Michael Robert wrote:Wow, again a great dio. Actually one I prefer, because my personal taste is more in history than phantasy - OK that's me. A lot of female defenders.
Reminds me of the novel "The siege of Krishnapur" by Farrell.
Was worth the wait for the figures and all.
Cheers
Michael
Well, this is also a fantasy diorama due to the presence of a few entirely fictional characters.
I was originally going to set it in Cawnpore, but on reflection decided "
hmm, perhaps not". As for the female defenders. Mowbray Thomson, one of only five (if we include Flashy) eventual survivors from the massacre at the Suti Chowra Ghat, happened to mention in his book "The Cawnpore Man" that several female members of the besieged garrison who were taking shelter in the woefully inadequate perimeter of Wheeler's Entrenchment assisted in reloading the defenders muskets and at times actually fired them into the mass of attacking Sepoys, so it's not going out on a limb to suggest that ladies among the Lucknow garrison also took the opportunity to have a pop-shot at the Mutineers when the chance arose.
Farrell's excellent "Siege of Krishnapur", chronologically the first book in his Empire Trilogy, is clearly based on the long drawn-out Siege of Lucknow.
Here's a reminder and updated list of the cast of British Characters.
1st FLOORMrs. Frances (Fanny) Isabella Duberly;Intrepid Victorian Lady Adventurer. It's a bit of a shame that Queen Vicky snubbed Fanny Duberly on her return to Great Britain from the Crimea.
Granted she didn't arrive in India until December 1857 and wasn't involved at the Siege of Lucknow, but as I've mentioned, this is a fictional diorama in any case.
Mrs. Elspeth Rennie Flashman (nee Morrison);Ravishing Scottish blonde and covertly an extremely clever one. May have been habitually unfaithful, but the truth has never been satisfactorily established, (or confirmed).
Part-time card shark, among many other attributes.
GROUND FLOORMrs. Grizel de Rothchild (nee Morrison);Elspeth's disapproving sister and accomplished firearms expert.
Lieutenant Micklewhite;Cashiered for “looting while intoxicated”.
Re-enlisted using an alias, calling himself Peachy Carnehan.
Later promoted to Sergeant.
HIGHEST CAREER RANK ATTAINED:
Aide-de-Camp to the King of Kafiristan.
Unidentified Private Soldier rumored to be from Edinburgh, Scotland;Court-martialed and dishonorably discharged for “looting while intoxicated”.
Also, re-enlisted using an alias, calling himself Daniel Dravot.
Later promoted to Sergeant.
Together with Sgt. Carnehan, was reputed to be affiliated with the same Masonic Lodge in Lahore as the assistant editor of a local newspaper, "The Civil and Military Gazette”, where it was furtively whispered in certain London Gentleman’s Clubs, they assisted him to bake rather "exceedingly good cakes".
HIGHEST CAREER RANK ATTAINED:
King of Kafiristan.
Harry Flashman;Had recently served as detached Political Officer at the court of Indian heroine, Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi. Who, on account of her epic career as a rebel leader and somewhat inevitable demise in battle, was unjustly derided by the British gutter press as “The Jezebel of India”.
Anyway, getting back to Flashman’s adventures;
Survived the uprising at Meerut and briefly served as a member of “Rowbotham’s Mosstroopers”.
Also survived the siege of General Wheeler’s entrenchment at Cawnpore, escaping the massacre at the Suti Chowra Ghat by the skin of his teeth.
Subsequently assigned, not without due protest, to the commissariat support element of the 2nd Lucknow Relief Force under Sir Colin Campbell.
Later promoted to
General Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC, KCB, KCIE, etcetera.
Appointed by a naïve Queen Victoria as honorary president of the famous charitable institute, “Mission for the Reclamation of Reduced Females”. In which duties he took diligent and proactive interest, (by all accounts).
HIGHEST CAREER RANK ATTAINED:
Debatable; but acting on a friendly suggestion made by the kindly old Prussian gentleman Otto von Bismarck to impersonate Prince Carl Gustaf, and then entering into a bigamous marriage with Duchess Irma of Strackenz, doesn’t count.
However, military service as Sergeant-General of Mad Queen Ranavalona’s Armed Forces of Madagascar must surely be considered.
Private Hen Broon;Reluctant hero serving with the 1st Foot & Mouth North British Highlanders. Comes from the hamlet of Auchenshoogle.
HIGHEST CAREER RANK OBTAINED
Contracted to make amusing weekly appearances along with his entire family in the somewhat radical Scottish Sunday Post newspaper/comic.
Havildar Shadwell Gupta Singh;Half-Welsh/Half-Sikh deserter, now masquerading as an Afghan trooper in The Corps of Guides for reasons as yet unknown. Although I’d hazard he was also kicked out of the military for “looting while intoxicated”. It’s a rather familiar story.
HIGHEST CAREER RANK ATTAINED:
Butler at Gandamak Lodge, Ashby, Leicestershire. Flashman’s opulent retirement home, funded by a lifetime of ill-gotten gains.
Livestock:Rooster and goose.
HIGHEST CAREER RANK ATTAINED:
Tomorrow’s breakfast.
Names of the Mutinous Sepoys, (or freedom fighters, depending on your point of view), are unknown, but the reprehensible and slippery
Peshwa Dhondu Pant, otherwise known as
The Nana Sahib can be spotted on horseback preparing to take to his heals at the first opportunity -- just like Flashy.
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