Russian Civil War in 28mm

Copplestone Ragged Whites

Lockdown was to have been a period of consolidation. It started well but there was a hiatus in hobby activity in May followed by the usual Summer distractions. And so my only wargaming-related activity in recent months has been the purchase of some 28mm Bolsheviks and Whites from the Copplestone 'Back of Beyond' range using my Wargames Illustrated/North Star monthly discount and a couple of books. This is another slow-burn project as it will take me over a year to collect the figures before I feel obliged to base or paint anything.

The RCW has long been on my wishlist and I eventually decided to go with the characterful Copplestones and The Men Who Would Be Kings rules. There are many other rule sets I could use but I already know and like these Rampant rules, and extending them to Interwar skirmish ought to be fairly easy. An adaption of TMWWBK to the RCW was discussed here and using them for the Mexican Revolution here. A further mention of using them for interwar colonial skirmish can be found here.

The main issue is how to accommodate vehicles and the most useful inspiration is Pierre Aymeric's WW1 Foch extension. The original version appeared on the Wargames Illustrated website here but a newer, fuller version is available from the author's blog here. I've yet to try these out but I also have ideas of my own having already been thinking of extending TMWWBK to cover shotguns and armoured trucks for the Irish War of Independence.

Anyway, these are just thoughts and I'm in no rush. Winter is coming and it's going to be a long one...

C&C Great War tank extension

The two nearest tanks were mine (German). Yes, one looks distinctly British. No, it isn't captured, it's just substituting for one of the German ones. The C&C Great War tank extension does include two German tanks, but the gamesmaster had mislaid one...

My first game of the year was the Command & Colors Great War scenario, Villiers-Bretonneux, the first tank-versus-tank battle in history. I've played C&C Great War before. It looks like a boardgame with miniatures because it is, but the rules work well and are easy to absorb, and despite the lack of 'realistic' 3D scenery, the game has flavour and draws you into believing.

This was my first experience of the tank extension. The tanks themselves are nice plastic models, and tank combat seems to have very realistic outcomes. Tanks are highly prone to bogging down and damage is quite attritional. I learnt that standing off was the best tactic unless fighting infantry who can be subjected to 'tank shock' in close combat.

Because WW1 tank versus tank combat was relatively indecisive, the best way of winning the scenario is to turn one's artillery on the enemy infantry. As  my opponent had sensibly dispersed his infantry on his first move, he was ahead of me in that respect, though, to be fair to myself, dispersing the German infantry was always going to be more difficult. Anyway, my cannon fodder was being gobbled up more quickly than my opponent's, and then the eventual loss of a tank finally sealed my fate. It didn't feel entirely one-sided. There was a point when I thought I was going to get lucky but it didn't happen.  As in other C&C games you need to focus on attacking the enemy units which are the easiest to eliminate.

It was certainly an entertaining game, so thanks to my friend Ian for providing it.

Great War Spearhead - my introduction

Robert Dunlop, a major contributor to Great War Spearhead, kindly introduced me to the rules. Rather than play on opposing sides we went through the sequence and mechanics of play together. This is an absolutely brilliant approach to teaching rules and makes me wonder why I've never tried the same thing myself!

GWSH evolved from Arty Conliffe's original WW2 Spearhead and was developed by Shawn Taylor with Robert's support. The current edition (GWSH II) is now a fully standalone set of rules. Different rules model different things. The Spearhead family focuses on orders which are marked on maps by arrows of advance. These become the absolute drivers of the game until the enemy are spotted and the play becomes tactical. For that the mechanics are relatively simple.

This approach forces the players to plan. They must study the terrain, look at the routes of advance, and consider the areas of deployment. Crucially, they must also take into account likely or possible enemy plans. Later in the game they may discover the holes and be forced to alter plans and move formations.

GWSH uses a scale of about 80 yards to 1 inch. The 30mm square bases used in the game represent companies and about 12-16 of these are grouped into regiments (British brigades) which are the principal level for order writing and manoeuvre. Four regiments might form a division and two divisions a corps. I generalise here in order to give an idea of scale. A divisional game is a reasonable size for an evening's entertainment, but much larger games can and have been staged.

I now look forward to playing a proper game. Spearhead's grand tactical nature does, of course, appeal to me. In fact, my 10mm Normandy armies were planned and organised for playing the original WW2 version, although I've never got round to using them.

Great War Spearhead

Great War Crossfire

The empty field (lower left-hand corner) had contained a
German platoon. Despite eliminating this, the British
platoon (lower centre) was beginning to lose the firefight
with the German platoon in the copse on the left edge.

Many of you will know Robert Dunlop from his contribution to the Great War Spearhead rules and scenario books and his extremely well-informed forum postings on WW1 topics. It was thus a pleasure and privilege to welcome him to my local wargames club and to play a WW1 Crossfire game which he organised.

Robert has recently been quoting chapter and verse on the Yahoo Crossfire group about low level training and actions during WW1 - the level that Crossfire represents - so I was keen to see how a WW1 game would work with these WW2 rules.

The game was a meeting battle, a common occurrence in northern France in the early days of WW1 during the Race to the Sea. Robert posted an eloquent account of the game in the Crossfire Yahoo Group placing it in historical context.

The absence of smoke and the relative scarcity of HMGs made this a significantly different style of game to the WW2  ones I've played but the rules worked equally well.

Plenty of reserves but nowhere to send them except into
the German meat-grinder. Miniatures are 15mm Peter
Pig and Minifigs.

The game has rekindled my interest in doing some 1914 armies, but I once again find myself spoilt for choice. For Crossfire armies, which are small and predominantly infantry, I would normally go for 15mm figures, but for early WW1 I am very attracted to the superb 12mm Kallistra ranges. But the armies might also be used for Square Bashing, Bloody Big Battles! and/or Great War Spearhead which all require relatively large numbers of bases, so 6mm Baccus figures might be a better option.

Other potential 20thC projects

Pendraken 10mm early WW1 British

I've recently written about doing the Mexican Revolution and Chinese Warlord Era in 10mm for use with Red Actions, but I have also long been interested in doing the Russo-Polish War or other aspects of the Russian Civil War for which RA was of course specifically designed, and for which 10mm figures are readily available.

Another conflict that has previously captured my interest is the Chaco War, but given the current availability of figures and vehicles, this would be much better tackled in 15mm.

Pendraken 10mm Colonial Egyptians

The other 20thC projects in which I've previously taken an interest are early WW1 and the First Balkan War. These would be for both Square Bashing and for Bloody Big Battles! For 1914 I have considered 6mm in order to cut down on the work. However, the aesthetic appeal of 1914 for me is the distinctiveness of the British caps and German Pickelhauben which IMO are just capturable in 10mm but somewhat lost in 6mm.

The appeal of the First Balkan War lies in it being an offbeat precursor of WW1. The armies I would do would be Bulgarian (using WW1 Russians) and Turkish (using Late Nineteenth Century Colonial Egyptians) and Zouaves. The Turks would be doable in 6mm, but WW1 Russians are available only in 10mm.

Finding appropriate artillery is an issue but there are options which most people wouldn't be knowledgeable enough to question!

Model photography equipment

Since starting to photo models for this blog I've rather taken to the idea. First I made this light box. I subsequently made a larger one but was not entirely satisfied with the size, cast and how its framework threw shadows. I therefore invested in one of those cheap portable tents that you can get from Amazon for about £10. The backdrops may not be very good, but I bought a sheet of white 'Fab Foam' from Hobbycraft which is crease-free. When you pull the tent out of its packet it explodes like a jack-in-the-box! Getting it back in perplexes some but I've had previous experience of these sprung wire things. You just need to get a firm grip and force it into a figure of 8. It then meekly pops back into its little carrying bag.

I also picked up a couple of lamps with daylight bulbs from an Ebay supplier called germanladen for a very competitive £30 with free delivery. Why pay more?

The lamps are robust and stable, and good quality as well as good value. Some lamps which many suppliers offer with a tent as a set seem much more flimsy but can in total cost just as much.

So here is my first attempt to try out the new equipment - some Pendraken 10mm WW1 AFVs. I thought the original photo was still rather on the grey side but here is the shot after Photoshopping. I don't have the world's best camera and I have a lot to learn, but I think the equipment will be useful.

War And Peace Revival 2013

I visited the War And Peace Revival show at its new home in Westenhanger yesterday. It took time to adjust to the new venue. Walking right around the considerably enlarged 'living history'/campsite part took a long time and I was more than ready to wash the dust out of my throat with a pint of Spitfire while watching the 40s singing in the Victory tent. Anyway, herewith a few pictures. I think I know what most of the equipment was but I won't risk exposing my ignorance by trying to name it.

WW1 light railway

WW1 fortifications in 10mm

These fortifications were made to represent (1) 'trench and wire', and (2) 'concrete and wire' fortifications as defined in the first edition of the Peter Pig Square Bashing rules. They're somewhat redundant now but I'm posting this item for its modelling interest. Both fortification types are symbolic representations rather than accurate scale models, but they are inspired by real-life photos and diagrams.

2013 Q1 Books

If I want a particular book I usually go to Amazon, but I also like to scour charity shops for the unexpected. Also, if you buy your clothes and household items second-hand, you then have more money for books and wargaming.

In the first quarter I happened to pick up three interesting second-hand books on the First World War:

• The Confusion of Command: The Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas D'Oyly 'Snowball' Snow 1914 -1918
• Forgotten Voices of the Great War
• Tank Warfare (Frank Mitchell MC)

The first is a very frank memoir, the second belongs to a well-known series of eye-witness accounts, while the third (first published in 1933) combines history and personal experience with predictions of varying accuracy. I read them mainly for the technical detail, but I was particularly struck by the wide range of attitudes to war that these veterans displayed.

Square Bashing 2012 - Second Game

I played a second 'Quick Game' of the new Square Bashing 2012 rules, this time against a different opponent. It was another attempt to learn the rules and try things out, rather than to play competitively. At least that's my excuse. I played the British attackers against a German defence. This time the defending army was more balanced (more infantry, less artillery).

My opponent was quick to pick up the rules and to play them to maximum advantage! By placing the transverse road (and thus the crossroads objective) in Row 4, the defender was able to incorporate the other objectives into his Row 3 defensive line. My opponent was also struck, as I was in my first game,  by the amount of scenery. I find this a good aspect, adding to the realism, the game play and the aesthetics.

Square Bashing 2012

I played my first game of Peter Pig's new Square Bashing 2012 rules using the Quick Game option and my Pendraken 10mm 1918 British and German armies. The new version is very clearly and attractively presented and the game went smoothly despite this being a first attempt.

Following placement of the objectives and other scenery, my opponent deployed the German attackers fairly evenly with cavalry and a tank unit in the centre. My fewer British defenders formed a thin front line backed up with a central reserve. This thin khaki line seemed  considerably thinner after the depletions phase.

Painting and basing 20thC miniatures with washes

This is another article from my old website and describes how I paint and base 20th Century figures using washes over a white undercoat and then staining. Most of the figures I've painted in recent years have been 20th Century with drab uniforms, and I think this approach works well for that era.

This article shows 10mm and 15mm figures. I also used the same technique on my 28mm IWI figures. I'm not sure whether it's applicable to earlier, more colourful, periods. I did start painting some 15mm ECW figures along these lines but the project stalled so I don't know what the outcome will be.

Some 15mm Peter Pig figures are 'Blu-Takked' to tongue depressors (giant lolly/popsicle sticks) prior to spray undercoating. These particular figures are Moorish Regulares being added to my Spanish Civil War armies which I use with Crossfire rules. The figures on each stick are identical. This greatly speeds up painting.

10mm WW1 Western Front 1918 Armies for Square Bashing

Here are some pictures of my 1918 Western Front armies. All models are 10mm Pendraken mounted for Peter Pig's Square Bashing rules.

British machine-gunners and riflemen.