Planning for Russian Civil War at Partizan II

It's my turn to put on the game at the Newark Partizan II show in November.

I was toying with Sikh Wars or Russian Civil War but I did Aliwal with the Boondock Sayntes in May so I am thinking something Russian Civil War related and do Sikh Wars next year.

That does still give me plenty of choice, my collection can cover Mongolia, Siberia, Southern Russia and now Poland, with lots of extra troops from chum Chris's Chinese army and Dave and Si's reds and whites. I even have an Anarchist army for Ukraine which is growing nicely.

I am particularly tempted by the Polish-Soviet War 1919-20. Its a period I am adding to at present and has some colourful units and interesting options.

My Whites and Poles are exceeding my Reds by some margin now. So I am thinking about games that are less defending against the Red Horde (Which is a lot of the Polish-Soviet War) and more meeting engagement or even defending Reds. So that's  a better fit for the beginning of this war when the Poles choose to attack the Reds who had formations building up in Ukraine and Belorussia but were not quite ready to launch their offensive. Politically it was a bad idea really as it made the Poles look like the aggressors, reducing the support they had from the Allies and neighbouring countries, Militarily it made loads of sense, although in the end probably didn't help them at all.

As the Polish lines of communication became stretched the Red army reserves including the first Cavalry army (Konarmia) mainly Cossacks who had fought for the whites or Imperial army previously , marched in to push the Poles back.

I think the fluid situation in Summer 1919 in Ukraine with both the Poles and Reds attacking and defending would make an interesting game for the show and visually different for visitors.

So assuming this is the game I am going with I need to consider where the gaps in my collection are and start painting to fill them.

I got a good start with the below today.

Up to press I have focused mainly on my Poles as they are a new army and good fun to paint. So that has meant that my Red army is a bit weaker in comparison.

As with our most recent game this can be partially remedied by expanding my Anarchists and having them fight alongside the Reds as they did on occasion historically. 

These guys are Anarchist Cavalry but at least a couple of them would fit very nicely into a Red Cavalry regiment, especially the Konarmia which contempory's described as looking more like a horde of bandits, some men without hats wearing Womens hats looted from houses along the way.

These 4 are STP miniatures, a Russian firm stocked by Empress Miniatures with a really lovely mix of figures. The two in the middle perfect to mix in with Reds, the other two probably better as Anarchists. If I am careful with which figures I base together many will be able to do double duty. 

These two are both Boer War figures, the civilian gear makes them good for Anarchist once the Foundry figure on the right had a head swap. Again probably not ideal for Red cavalry. I have maybe 32 to paint in total, hoping I can have half do double duty as Reds with the other half probably only being suitable for Anarchists or Partisans really.

At first glance a White Cossack officer might be out of place, however whole brigades of Red Cossacks changed side to fight for the Poles and my Cossacks are short of a leader figure.

Nice to have the option to field a regiment of Cossacks with Tchanka in the game.

I have a whole raft of Anarchist foot to paint, possibly enough for a brigade and a gun will come in handy, they were much more organised than we might think. The below picture has 4 models all from different manufacturers. 

Left to right Scheltrum this German figure perfect for those Ukranians who had been armed and uniformed by the occupying Germans and now fighting for the black flag, then an STP figure based on Nestor Makhno, I have at least 4 Makhno's so this guy will either command the gun or a company of foot. The gun is a Woodbine Turkish 75mm Krupps, again no doubt left behind by the occupying Germans when they pulled out and the last is a Civilian figure from Copplestone's Partisan pack, perfect for the Anarchists.

The biggest gap for Reds currently is Guns and MG's so the first filler for that is a Copplestone Red MG crew. At least another to follow and a couple of field guns.

A few more coming off the workbench, mix of manufacturers.

The sailors are Anarchist sailors, from Russia's Black Sea fleet in Crimea, they could equally be White or Red sailors. I hope to create enough for 2 companies to add to my two companies of Red sailors so I can either have them as a full battalion or keep them separate with the Anarchists as needed. All three of these are STP from Empress.

This guy is a Scheltrum civilian, I think from the Spartacist pack, a very dramatic pose, you cant see the carbine on his back, quite a few of them have this distinctive curved knife not sure what that is, perhaps a sailors knife?

And whilst I am not concentrating on the Poles, I do have my last battalion of Greater Poland Army missing a company so will try get 8 of these completed in between other stuff. Great War German Storm troopers with the grey green jacket and Polish collar tabs.

Particularly busy this weekend with a bunch more completed, this gets me well on the way to fillign in a lot of the gaps.

So we have a Red army officer who will be added to a few others to give me another couple of companies, 4 Anarchists or Partizans all from Copplestone and a couple of my favourite figures from this batch, then a gun leader, a Copplestone Chinese Gunner with a Scheltrum head which came out quite nice I think.

The Germans to get my last company of Great polish troops nearer to finished, a Great War storm trooper with two plastic Wargames Atlantic figures. 

Lastly the sailors, I have kept these fairly simple. The left hand figure is a Scheltrum German sailor who looks slightly different to the rest but will do. The leader in the middle is Artizan thrilling tales bits quite nicely, the others are all STP, I particularly like the running guy who I gave a khaki army gymnasterka to make him a bit more campaigny.

A few more anarchists, mixed manufacturers.

These riflemen are Copplestone first and second from left and Scheltrum on the right.

The two gunners finish my Krupps crew, left is a Spanish Civil War Empress gunner and then a Copplestone Back of beyond. The command figure is the Nestor Mahkno from Giants in miniature, a lovely sculpt.

The Cavalry are all Scheltrum and a particularly scruffy looking lot

This last figure is a realy nice Scheltrum "Konarmia" red cavalry man. He is particularly scruffy with his rifle wrapped in sacking and his trousers loose around shoes as he has no boots. These figures come with separate heads so I gave him the Budnovka cap, the head however is  company B head.

The horse is a Knuckle Duster Mexican mount, fits really well and I can use the Scheltrum horse to replace this when I get around to his original bandido rider adding some variety to both unts. 

And just to show I am actually getting somethings completed here is the Cossack officer and Red MG crew based up and game ready.

So a view of what is potentially planned for Octobers show game, hope you like it and maybe we will see you at the show?

Thanks for stopping by.

Bit Of A Mixed Workbench Update

With the Russian Civil War game done the urgency to finish anything in particular is gone.

I do however want to try finishing off the things I was working on so here are a few.

This Copplestone MG crew has been re-purposed with head swaps to be Anarchist. Came out quite well I think.

Three different manufacturers for the Anarchist Cavalry here. Left to right STP Miniatures Anarchist on a knuckle duster horse, Scheltrum Miniatures Red Cavalry with a civilian cap and then a Foundry Boer War rider with a Empress Spanish Civil War head.

I did say it was a mixed bag, the first of my Chassuers D'afrique for Mexico accompanied by a Legionaire.

This Great War German MG has been re-purposed for my 1920 Poles.

And as we are working through the Great Northern War again with Beneath The Lilly Banners I thought to finish a bunch of casualty markers which should come in handy. 

And a bunch of troops for the Russian Civil War and associated projects.

I was hoping to have these Anarchists done for the recent game but just ran out of time. The MG is a Copplestone Turkish crew with head swaps. The Cavalry a mix of makes detailed further up.

This MG will bring my Poles in German uniforms from Great Poland Army almost up to strength for their second battalion, just an 8 man company to complete them.

Here are the Poles in horizon blue all together, a good start for the next regiment, need an extra 3 figures to finish the company and 2 more companies of 8 plus an MG. Figures primed so wont be too long before they are on table.

Lastly an American Lewis gunner, no doubt a mercenary trying his look with one of the many Russian Civil War factions. I may add this guy to my Anarchists.

Thats it for now, thanks for stopping by.

Progress with 1919-20 Poles and Anarchists

With a game looming I have tried to get a bunch of figures completed.

Mainly Poles and Anarchists but a couple of red too.

These first two give me an extra commander and will finish off a base of reds and finish a new company, both from Copplestone's Back of Beyond range. I have used slightly different shades to the earlier Reds so they add some variety and scruffiness.

For the Anarchists I have these 5 ex Black Sea Sailors, known as the black death in WWW2 these troops had a good level of training and technical competence and as the Anarchists were not too far from their bases in south Ukraine on the Black Sae the Anarchists had plenty in their ranks. 2nd from right is Copplestone the other four are all STP Miniatures, a Russian company stocked by Empress int he UK and very nice. The black uniforms make these simple to paint.

These two Copplestone Partisans will also finish off a base of Anarchists and form a company along with the Sailors.

I have also started some Anarchist Cavalry, I want some of these to be usable as Reds when I don't need Partisans. These three will all do as Reds if I dont base them with more civilian troopers.

Centre is an STP horse and rider and to either side Scheltrum who have some really nice cavalry in particular. I plan at least 2 Sotnias of these.

Anarchist gun up next, standard Russian field gun by STP, the right hand figure is also STP whilst the left hand figure is an Empress Spanish Civil War gunner. Fits in just fine. The bits of khaki on the gun are supposed to be original paintwork showing through the locally painted black with some bullet splash top left. Must try harder I think.

I have enough STP and Empress crew for a further gun so will no doubt pick one up.

With these finished I have cracked on basing with lots of help from chum Steve Shann.

This base of Reds finishes another company. All Copplestone, I think the flag is an old flags for the lads.

Command base for my next Anarchist company, STP Officer, Copplestone standard bearer and Studio Siberia flag.

This Anarchist Officer is based on Fedir Shcus a lovely character manufactured by Giants in Miniature.

A Polish officer of the Kingdom of Poland Army for my next battalion. Great War Miniature with Studio Siberia head swap.

The earlier Anarchist gun and crew with a third gunner added. STP Naval Gunner with Khaki Army Gymnastirka.

A new company of Anarchists from the Earlier painted Partisans,  Real mix of miniatures in this shot with 5 WW2 Warlord Partisans and one each STP, Copplestone and Woodbine Miniatures.

And more Poles, mainly Great War, 3rd from left Battle Honours and last figure with a Studio Siberia Polish cap.

This Company probably the last Poles I will get finished for the Game, again mainly Great War, 2nd from left is Battle Honours three figures have Studio Siberia Head swaps.

Last push before our game with Reds, Anarchists and a Pole completed

This Red Officer has a slightly different Uniform adding more variety and scruffiness to my Bolsheviki.

A couple more Reds gives me some more options when building Companies. I think the Officer is a Warlord figure, the Kneeling chap is Copplestone. 

This Pole is an existing Regimental Officer from many years ago, rebased to match current figures. He is actually a Zulu War Redoubt Lancer with a ACW cap believe it or not.

Lastly a company of Anarchists, mainly Black Sea sailors these last will allow me to add companies of sailors to my Red Army.

That's it, these are boxed up for the game now, hope you liked them.

Thanks for stopping by.