There She Blows! Up?

It was the Partizan show in Newark at the weekend, which is just a bit too far for me to go but seems to be probably the best wargaming show on the calender these days, even knocking the juggernaut that is Salute off its over inflated perch. Despite not being able to attend, I was delighted to see that my scratch built armoured train was in action with the League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers, for a stunning Back of Beyond themed game based on the absolutely barking Mad Baron himself. It looks as though it blew up in spectacular fashion, however, which seems to be par for the course. I really should make a replacement version for my Back of Beyond collection some day, with the Chinese Warlord or White Russian lead pile in mind?

2024 Review - Rolling Dice

It's been a very patchy year in terms of playing games, mainly due to six months working full time and a lack of spare time to spend on actual wargaming. Nonetheless, I've had a couple of excellent games of Strength and Honour, despite still not having a proper grasp of the rules, several very enjoyable pre-dreadnought and WW2 naval games, some one off games of old favourites including Saurian Safari, Bag The Hun, Knights of the Sky and Back of Beyond, together with some new things like Blood Red Skies (of which I am not a fan). Not everything has been a success, the MiG Alley introductory game being a good example, but on the whole it's been a rewarding, if less than extensive spread of wargaming over the course of the year. Unfortunately, its also been very inconsistent, with a strong start fizzling out after three or four months, only picking up right at the end. I really need to make more of an effort to get to the club and to pick up my solo efforts at home, when I have time to set up a game, especially to try out new rules and get stuff on the table after I've spent so much time painting it. I have some ideas for 2025 that might help this along in the right direction. 

Back of Beyond Ragged Russians

Another option for my holiday project is to clean and base up the extra units I need to build a ragged White Russian army for the Back of Beyond. I gathered the figures, guns and vehicles for this earlier this year, to add to my existing painted White Russian units. This would be a simple and enjoyable little project for a week or so and would give me the nucleus of a third army to use alongside my Bolsheviks and Expedition forces. Good plan!

White Russian Nieuport 17

I have a few 1/48th scale plastic kits I could build for my Back of Beyond White army but, like books, red wine and ammunition, you can never have enough. This is the latest acquisition via eBay, an old Testors kit of a Nieuport 17, complete with horrible engraved insignia and a very spindly upper wing Lewis gun, both of which will be removed when I build it. I've actually made one of these kits before for a fellow Back of Beyond player and it's not half bad, even given the dodgy details. The decals are lovely too, which is a shame as I won't be using them!

Back of Beyond White Mark V Tank On The Cheap

In the Contemptible Little Armies Back of Beyond army lists the Whites can field a tank, either a feeble Ft-17 or a more potent Mk V, the latter a bit of a leap in imagination for the middle of Central Asia. Ideally I'd have a Mark V but, given the price tag for a metal, resin or 3D printed one, it's a non starter. However, in my big box of bits and bobs I have one of the Warbases Mark I Male tank kits in cheapo laser cut MDF and cardboard. I think I could potentially convert this into something with a passing resemblance to a Mark IV or V, modifying the sponsors and cupolas on the top, then adding various details like unditching beam rails, rivets and track plates to make it look a bit less cardboardy. I reckon it's worth a try.

White Armoured Train

This is a good starting point

The train I scratch built before

A simple version

I'm seriously considering another scratch built armoured train, this time for the White army, having made one for my Bolsheviks that I subsequently sold and having abandoned a second one after it ended up over scale. This time I may use the Lego brick substructure approach again or possibly use balsa a card, depending on how much Lego I can salvage from the kids toy box. I'm going to make this a less complicated effort either way, as it's quite an involved process and can take a lot of time, especially as I suspect it might be a chocolate teapot on rails.

White Army Extra Bits

A figure swap and some epaulettes is all that's needed here

That'll look nifty

A nice old fashioned and very rugged kit

The Bolshevik Version

I'm scraping the barrel to find extra bits and bobs to add to my rag tag White Army. The first of these is an anti-aircraft machine gun that I converted for my Bolsheviks but never painted, needing only a figure swap and a spot of green stuff to be modified for the other side. The second is an old Smer Nieuport 11 model kit that I will glue together, adding a Copplestone pilot in the cockpit, very much in the same way that I equipped my Bolshevik air support. Together these will add a useful 178 points to the total.

Ragged White Cossacks

I was originally going to use some Copplestone Caucasian Cossacks for my White army but, after a bit of a rethink, I'm going to use the White Cossack figures instead. The Caucasian figures are a bit too neat and tidy for my ragged White army, so although I already have the figures, they will be used as additional Circassians in my Turkish army.  Instead, I've ordered three packs of the White Cossacks from Northstar, which will give a nice ragtag look to the unit, mixed in with a few spare figures and with some head swaps for added variety 

A Shortcut to the Back of Beyond

The Back of Beyond game was such fun the other day that I've found myself once again mulling over the options for another army. I realised that I actually have nearly 300 points of ragged White Russians as part of my expedition army, including a unit of infantry, a machine gun, an armoured car and a mountain gun, so a great core for a new 750 point force. Adding a second infantry unit and a unit of Cossack cavalry will give me another 200 points or so, with a field gun, an aircraft and a staff officer bumping it up to 450 or thereabouts. Not bad for a minimal outlay of time and money, so I may well add it to my projects for the summer holidays. 

Back of Beyond Club Game

A bit of a not unexpected pasting for the Bolsheviks tonight at the club but, it has to be said, they did put up a pretty stiff fight against the far superior and better equipped British forces. Despite being hammered into defeat, the Reds fought very hard and didn't rout, repeatedly brushing off morale tests with the persuasive support of three commissars. Comrade Colonel Igor Tubugerov did just that at the end of the game, ordering a glorious reverse advance to save what was left of the Third Peasants and Workers Shock Brigade, with the imperialists clearly having suffered a few nasty surprises, a bloody nose and a wobbly stiff upper lip. Great fun.

Digging In the Back of Beyond

My opponent for the Back of Beyond game thought my army list was a little overcooked for Turkmenistan in 1920, so I suggested that we play a Prepared Attack style defensive game instead of a Meeting Engagement, with the Bolsheviks reduced in strength to half the original points total, or thereabouts. If we did this, my army would now look something like this:

One unit (12 figures) – Cheka, T3 / M5, stubborn with bombs @ 10 points = 120

Two units (12 figures) – Red Infantry with bombs, T2 / M3 @ 5 points = 120

Plus one LMG per unit @ 12 points = 36

Two HMG, T2 / M4 @ 48 points = 96

One Field Gun, T2 / M3 @ 30 points = 30

Total = 402 points

The Bolsheviks would have some trenches or buildings to use as hard cover but otherwise would have to make do when the British launch their assault, backed up by their armoured cars, mountain guns, machine guns and top notch infantry. I can't say I fancy my chances!

Setting the East Ablaze Again

The chap I'm playing the Contemptible Little Armies game with in a couple of weeks is very much a historical wargamer, so although we are using the Back of Beyond army lists, I get the impression he's not that comfortable with their semi historical 'whatiffery. Horses for courses I suppose...?

As a result, I've suggested that we try out Setting the East Ablaze, which is similar to Contemptible Little Armies but perhaps more suitable for historical scenarios. I've also pointed him in the direction of the Dunsterforce scenario supplement, although from what I gather he's focussed more on the Malleson Mission in Soviet Turkestan.

https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/87659/04_apr.pdf

Back of Beyond Bolshevik Battle Plan

 

One unit (12 figures) – Cheka, T3 / M5, stubborn with bombs @ 10 points = 120

Three units (12 figures) – Red Infantry with bombs, T2 / M3 @ 5 points = 180          

 One LMG per unit @ 12 points = 48

One Sniper, T5 / M5 @ 22 points = 22

One HMG, T2 / M4 @ 48 points = 48

One Field Gun, T2 / M3 @ 30 points = 30

One Schneider Tank, 1 FG (FF), 2 x MG (S), @ 100 points = 100

One Nieuport Scout aircraft @ 150 points = 150

Three Commissars on Foot @ 50 points = 150

 Total = 848 points

Options

     Replace one commissar with two turns of high explosive artillery static barrage @ 50 points

     Replace two commissars with additional field gun @ 30 points and special character 10) The Arms Salesman @ 75 points = 105 points 

     Total Points = 853 points

     Replace three commissars with additional HMG @ 48 points and special character 10) The Arms Salesman @ 75 points, plus two turns of shrapnel static artillery barrage @ 30 points = 153 points 

     Total Points = 851