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Wednesday 17 March 2021

Yet another Funny Little Wars/Portable Wargame army: Army Khaki

In LITTLE CAMPAIGNS: RULES FOR THE CONDUCT OF WAR GAME CAMPAIGNS IN MINIATURE​ there is an army list for ARMY KHAKI ... which is intended to represent the pre-First World War Turkish Army.

Its ORBAT in the book is as follows:

  • Divisional Staff Group (Commander: 6 SPs)
  • ARMY BLACK advisors (?)
  • An Infantry Brigade comprising:
    • A Regular Infantry Battalion (Regular, 4 SPs)
    • A Regular Infantry Battalion (Regular, 4 SPs)
    • A Regular Infantry Battalion (Regular, 4 SPs)
    • A Regular Infantry Battalion (Regular, 4 SPs)
    • Machine Gun Company (Regular, 2 SPs)
  • A Cavalry Brigade comprising:
    • A Regular Light Cavalry Regiment (Regular, 3 SPs)
    • Horse Artillery (Regular, 2 SPs)
  • Field Artillery OR Fortress Artillery (Regular, 2 SPs)
  • Engineers (Regular, 2 SPs)
  • Train (Regular, 1 SP)
  • Total Strength Points = 34 SPs
  • Exhaustion Point reached after the loss of 12 SPs

The uniform worn by the Turks in 1913 was khaki in colour and very similar in style to that worn by almost every European army. The main exception was the headgear, which was called a Kabalak or Enveriye. It was a cane frame with two lengths of cloth wrapped about it to form a cloth helmet which from a distance resembled the shape of a British Army Colonial pattern helmet.

Turkish infantry in the uniform introduced in 1913.

As I had some painted but unbased British 15mm-scale figures in Colonial pattern helmets to hand, I decided to 'paint-convert' them into Turks (or ARMY KHAKI) figures by the simple expedient of painting their helmets khaki.

I was rather pleased with the end result, and they have now been varnished and based, and look like this:

The ORBAT is not quite the same as the one shown above, and currently stands as follows:

  • Divisional Staff Group (Commander: 6 SPs)
  • An Infantry Brigade comprising:
    • A Regular Infantry Battalion (Regular, 4 SPs)
    • A Regular Infantry Battalion (Regular, 4 SPs)
    • A Regular Infantry Battalion (Regular, 4 SPs)
  • A Cavalry Brigade comprising:
    • A Regular Light Cavalry Regiment (Regular, 3 SPs)
    • A Regular Lancer Regiment (Regular, 3 SPs)
  • Field Artillery (Regular, 2 SPs)
  • Train (Regular, 2 SP)
  • Total Strength Points = 28 SPs
  • Exhaustion Point reached after the loss of 10 SPs

Since completing this small army, I have found some other British Colonial figures that might also be suitable for 'paint-conversion' into ARMY KHAKI figures. There seem to be enough to expand my existing force by about 40%, and I hope to renovate, varnish, and base them at some point over the next week.

4 comments:

  1. Those are very nice Bob and a nice idea to re-purpose existing figures:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steve J.,

      Cheers! It was quite a simple task, and made use of figures that would otherwise have remained unused and in storage.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. Hi Bob -
    Another fine looking army you have created! I now wish I'd known about the 'kabalak' headgear - I might have done something different with the recently acquired Nordenfeldt machine guns. Never mind. The deed is done.
    Cheers,
    Ion

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Archduke Piccolo (Ion),

      Many thanks for your kind words! I am particularly pleased that I was able to use some previously 'forgotten' figures to create this little army ... and it has made me look through my storage boxes for further suitable candidates for such treatment.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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