rifles into the mix. Two to five per 20 man unit for the Beja. Zero to 3 for the Ansar, because I also have all rifle rifle units for the Ansar. Many amirs maintained 'slave body guards' armed with rifles. I do have a unit I bought already painted with a few Beja in a group of mostly Ansar. One could make later Beja units with mixed figures as many Beja veterans began to dress like the other Madi troops, even shaving their heads, and were joined by newly ariving recruts.

[Plynkes]

What do you mean by "Ansar" in this context? I'm often confused by this term, as some people use it to refer to a specific troop type or unit (the way you seem to have), whereas in most of the writings I have read it is the name for the Mahdi's followers as a whole, and thus includes all of them, however they fight or what they looked like.

[Smokeyrone]

Plynkes, I generally call the types "ansar" or "fuzzys" for simplicity.
 
Today, though, they are called "Not ready for the 2:00 game" and thus, 15mm Sudan will have to wait for its inaugral debut.   
 
It's 10mm Sudan seige against the last outpost,  in it's stead, and this neat, victorian sci fi game for the children, where I took hundreds of mechwarrior "aliens" and based them individually, to attack Rorke's Drift.
 
Who dat?

[Gluteus Maximus]

Plynkes, I generally call the types "ansar" or "fuzzys" for simplicity.

Yes, I think most people use "Ansar" to describe the later Jibbeh-clad Sudanese, rather than those in more traditional tribal dress. I've never thought whether or not this is accurate, but it probably isn't

Covenient though and not too far out.

[HerbyF]

Ansars are the predominately Arab bulk of the Madi army. Mostly dressed in the jiba, Arab stlye tunic. Patches of different colors were used to distinguish different units.

[Plynkes]

What is your source of this information, Herby? What stops the Beja being Ansar? Do they suddenly become Ansar in 1885 when they are issued/ordered to wear Jibbahs, but are not Ansar before that time? This seems a little muddled to me, as I'm reasonably certain Ansar was the name the Mahdi gave to all his followers, uniformed or otherwise, Arab or otherwise.

Is this just wargamer terminology, or is there any basis in reality for this distinction?

[Smokeyrone]

He probably means it as wargame terminology, like me. 

Ansar means guys in proper Jibbehs and or Arabs and/or Mahdists that aren't fuzzys, while fuzzys means Bejas and such.   


That's how the figures I have acquired so far are listed.

[Mark251054]

By what I can remember (and I may be wrong because it has been a lot of Jack Daniel's ago) 'Ansar' means 'helper'.

I have read that the patches on the robes were a sign of poverty and so would have had no uniformity

Cheers

[Gluteus Maximus]

What is your source of this information, Herby? What stops the Beja being Ansar? Do they suddenly become Ansar in 1885 when they are issued/ordered to wear Jibbahs, but are not Ansar before that time? This seems a little muddled to me, as I'm reasonably certain Ansar was the name the Mahdi gave to all his followers, uniformed or otherwise, Arab or otherwise.

Is this just wargamer terminology, or is there any basis in reality for this distinction?

By what I can remember (and I may be wrong because it has been a lot of Jack Daniel's ago) 'Ansar' means 'helper'.

I have read that the patches on the robes were a sign of poverty and so would have had no uniformity

Cheers

That's my understanding from from the histories I've read. "Ansar" is indeed "helper/s" and applied to all "Mahdists" whatever their form of dress or time and place of recruitment. As I said before, I believe it's just become a convenient wargamers' term to differentiate between those in jibbehs and those not.

If there is any evidence to the contrary, I'd be delighted to see it, though