'Empire' From AdamW: A fabulous Persian adventure in 15mm - Dunsterforce (502 pts)

This is my first 'proper' entry as part of a desire to wargame 'Dunsterforce', a WW1 mission into Persia and South Caucus in 1918.

For those who don't know anything about it, this was an expedition into the area with the intention of organising local units to replace the Russian Tsarist forces that were melting away as the Russian Revolution took hold.  

The Ottoman empire was bearing down on the area and one of the many concerns, as well as loss of the regions oil supply, was the threat to the Northwest Frontier of India. Ultimately the mission was a failure as the local forces in general would not fight. So I feel this submission fits into the Empire category, as it was another fall of the Persian empire and the defence of the British Empire.

The force was comprised mainly of officers drawn from across the empire. They travelled in, literally, hundreds of Model T Ford trucks and cars as well as Peerless Lorries. They were supported by 1918 pattern Austin Armoured cars.  There were other odd vehicles including Rolls Royce Armoured cars.

There is some debate over the use of Lanchester armoured cars. I come down on the side of them not being there, but I painted two I had while the brushes were out.

My submission is for  (All 15mm):-

12 Peerless Lorries

24 Model T trucks

4 Austin A/C

2 Lanchester A/C

3 Crossley staff cars

1 Dodge Touring car

1 Dodge pickup

1 Franklin car

A total of 48 vehicles @ 8pts  = 384pts

68 Seated drivers/passengers/MG operators @1pt = 68

Empire bonus  @ 50

Another 42 drivers and passengers @ zero as they weren't needed, so aren't 'based', but it's nice to know they are done if I ever need them!

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Total pts 502   and a squirrel

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This project took me a long time to bring to the painting stage due to the lack of correct vehicles. Minifigs do make a model T ford, but at £6.75 each I baulked at getting 24 of them for a few games. The Peerless car and the correct model of Austin armoured car didn't exist either.

The answer was to heavily 'kitbash' 3D models and then print them. The Lorry is adapted from an AEC lorry, and the Austin was modified from an earlier model.

The Model T was a lot harder as there was nothing close.  So for the first time I wrestled with AI to generate a number of models and then 'fiddled' with them until I had something very close to right.  I have to admit to making it a fraction over size, so I could squeeze in a cut down machine gunner.

The Crossley, Dodge, Franklin and Lanchester cars are all Peter Pig resin models. 

The loads for the backs of the transport versions are all printed separately, so they can all be removed along with the MGs.

I hope that the pics show, that although they appear all one colour at first they aren't, and it did involve more than just spray painting them.

Oh if anyone is interested, all printed on a Prusa Mk3S+ filament printer.

Model T Ford

Peerless lorry

Austin Armoured car

Lanchester Armoured cars

Crossley Staff Car

Dodge Touring car and pickup

Franklin car (heavily laden)

'Empire' From GregB - Imperial Pike and Shotte for 30YW (170 points)

Pike and shotte infantry unit from Warlord Games' "Epic" 30YW range.

The "theme rounds" return, and this first theme round is one that worked well with my hobby interests. Too well, in fact, as I suddenly found myself starting a bunch of projects "because they would work great with the Empire theme round" and then, by diffusing my efforts, ensured I would hardly make any progress...sigh...anyway, I did get something done, albeit with a crutch that a number of the figures had been painted prior to the Challenge. Nonetheless, for the "Empire" theme I present a block of Imperial pike and shotte for the Thirty Years War - these are plastic figures from Warlord Games' "Epic" range. Hard to get more "Empire" than Hapsburg troops, ready to crush those absurd pre-Marxist protestants. 

One of the musket "sleeves". 

This period a "slow burn" project for me - sort of the hobby equivalent of a slow burning match cord, appropriate for the setting! I started in late 2023, experimenting with the "Epic" figures, and through the last edition of the Challenge I added another couple units and some artillery. 

View of the pike block. 

Pikes at the ready!

Some rear detail on the command group. Man...the flags are still a pain.

The "Epic" range from Warlord is a mixed bag overall - I find the ACW stuff to be pretty awful, while the Napoleonic stuff is interesting, but also frustrating because of where they opted to locate the command elements. But these 30 Years War guys...I think they pretty much nailed it! They have a nice mix of detail on the sculpts, and I really like how it looks - the pike units look really cool in particular. 

The other "sleeve".

Many people painting these models are able to make huge progress with speed paints etc. I am not one of them...I get hung up on the details. I want to make sure there are a few "exceptions" in every rank, that not every single hat or pair of gloves matches tc...it slows me down, but I like how it looks in the end. Oh well. 

"White Mountain, here we come!"

For scoring, there are 80 figures here. But as I noted at the outset, a number were painted prior to the Challenge getting under way, so only 60 of them will count for points. Add in the "theme round" bonus and this should work out to 170 points - a nice kick in the pants!

Now, what are the odds that a permanent 12-year-old like me would have anything for the "Toy Story" theme? Surely this would not cause further delay...

'Empire' From RayR - Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire 15mm 66pts

For the bonus rounds I always try and paint something that I actually need or want. Sometimes this isn't possible, so every show I pick up a few odds and sods figures that might cone in handy. But when I saw Empire, I knew exactly what I'd be painting up.

I'd already decided that I'd start my new 15mm project, the Siege of Vienna in 1683, so all I needed to do was decide what unit to paint up.

I began to run out of time so chose a command stand, instead of a unit.

The figures are old Minifigs, that I picked up at Broadside Wargame Show last June and were a pleasure to paint up to be honest. The base is a 60mm circle from the fab, Warbases. 

The base represents Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, Commander in Chief of the entire Ottoman army. Pasha personally directed the siege and bore the full responsibility for its conduct and outcome. Due to the failure of the siege and campaign he was executed on 25th December 1683 in Belgrade, by being strangles with a silk cord, which was the traditional method for high ranking Ottoman officials!!!

After that cheerful bit of information, its onto the points, 50 pts for the bonus round and 4 pts each for the cavalry, so another 16 pts, giving a total of 66pts.

'Empire' From RobertT:15mm Singapore and Burma: Empire (36 points)

 Did you ever get called up on stage as a kid and you were very shy and nervous with all the bright lights and everyone staring at you?  Yup, that's me.

So let's dive in.  I have modest but growing armies for Malaya / Singapore and Burma and I am finishing off the odds and sods that I always said I would get around to.  Below are some of Peter Pig's finest 15mm 8th Army surrendering, which are for Malaya,Singapore and Hong Kong (Did I see a post from Winnipeg here?)  I painted these first to fit in with the "Empire" theme.  I live in North Norfolk and I got to know the curator of the Royal Norfolk's Regimental Museum in Norwich.  I asked her if there were any artefacts that were brought back by the returning POWs after the camps and the railways and all the suffering.  There was one spoon.  From three battalions of Norfolk men.

In the background are some buildings.  I am not claiming points for them, but I wanted to show Tamsin what she inspired me to do.  I saw Tamsin's blog when I was wondering what on earth I was going to fight over all those years ago.  They are 15mm sarissa mdf with extra bits.  So thank you mythical beast wargaming girl.  Just wait til you see my log bridges and jungle!!

8x 15mm = 16pts I hope.  Next up are some Peter Pig 8th Army Sikh MG teams for the other end of the conflict under Uncle Bill driving on to Imphal and Rangoon and in proper jungle greens.  Whoever said mix olive green and white for this colour was a blinking genius, thank you.

 

2x  single 15mm = 4 pts and 2 crew served weapons = 8 points for a grand total of 28 points to get me on the leader board at least.

 

See you next Wednesday