Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg - The God of War.

 Self and chums from the League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers will, at Partizan in May, be presenting a game set in the East c192? featuring Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. We needed the man himself on the tabletop. While Copplestone Castings produce a "Mad Baron" figure, the aesthetic did not meet our requirements. A bare head was asked for. A minor conversion of some Empress Miniatures Cossacks was in order. Steve sent me the flag. All three figures are wearing silken Mongolian deels. I tried to make the silk shine a little by giving it a coat of diluted cheap hobby shop acrylic medium that dries with a sheen, rather than a gloss varnish. The two supporting figures wear a representation of the uniform of the Headquarters of the Asian Cavalry Division.

Empress MIniatures Jazz Age/WW1 British Cavalry.

I have had these sitting on the "to do" shelf since I first purchased them at Colours, Newbury in September, 2023. Painted up as the Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars ready for service in Egypt and Palestine between 1915 and 1918. I used this unit to experiment with a different technique for painting horses. I am pleased with the initial results but the process needed a little tweaking which, I reckon, I had cracked by the time I did the final two horses. This year at Colours, I came across the M&C Model Painting stand tucked away in a corner. They had a box full of "bin ends" of older AK Interactive paints from their Figure range (now replaced with the excellent AK Interactive 3G range of paints) at a knock down price. A few minutes of rummaging resulted in a fistfull of bottles, two of which were "Desert Uniform Base" and "Desert Uniform Lights" which have been used here on the troopers' tunics over a base coat of either VMC US Field Drab or AK3G British Uniform Base. Lots of movement in these lovely sculpts from Paul Hicks as befits a regiment involved in the last "arme blanche" charge against guns in Britsh military history at Huj, November 8, 1917.

The Charge of the Warwickshire and Worcester Yeomanry at Huj, November 8th, 1917 by Lady Elizabeth Butler, 1918.

Freikorps Command Post.

 The second vignette for the "Fiume 192?"demonstration game for Partizan in May. A command post for the German Freikorps. Figures from Great War Miniatures and Empress Miniatures. Great fun to do.

 

Empress Miniatures Italians in Abyssinia and some pulp Deep Sea Divers

 Well....it has been quite some time since I posted anything. Sadly, real life has dealt the family a number of long term problems to deal with and painting was shelved due to necessity. The problems are still ongoing but I have managed to return to the painting table although available time and motivation are scarce. Here are some Empress Miniatures Italians from the conflict in Abyssinia and some deep sea divers for a bit of pulp fun.

Berkshire Battery RHA (TF), Palestine, 1917.

 I waited with eager expectation for the release of the Empress Miniatures WW1 British 18pdr and team. Re-purposed here with the addition of Woodbine Wolseley heads to form the Berkshire Battery RHA (TF) to join 6 Mounted Brigade. The team has an extra pair of draught horses to compensate for the heavier weight of the 18pdr, all RHA batteries having exchanged their 13pdrs for 18pdrs before they crossed the Sinai. I began this before Christmas but it was put on the back-burner while I painted up the White Russians featured over the last month. I was able to try out the new 3G WW1 British uniform set of paints from AK Interactive. Having grown into a fan of the original set that was released in 2014, this new set is a definite improvement. More highly pigmented, they produce a much more intense finish, particularly the highlight shade. You can judge yourself as the gunners were painted with the original 2014 triad and the drivers and limber riders are pained with the new 3G set.

I have been gently painting figures to build 6 Mounted Brigade for the tabletop since early in 2014. I have finally completed the Brigade.

White Russians: Annenkov's "Blue Lancers".

 Blue...yes....Lancers....no. Splendid Hicks sculpts from Empress Miniatures. Hoorah! With luck, these along with the other White Russians featured recently, should make their debut in the display game put on by my gaming chums of the League of Extraordinary Kriegspielers at Vapnartak, York, 6th February.