Entry #16 to the AHPC - 28mm WWI era Russian BK-2 Riverine Gunboat

Last week we had our 'Nautical' theme over at the Challenge and this was my modest entry: a 1916 BK-2 Russian Riverine Gunboat.

This 28mm resin model is from my very talented friend Alf, over at Barrage Miniatures. In retrospect, I think my work on it is a little too pristine, so I think I'll make it a bit more careworn before I take it out for a game. Nonetheless, you get a good idea of the model -  I think she's a sweet little runabout and good for skirmish games as it's not too overpowering.

These small gunboats saw a lot of service during their service life.  They debuted during the First World War, but also saw operations during the Russian Revolution, the Polish-Soviet War and World War Two. It's probably not too much of a stretch to think that one of these little babies could see some Pulp adventures as well...

Interestingly, due to their complex design requirements, which called for a very small hull, high speed and a balanced weapon placement, the Russians were forced to look abroad in order to have them manufactured. Being that the Great War was raging, all the European shipyards were either enemy states, or furiously building their own wartime craft. Undeterred, the Russians turned to the United States, who at that time were not in the war, and in 1916 a contract for 18 boats was filled by the Mullins & Company of Salem Ohio. 

In this final shot we have the enchanting Madame Ting-Ting and her salty associate Capt. Douglas (DSC/RN Ret) 'negotiating' with a Russian sailor for a BK-2.  She simply HAD TO HAVE the BK. She was heard saying after the gunshot, 'This little 'dreadnought' will look sooo darling with my flag fluttering above it...'

Next up: Something Simian and Steampunk

Entry #12 to the AHPC - Madame Ting-Ting, her Bodyguards and her Garford-Pulitov Armoured Car

After the Russian Civil War, many White Russians tried to escape Bolshevik persecution by fleeing abroad. They went to all corners of the world, and many White soldiers, needing work or seeking adventure, traveled to China and fought amongst the ranks of the various warlords vying for power. The city of Shanghai became a particularly popular emigre destination, and a vibrant Russian ghetto soon established itself, traces of which can still be seen today.

So from this background we see here my new pulp adventuress, 'Madame Ting-Ting', along with her trio of Russian ex-pat bodyguards, and their rather care-worn Garford-Putilov armoured car. 

The Madame was born Leia Natasha Petrovostalavitch (an extrapolation of a friend's 'Top Secret' RPG character name), the headstrong daughter of a Russian diplomat and Chinese courtesan. She is now simply known as 'Madame Ting-Ting' - that being the sound of her enemies' bullets bouncing off her armoured car. (My thanks to Sylvain's new puppy for inspiring me with the nickname!)

These models started life during the first week of the Painting Challenge, but have languished for the past month so I thought I better get them cleared off the table before I ran out of time.

M. Ting-Ting and her bodyguards are all 28mm Copplestone figures. I had a lot of fun painting Ting-Ting, especially her red gloves and elegant cigarette holder. I chose the riflemen as I liked their ragged uniforms, thinking them fitting after their long retreat to central China. 

The Garford-Putilov is from Copplestone as well. It's a wonderful model, though rather small in relative scale (1:55). In reality, these vehicles were quite huge, this one weighing in at around 11 tons. Like many early armoured cars they were extremely underpowered - this one boasting a whopping 20 HP engine with a top speed of 18kph!

I love the turret, with its barrel-encased 76mm gun and the wing MG sponsons. Completely mental.

For Ting-Ting's banner I wanted something 'Pulpy' and a bit silly, so I went with a motif that features a skull with crossed cigarette holders. Of course, since there are not many commercially produced flags featuring this design, I had to make one myself. :)

It was a bit daunting at first, but I soon began to channel my long-dormant highschool drafting skillz and managed to muddle through.

There you go, 'Madame Ting-Ting' and her 11 ton Tin Lizzie!

Thanks for dropping by folks and have a great weekend!

For Nick - 28mm White Russian Command Stand

Well, after an extended summer hiatus I've wandered back to my brushes and keyboard. The past few months have been very restful with many hours spent puttering around the yard, hanging out with Lady Sarah and the Hounds, and putting a load of kilometers on the bicycles. But now the leaves are turning colour, the temperatures are beginning to cool, and so I though it time to remove the dust sheet from the hobby desk and stoke the boilers once again.

Over the past couple of years my good friend Nick (over at Moiterei's bunte Welt) and I have taken to exchanging painted figures after the flurry of the Painting Challenge. Basically we each pick a figure we fancy and the other tries to do his best with it. This year Nick did up 'The General', a wonderful sculpt from the Lead Adventure range to add to my post-apocalyptic collection. As you can see he did a fantastic job on him. I love the saturated colours of his uniform and the way Nick's done the basework to match my other models.

The General

For my part, Nick wanted me to paint him a female commissar for his Russian WWI/Civil War collection from the range offered by Mike Copplestone. Well, with a little foot-dragging on my part I'm happy to (finally) present my offering to Nick.

These two figures represent members of the Kornilov Regiment which fought doggedly with the Whites during the Civil War. The rifle-pennon is a hand-painted affair, taken from something I spotted on the web.

Similar to the other figures in my RCW collection, I added some white flowers on the base to help underline their loyalties.

There you have it Nick! I hope these two Russians find a good place in your collection and I look forward to our next exchange.

Next up: More wee men from the Napoleonic era.

Entry #6 to the Lead Painters' League: 'Reds 1918'

My interest in the Russian Civil War began this past winter as a 'little side project' but, as these things often go, has slowly grown out of all proportion with various armoured cars, herds of cossacks and even an armoured train (!) all vying for space on my hobby desk. It's a bit ridiculous actually. To be honest, when I first contemplated getting into the period I was concerned that it would be too boring, with nothing but browns, greys and khaki to look forward to. Nonetheless I soon discovered that the uniforms of the RCW were actually quite colourful and incredibly varied, such as these Kronstadt sailors below who first fought for the Bolsheviks, but ended up as hunted fugitives after refusing to come to heel under the Soviets. 

Another thing I quite enjoy is that the combatants frequently carried huge honkin' banners, usually emblazoned with cryptic political slogans, imperial heraldry or religious iconography. That being said, at times they could also be quite simple affairs, featuring a single colour, like this Red banner proudly being held by a female commissar.

Several of the figures (and the armoured car) pictured above were completed during the last Painting Challenge, so I decided to top them up with another half dozen assorted models for the LPL.

The prone MG team and riflemen are from Copplestone whereas the NCO is from Musketeer and the female Commissar is an Artizan casting.

Similar to my Wars of the Roses figures I'm using red and white flowers on the bases to denote Soviet and White Russian combatants.

I really can't face that armoured train right now, so onto something else, wot!

Next up: French Indochina, 1954

28mm Russian Civil War Sailors, Commissar & Austin-Putilov-Kregesse Armoured Car

(Please excuse the cross-post from the Challenge blog)

In 1963 the Soviet Union released the film ‘Optimistic Tragedy’.  It won ‘Best Revolutionary Epic’ at Cannes that year (though one wonders how many other films were in the running) and within the Soviet Union it took in 46 million tickets at the theatres (again, ticket ‘sales’ may have been encouraged by the state or perhaps even made free). Politics aside, it was regarded as an important film and was credited for its technical authenticity and production quality.

'Optimistic Tragedy' - Yes, only the Russians could come up with such a title for a movie...

The movie tells the story of a Russian Naval unit which comes under the leadership of a female commissar (named simply ‘The Commissar’) played by Margarita Volodina. The film centers around the struggle for the control (and identity) of a band of anarchist sailors during the Russian Civil War. This group of sailors basically has acted as a self-governing detachment until a female commissar is detached from Party headquarters to bring them under the wing of the Red Army. 

Russian Sailor Beefcake

The plot will remind many of today’s viewers of the movies in which a steely-willed teacher slowly civilizes a classroom of unruly teenagers. It's a historically interesting film, and so inspired by it, I thought it a great opportunity to put together a small vignette depicting a female commissar who is urging forward her unit of Russian sailors for the glory of the Revolution.

Historically the Russian navy provided some of the highest quality cadres for the Bolshevik cause. They were often committed to hardest fighting in both the Revolution and the Civil War – they were depended upon for their professionalism, aggressiveness and steadiness under fire.

A.Z. Zhelezniakov, a Russian sailor who became a prominent Bolshevik commander during the Civil War.

Ironically the sailors themselves became some the last casualties of the Russian Civil War.  In 1921, when based back with the Fleet at Kronstadt, they made demands for the return to the original purpose of the Revolution, namely free elections, free speech and free right of assembly. They were swiftly labeled as counter-revolutionaries and were attacked by approximately 60,000 Bolsheviks, who stormed them over the ice at Kronstadt harbor. After fierce fighting, where they caused appalling casualties amongst the attacking Red Army, the sailors either surrendered or escaped into exile in Finland. Overall, it was an embarrassing closing chapter for the Bolshevik's revolution.

The sailors seen here are all from Copplestone Castings. Wonderful models with very little cleanup required - a real joy to paint. I’ve done them up in a mix of either their regular blue or white(ish) dress trousers.  I did this to add some variation as many of the poses are virtually identical so I reasoned that some men could have resorted to their dress trousers when they wore-out their blues.

The female Commissar is also from Copplestone. On the same base I’ve added a NCO from Footsore Miniatures (previously Musketeer). I had them both based, primed and ready to paint when I realized he had epaulettes on his shoulders and an Imperial rosette on his cap. This is a BIG no-no with the Bolsheviks, especially after December 1917 where they made it mandatory to remove all symbols of imperial rank. In fact it was regarded as a damning insult to be called a ‘Golden Epaulette’ in the Red Army. Anyway, knife and file were duly brandished and the offending insignia was removed so he could be a proper 'Soldier of Equal Rights'.

As with the squad of Whites that I did a few weeks ago, I’ve placed flowers in the groundwork which aligns with their political affiliation (though with all of these fellas being festooned with red armbands and accompanied by a commissar who's waving a honkin’ huge red banner it does seem like a bit of overkill, oh well…).

The vehicle seen here is an Austin-Putilov-Kegresse halftracked armoured car. The Kegresse variant was particular to the Bolsheviks who modified twelve Austin cars to this halftrack model.  The machine gun turrets were off-set to better allow overlapping fields of fire (and just in case you're wondering, the shields on the sides of the guns were designed to protect the barrels’ water coolant casings from being holed from incoming fire).

This 1/55 scale model is from Copplestone Castings and while a bit small for my liking, was a very easy build.  Nonetheless, when I originally unpacked it I discovered that while the resin body was excellent, some of the white metal parts were flawed in that they were missing some of their edge detail, and the existing detail was rather soft.  I sent a note to Mark Copplestone outlining my concerns to which he immediately replied, apologized for the defects, insisted on sending out another model of equal value (post free), and also stated that he would pull the Putilov model until the quality issue was resolved. Wow. Now, how’s that for excellent service?! I'm very impressed and must thank Mark again for being such a gracious vendor, he’ll definitely be getting my business again soon.

Magnetics installed for the turrets.

I painted this model in a two-tone camouflage pattern which I understand was typical to the period. Photographic evidence suggests that some of these vehicles operated without any insignia or slogans so that is what I went with here (and it allows it to be used as a captured vehicle by the Whites, Poles or even for Pulp gaming).

Next up... either some Napoleonic Spanish Guerrillas or something in micro-scale...

28mm Russian Civil War 'Tachanka' Machine-gun Wagon

Season's Greetings Everyone!

First, just a short note to let you all know that the gallery for the second theme round of the Painting Challenge is now up in all it's glory and awaiting your viewing pleasure.

This week's theme is 'Rider(s) & Mount(s)' and as such I decided to debut a little side project of mine which will concentrate on the various colourful units and personalities of the Russian Civil War.

So, what you see here is a 'Tachanka' machine-gun wagon which were heavily used in the open expanses of the Southern Russian and Ukrainian fronts. With motor vehicles being almost non-existent at the time, and in this part of the world, it seemed only sensible to make good use of the abundance of peasant wagons and horseflesh.

It is believed by some that the name 'Tachanka' derives from the Ukrainian diminutive nickname for 'wheelbarrow'.)

These small wagons would typically be drawn by two to four horses, have a crew or three or four and be armed with a heavy machine-gun positioned to fire from the rear of the vehicle. From my understanding their tactics would be to set up in ambush and then scoot to a new firing position once things got too hot or scamper out of harm's way using the machine-gun for covering fire. (I've read of Tachanka 'charges' but these seem rather harrowing considering they would have to approach the enemy positions at the gallop and then turn around to bring their guns to bear, all the while being under enemy fire.)

This is a 28mm kit from Eureka Miniatures. It provides a wonderful build, virtually flash free with no discernible imperfections to the castings. My only caveat is that the figures are quite small to really be listed as 28mm, rather I found them closer to 25mm or perhaps 22mm. Nonetheless, the completed model still looks great and fits well enough with the rest of my collection. I've painted the crew up as Cossacks but the kit comes with another variant to have them as Red crewmen with the distinctive (if somewhat dorky) pointy 'shlem' hat.

In terms of using a Tachanka in 'Chain of Command' I'm considering using these modified rules:

- a Tachanka is classed as a fast, softskin fighting vehicle;

- for game terms it may not reverse;

- unlike normal fighting vehicles a Tachanka can be deployed from a Jump Off point to reflect their tactical doctrine of being used for ambushes;

- they can be deployed in light woods;

- as a Tachanka is open topped it has the sighting capability of an infantry unit, so they have no spotting limitations; 

- when stationary, a Tachanka fires as a top-mounted HMG at full rate of fire (10 dice) but when moving it is halved (5 dice) due to the bouncing and jostling of the highly sprung carriage;

- it is completely unarmoured so is targeted as a softskin;

- as a target it is not rated as a small target or low profile BUT when moving it always receives a -1 target modifier to reflect its evasive maneuvering (if moving in a non-urban setting);

- when hit, the horses are counted as valid targets along with the crew;

- each horse killed reduces the top speed by one dice to a minimum of 1 dice;

- a dead horse dragging in the traces slows the wagon by -2 pips on the movement dice. The carcass will need to be cut away from the traces in order for the wagon to move at its proper rate. Cutting a dead horse away takes an action to perform.