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.

Of (10mm) Monsters & Men...

The topic title is partly in homage to the Icelandic band of the same name. Two of their songs evoke emotions for me, "Little Talks" and "Dirty Paws". The latter song makes me think of my dogs and the adventures we have gone on over the years that would result in their paws and bodies covered in dirt and mud. As they (and I) get older, these adventures are a bit less adventurous and those paws a little less dirty....but I digress.

The other reason for the title is that Pendraken recently released additional mythical beasts and monsters to their 10mm fantasy range.  I decided to order some of their trolls and gargoyles to give a little extra flavor to my 10mm orcs and undead from Wargames Atlantic. 

The gargoyles were purchased to supplement my undead forces. I thought they were keeping in theme and would give some winged mobility to the shambling hordes of bones. 

The sculpts come in two pieces, the body and the wings. Prior to attaching with crazy glue, I prepped everything and then bent the wings to give more dynamic looks and to better fit the bases. 

The figures were then primed with flat black (Rust-Oleum from a rattle can), and drybrushed with a light purple. Not much more went into them other than some purple base painting and quick highlights, a wash with purple ink and then picked out the eyes, horns and teeth. I like the finished result and the didn't take more than hour to paint. The figures were varnished and based in a manner consistent with my orc and undead forces. 

My orc army already has a few bases of trolls (Copplestone castings seen above) and they are massive figures for 10mm. I didn't necessarily need the Pendraken trolls but the sculpts are awesome. Their trolls are a much different style and considerably shorter. Whereas I can only get two Copplestone trolls on a 40mm base, I can squeeze three Pendraken trolls onto the same dimension. They will end up being classified as different creatures. Perhaps giants and trolls or trolls and ogres. Who knows, but I digress...

Here are the Pendraken trolls above. I dry brushed with Vallejo Cork brown over a black prime. I opted for a light brown flesh because my Copplestone trolls are a pale greenish grey and the only other colors I felt would look appropriate were a bluish grey or a light brown. I painted these fellas in a similar approach as the gargoyles.the paint job doesn't blow me away, perhaps the sculpts deserved better but I'm also not displeased 

I look forward to additional 10mm fantasy releases from Wargames Atlantic and one of these days I will have to tackle the WA dwarves...

Keep on Truckin': Krapistan

After my first battle in Krapistan, I realized I wanted/needed more transport for my warlords. With the variable movement, I wanted to ensure my forces are able to get stuck in with the enemy as soon as possible. 

I ordered some pickups, landrovers, BTR-50s and BTR-152s from Old Glory (I also ordered some of their "middle east" vehicle crews, which look more like Afghan than Middle East). Probably more than I need but there's nothing wrong with a little overkill now and then, especially in a place like Krapistan. 

Fresh off my last game, the Battle of Kersplat Basin, I found some motivation to tackle one of the BTR-152s. The Old Glory kit comes as one piece with the tires cast on to the chassis (a good thing) with the only additional piece being the roof-mounted NSV 12.7mm HMG. 

Prep was a breeze as there wasn't much flash and minimal mold lines. I opted to replace the kit's HMG with one of the HMGs found in the crew pack because the latter feel a bit more sturdy. 

I decided early on I was going to populate the BTR-152 with a proper crew, so I prepped a few of the chaps sitting with AKs as well as a gunner and a converted leader from the Old Glory weapons pack. The crew were primed flat black and I use AK's Soviet Green to prime the truck. 

After priming. The truck was attached to the base with people pinning and crazy glue. After attaching, I base-painted the tires and HMG dark grey (nearly black) and I painted some of the random bits in the troop compartment tan or grey green. Once base-painting was complete, I applied a series of diluted washes using AP Strong, Dark and Military tones. 

When the washes were dry, I went about weathering the vehicle with drybrushing to make everything look dusty and dirty. Finally some rust and and grease stains were added with watered down paints and dry brushed the G with some AP gun metal. Some additional stowage was added consisting of rolled tarps, etc.

I quickly painted the crew members, in this case members of Al Kebab because they are wearing primarily black and then attached them inside the vehicle.  They were given a light wash and then the base was touched up, grass flock added and finally varnished. 

The Old Glory vehicle packs come with three models each and they are a bargain especially when you have the OG Army discount. Some models are better than others (more on that later) but the BTR-152s and BTR-60s are real gems. Look out for more updates with more Krapistani vehicles. 

Battle of Kersplat Basin

Alex and I finally managed to get together for a game this afternoon. As previously mentioned, we would be taking our wargaming talents to Krapistan for a battle using AK-47 Republic. 

The scenario's forces were paired down from the original but the objectives and special rules would remain. To recap, the government backed forces came in from one side and the fundamentalists from Al Kebab would come from the opposite side, both seeking hidden fuel caches. Hidden markets were placed along the center line, and only after seizing and searching the cache would it be known if it was fuel or or if it was folly. 

The local government-backed warlord, Dagarwal Baaqi, had two clans (Abdul and Khan) with tanks and trucks and a BTR-mounted unit of government regulars led by Turan Aabdar.

Abu Kebab al Kebabi and his crazed followers had four units at their disposal: the elite black-clad Bashi Bazouks, the hell on wheels Martyr-Cycles along with battle groups Hamal and Samaka. 

On the north end of the basin, Clan Khan, led by Dagarwal Baaqi, and battle group Hamal moved towards the road from opposite sides in a (rather slow) race to secure caches (below). 

In the center, the Martyr-Cycles moved towards an abandoned village in the middle of the table.

The Krapistani government troops lumbered towards a palm grove in the center of the table seeking black oil. 

On the southern edge of the basin, it appeared battle group Samaka and clan Abdul would collide near another abandoned roadside village. Abu Kebab led his Bashi Bazouks to reinforce battle group Samaka. 

The followers of Abu Kebab must have forgotten their morning coffee because they inched at a snails pace through the game with abysmal die rolls for movement (usually 1s and 2s). 

Some rather ineffective fire took place between the tank of clan Khan and the BMP and technical of battle group Hamal. During the exchange of fire, Al Kebabi fighters searched a cache and discovered a functioning truck loaded with oil! 

The Martyr-Cycles raced into the abandoned village but seemed to get lost and took several turns to secure the suspected cache only to discover it was a dummy. 

Just south of the Martyr-Cycles, Krapistani regulars had good fortune securing an oil cache and loading it onto a BTR. 

The Al Kebab followers seemed to get distracted in the villages, as both the Bashi Bazouks and battle group Samaka could barely muster enough movement to begin searching the southern village. The BMP exchanged inaccurate salvos with the T-55 of clan Abdul who inched closer to a suspected cache on the roadside. 

Things started to heat up a bit (literally) when a 100mm tank round from clan Khan slammed into Al Kebab technical of battle group Hamal, leaving the Toyota in flames. A brief firefight between the two factions resulted in battle group Hamal suffering their theirs failed morale roll and they skedaddled off the battlefield and left the oil-laden truck for clan Khan to claim. 

The Martyr-Cycles burned rubber and wheeled out of the village empty handed, skulking around some rocks to see if they could interdict clan Khan and their oil booty. 

A long range firefight erupted between the 14.5mm KPTV heavy machine guns of the Krapistani BTRs, a technical of clan Samaka and a BRDM from the Bashi Bazouks. The regulars managed to brew up the Toyota and the BRDM, leaving most of the Bashi Bazouks pinned from the collateral fire.

Battle group Samaka finally managed to search the village only to find that there was no oil present. Meanwhile, clan Abdul discovered an oil cache attached along the roadside outside of the village. 

At this point, the game clock ended. Dagarwal Baaqi's forces had secured four fuel caches for the government while the hapless followers of Al Kebab struck out in their pursuit of oil. Adding insult to injury, Al Kebab also lost battle group Hamal. We didn't need to count up the victory points to see that this was a stinging defeat for Al Kebab. 

Of course, nothing ever happens the way it should in Krapistan and the oil reserves likely won't find their way back to the Krapistani government. More likely Dagarwal Baaqi will keep some for himself and sell the rest back to Al Kebab to keep their barbecue grills well fueled. 

Both Alex and I had a blast, the AK-47 Republic rules are super simple and fast moving. Definitely more beer and pretzels than simulation but that's exactly what we wanted. The scenario was an interesting one and it led to fewer casualties as the primary objective was to secure fuel caches and not the destruction of the enemy or the capture of villages. I have to point out that my victory was more due to Alex's incredibly poor dice rolling than anything else. He rolled 1s and 2s for movement and shooting throughout the game. Had his luck with the dice been remotely close to average, it likely would have been a much different outcome.