Russian Civil War in 28mm

Copplestone Ragged Whites

Lockdown was to have been a period of consolidation. It started well but there was a hiatus in hobby activity in May followed by the usual Summer distractions. And so my only wargaming-related activity in recent months has been the purchase of some 28mm Bolsheviks and Whites from the Copplestone 'Back of Beyond' range using my Wargames Illustrated/North Star monthly discount and a couple of books. This is another slow-burn project as it will take me over a year to collect the figures before I feel obliged to base or paint anything.

The RCW has long been on my wishlist and I eventually decided to go with the characterful Copplestones and The Men Who Would Be Kings rules. There are many other rule sets I could use but I already know and like these Rampant rules, and extending them to Interwar skirmish ought to be fairly easy. An adaption of TMWWBK to the RCW was discussed here and using them for the Mexican Revolution here. A further mention of using them for interwar colonial skirmish can be found here.

The main issue is how to accommodate vehicles and the most useful inspiration is Pierre Aymeric's WW1 Foch extension. The original version appeared on the Wargames Illustrated website here but a newer, fuller version is available from the author's blog here. I've yet to try these out but I also have ideas of my own having already been thinking of extending TMWWBK to cover shotguns and armoured trucks for the Irish War of Independence.

Anyway, these are just thoughts and I'm in no rush. Winter is coming and it's going to be a long one...

10mm Chinese Warlord Armies for Red Actions

I've now got the packs for two 10mm Chinese Warlord Armies to play Red Actions. One pack came from Pithead Miniatures, but all the rest were from Pendraken.

Nobody actually does any CWE miniatures in 10mm and I am indebted to Victor Pocilujko (GrumpyOldMan on TMP etc) for his very helpful advice on conscripting suitable figures from a variety of WW1 and other ranges.

The armies are based on the Northern Expedition 1926-1928 in which the southern National Revolutionary Army invaded and crushed the northern Fengtian/Ankouchon faction, and brought the Warlord era to an end.

The Southerners were distinguished by caps similar to those worn by the British and Russians in WW1 while the Northerners had more of a 'pork pie' version similar to that worn by the Japanese at the time of the Russo-Japanese War.

Getting all the packs I needed has generated quite a lot of surplus figures. The overs may go towards Balkan War, British 1914, Mexican Revolution, Russian Civil War and/or Colonial projects.

I had expected to make some compromises in recruiting Chinese Warlord armies from substitutes, but I'm now quite satisfied that thanks to Victor the figures I've accumulated are an excellent representation.