NWF/BoB - Afghan tribesmen

 I have been doing a bit of commission painting recently- mostly 10mm Naps , so it’s been nice to have a few days to do some bits for myself. I picked up some Old Glory North West Frontier stuff a few years ago so I am chipping away at it to add the collection . This time another 26 tribesmen. The OG figs  have lovely lot  of life to them. 

I started with a straight white base coat and then it’s various shades of light brown , a VJ flesh colour was also used . Didn’t take to long to knock em out .

This takes me to 50 foot figures and 10 mounted . I have a few more to add over the winter 

This is the current army of the “Lion of Khulm” - Martins rebellious province 😁

Gaming - ACW - Antietam Cornfield - using new ACW rules

 Yesterday saw a run out for the ACW collection . Des Darkin has released his regimental rules set ,known simply as ACW (link https://www.shedowargames.co.uk/  ) and I have picked it up . John and I decided to play the introduction scenario . 

 

 

Starting position Rebs behind fences and hasty works 

Red and Green markers represent Division and Brigade command staff officer - which are then tasked for a range of command option . However once used they don’t quickly come back - a key part of the game is managing this resource to keep your options open.

 

My Union forces ready to advance toward the cornfield - they will pick up fatigue crossing the fence and also doubling forward . I liked the mechanism that let you move at speed but accumulate fatigue - which you can attempt to rally off with staff officer tasking - hence make sure you save some .

 

My brigade in the East Woods deploys in open order - meaning it can move on the wood at full speed without fatigue penalties - I want to advance it to get on the flank of the Reb defences.

 

The dice holder record fatigues(red) and permanent casualties (black). Units move from fresh to worn to wavering to skedaddled depending on total accumulation, with various penalties to firing melee , and losing staff offices

My units absorb some serious fire but get into melee

One of mine pushes a reb defender away from the fence line 

 

However the Rebs push the other two back . I have to spend time rallying to get them to go again .

 We had played out 10 turns looking up a few things and working through it. There is similarity to other basic ACW concepts so we were picking them up quickly . I won the initiative 9 out of 10 roll and this let me reset my staff officers quicker than John so meant I was able to keep rallying etc . I liked the Command Clock mechanism which means each side is operating independently on their Staff Officer resource . Other than that we didn’t have any extremes of dice throwing which was good for this test 

Having had another read through I don’t think we got anything wrong . A few extra clarifications have been asked of Des and we had interpreted things correctly . They were - Staff Officer resource-rolls for initiative where we had various draws and rerolls . The other was around Open order troops opting to use Exploding 6’s at close range , I.e they hit on 5,6 .. but any 6 is then re-rolled and can hit again - yes this is fine it applies to all at close range . 

We will play again 

I fancy day 1 of Gettysburg with these .. 

Gaming - Back Of Beyond , retreat from Mangashlak

 Today saw a further battle in the group campaign game . Last game turn the Bolos had failed in an assault at Fort Alexandrovsky and were badly beaten . This game saw the Bolo army being harried by more arriving Cossacks while trying to extricate themselves from the Eastern side of the Caspian Sea area. The Bolos were all Morale 4’s (needing 4+ to pass ) which saw a number run retire or rout ..and this felt right for the scenario . They were short on squad LMG’s and no artillery .

The Bolo army retreating eastward to a rail line .

 

The local Cheka are mobilised at the sound of firing 

The sailors try to man a vessel coming under fire from White naval units 

The armoured train arrives to provide more support 

 

The massed ranks of the Cossacks arrive 

Charging on they come 

Overunning a Bolo Maxim 

  

The Red Cavalry evaded away from the Cossack hordes 

The Bolo infantry rolled well for movement and were able to outpace some of the attackers 

White naval assetts hit the retreaters 

It looks great and somewhat scary when it’s heading towards you .. it fired a few shots  hitting nothing! But that was its first game .

A number of Bolo units were shooting very well causing significant Cossack casualties, over 30% of the overall attackers . The Bolo cavalry managed to escape being overrun  and regrouped having taken only one casualty. The White forces decided to not press the attack and 3 Bolo infantry units escaped to fight again . The train has had an outing and its presence put the White commander off advancing further , 

We tried a change to STEA system . Rather than activating by particular unit , we used the Bolt Action dice draw and you  could pick . I will make up some MDF tokens to use rather the dice for future use . This speeded thing up nicely , and we used the STEA rules for everything else . It was a good game , not as disjointed as some STEA can get . It also looked the part 

We are doing a very large game in November at the Battleground show . My last job is to paint up the die cast aircraft I have for the Bolos once the large decals have turned up . 

The army stats used .

 

 

Back of Beyond .Armoured Train part 2

 Some more progress on the armoured train . Martin had sourced me some more Teamsterz pieces . So I have made up another carriage and there will be another loco along shortly 

Teamsterz running gear with a balsa flat bed and MDF sides 

It takes a 60 mm base in the middle so I will make up another suitable gun in due course 

It should give the White forces some issues to deal with 

In addition I have based up all the spare On30 track I had . I had the laser room at Pendraken cut me 18 and 12 inch x 50mm straights and curves . I did a double layer and chamfered the top then added the track . Sand and PVA then added with a dry brush 

 

That gives me about 16 feet of track now , so more than enough . Time to build a station building I think .

I have an aircraft to sort out for the November big game - I have a die cast one that needs a paint job in due course . 

There is a BoB campaign game this weekend where the train might get a run out . 

Back of Beyond - Armoured train part 1

Before heading off on hols this week I decided to crack on with the last major item for my Bolsheviks - an  armoured train . Having baulked at the price for a 3d printed version - north of £150 , for something that is of limited long term use I decided to get the spares box out . One advantage of being a very long term model maker is there are all sorts in it . I have the loco, tender and a fighting carriage made and undercoated .

I had some train bits left over from the Sudan stuff and am repurposing some of that. These were originally built around a toy Teamsterz set I picked up for £3.50 in 2016  . For the RCW /BoB there are some good references and also some scratch builds on LAF . So I had a plan . 

Main faighting carriage 

Loco and tender 

Pleased to have sorted out the moving turret . It’s magnetised as well , so I will do an MG team for this position at some time .

The teamsters sets are these :-

The loco and tender are based on the blue  version . They are listed as 1/55th on the packaging so a decent size .First up was to clad the loco piece in a balsa frame and then plasticard . I also raided my grandsons little used Lego stash for some useful pieces to make the smoke stack . I used some nicely shaped notice board pins to make the buffers as well.

The frame and plates etc idea nicked from SteveL’s one made by Jim  

I have trimmed the armour plate over the wheels by 3mm since this picture  as it sat too low . The Teamsterz pieces sit over standard  16.5mm track but they look ok . I am using my On30 track I did for the cowboys and the Sudan , it’s O gauge narrow - as it has larger wooden sleepers which I think look better

The main fighting carriage is based on a couple of 00 gauge bogie sets that have lain in the stash for more years than I can remember. A result to find a use . These were attached to a 4mm balsa base which I can then build on . The Lego was used to form a large rectangle to sit on the base with space for the gun . This is then clad in 2mm MDF rectangles , again from the basing stash . I added 5mm circle magnet to the flatbed and base of the gun to be able to swap out for other items . The gun turret was made from a 60mm across flats Octoganal MDF  top and bottom with 20 x 40 bases upright at the flats. The gun was made from brass tubing and held in place with milliput. I filled the upright gaps in with 6mm Tamiya masking tape . This was then run  around the turret at the top and bottom . Another couple of Lego pieces added the top to create an observation cupola . 

A pair of these have been in the stash for goodness knows how long. 

Lego is a great resource for scratch building thanks to a regular shape .

MDF cladding for the LEGO . Adding in some extra doors and some small washers for apertures .

Glueing the top to the uprights was fun , but a pair of tweezers to hold the uprights and a spray with superglue activator soon had it sorted . 

The tender was clad in various pieces of MDF and some bits of LEGO once more . Some bits of plssticard section have been used across the whole model . Some staples used to make steps , some washers used to made observation and shooting apertures. 

It nearly 600mm long at 3 pieces . 😆

I have added a couple a couple of armoured  car MG turrets to the top - who doesn’t love more firepower eh !

Trains are big old things and nice to see it looking like it next to the cavalry .

Everything glued  had dried and I decided to give it a basecoat of green . I want to add another passenger carriage and flatbed for supplies . MartinC says he’s seen some more of the Teamsterz bits . I will keep and eye out for some  more bogies - there is a model railway show coming up locally so might have a look there . 

I want to add some more detail , railings , couplings , ladders , rivets etc (though I might not count them!) . It’s then a simple final paint job , washes and drybrush . Some nice slogans to research I think 

Cost so far I reckon is about £10 for the new superglue I needed and some noticeboard pins  . Great result and actually a very enjoyable 3 afternoon sessions doing it !

All in all pleased to far .