Prussian Artillery - Completed

Last week I posted a picture of the two Prussian light batteries that I was preparing for my Chassepot and Needlegun Franco-German War game at the Colonial Barracks convention in November.  Over the weekend I completed the two batteries.

One of the two Prussian light batteries, armed with six 4-lbr Krupp breechloading, rifled guns.  The gunners are mounted on small steel bases with pieces of "business card" magnetic material attached to the gun stands so that the gunners can be removed as casualties occur.

These two batteries will be in support of the 11th Brandenburg Infantry Brigade, 6th Brandenburg Division in the upcoming game.  The Prussians are hoping that with their superior range and more effective shell fuses these guns will bring victory the the nascent Reich.

Prussian Artillery - WIP

The Brom's Colonial Barracks convention is the first weekend in November.  This year they have expanded it from just The Sword and the Flame rules and variants to any rules written by Larry Brom.

I am gathering troops to run a Franco-German War (AKA Franco-Prussian War) battle using Larry's Chassepot and Needlegun rules.  It will feature troops owned and painted by my buddies Lord Sterling and Doc Ord as well as mine.  But the Germans are a little short on artillery so I've been painting two batteries of Prussian light artillery (4-lbrs).

These six guns are really Ral Partha Colonial Egyptian Krupp guns.  But they are Krupps!  Each battery is represented by three guns and six gunners.  I've just glued the guns to the bases and will add the already painted gunners (Castaway Arts) once the glue dries.  The gunners are coming from some "heavier" Prussian guns that will be re-purposed as Prussian heavy 6-lbr guns, with new gunners also from Castaway Arts.

I've also got two batteries of French 8-lbr breech-loaders in progress.  Since my French force is loosely based on the Army of the Loire which fought the Germans south of Paris after the main French armies were defeated, I've taken the liberty of arming them with the newly developed 8-lbr breech-loader designed by de Reffye (link).  Unfortunately no one makes such a model so I'm using American Civil War 12-lb Napoleon gun-howitzers.  The carriage and barrel are close-enough for my purposes as I'm not too much of a stickler.  I'll post some pictures later.

Baluchi Mercenaries

Just before the end of July, I completed the unit of 17 Baluchi mercenaries that I acquired from Ken H. at Bayou Wars.  They were the last of my Bayou Wars purchased figures to be painted.  I think that this is the first time that I have completely painted all of a convention's figures within such a short period of time (about seven weeks!).  But let's get on with introducing them.  As I stated in my last post on July 5 (Was it really that long ago?!), they are armed with matchlock muskets but also have swords and shields.  They should have an advantage in melees, but they'll have to drop those muskets in order to fully utilize their close combat weapons.  EDIT:  These figures are 28mm from Foundry's Darkest Africa line.

They are organized for Larry Brom's  The Sword in Africa rules (a small unit variant of The Sword and the Flame rules).  Each unit is 8 figures, including a leader and every two to three "native" units has a senior leader.

First, their leader, the Sheikh, is a grizzled veteran of many an action in south Asia, the Arabian coast, and the east African littoral.  He has a huge two-handed sword which he plies with great zeal as he smites the foes of Allah.

The first part of the command has varied shades of indigo dyed clothing.  Their leader wears a red fez (left center).

The other part of the unit wears white clothing.  Their leader is an old retainer of the Sheikh and is wearing a red sash and belt (right center).

With the exception of a new armed leader for my main Zanzabari unit, these Baluchis will complete my "Zanzabari" command for The Sword in Africa forces that I have been raising.  Although they are not as well armed as the rest of the Zanzabari command, they will, I'm sure, acquit themselves well.  My Zanzabari command now has two 8-man units of heavily-armed Zanzabaris, one 8-man unit of musket armed Zanzabaris, two 8-man units of Ruga-Ruga (mercenary "bandits"), these two units of Baluchi mercenaries, and an old muzzle loading cannon with a 4-man crew.

More African Natives

My last group of figures that I painted in June have finally had their portraits made.  All of these figures were purchased from Ken H. at Bayou Wars.  They are all Foundry figures from their Darkest Africa line.

The first up is a single formerly Baluchi mercenary who is joining my gang of Ruga-Ruga toughs.  He will free up an more conventionally dressed askari to be a gun bearer for my white hunters.

The last are a group of not-so-heavily-armed Zanazabari slavers.  These seven chaps are armed with muskets instead of the Martinis and Remingtons with which their comrades are armed.  These figures will probably end up being used as guards while the more heavily armed Zanzabaris go out after more captives.

Already primed are the last batch of figures I purchased from Ken -- a 17-figure unit of Baluchi mercenaries armed with matchlock muskets, swords, and shields.  While not having a lot of firepower, these fighters should be awesome in a melee.

Hunters and a Mighty Gorilla

I have painted up some recent purchases.  They will eventually be used in a safari game later this year.

First we have some white hunters with their faithful gun bearer.  These figures are from Brigade Games and were developed to complement Howard Whitehouse's The Lion Eats Tonight rules.

The mighty hunter draws a bead on an unsuspecting target while his female companion watches intently for her own trophy.

Supported by his gun bearer, another hunter advances at the ready.

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Purchased from my friend Ken H. at Bayou Wars earlier this month, these two "famous" characters will join my Darkest Africa forces.  They are both Foundry figures from packs DA1 (Explorers) and DA14 (European Ladies).  Also pictured is one of Foundry's "special" animals from pack GPR024.

The Lord of the Jungle and his mate, Jane, survey their domain.

"Red Eye" the Silverback peers cautiously from the jungle as he watches the two-legged intruders.

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And finally, another "Knight of the Crescent Moon" joins the Justice Union League.  Detective Inspector Achmed was also purchased from Ken H.  He is another Foundry figure, from pack DA234 (Belgian Officers and NCOs).

The newest addition to the Justice Union League joins the "Knights of the Crescent Moon."

Bayou Wars - Part 3

In Part 3 of my Bayou Wars report, I will post some pictures taken during the game in which I was Assistant Game Master.  This game originated in a program that was presented very early in the year at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History about the finding of the "lost mines" where the Mayans got the jade that they used in their various religious and statuary products.  About the same time the Bayou Wars Board of Directors decided that they would go with a Mayan related theme since the world is supposed to end this year with the end of the Mayan calendar.

I suggested the idea to my good friend Bill H. and together we ran with it, building a "Mayan" temple, some other ruins, and additional jungle terrain.  We both supplied about half the troops for the game.  We used the Two Fat Lardies I Ain't Been Shot, Mum! rules, suitably modified for 28mm figures and simplified for convention use.

The actual discovery of the source of Mayan jade happened in the fourth quarter of the 20th Century.  So we decided to move it "back in time" to the 1930s and have a German expedition attempt to "locate" the lost Mayan jade mines.  Opposing them would be American and British forces.  In this scenario, some local Central American banditos had kidnapped an archaeological team that had located the jade source.  They were to sell them to the German Nazis (Zeppelintruppen and Marinentruppen) and their local hired mercenaries.  The American Marines and Rocketeers, aided by part of the garrison from British Honduras, were to rescue the team and thwart the nefarious scheme of the Nazis.

Later on, I'll post some pictures of our building of the temple and the various ruins, the finished products you can see in the following pictures.

One of the jungle giant trees Bill H. built using PVC water pipe wrapped in glue-soaked toilet tissue.  They looked excellent and really added another dimension to the jungle terrain.

Bill H. explaining the scenario and rules to the players.

 I Ain't Been Shot, Mum uses a technique called "blinds" to generate some uncertainty into where the various players' troops are located.  Bill used flock covered CDs with labels and, where appropriate, national flags as his blinds, as can be seen the following pictures.

American Rocketeers advance towards the temple.  Behind the temple, some of the German Zepptruppen are deploying.

 

In the background, the banditos with the captured archaeologists have linked up with the Germans and are ready to hand them over for their reward.  The American blind on the temple is revealed in the next picture.

 

As the American Marines deploy on the temple the German Zepptruppen and joined by their Marinentruppen comrades.  Also in the area are the German-equipped Central American mercenaries (in khaki) and the banditos.

 

Frau Doktor Martha deploys her Germans to breakthrough the British (right) and American (left) troops deployed to block her path back to the Zeppelin that will take them back to Germany.

When the gaming time block ended, it was very apparent that the Germans would not be able to break through the British and American forces and make it back to their Zeppelin.  It appeared that everyone had fun.  We had an unusual mix of players in this game -- Doc Ord and his wife Martha (opposing each other with British and German troops), our fellow gamer "Electric" Ed, two father and son pairs, and another teenager.

Bayou Wars Report - Part 2

The game I ran at Bayou Wars was held on Saturday morning as the Annual George Carr, Sr. Colonial Game.  This action pitted US Marines and a British flying column protecting American missionaries against a local Chinese warlord in the "Back of Beyond" China sometime between the wars.  I used The Sword to Adventure variant to Larry Brom's inimitable The Sword and the Flame rules with a few modifications to convention action.

A MISSION TOO FAR?

While American Marines man the perimeter of an American mission station to repel the Chinese warlord's troops, Number 30 British Flying Column must race to their assistance.  Will the British get there in time or will it be "A Mission Too Far?"

An overview of the game with the British entering from the left side and the Marines defending the mission on the right.

 

The Warlord and his son deploy some of their units while the Marines man the mission station walls.

 

Warlord troops advance against the Marines and begin to take casualties.

 

His Britannic Majesty's Armoured Car (HMAC) Ajax fires into the mass of Chinese troops that are overrunning the mission station.  Very few Marines are left.

 

British infantry and Ghurkha rifles deploy against the Chinese troops.

 

The Chinese troops flood into the mission against the last of the Marines.

 

The final bastion, the mission chapel, is overwhelmed and the missionaries and the two surviving Marines are captured.  HMAC Ajax's machinegun, while killing a number of Chinese, just couldn't help prevent the station from being overrun.

Although the British flying column moved as quickly as it could, they just couldn't get to the mission quickly enough to prevent it from being overrun.  Like their compatriots in 1944, it was "a mission too far!"

HMAC Ajax and the Crossley lorries are Matchbox Models of Yestreyear vehicles.  The troops are a mixture of many different manufacturers from old "true" 25mm MiniFigs to new 28mm Copplestone and Brigade Games, all owned and painted by ColCampbell.  But once on the table, all melded together almost seamlessly.  The roads and streams were made by the incomparable, late Andrew Doyle.  The rest of the terrain (except the "cornfield") was built and/or painted by ColCampbell, hisself.

NOTE:  The scenario was patterned after the "Bridge Too Far" of Operation Market Garden in 1944 with the Chinese playing the role of the Germans, the Marines playing the role of the British paras, and the British Number 30 Flying Column playing the role of the British XXX Armoured Corps.

Part 3 still to come!