Announcing the 5th Theme Bonus Round: 'Casualty or Casualties' & Curt's Great War Belgian Refugees

For the 5th Fortnight Thematic Bonus Round I asked the participants to compose and paint a figure or set of figures illustrating a 'casualty' or group of casualties. Admittedly it's a grim theme, but I think it's one that bears exploring. In the gallery, which you can find here, you will see many creative entries that illustrate this sobering topic. 

For my own part I decided to return to my greyscale Great War project in order to attempt a perspective to the 'casualty' theme: the refugee. 

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the plight of the refugee has existed as long as war itself. The terror of impeding violence, the disruption of livelihood, the dissolution of security and the mortal risk to loved ones - these are all things that are clearly seen on the face of every refugee no matter their religion, colour, nationality or time in history.

The German destruction of the Belgian city of Louvain in August of 1914 is noted for contributing to the world's condemnation of the Central Powers' cause and pursuit of war. For five consecutive days the city was indiscriminately burnt and looted. Its famous library, housing one of the largest and most impressive collection of ancient manuscripts, was burnt and destroyed, as was Louvain's university. The church of St. Pierre was also badly damaged by fire. The citizenry of Louvain were subject to rape, robbery and beatings, but the most tragic was the mass shootings of hundreds of innocents regardless of age or gender. As Sir Edward Grey solemnly remarked upon the outbreak of  hostilities that summer, 'The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our life-time.'

So in these images I have tried to compose a plausible scene that would occur during those first few weeks of 1914. Seen here is a column of Belgian refugees fleeing the German advance while their hastily raised countrymen march to the front to attempt to stem the tide. 

The civilian figures are mostly new castings from Brigade Models' excellent range of Great War Belgians. The old couple with the wheelbarrow and dog are from Kawe's Westfalia Miniatures (meant for the Napoleonic period, but I find that they work quite well 100 years later). The cobblestones are hand painted, both on the figures' bases and the nylon roadway (being too cheap and lazy to get proper cobbled bases/roads). The others are older models from my collection, mostly Great War Miniatures, Brigade Models and the Minerva armoured car is (I believe) from 1st Corps. The buildings are from Kobblestone Miniatures.

...a matter of tone: same scene with a different camera with different settings...

So, please check out the gallery of all the Challengers' submissions, and remember to vote for your favourite entries. I'm using a paid service, Survey Monkey, for the voting poll so please visit the sidebar to the right and place your votes for your favourite entries. Remember, you can vote for as many as you wish! And please leave a comment with your kind words and praise - their work deserves it.

The Great War in Greyscale - Early War German Infantry Reinforcements & Row-House Buildings (130 points)

I took advantage of the '5-4-4' deal from Renegade Miniatures to augment my existing WWI models which were mostly from Great War Miniatures.

I find these Renegade sculpts to be fairly chunky, but they have a pleasing solidness about them and really possess a lot of character. I particularly like the various facial details like their bushy moustaches, wire-rimmed glasses and expressive mouths. 

Taking a cue from Sidney, I decided to mount about half of this force in pairs to allow easier movement during play. In addition, I think the paired-figure bases allow for interesting mini-vignettes. I'll be going back to rebase some of my Belgians and French along these lines.

I've also included a few photos of my completed greyscale ruined row-houses from Kobblestone Miniatures.

I'm now working on a few of the non-damaged facades. You can see one work-in-progress, below to the left, which features an elegant second-floor curved balcony. The sidewalks are a nice touch as well. They neatly slip under the building frames and do a great job in finishing the look of the buildings. 

I'm going to order few of their new end panels and probably another row-house 'module' to  be able to fill out the core of a village.

These 26 Landsers will give me 130 points.

Product Review: Kobblestone Miniatures 28mm European Row Houses

I came across a listing of these 28mm resin building kits from Kobblestone Miniatures on Tabletop Gaming News a few weeks ago and thought they might integrate well with my Great War project. I contacted the owner/sculptor Bill (who was very helpful in explaining his products) and ordered two row house sections - one in idyllic condition while the other suffers from severe battle damage.

Each section of two buildings currently costs $50 to $65 USD, depending on design. Shipping was quick and the parcel was well-packed, with the components arriving without any damage. 
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