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.

Completed Based 1919-20 Poles

Finished units coming fairly quickly now and I have more Poles.

First completed is this French 75mm field gun crewed by Poles in French Horizon Blue.

This is the third field gun for my force with 5 planned currently. The gun is Empress with a Woodbine gunner, a Battlehonours officer and 2 Spanish Civil War gunners I cant remember the manufacturer.

Helmets are Woodbine, the peaked cap is Studio Siberia and peakless cap is a clipped down redoubt ACW head.

My fourth battalion of Poles is a;sp complete. Greater Poland troops in ex Imperial German kit and Polish jackets and caps. 

All four of these are from the excellent Great War Range.

These guys all Renegade figures with  Studio Siberia head swap in the middle.

Again mainly Renegade with a couple of head swaps, the end figure on the right is Copplestone.

The Command figures here are Great War along with the figure with trench broom on the left hand base and there are a couple of Studio Siberia head swaps mixed in with these guys too. Rest are Renegade.

Finally, just to prove its not all about the inter war projects, here's a couple of 40mm Paris Municipal Guard I painted as well. More of these soon I am sure.

Both 40mm Perry's the right hand figures is a Spanish fusilier with the addition of a French Shako. This unit is planned to be fairly untidy and Campaigny.

Thanks for stopping by.

Partizan Game 1920 Assault on Urga

It has taken me a couple of weeks to get the game report from Partizan together thank s for bearing with me.

Today we put on our 1920 Assault on Urga game at my favourite Wargames show, Partizan in Newark.

Its my favourite show of the year for good reason with some fantastic games in a great venue.

Richard and Andy from Legendary Wargames provided their fabulous terrain for us to play and joined in the game. Cheers gents. Legendary Wargames – Wargaming Holidays in Yorkshire

Our Game has the Mad Baron Von Ungern Shternberg leading his Russian and Mongolian Forces in storming the Mongolia Capital Urga in a bid to defeat the Chinese and drive them out of Mongolia.

Our game is based on the Barons third and final, successful, attempt to storm Urga, now Ulaan Bator and capital of Mongolia.

The Barons Forces have 3 objectives. 1, Capture the City 2. Free the Bogda Khan Spiritual and Political leader of Mongolia 3. Destroy the Chinese army.

To achieve this our Russian commanders, Dave, Si and Rich Lawrence have the following forces,  order of battle built around our prefered rule set, Triumph of the Will by Too Fat Lardies.

Asiatic Cossack Division

Baron Ungern Von Schternberg

Divisional Assets

All Ground Assets must be attached to a regiment

Field Guns x 2

Heavy Guns x 1

Armoured Car

Fighter Plane on the roll of a 6

Cavalry Colonel Kazagrandi

1^st Siberian Cossack Regiment

3 x 8 Sotnias Drilled, Aggressive, Cossack

1 x Tchanka

2^nd Siberian Cossack Regiment

4 x 8 Sotnias Drilled, Aggressive, Cossack

1x Tchanka

Chahar Mongol Regiment

2 x 8 Sotnias Drilled, Aggressive, Cossack

Tribal Mongol Cavalry

3 x 8 Ortas Militia, Aggressive, Cossack

2 x 7 Ortas Militia, Aggressive, Cossack

Infantry Colonel Sepeilov

3 x Infantry Regiments

Each with 4 x companies of 8 Drilled

Attached MG platoon 1 x MG

1 x Officers Regiment

4 x companies of 9 Drilled Aggressive

Attached MG platoon 1 x MG

The Chinese forces are from the collection of Chris Charlton and have some really lovely figures. 

Commanded by Chris with Rich Harris and Andy  taking turns on the left flank whilst Chris Flowers and Steve took turns on the right., their forces would consist of the following:

Garrison of Urga

General  Chang Chin Hui

Garrison Assets, all ground assets must be attached to a regiment

3 x Field Guns

2 x Mortars

1 x 37mm Infantry gun

1 x Fixed position FT17

1 x Fighter plane on a  roll of a 6 then 5 if unsuccessful each turn until arriving then back to 6.

Cavalry Regiment

3 x Squadrons of 8 drilled

Russian Lancer Detatchment

1 x  Squadron of 8 Drilled, Lance, aggressive

1^st Special Assault Regiment

3 x Companies of 10 drilled Aggressive

1 x Citreon Kegresse

Dare to Die Regiment

3 x Companies of 10 Drilled Aggressive

Mg platoon 1 mg in truck

Russian Mercenary Regiment

3 x Companies of 8 Drilled Aggressive

MG Platoon 1 MG

1^st Chinese Line Regiment

4 x of 8 Companies Drilled

Mg platoon 1 mg

2 x Chinese second line regiments

Each 3 x Companies of 8 Militia

MG Platoon each of 1 MG

The Chinese had the advantage of trenches and more quantities of artillery shells. The Russians a slight edge in quality and quantity of troops, particularly the cavalry.

On the Chinese right flank the Mongol holy mountain, covered in forest is undefended, deemed impassable but also holy to the Mongols and Chinese nobody expects an attack from this flank, two companies of Cossack infantry have climbed the mountain and will attack the temple area to try free the Bogda Khan. 

This happened historically, although it was a company of Russian and Mongolian Officers, historically it turned the tide of the battle, it remained to be seen if it had any effect on our game.

In terms of figures, the majority are Copplestone castings from the fantastic Back of Beyond range. But there are plenty of other manufacturers.

Studio Siberia provided 3 Sotnias of Cossacks, whilst Empress provided another along with the dismounted Cossacks and the Russian Howitzer. A fair number of the Chinese are from Pulp figures by Bob Murch, particularly the civilians, and three of the Mongols are from the Fireforge medieval range.

None of the accounts of the fighting mention air power but the Chinese definately had an air force in Mongolia and whilst the Russians probably didnt they add a great deal to a game so we decided we couldn't miss them out.

Mongolian Tribal cavalry adds a really unusual element to this game, its likely the Baron had at least 5 regiments for this assault, we managed to get the equivalent of one and a half or so. They certainly add some flavour to the game and I plan to paint a few more.

The buildings are a mix, Urga had distinct Chinese, Russian, Commercial and Temple Quarters so I had two distinct areas with Chinese buildings in one and Russian in the other. Models are a mix of Chinese buildings scratch built by Oshiro and others commercially available from Hovels or 3d prints.

The Russians wasted no time in belting forward to storm the defences frontally, each force having a mix of foot and Horse. On the Russian left the forested area is impassable but two companies of Cossack Plastun infantry have climbed over the mountain to attempt the Citys flank and rescue the Bogda Khan. I have not included these on the orders of battle so they came as much as  Surprise to the Russian commanders as the Chinese.

On the right Si and Richard push their cavalry into the gap between the defences and straight at the Chinese cavalry, whilst their infantry marches at the entrenchments.

Pretty soon the advanced Chinese redoubt is enfiladed and in trouble with cavalry on both flanks and infantry advancing down its centre..

It does however act a sa funnel for the cavalry who bunch and take in enfilading fire from all sides.

Mixed in with the Mongolians are Si's led by his Mongol Princess, a nice addition.

The tank was emplaced and caused only moderate damage to the horsemen swirling around it.

Parking up outside the wire the Tchanka inflicted a few losses straight away on the defenders of the redoubt.

Down the mountainside two companies of Cossack foot advance on the temple, a nasty surprise for the Chinese but there are not a lot of these guys so they need to be nippy, in and out with not much of a firefight.

At this point we take a short shopping break the game is looking very good and we are well on schedule.

As we return Rich L pushes his Cossacks forward at the redoubt and the Chinese cavalry.

Unfortunately for Rich the defenders take out his Tchanka before it can add a great deal of value.

The Chinese cavalry are taking casualties but hang back, their best bet is to let the Cossacks come to them through the hail of defensive fire of the infantry.

Rich C in the Russian Quarter is pretty untouched so far with the Whites going for local superiority in the Chinese quarter and temple.

I love how medieval the Mongolians look, only the rifles slung on their backs give the timeline away.

We call another quick shopping and lunch break as the majority of the Russians are set for their final assaults into Urga.  The game is looking good and we are getting good feedback.

Back from lunch and we are pretty much straight to it, Dave's Russians pile into the trenches all along the Chinese quarter and start to make inroads despite strong resistance.

As Dave has the Officer regiment they are just that slight bit better and their quality starts to tell urged on by the Baron himself from behind..

The Russians begin to make headway right along the defence in the Chinese quarter and the Mongolian tribal cavalry add to the mayhem by breaking in on the flank of the Chinese.

The Cossacks arrive at the temple to find a reception committee.

It doesnt look like the foot Cossacks are going to take the temple but they have distracted Chinese forces that could have been used shoring up the defences elsewhere.

Chris's Chinese assault troops decide to storm out of their earthworks and take the fight to the advancing Russians. A brave but ultimately doomed exploit.

The Russians and their Mongolian allies are well into the Chinese quarter now and the Chinese defence starts to buckle and then break under the pressure.

Si's forces close with Rich H's Chinese in the Russian quarter, his cavalry have taken a hammering and his gun is out of ammo but the infantry are marching stoicley on to come to grips with the Chinese.

The Cossacks have closed with the temple to be met by small arms and MG fire from the defenders.

I did neglect to capture the final moments of the battle on camera I am afraid.

The Cossack foot were driven off badly mauled but this provided just enough distraction for mounted Cossacks to burst in the front gate and make off with the Bogda Khan, Dave had captured the trenches and first buildings in China town and the redoubt had fallen leaving only Russian town in Chinese hands. With the Russians on the ascendancy we call it a win for the Baron and pack up.

A cracking day, with lots of interest from visitors and the chance to speak to people. The game played remarkably well too.