From DaveD - 1 Tachanka, 2 Tachanka (100 points)

This week sees some more mobile firepower in the form of Tachankas . On the WW1 eastern front , RCW and in the Back of Beyond the roads are often poor quality or virtually non existent. Likewise internal combustion vehicles are likely to have poor maintenance a lack of spares or just fuel . Just the thing to get around these issues of course is a horse drawn carriage - and let’s stick a Maxim on it . High speed manoeuvrability and Dakka Dakka . What’s not to like.

3 would of course be a better number , but 2 will do for now! 

28mm options seem fairly limited or overly expensive. Warbases have filled a nice little niche , offering the Tachanka as an MDF kit for £5  , then crew and horse as seperate items . I am not of fan of the Warbases horses so I have used Pendraken 28mm draft horses , which are nicely proportioned and have correct horse furniture . (link -draught-horses-red-h02) The warbases crew figures are little stumpy , but they work well enough on the carriages.

The MDF kit for the  carriage is neatly designed and goes together well enough in a short time . For the crew I had to take a file and knife to them to scrape off the shoulder boards as my Bolos don’t have those . 

These should provide my cavalry force with some decent firepower 

A bit of extra work was done to make some reins from garden twisty wire about 300mm folded in half this is fed  through a hole drilled  through the drivers hand and then the loose end attached with solder to the bridle at each side the the middle horse .The traces from the horse to the carriage are made from thin black card . I had an interesting delve into how the horse furniture and attachment were generally done , and most seemed to have leather rather than rope or chain that I could see so the black card looks to have done a decent job replicating it . 

My storage trays box for these is now completely full . So I guess that’s it for now . I do have a larger boat to complete , but not sure that will be this side of challenge end 

My Bolos army has 3 large battles coming up in our ongoing campaign, so wish em luck.

Points 

2 x 28 vehicles = 40

6 x 28mm crew = 30

6 x 28mm horses =30 

2 guns = 20 

***

More tremendous hobby engineering here Dave, and the subject is one of those bits of kit that are icnonic for a given period. You see these, and you immediately think "Russian Civil War". Well done. Also a nice touch that you touch the time to remove the shoulder boards from the crews, as of course those symbols of Imperialist oppression are just a no-go in the fight for the brave new future. 

I am sure they will look amazing in your approach game - but the only fate I will ever wish on Bolsheviks is to be mowed down in droves :)

A slight adjustment to the points calculation, as the guns and vehicles are together on this complicated little assemblage, but you still end up with a tidy 100 points - and a fitting cap to this incredible project!

GregB 

From DaveD - Bolshevik Cavalry , Maxims and Infantry (135 points)

This week's offering is yet more addition to my growing Bolshevik army. Anyone would think this was supposed to be this years project - but it wasn’t. But hey ho. It’s got them done. Most of these only needed basing this week, good job as I have been floored with the lurgy over the weekend and early part of the week.

First up 6 lancers . I made the lances from a suitable gauge piano wire cut to length and the point created with a carborundum disc attached to the mini drill . These have had a little solder work done to make sure they are attached properly in hand - no superglue failures here , in some cases it is also tacked to the stirrup .Lancers without a means for them to keep hold of the the thing grinds my gears , so I have created the strap around the lance and then around the arm using some garden twisty wire strpped of its plastic covering. This wire is flexible and strong for its thickness, its  also nice and cheap.

And now with the rest of my 1st Cavalry Army 

I feel I want to double this at some point , but not for now.

I had previously made up a single tail pennant to add to some of the lances . So I thought a horseshoe with the number inside would do nicely. 

 

I have also designed a full standard for them 

 

Again these are Copplestone Castings 

Next up is a Maxim gun for the sailors .

Some thin brass rod snipped into small pieces and added  as spent cases 

Finally a last unit of infantry in the classic budenovka hat . 

So with the sailors it gives me 6 infantry units, 3 MGs, 18 cav, 2 field guns with transport and command, commisars etc . I have some slightly out of period other vehicles, which will do service for now until I replace with something more in line with the period in due course.

It’s also proving difficult to get them all in shot now 

Points - all 28mm

6 x Cav = 60

Infantry x 13 = 65

1 gun = 10

Total 135 

Just my newly arrived Tachankas to sort . 

***

More commie bolsheviks! It's like rats...there is never just a one or two...I expect nearly every Challenger will relate to your sentiments about how these figures were not intended to be a main effort for this edition of the Challenge, but it just sort of worked out that way. Those often end up being the best projects! I have certainly loved watching it come together, and the crammed-in group shots at the end just underline what a triumph it is. 

Some fantastic work on the lances and small conversions. I would never go near soldering gear myself (for reasons of public safety) but I totally relate to having that maddening feeling of a missing little bit for the kit - in this case, the rest for the lances. It's the little things in this little hobby of ours, right?

Well done Dave!

GregB

ChrisW - Back of Beyond Terrain (25 points)

 

The tower itself stands 9" tall, 3" wide and 7" long. The base is roughly 9" x 7".

The 'face' is a one piece cast that is 4" x 4.5" and is 1 1/4" tall to the tip of the nose.

First up is a sunken or partially exposed carved face. I am not certain who makes this, I bought it at Fall In two years ago. It seems rathe fragile for resin feels more like plaster. I was concerned how it would turn out as the details seemed rather faint, however I think it worked out fine. So far I have not based it, but I suspect I should to offer it more protection. 

It was painted with a few layers, starting with three thin  coats of a craft grey/brown paint. Then more layers of a pale green/grey craft paint and a wash or two of brown. Then the inevitable application of a  dry brush finish to try and bring back the details.

Figures for scale

The non face part was 'painted' with a dark brown textured basing material then a mix of flock, some tufts and a vine that I had bought years ago to wrap across the stone face.

Up next is a 3d print ruined building that I bought last year at Hotlead. This was really a lot of fun to paint! It has lots of deep detail on it and I frankly like the look of it. I started with black rattle can primer and a blast of light grey rattle can. Then a drybrush of a lighter grey/white. The first things I tackled were the wood floors and the roof tiles. The wooden parts were painted with GW Contrast leather while the tiles were another green contrast paint.

Then I started the fun part. Armed with a spray bottle of water, some sponges, some wide brushes two GW contrast paints and a bottle of Woodland Scenics 'concrete' paint I had at it. So mostly concrete was used with a slap of contrast then some blending followed by stippling and sponging on and off, rinse and repeat. There was no rhyme or reason to this process, I just went with the flow. After letting it dry, I then applied some very light dry brushing with light grey, beige, mudstone and green.

The swampy water is an AK product that dries to a nice green slimy look. The shrubbery near the swamp was cut from a sheet of the stuff (from a hobby shop do not remember the brand) while I added a lot of different tufts to add a mix of plant life. I chose not to apply any flock.

The toughest part of it all was knowing when to stop, it was just to easy to have kept trying another shade of this or that, just a little more dry brushing another wash. Hopefully I stopped short of too late. 

So, that is it for my first and possibly only terrain post. Hopefully it will score enough points to count towards another squirrel, love those squirrels!

So points this post    ??

+1 Squirrel for Back of beyond scenery.

Thank you

Chris

----------------

Hello Chris and thank you for submitting some marvellous terrain pieces here.  Both are very well done and have a ton of great little paint details and basing done on them.  The staining and weathering is also very well done, great work!

As for points the tower is big enough and detailed enough that I am going to say 20 points for it, and the face is a lovely piece but fairly small so 5 points.  I am not actually sure on what you need for squirrel points (having not participated in it this year), but hopefully this is enough for you. Again, great work!

- Byron 

From BillA: The Ever-Glorious Workers' and Peasants' Red Army! (70 points)

Inspired by MarkG and DaveD's exemplary efforts this Challenge, I've begun work on my own set of Copplestone figures for the Back of Beyond. I've admired these figures for a long time, and in 2024 I started buying quite a number of them with an eye towards...something, gamewise, with the Back of Beyond? I've quite enjoyed reading histories about the region and its conflicts in the Interwar years, but whether or not I can translate that into something on the table (the various local wargamers who'll touch historicals at all, unfortunately, believe historical wargaming begins and ends with WWII). I did two packs of White infantry and an artillery piece over the course of 2025, and primed a couple packs' worth of Bolsheviks, Chinese and some Cossack cavalry ahead of the AHPC this year. So to start off, here's a dozen Bolsheviks:

This is one pack of Bolshevik infantry, and I decided to try some different things paint-wise with these, since I'd treated myself to Mark Hargreaves' painting guide last year, and used more washes than I usually do - predominantly Army Painter Soft Tone. Tunics I did all the same, but there's a total of four different colors used for trousers (two browns, two greens), and the rolled greatcoats are done in two different shades of dark gray, one warmer and one cooler. 

Accompanying them are a Commissar and one of Mark Copplestone's wonderfully characterful Bolshevik Heroines, sporting a Mauser C96 broomhandle. The Commissar was given a black leather jacket in my usual way - Reaper's "Coal Black" highlighted with "Midnight Blue," which was also used on all the boots. He's also got a heck of a lot of character to him, with that exaggerated yell he's got going on. I might have gone a little bright on his teeth! 

Finally, I've got a set of objective tokens to go with my Maya, and they're a grisly set indeed - three piles of severed heads, produced by Acheson Creations as single-piece resin castings. These were painted pretty quickly and intended to look like putrefaction had set in - a base coat of Reaper's "Ghoul Skin," washed with GW Druchii Violet, and then drybrushed heavily with another layer of "Ghoul Skin" followed by "Moldy Skin." They're on a raised integral base that's been glued to a 40mm Renedra round base, and are probably pretty close to 28mm tall overall. 

That's 12 28mm figures, for 60 points, plus whatever my illustrious minion considers the head-piles to be worth. And I'll claim a Squirrel point for "Back of Beyond," bringing me up to 5 (Maya, Modern Horror, Modern Africa, Dinosaurs, and now BoB).

============

Sylvain: Very colorful figurines indeed, both in palette and in character. I find your collecting choices very interesting because I'm a big fan of Corto Maltese, a graphic novel character created by Hugo Pratt, who had adventures in the back of beyond, among other places. As for your heaps of heads, how about 10 points for the three of them for a total of 70 points? Fabuleux!

 

 

From DaveD - Bolshevik Cavalry, Campaign Characters and Vehicles (112 points)

The last of the current tranche of Bolos is the mounted arm. Six new cavalry to add to various mounted command that I have will make a unit of 10. 

The latest six figures completed to round out the unit to 10. 

The usual oil wipe method on the horses which was done pre-Xmas.

 

Joined with their mates this time 

 

And here is their first battle 

They then ended up besting  the opposition and being in control of the opposition baseline 😆

That’s  them a long way across the board - Huzzah - harassing Andy’s artillery - run away Andy!

Here is the full force so far . I am waiting the last few packs of things being delivered. Ok, maybe two orders worth now, having just added extra Bolshevik Lancers. 

And on a positive note my next order has just been dispatched, so more to be added to the paint pile. 

Next are a couple of characters for my ongoing "BoB" Campaign. 

Comtesse Renarde - The White Vixen. Born in Lille to lowly stock, became a courtesan in the Romanov court. Last seen heading east to Omsk with a stash of stolen jewels sewn into her corset. 

Randolph Winchester Jr . Scion of an American arms family. He’s been in search of Yetis in Tibet, but has his sights set on racking up his tally of Bolsheviks. 

Figures are by Ironclad Miniatures which are now part of the Pendraken stable and will be going back into general production shortly. These are some truly great character minis in the catalogue. 

Next is a 3d printed truck, carelessly left around by the Brits. 

I have also picked up a 3d print of a Schneider 155 "Long Tom" artillery piece . That will also do duty with my Bolos. I need to sort out some extra crew - the ones show are for the smaller field gun. But for now it gives me an option of more bang for my rouble if I swap it out.

3d print from Actual Size Miniatures 

And finally, HMS Nessie. For our current running BoB campaign the British Persia force had shipped a submarine across land , it has now been assembled and launched into the Caspian Sea. Well so far it had only been rumoured. Now it exists. 

This is a 10mm resin set just going back into production at Pendraken. It’s 200mm long. 

Scored :-

6 x 28mm Cav =60

1 x 28mm gun = 10 

28mm Foot x2 = 10 

28mm Vehicle = 20

10mm large Vehicle/Vessel=12

***

This project has been a real treat Dave! As I mentioned at the outset of the Challenge, any game system where you can mow down Bolsheviks is one I really need to take a look at. Your cavalry looks really sharp and I know they will continue to make an important contribution on the table top - after all, the Kulaks won't run themselves down, right? 

I also enjoy the back story of the two characters - while the whole notion of the "imported" submarine is just terrific. 

Slight points correction - comes out to 112 points, but all good - I suspect you'll continue to blow past the painting totals as things continue. 

GregB