Labeling tests

 So I bought a label-maker today:

The label strip is overlarge and needs to be cut down.

But there are useful options for smaller font, wasting less strip.

I start with one box of minis...

And one set of bases. Think I'll use smaller strips.

I think this'll work for the purpose! I've got a lot of regiments to name and bases to label - once I do I'll update the "organization."

Also read about half of Captain Nevill's book. There's not much in the way of tactics - it's more a series of brief expedition overviews, written as a textbook but only providing background for further specific study, with occasional interpolations about lessons learned from specific actions. There are lots of unit organizations that will be useful for creating "field forces" for games or campaigns - the typical expedition seems to have been primarily native infantry and artillery, with the occasional British regiment and cavalry squadron.

A few interesting takeaways:

• There was less of a set organization for brigades at this time. Every column had both infantry and artillery, and there was a much smaller proportion of British troops to native than in the World Wars. Some columns were entirely Indian.
• There is a "changeover" about 1890, when the natives obtained modern rifles in quantity - but they tended to use them more for range than weight of firepower.
• Elephants were used in a few expeditions to carry the artillery, but were also used to tear down buildings and improve the roads.
• CVF Townshend, later infamous as the commander of Kut in 1916, comes in for much praise in the account of the Chitral campaign of 1895, when he commanded a surrounded fort for 47 days. A Sikh platoon had surrendered nearby and been slaughtered by the locals; you'd think he'd have remembered this a generation later.

If you're interested in mountain fighting, this is the book for you; unfortunately, there are only a few large-scale maps. Games based on this will be more "inspired" than directly translated. Still, plenty of interest. See you next time!