River Plate Update

 

I've been feeling pretty wonky the last few days so haven't spent much time at the workbench. The only thing on the go at the moment are the three cruisers for the Battle of the River Plate, which are now ready for highlighting and detailing, prior to getting varnished. After that I need to sort out the bases. When I've finished them, I'm in a bit of a quandary as what to do next, although the Red Actions! AFSR are long overdue and I do need to finish off some Chilean and Argentinian pre-dreadnoughts, not to mention the Royal Navy fleet. I've only got a couple of weeks so it might be better to tie up some loose ends, rather than start something new. Blimey!

Inshore Squadron

 

The Royal Navy Inshore squadron is now assembled, undercoated and ready for painting. I've put away the rest of the 1/2400th models to clear the decks and to focus on painting these over the next couple of weeks, alternating with my 15mm RCW AFSR figures and the 2mm ECW armies for a bit of variety. The aim is to complete the frigates, sloops and brigs by the end of the month, given a fair wind and calm seas!

Autumn Offensive

 

The holidays are finally drawing to a close and it's time to look forward to the plan for the next four months. The main thrust will be the 15mm Red Actions! AFSR army, which I'm going to break down into what I hope are manageable sections, painting up one infantry or cavalry unit and a couple of support units at a time. So that I don't lose what grip on sanity I still have left, I'll also be painting up a couple of very small, self contained things along the way, possibly including 2mm English Civil War armies, the Strength and Honour Numidians or perhaps a few 1/2400th or 1/3000th scale naval bits and bobs. It's all going to kick off once I've finished the French Napoleonic fleet, which is rolling along quite nicely in the right direction.

Clearing the Decks

 

I've now pretty much completed the assembly and basing stage of the Red Actions! project, so have transferred all the figures to a plastic storage box, clearing the workbench for my projects this month. I'll paint up the army in the autumn, when I can spend a couple of months in it and do it properly, so over the next few weeks it's a focus on naval projects leading up to INWarD 2024.

There are two of these to complete, the first being my South American pre-dreadnoughts in 1/2400th scale, which I've been meaning to finish for a while, and the second is the Royal Navy forces for the Norwegian Campaign in 1/3000th scale, which I was supposed to have tackled over the holiday last week. Instead, I ended up tinkering with all sorts of things that were good fun but took me off at a tangent.

I'll start on the two naval projects this week and aim to get them both finished by this time next month, although it's looking like a very bus few weeks ahead for various family and work related reasons. At least the workbench is neat and tidy for a change!

Red Actions! AFSR (16)

 

I finally got round to assembling and basing the limbers for my White Volunteer Army artillery, although I'd been putting it off for ages. In the end I only glued two of them together, as it was a bit of a pain, but I think that will have to do. Now that that is sorted, I only have the Cossack cavalry to base up once they arrive, but have also decided to base a single unit of colour infantry, despite having the figures for two or more. You can't really have a White army without at least one colour regiment in it's ranks after all, can you?

Red Actions! AFSR (15)

            

I ordered the new Cossack mounted figures from Peter Pig yesterday, including the command pack which is now available, so will soon have enough for the final unit of my AFSR volunteer army. This will consist of seven bases that can split down into two smaller units if required, but no dismounts as yet to keep the cost down to a minimum. Once they are based I can finally get started on painting this army as my big project for 2023!

Red Actions! AFSR (14)

             

The Peter Pig armoured train has now been assembled and is ready for painting, although I may add a few extra bits here and there to tart it up a bit. The resin parts were a bit rough and ready, so it took longer than expected to clean them all up, the end result being a pretty impressive metre long train, complete with locomotive, tender, two gun wagons and a flat car at the front in case of sabotage to the tracks. It's well worth the cost of the bundle and, hopefully, will be a useful asset rather than a bullet magnet when it eventually goes into action!

Red Actions! AFSR (13)

 

This big project is chugging along in the background but I've been sidetracked recently, so will make for that today by assembling the limbers for my artillery and an armoured train. I actually have an armoured train built and painted for the Reds, which I put together over twenty years ago, but this one will be a completely new train using the Peter Pig resin models. It will have the locomotive, two artillery wagons and a flat car, so plenty of punch!

Red Actions! AFSR (12)

A small change of plan for the Red Actions! army, thanks to Peter Pig releasing a whole new range of Cossacks! I can field a couple of units of these, consisting of three or four bases, so instead of using my old figures I'm going to splash out on some new ones. I'm waiting for the mounted command pack to be available, then I will order enough figures for seven bases of cavalry and a matching six base unit of dismounted infantry plus the obligatory machine gun. That will mean that my army will almost be completely based, apart from some limbers, and ready for painting, one unit at a time.

Red Actions! AFSR (11)

 

I'm almost finished with the preparation phase of the Red Actions! project, so thought I'd jump the gun and assemble the command group. I was going to make this a bit more involved but I think it's better on a simple 50mm round base with just the staff car and an officer figure. I'll make a signpost or similar to decorate the base but otherwise it's done and dusted.

Red Actions! AFSR (10)

I spent most of my hobby time today texturing and undercoating the bases for the Kriegsmarine warships,  but to wrap up I have glued together a 15mm Old Glory Nieuport 17 for the Volunteer Army. This was a pretty basic resin and white metal kit but went together without too many issues, although I did replace the pilot with a cut down Peter Pig freebie figure, not that you can actually see him in the cockpit that well. I have another one of these kits stashed away for my Bolsheviks, which is just as well as they are currently out of production. Tally Ho!

Red Actions! AFSR (9)

A rather crude old QRF Whippet tank for the Volunteer Army today, which will do for the moment but may well be replaced by a more detailed and more accurate resin version at some point. In the end I removed all but the forward machine gun, as the other three were likely to break off when handled and the illustration in the relevant Osprey book showed a similar armament. I'm only allowed one tank so this one will have to do but I may tweak it up a bit, perhaps adding a typical stowage platform at the back.

Red Actions! AFSR (8)

 

I thought I'd make up for some lost time today and base some cavalry for the Red Actions! project, this company being a unit of lancers, why not? I've gone for two figures per base to keep the cost down and to make them easier to paint, with six platoon bases per company, the maximum allowable in Red Actions!. This also matches my infantry organisation and is workable with It Rolls For Ivan, sort of. I hate cleaning up horses and painting them too, so there will only be one more cavalry unit in this army, which will be a bog standard rifle armed one rather than anything flashy.

Red Actions! AFSR Progress and Plans

While I've been a way, I've had some time to review my progress with the Red Actions! project, which appeared out of nowhere but is now my main project as far as land warfare is concerned this year. I'm putting together a White Volunteer army c1919-1920 based on the Pygmy Wars lists, so have quite a lot of lead to sand, scrape and base before starting on the painting, which will be my main task for the next three months or so.

To date, I have based up five infantry companies including five bases, a command base and a machine gun base each, giving me one more than I need for a full battalion. I have also assembled two heavy howitzers and two field guns, together with two mortar bases. I've also based up a couple of forward observers, not for Red Actions! but to use with It Rolls For Ivan. Last but not least, I have assembled two resin Austin armoured cars, giving me more than I need but the option to deploy both of them for specific scenarios or as a unit.

So, what's left to do? I have four limbers to build for the artillery and may make a couple more field gun bases, this time using British 18 pounders, as I have a couple spare and it would be a nice extra, the AFSR being equipped with a lot of British kit. I also have a Whippet tank to assemble, which is a rather crude QRF model, and may build a Mark V tank from the same range if I can work out how to fill all the gaps? To wrap up the vehicles there's a very nice Nieuport 17 fighter in resin from the Old Glory range, which is now out of production, and a command base using the Peter Pig staff car and crew.

The biggest job, however, will be to base up the cavalry. I don't plan to do more than a couple of units of cavalry, each of four bases plus a command base, as I'm not keen on painting horses! The plan is to base up one unit with sabres and rifles and a second with lances, the latter using the Peter Pig pack of standard bearers. There's something about lance armed cavalry that appeals, even if they are pretty much obsolete, especially for the Russian Civil War. I could also assembled a Cossack cavalry unit, as it appears in the support lists, but I will probably leave that to a later date. 

I reckon I can get the bulk of the basing for this project done by the end of the month...that will give me three months in which to paint up the army, with a deadline at the end of July. Phew! The plan after that will be to get some games organised at the club with my project opponent, Andrew, who is assembling his own Bolshevik Konarmy force. If those go well, we might even have a crack at a mini-campaign using the Beyond the River Don supplement for the Red Actions! rules, as it would be a shame not to make the most of all the effort we have put into the project!

Mission Creep!

I realised today that I'm starting to go off in far too many project directions and in serious danger of mission creep! As a result, I've decided to postpone my plan for Bag the Hun over Guadalcanal and the associated 1/3000th scale IJN fleet, to concentrate instead on the 15mm Red Actions! AFSR army, which is a big enough project in its own right, and my on-going 1/2400th scale pre-dreadnought project. 

The latter might now move forward with a French fleet, which is all prepared for painting, or possibly a Royal Navy fleet. I might, as a self contained option, have a crack at the Sino Japanese war, which has a lot of ships to assemble but all quite small, so quick to paint using the techniques I have tried out on my South American stuff. 

I feel much better now that I have a limited focus and can look forward to some pre-dreadnought games in the Summer 🌞

Red Actions! AFSR (7)

 

A few more bits added to the Red Actions! project today, with the artillery assembled and based, except for the limbers which I didn't get round to. I did, however, add a couple of mortar bases, which appear in the support lists, and two resin Austin armoured cars for a bit of variety. These are Syborg 3D prints and very nice they are too, despite both having broken off right-hand side front wheels, which must be a design flaw but easily fixed. I may do the limbers next or move on to a colour infantry company or perhaps make a start on the cavalry.

Red Actions! AFSR (6)

 

I've had a really busy day, driving about all over the place on various errands, so my best laid plans to finish basing the White artillery have gone up the spout. As a small consolation, I have based an artillery forward observer, which doesn't feature in Red Actions! but is required for It Rolls For Ivan when shooting indirectly. Hopefully, I'll have some time tomorrow to get a bit more than this single base sorted!

Red Actions! ASFR (5)

 

It's on to the artillery next, with two of the guns built and based to see how they go together. The field gun is the Peter Pig Putilov 76.2mm model, which is very straightforward to assemble, while the rather hefty 122mm M10 Schneider heavy howitzer is the from the  Irregular Miniatures Really Useful Guns range. I have another one of each of these models to base up then I'll get cracking on the limbers.

Red Actions! AFSR (4)

I bundled in some WW1 Russian infantry in greatcoats with my last Peter Pig order, so will now add a fifth infantry company to the line up. The new range doesn't include an HMG pack but I have that covered with a pack from the WW2 range, with which I can do a surgical head swap transplant, using some surplus figures as donors. I'm not sure what this unit will represent but I may deploy it as a veteran, officer or elite unit, although I need to check the rules to see if this would be a feasible idea.

Red Actions! AFSR (3)

             

I have now based the infantry battalion of four companies with six bases and an attached machine gun, for the Volunteer Army Infantry Division. This will also give me three battalions of seven bases plus a machine gun each for It Rolls For Ivan, leaving two bases spare. Up next will be the artillery, for which I have four Putilov field guns and two Schneider heavy howitzers, together with four limbers, so quite a lot to get sorted. I will also make up a couple of artillery observer bases for IRFI, which will be attached to each battery as needed.