Bridge, AAR & completed Cantonment for "Bala Hissar or Bust!" update April 25th

[Paul @ Empress Miniatures]

 

[Atheling]

Wonderful stuff MG 

Darrell.

[Mad Guru]

Thanks for the positive comments, guys!

@Jimbibbly: I agree!  I've found those "Dust Clouds" to be a great visual shorthand for marking units which have MOVED during a game turn, and of course are incredibly simple to create with just cotton or other wadding/stuffing and some tan or brown spray-paint.

[dhtandco]

Once again fantastic stuff

[Admiral Benbow]

Very nice terrain! 

[Mad Guru]

Thanks for the kind words, dhtandco and Admiral Benbow!

I've been a bit busy trying to replace the mealie-bag wall with a more accurate representation of the earthwork walls of the British Cantonment outside Kabul.  First I thought I could find something to buy off the shelf... but I was wrong, so I started building something instead, for better or worse.  Three weeks later I'm about halfway done, and put up a post about the build so far on my blog.  If interested please visit by clicking here, and thanks in advance for your time if you do so: http://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2016/03/halfway-to-kabul-cantonment-c1840.html

Meanwhile, here's a few pics of the still ongoing (who knows for how long!!!) process...

[Malamute]

Looking very good so far

[Atheling]

Great stuff MG 

Looking forward to seeing the finished article as I'm going to produce something similar for the Indian Mutiny.

Darrell.

[Mad Guru]

First off, THANKS, Malamute, and THANK YOU, Darrell, for your kind words.

And second, well... better late than never, I am finally back with the finished product for my 1841 British Kabul Cantonment, for use in my First Afghan War, Christmas 1841 "What-If?" scenario, in which -- rather than accepting an Afghan offer of "Safe Conduct" and withdrawing 90 miles to the border of British India -- the Anglo-Indian army attempts to fight their way from their fortified camp to the Bala Hissar fortress, less than 2 miles away, which at the time was still occupied by their ally, Shah Sujah.

It took a while, and I hit a few bumps along the way, but I think the Cantonment turned out pretty well.  Best of all now I can try and reconvene the players for a second shot at my "Bala Hissar or Bust!" scenario, this time using a more appropriate British fortified camp instead of pressing into service some mealie bag walls.

The layout of my table for this scenario only fits 3/4 of the fortified camp, so that's all I built -- but it's been suggested to me that I really should built the additional pieces needed to complete the encampment.  I agree that would make the terrain pieces more useful for a wider variety of future games, so I may go back and add another pair of corner bastions, and a second gate and pair of flanking guard posts... but for now, I'm happy to be done with what I needed.

I have yet to post my usual ton-and-a-half of WIP pics, but at some point I'll get around to that.  For now, I put up a couple of dozen views of the finished article.  If you're interested, please click on the link below to visit my blog, and thanks in advance for your time if you do so...

http://maiwandday.blogspot.com/2016/04/kabul-cantonment-c1840-completed-finally.html

Finally, here are some teaser pics of the finished article...

[OSHIROmodels]

That does the job nicely 

cheers

James

[marianas_gamer]

Very nice 
LB

[Commander Carnage]

  Fantastic stuff, very inspirational. What do you use for your roads?

[FifteensAway]

Rather late to the commentary but I must agree, generally splendid work.  Though with that new gate I'm afraid you've created a bit of a problem for yourself.  Finished, you say?  Sir!  That gate does look good.  So good, that now you must go back and redo all the other walls to match since the crenellations just don't work now.  You just have to do it, really.  Truly.

What, who says I've got a sadistic streak?  Who, me?  Shirley, you can't be serious.

 

[Mad Guru]

Thanks, everyone, for the kind comments!

@Commander Carnage: the roads were homemade with DAP acrylic latex caulk.  Probably one of the most cost-efficicent terrain projects possible.  I started out using brown color caulk, but quickly switched to white, so I could base-coat it with the exact same shade of brown color that I base-coat my terrain boards and figure bases with.

@FifteensAway: HAH!!!  Perhaps you are a touch sadistic, but it's nothing I didn't struggle with on my own during the course of this build.

I did a lot of research on the design and appearance of the actual cantonment, and among the few certain details I was able to ascertain were the low height of the earthwork walls and the fact that their design -- somewhat inexplicably -- did NOT include crenelations of any kind, nor were stakes or abatis incorporated into the earthworks at any point (unfortunately for me, as some stakes would have looked cool!) -- though a "shallow moat" was dug in front of them.

Overall, the Kabul Cantonments went down in history as one of, if not the single weakest defensive position ever built and occupied by the British military.

During the course of my research I posted a specific question re: the gate over on the Victorian Wars Forum, but unfortunately did not gain any new information... so in the end I patterned the gateway on images of a few other mid-19th Century fortified camps.  After the fact I realized I probably did make the gateway too tall, driven by wanting it to be tall enough for elephants and camels with troops on their backs to be able to enter.  Later I realized there was a much easier solution that would have allowed entry by beasts of even greater height: simply leaving off the crossbeam at the top, above the doors.  On the other hand, I do think the crossbeam gives the gate a more substantial feel.

If I ever get around to completing a 4th side of the Cantonment for use in different scenarios, it will require building 2 more corner bastions, 2 more guard posts, and a second gate to be placed directly opposite this one, same as in the real cantonments.  Whether or not I give it a similar crossbeam above the doors, I will probably make the doors themselves a bit lower.

The ultimate version of this layout will involve me building a new terrain board with the shallow moat dug into it along the outline of where the Cantonments are placed.  After I manage to get my c.1840 Anglo-Indian figures painted, based and terrained, maybe I'll get around to that... or maybe not.  Then I would have to choose whether to finish it to match all my other boards... or make it a special "WINTER" board, since the scenario I'd be building it for takes place during a snow-covered Winter.  Could I successfully blend in one specially finished "Winter" board with a bunch of my regular Afghan boards, by just sprinkling Woodland Scenics Soft Flake Snow on top?  Maybe... or maybe not.

Ah, well -- it's more fun for me to ponder the answers to such questions than some other things!