I felt I should also do a single post about the book that got me to start this project. The book is Sabres of Paradise by Lesley Blanch.
That the painting continueth!
So another twenty painted. Only thirty more of the wealthier Murids to finish out of 160 total. Then 60 rabble to paint. Then 48 Murid raiding cavalry, a few light guns, encampment and baggage, a command group. Not much then! But I’ll get there over the next month or so.
So the painting continues on in my new, purpose built painting and wargaming studio. But today, let’s have a look at something else.
I have found a travel video on YouTube, where a seeming successful YouTube video blogger takes a trip to Dagestan and goes up into the mountains to visit an abandoned mountain top town. However, there were still residents into the noughties living there. Worth a watch for the stunning scenery and amazing buildings where people lived out their lives generation, after generation for hundreds of years.
I recommend skipping to 10 minutes in, to see the interesting bit. The Murid mountain top settlements were known as Aouls or Auls. They were fortified villages and towns that initially, the Russians struggled to deal with for well over a decade.
So the painting has continued in my spare time, unabated. I now have 100 15mm musket armed Murids painted. I am quite pleased with this progress. Only 60 more musket armed Murids to go, then a variety of ragged melee types to paint up and mix in for fun. Photos below of the horde so far. All from the wonderful Irregular Miniatures.
I also received a parcel from Irregular Miniatures, can you guess what it is? Correct! It’s the Russian army of the South to fight those pesky mountain guerrillas, the Murids, united, mostly, under the leadership of the Lion of Dagestan, Imam Shamyl.
The Russian army of the South themselves were a strange mix, great, pompous, rich senior officers that took their entire households from St Petersburg, across the Russias, to Georgia and the Caucasus. To officers banished far from court by the Tzar for some disgrace, to dirt poor, young serfs, conscripted and dragged across all the Russias to die in the harsh but beautiful landscape of the Caucasus, far from their parents and family. It also attracted adventurer types, who wanted to join the band wagon of campaigning in the Caucasus, and if they survived, to return home, and tell tall tales beside the fire to excite all but the longest served veterans.
I feel there is much oppurtunity for fun wargaming here, from raids by the Murids on Russian lines of communication, including the newly built Georgian military highway, to assaults on small forts and outposts usually held by Cossacks, to kidnaps, for ransom, to ambushes, invasions, and sieges and assaults. All on a very gameable scale. It feels a bit like the North West Frontier but a lot less well known and gamed.
Potentially, each colour could also represent a particular rating for each force, the higher that particular rating,the more troops of that main colour will be on the table. I need to finalise the first draft and play test it though.
Thus far I have managed to paint up four of the units, with the fifth one block painted, and ready for highlights.
I also need to give another big shout-out to Ian Kay at Irregular Miniatures, who was brilliant to deal with, and even, to give my army some extra variation, did a couple of conversions for me. I did not ask for this, I think Ian lost himself in putting my job together and was almost as enthusiastic as I was.
Here was my initial email request for what I wanted for the Murid army in 15mm.
“I am after approx 15 units of ten men with muskets (7 infantry, 1 officer, 1 flag bearer, 1 drummer/musician).
6 units of melee infantry of ten men each as above.
Approx. 6 cavalry units of 8 (5 troopers, 1 officer, 1 musician, 1 flag bearer).
Approx. 6 artillery units (mixed light/mountain/Jingal/camel guns) with six crew.
A command group to represent the C-in-C and aides etc.
Baggage base for each infantry unit and artillery unit (pack camels, pack mules, pack horses, carts, followers etc).
I’m after a good fun mix.”
After reading the brilliant book The Sabres Of Paradise by Lesley Blanch, which I highly recommend to anyone who enjoys reading historical non-fiction, I became obsessed with the events described, and being a keen wargamer, wanted to collect forces to re-create large skirmish type games of this fascinating, and drawn out conflict.
This blog therefore, is specifically about the Murid wars, or the Imperial Russian conquest of the Caucasus, and the Lion of Daghestan, Imam Shamil, who for over two decades, resisted Russian expansion and subjugation.
So I had a look around to see what , if any, wargames figures were available for Imam Shamil's forces. The Russians are easy - you can use Crimean War Russians.
I would also like to mention the absolutely amazing service and help I received from Irregular Miniatures - I have never ever received better customer service in my life. It is the single best purchasing experience of my life. More on this in my second post once I've received the miniatures.
After an email exchange, I put in an order, and it is now due to arrive to me tomorrow (Friday 6th July).
I would also like to mention the absolutely amazing service and help I received from Irregular Miniatures - I have never ever received better customer service in my life. It is the single best purchasing experience of my life. More on this in my second post once I've received the miniatures.
Then I thought, ah, what about rules, and I had a look at Sharp Practice, and also The Men Who Would Be Kings, both of which seem to be warmly received on the whole but maybe didn't quite offer exactly what I wanted and my general feeling for the conflict from what I've read thus far.
Therefore, I have decided to have a go at writing my own rules, which i have called At The Edge Of Empires. Hopefully I can also adapt them to other colonial conflicts.
I will formalise the rules, and then post them here at some point for anyone to print and give them a go.
Who is Imam Shamil and the Murids?
The highlanders of the Caucasus around the region of Chechnya and Dagestan were Muslim subsistence farmers. Extremely hardy, fiercely independent, and devout Muslims.
During the 1820's the Russian Empire looked to the Caucasus as a natural defensive barrier to neighbouring empires as well as a jumping off point for expanding into Asia - Afghanistan, and British India beyond. The Great Game was beginning.
In the 1830's, Imam Shamil rose to prominence and became the new Imam of the region, and therefore the absolute ruler, just as the Tzar was of Imperial Russia.
The last King of Georgia, before passing away, invited Imperial Russian to become the protector of Georgia and absorb it into the Russian Empire to help protect it from the new rise of Muridism under Imam Shamil, as Georgia was largely Christian.
However, the Imperial Russians, through the 1840's and 1850's ramped their efforts to conquer once and for all, the whole of the Caucasus and subjugate the region. The Imperial Russian Army of the South, steadily expanded and became well known throughout the world, as the campaigning in the Caucasus and the Murid cause.
Despite the overwhelming man power and guns of the Imperial Russians, the climate, conditions, and the Murid irregular forces inflicted huge casualties on the Imperial Russian Army of the South. It would take over 25 years to finally conquer and subjugate the region.
It is a fascinating period, full of atmosphere, and suffering, triumph, and tragedy, with heroes, and villains, and all sorts of characters becoming involved, including Tolstoy, and Pushkin among other famous names. The geography of the area alone is stunning, hostile, beautiful, and difficult to conquer, and the native peoples, even more so.
There will be a second post shortly, over the weekend, or early next week.
I have been on an ‘olliday. There was a river, there was a pub on the river. We had a nice time. If you would like to know where I went. I...
