Back of Beyond - Trotsky’s train guards

 This weeks job has been to finish off the last of my lead pile for this project . I have taken the opportunity to paint up Trotsky’s train guards in their glorious red uniforms . These guys were probably Latvians and classed as good troops . 

I suspect they might just be bullet magnets in any game . 

The usual Copplestone figures 

There were also another 3 LMG , Lewis Gun guys in the pile and these have been done too .

 

This rounds out the total force nicely now .Army as it stands.:-

Infantry, sailors, factory militia and Cheka   - 136 inc 10 LMG , various officers and standard bearers .

Mounted - 19

HMGs - 3

Tachankas - 2 

Field guns - 2

Transport vehicles 3 

Armoured vehicles 3

Small boat 

To complete yet for the big game in November  :-

armoured train 

Medium size boat

Tomorrow sees a return to the winter of 44 with a big game with Ardennes stuff . There are few new terrain pieces added to that which I will share next time .

Gaming - the Battle of Orenburg Junction

 Today’s game was a BoB campaign game with the Freikorp attacking the Bolos at Orenburg junction . There are rumours of imperial gold and Comtesse Reynaud plying her wares .i was umpiring with DiscoDave as Bolos , Bob as the Freikorp , and John as the White Cossacks . 

Bobs Freikorp had massed to attack the junction , outnumbering the on table Bolos by 2-1 . 

Freikorp  Here they come 

Train guards and the “secret Comtesse”

Comtesse Reynaud ,, working out where to go .
Having watch Dr Zhivago again recently Julie Christie , AKA the Comtesse will I am sure be a regular in our games 

Bolo Tachanka with Dismounted HMG 

The train is refueling with coal and water - rolls1d6 per activation , needs to get to 16 to move . A 5 , then 1, 1 , 1 4, 4 , means turn 7 before before steam is available.

Bolo infantry arrive 

After turn 3 the Cossack Lancers approach the train.

Bolo cavalry v White regulars .. nasty 

Col Osipov eyes the Comtesse and encourages the train crew 

Time to leave with objective done for Col Osipov’s Whites 

Cracking game . As umpire I managed to keep info from the 3 players and feed stuff into the  game as it  went on . John concentrated on his objective , Bob and Dave fought each other . John won . Bob[s Freicorp wrecked railway works , but not the Cheka HQ . The Bolo defensive fire was brutal at times , the Frei corp will lick their wounds in due course l 

The imperial gold and the Comtesse are back in the White sphere after the Cossacks overwhelmed the train guards and Col Osipov leading from the front he jumped onto the footplate of the loco and persuaded the the driver and fireman to stop the train and move in the other direction . 

The Bolo reinforcements secured the area both the Freicorp and Whites retired , 

A great game was had 

Gaming - Counter Revolution in Tashkent. The Osipov Revolt

 Today was a game with my Bolos being attacked by John’s growing White force . The scenario was lifted from the Red Dawn Rises early revolution scenario book for Setting the East Ablaze . It’s set on a6x4. The whites outnumber the reds who expect reinforcements after turn 6 .

White cavalry on their left flank 

Railway workers man the limited trench line 

Red Guard cavalry mass in the town square 

 

The Bolo 2 I/c Commisar urges the gun crew on . 

White Armoured support advances .

White infantry let by a flamethrower team advances .

Red Guards launch a counter attack .which hammered the Cossacks , until an armoured unit let fly with its MGs 

The Cheka stay at the back in the barracks . 

The two white armoured  units are causing a lot of damage and I have little to stop them with .

White start to attack the brewery area .

The  railway workers who are heading toward the town are suppressed by fire .

The flamethrower kills a Bolo LMG team and then sets fire to the building . Causing it to be abandoned 

The white aircraft turns up on turn 4 , heading down the Bolo line 

The Bolo commanders advances to the rear to join in the final defense of the barracks with the Cheka . They fall to the man.

Bolo reinforcements turn up on turn o but are pinned in by the White armour 

A dog fight that is inconclusive takes place over the station 

White raise the flag over the barracks .

The remaining white cavalry arrive in town

This turned into a full White victory . It was touch and go until turn 5 . The White aircraft was lethal , knocking out a field gun , straggling the railway workers and then moving on to Harry the reinforcements. The loss of the Bolo field gun in the town edge early let the Whute armoured units advance with impunity - and they didn’t even break down . 

 

A great game was had . We took the time to work through the various firing and morale mods and get these more embedded in the memory . 

Back of Beyond - Buildings , workers and commander

I have completed a couple of Russian farm type buildings that I got from Battle Honours 3d .

I plan to add a few scratch built types and also some fencing areas etc in due course . 

They were very clean FDM  prints overall . Took a few minutes to clean up and then a dark grey rattle can basecoat. I then used a Tamiya desert yellow overspray . The rest is basically dry brushing with various fresh timber type shades . The doors and frames etc are a bluylight blue grey mix and highlight . 

I haven’t painted the inside yet , but that will come . 

 This weeks focus has been the last of the current stock for this period .

I have picked up a few Eureka pieces . Top marks for swift service as they are arrived a couple of days after ordering . 

First up a new mounted commander . It’s ages since I painted a white horse so felt a little rusty doing it . But happy with it . As it was rearing up I have added a thin piano wire support to it .

Next are the workers militia . Clad in boiler suits and flats caps but some with the classic Bundenovka

Very nice clean castings with a good range of poses . I could due with a few more in due course .

I had picked up a 3d print from Battle Honours 3d of a couple of Russian style farm buildings . 

Back of Beyond - Captured tank for the Bolos

  Another new piece to bolster my Bolsheviks, armour in the form of a British Mk V tank . The Brits shipped around 70 as part of their intervention effort to bolster the failing Imperial Russian forces They were used around Archangel and in the Southern front area.  Some were destroyed to stop them falling into enemy hands but some were captured and repurposed. The Brits used them with the Whites in 1919 attacking Tsaritsyn - eg Stalingrad , now Volgograd . Well my Bolos have acquired one .

Some were used in Tallin in 1941 against the Germans and were shipped back to Berlin as prizes , and after 45 ended up back in museums in the Soviet Union .

This is a big old beast . 2 guns 4 MGs . Very useful . Unrealiable as hell   Even more so in the back of beyond . 

This only arrived in the post on Tuesday , so it’s been a quick turn around 

This is a 3d print piece from a eBay offer . I had the rails on the top to stick on and that was it. It was a decent print not too much clean up . A dark olive green Tamiya  rattle can and lighter green olive paint pen for the paint job , Black grey for the track's , then an oil wash and dry brush of beige brown . I added some tubing to carry a flag that can be removed or swapped out   I found some large stars in the decals stash and added these then painted the hammer and plough emblem in the middle . 

I will look out for a suitable figure to use as a commander as one stood out of the  hatch waving a flag would look cool . 

What better than to use the imperials weapons against them . “Workers of the world unite!”