Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Tenth Legion Crimean War (and some WW1)

Years ago, I embarked on a Crimean War project that would focus on Russian and Turkish armies. The awesome 6mm armies (mostly comprised of ingenious proxy figures) and battle reports over at the Pushing Tin blog were a significant inspiration to my desire and I always thought it odd that most of the Crimean War projects neglected the Ottoman contribution. 

I chose to purchase Magister Militum figures (although the Pendraken range is incredibly nice as well) and I made considerable progress. It was around this time that Magister Militum sadly announced they would be closing the doors of their business. In a panic I made several large, last-minute orders before they closed for good. I'm not sure why, but my Crimean War momentum dissipated soon thereafter. 

Since then, Baccus Miniatures, known for their beautiful 6mm offerings, purchased the rights to Magister Militum's 10mm ranges and rechristened them Tenth Legion. The new website is quite nice but I noticed they didn't have any photos of the figures posted on their gallery section. Combing though my painted Crimean War figures, I also realized I hadn't photographed all that many of them. Which brings us to here:



First off we have some Russian cavalry (above), Uhlans to be precise. I can't recall which regiments I painted these fellas up in but they are quite nice sculpts regardless.

And here are some Russian Hussars. The Hussars (and I believe the dragoons as well) are sculpted wearing their greatcoats. I like the look.

Next up, a Russian infantry battalion wearing predominantly helmets.

And now some Ottomans. Here we have some Ottoman infantry...I painted these guys likely looking much prettier than their actual appearance in the field.

Here are some Turkish irregular cavalry which appear to be a common fixture in the Ottoman armies even if they weren't particularly effective on the actual battlefield. I believe these figures were sourced from the Magister Militum Napoleonic range and are mounted Mamelukes. 


In a twist, here are some sculpts from the Crimean War range that were repurposed as Turcos for my 1914 WW1 project (which is also almost exclusively Magister Militum/Tenth Legion.


The Hotchkiss HMG teams are converted French 1914 gun crews while the command bases are a mix of Crimean War figures and also WW1 officers.

French Crimean War generals now seeing service as WW1 French generals.

Lastly, I included a picture of a 3D print armored car I got off eBay but it is manned by a Magister Militum artillery crewman.

6 comments:

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    1. Thanks Ray! I have a few brigades painted up for each army, I really need to finish the armies (I have an unpainted British force too) and get them on the tabletop, but not necessarily in that order!

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    1. Thanks Kym! By the way, I love your Classic 40K blog! Excellent painting and collection. 30 years ago, I had a Chaos Space Marine army painted up in pastel pink and black. All kinds of conversions, but in my 20s I sold all of them off. One of my bigger wargaming regrets!

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  3. Those are lovely figures, I particularly like the Russians in greatcoats. I'm afraid that all my Crimean gaming has been done using 6mm Napoleonics, they are close enough... Seeing those Ottomans makes me think I've got some 6mm proxies with red hats and blue uniforms I could use for them too. I'd just need to make some temporary flags. I've always felt vaguely guilty about not including Turks.

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  4. Completely understandable Martin. I think it was those Russians in great coats that always made me want to collect the armies for the war.

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