Watching the deniers, and the twitchers bathe in the Lake of Hali
23/06/2013
Table 1: The Bolsheviks deployed their single unit in the Kulak village as they were burning the place out:
The Cossacks massed ranks:
Here they come !
Good job there are some re-inforcements, lots more Bolsheviks and Turks !
09/06/2013 4 Comments
At last, I have completed all the Cossack cavalry:
A double sized GW Case completely full of cavalry….
Yup 80+ Cavalry…
I oped the box after nearly 10 years of ignoring it, and have spent three months finishing painting the contents.
Just in time for the contents to fire up the BoB game I am sorting out in two weeks time.
(NB: MIssing figures are being varnished currently)
22/05/2013
Another set of Plastoons – dismounted Cossacks acting as infantry:
Models by Brigade Games. As per their Shock Troopers, slightly more slender than Copplestone but easily compatible.
A Lewis LMG gunner, from Copplestone to support them:
Yet another 10 Ragged White Russians…
24/01/2013
Well I painted some White Russian Cossacks before, but here they are with fur caps (Copplestone BU36).
Actually its very useful to have a different set of Cossacks so you differentiate units.
One unit of 10 have caps, another unit of 10 has fur hats, then the third is a mixture. 😉
Next up some Shock Troops.
04/01/2013
Say what ? Plastuns ?
Another ten of the Copplestone White Guard (the remodelled BU34, the originals turned up minus rolled up greatcoats – see my Colourful White Russian Infantry for examples and I don’t think these are available anymore) turned up and so I pondered how to paint them anything other than khaki. So at least using the idea of the plastuns gave me some blue breeches.
There was a lack of horses during the RCW due to all the privations of the preceeding WW1 and ongoing hardship, so it is only natural that there would be more plastuns than usual.
So this unit, should be a nice variant on ordinary infantry, and maybe conferred with some sort of ferocious rule as their members try to prove their worth and get some cash to buy a Cossack pony to return them to their proper status.
20/12/2012
Now the observant will have noticed a lot of RCW/BoB figures being painted.
Yup, that’s because I found a box of them on the floor of the playroom and I’m trying to paint all of them along with their brethern before I put them all away and I am catalogouing them on the way. So lots of White Russians, especially mounted figures, and you’ll be able to see the next unit in the background in the next couple of photos:
Yes I found a big box of stuff that needed sorting through.
As you can see from the photos, how big it is, because there is a cat who loves it!
And anyway, it’s not like I’m going to get to see the DVD/TV:
So I have three days to clear out:
For starters.
:-O
(The Dark Elves are done just waiting for the winking of a photograph)
21/11/2012
Here are my Terek Cossacks. They are Copplestone Caucasian Cossacks (BU35):
In the RCW, the Terek Cosack host mostly supported the White cause, but was relatively reluctant to move far from its homelands, as were the Kuban and Don Cossacks which caused a lot of problems for the AFSR.
I chose to paint the models as Tereks, because of the blue colour of this host, which fits in well with my Colourful White Russian Army. Though I used a charcoal grey for their clothing to make them very different.
Modern day Cossacks in uniform. As usual, in the RCW it would be doubtful they’d have been so uniformly and so well attired, but for the table top we can do a bit of “what if”…and make a nice colourful unit that isn’t dressed in khakhi, more of which later.
All 15 in the unit.
These will go well with the Terek standard bearer I did earlier. I’m also getting better and more confidant painting horses, having done 30+ Cossacks, and well on the way to another 15+ Cavalry recently.
Luckily the sun has turned up this afternoon to allow these photos – it started out lashing down with rain, leading to flooding on roads nearby. Maybe tomorrow some more photos, who knows ?
03/11/2012
Finally got around to finishing off the Cossacks, and used the Photo Box Mk2:
Generic Cossacks with the basic blue riding breeches and khaki gymnastroika.
As usual, Copplestone models BU39. These will go with my ragged White Russians.
Somewhat morbidly, I often read the Obituaries column in the Torygraph, as it often features colourful characters and personalities. ISTR even reading one one line interview about games designers using obituaries as a source of inspiration for characters in RPGs. I’m not surprised as there really are some great stories of adventure and derring do.
Here’s an example:
Zvansov was enrolled as quartermaster into the Eskadrone (“the Squadron”) — a military unit of 150 “white” Russians established under the command of Chinese Nationalist General Omar Ma. But in 1944 the Soviets succeeded in chasing the Chinese out of the northern part of Sinkiang and declared a puppet state, the Eastern Turkestan Republic. After a series of advances and military reverses, by 1947 the Eskadrone had been chased to Ku-chöng near Urumqi, the seat of the Nationalist provincial government.
Here’s the full article, although it is a bit later than the BoB period, its still an interesting read and shows that the White Russian units continued in China for more than two decades after the RCW – though I’m betting that they didn’t by then have many veteran of the RCW itself.
12/10/2012
So I’m painting a load of AVBCW cavalry, so I thought I’d check a box of BoB cavalry.
OMG.
That’s just one box.
Yup, these are the White Russian Cossacks and Circassian Cossacks from Copplestone….
Not including the 15 Cossacks I’d been working on. (45 + 15)
Too much Equine wargaming I think, and do they really make any difference in the game ?
How can they be accounted for ?
In WW1, RCW and AVBCW Cavalry get no benefits at all.
Why am I doing this ?
Because its more historical and believable.
So there.
The Lost City of Carcosa 