Bicorne Covenant Infantry

I bought two packs of Bicorne figures a few weeks ago in the expectation that they would match up with the Renegade figures but unfortunately they don't! They are well sculpted crisp figures but are more akin to standard 25mm ranges such as Perry and Games Workshop - they are significantly smaller than the Renegade - bugger!

So looks like I may end up buying ANOTHER two packs of pike men - but from Renegade this time - oh well, never mind, I have added a few more Scots to my ECW collection and that cant be a bad thing!

Pics below of all 8 with pike advanced and 6 of the 8 standing figures - I think they have come out quite nicely.

Great excitement this evening when I got home form work and spied a small carton from the UK in the garage by my painting desk! This contained the first of my many RCW related figure purchases - three ladies from Bad Squiddo Games who will be taking the field as agents of the Cheka - hope to get these painted up over the weekend and pictures posted

Warlord Plastic Covenanter Cavalry Finished - Finally!

I have been plodding along working on these Warlord plastic cavalry for at least two weeks - for some reason I just could not get very motivated or excited about them so despite the fact they are cost effective, I may not bother getting any more of these.....

I have 16 Bicorne Covenanter pike men that turned up about 4 days ago and I have painted all of them in that time - but I still have around twenty of the plastic Covenanter infantry to do!

Meanwhile, on the weekend I completed multiple different orders to several suppliers for the first batch of figures for my Russian Civil War project - so just waiting for those parcels to start arriving.....

In the meantime, here are three shots of the completed Scots cavalry

Soviet Snipers of WW2

Lady Death brought to life: Colourised images show deadly female Russian soldier - who killed 309 Nazis during WWII - alongside her fellow women snipers who terrified the Germans

• Stunning colourised portraits show some of Russia's celebrated female snipers during the Second World War
• One shows Lyudmila Pavlichenko, dubbed Lady Death for her kill rate after picking off more than 300 Nazis
• Another image, colourised by translator Olga Shirnin, shows Roza Shanina - responsible for 59-confirmed kills 

Stunning colourised portraits have emerged showing the lethal Russian female snipers of World War Two - including one dubbed Lady Death (pictured) after picking off 309 Nazis

 

Pictures of the fighters were brought to life by translator Olga Shirnina, from Moscow, Russia, and show women posing with their sniper rifles. Sniper Roza Shanina (pictured) is featured in the collection

Taking up arms:  One colourised photograph shows a row of Soviet women holding their sniper rifles and ready to fight Nazi Germany

'There are very few images with Red Army soldiers, I decided to fill this gap,' said Shirnina.

'I'm interested in the history of Russia, it is full of dramatic, cataclysmic events which impacted on the history of both the country itself and the whole world.

'Sometimes a picture can say more than many words and I'll be glad if people learn more about Russia and its people through my colourings, especially about our brave women.

'It was a phenomenon and no other country had so many female soldiers, snipers, pilots, medicals.'

Lyudmila Pavlichenko joined the Red Army's 25th Rifle Division in June 1941 where she was one of around 2,000 female snipers, 500 of which survived World War Two 

In one portrait 'Lady Death' is pictured wearing full uniform beneath a framed picture of Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin

Roza Shanina was responsible for 59-confirmed kills during the Second World War. 

Ready for war: Russian sniper Ziba DeNoise is shown holding her rifle in another stunning colourised portrait

Sniper Yevgenia Makeeva (top) is believed to have killed 68 Nazis while Lyudmila Pavlichenko (bottom) killed more than 300 Germans during the Second World War  

Pavlichenko became one of the top military snipers of all time with a record of 309 confirmed kills.

Around 800,000 women served in the Soviet Armed Forces during the war as snipers, pilots, machine gunners and a large number were stationed in medical units.

Around 800,000 women, including Roza Shanina (pictured), served in the Soviet Armed Forces during the war as snipers, pilots, machine gunners and a large number were stationed in medical units

Translator Olga Shirnina, from Moscow, Russia, colourised the pictures to give them new life. Sniper volunteer Nadezhda Kolesnikov is pictured (top) along with Lyuba Makarova

Battle of Antietam with Kallistra Rules

Last night five of us got together at Julian's place for an ACW game using the Kallistra hex based rule system.

The scenario was based on the Battle of Antietam.

Julian, Nick and I commanded the Union, against Chris and John on the Reb side.

I picked a command that was hemmed in behind a river in about 5 hexes, and I basically sat there all night until Chris had wiped out 4 of my 5 units!

In the Union centre, Julian initially attempted to help clear the Rebs who were directly across the river from my command, but this was rebuffed early on. He then advanced on Johns position in the Reb centre, but his force was whittled away and by the end of the game was in a very poor state

On our right wing, Nick had much more success, wiping out half of Johns command then swinging in to advance length ways along the table, closing in on John in the centre

However, by this time it was getting late, Julian and I were basically out of the game, and the remaining troops on the table made it look like a draw was the result, although assuming the Union were the aggressors, we decided the Rebs probably had the strategic victory.

Here are a few images - all the troops are Old Glory and painted by Julian

 My initial position - hemmed in behind a river I could only cross via a bridge and three Reb units started the game right in my face - why did I offer to take that command??

Julian's cavalry came over and dismounted in an attempt to clear Chris's Rebs away from the bridge to help me join the game, but to no avail. Chris's cavalry (still on their horses!) charge the flank of one unit

 Meanwhile on our right, Nick made an orderly and effective advance against John's cavalry brigade

 Julian next attempted to assault John in the centre, despite the fact the Rebs were behind a good defensive position

Nick's successful advance on the right continues

Nick's elite Zouaves assault John's dismounted Reb cavalry - a fight that lasted a couple of moves but ended with the Rebs wiped out or driven from the field

 My one remaining unit of five I started the game with - sniping at the rear of one of Chris's units while sheltering behind a hill!

Julian's force in all sorts of trouble in the centre - driven back from the fence line, all of them Disrupted (red marker) and with Chris advancing on his flank (from the left of this picture) with 4 or 5 fresh battalions

Nick had wheeled around and was now advancing lengthwise along the table - John's flank can be seen in the top right

 Nicks Union battery

Julian's Union battery (and where was MY battery - wiped out by Chris's musketry ages ago, thats where!)

Final view from the Reb right flank - Chris - showing the almost empty area behind the river where I had started the action with 5 units and ended it with 1 (in green behind the hill)

Back of Beyond/Russian Civil War Project

I am not intending to start purchasing figures for this period yet, as I want to get some WW1 East Africa Belgian Askaris first and have other bits and pieces to finish off too, but I have used the Auckland public library service to obtain these three books for a bit of background.....

Back of Beyond/Russian Civil War - First Figure!

Some years ago I purchased the Copplestone set of four "Bolshevik Heroines". I painted up three of the figures but not the fourth.

Now that a friend and I are contemplating/planning to build up a collection of 28mm figures for this period, I had a rummage through the various places that left over bits and pieces reside, and managed to find the lady in question. 

As a one off, she only took a couple of hours to paint and base - the flag is one I found online and looks suitably Bolshevik I believe - the inscription PCCP in Cyrillic script is the equivalent of the later CCCP - IE the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, whilst the motto alongside the image of Lenin reads "All power to the Soviets!"

Warlord Covenanter Regiment Completed

I have finally managed to finish off a command base, three bases of pike and four of shot. With the way I have chosen to base these, I still have enough shot for another regiment, so just figuring out whether I will use Perry or similar to provide some extra pike and a command element, or if I will get a second packet of Warlord, creating three units form two packets ......

 The pike block and command figures

 An opponents view of the pike block

 The four shot elements with the command

The four shot elements