Basmachi Horsemen

 Finally finished these horsemen from Siberia Miniatures.  I've had them for a while but have been daunted by the challenge of painting them!

The Basmachi are interesting.  They are not from a particular people but are a bit of a mashup of Uzbeks, Tajiks, Turkmen and others, with a bit of distortion from Soviet cinema, where they sometimes took the role of the stereotypical opponents in Soviet 'Easterns' (an analogue of Western movies, but set in Central Asia).  These ones in particular seem to be based on the antagonists of the hero of the famous movie White Sun of the Desert.  See my previous posts about Abdullah, Sayid, Sukhov and Petrushka for more info.

For these models, I didn't follow images from the movie as closely.  Instead I looked up photos of Turkmen, Uzbeks and other Central Asians, and did my own interpretation, including some fanciful ideas of my own.  No offense is intended toward any of the proud peoples of Central Asia!  I just did the best I could to get some colourful models ready to be mercenaries in my upcoming Jhamjar rebellion.

Three riders with rifles.  Not much chance that they could hit anything firing those rifles at a full gallop but they look great!

Riders with swords.

This flag is based on the flag of the Basmachi Movement, which unsuccessfully opposed the efforts of the Bolsheviks to establish Soviet control over what are now the Central Asian republics (aka the 'Stans).

And here they are in all their glory!

Russian Revolutionaries!

 Around three years ago, I picked up the 'Defenders of the Manor' from Siberia Miniatures.  And now I have finally painted their adversaries, the enthusiastic Bolshevik rebels.  According to Siberia's website, many of these rebels are caricatures of modern politicians of the 2010s, but most are unfamiliar to me!

Banners are always fun.  Arthur provided the slogans. The one on the right is 'Land Bread and Freedom', the one on the left is 'Long Live the Revolution'.

The other side of the banner says 'Down with Capitalism', because two sides to the banner means two different slogans.  Correction - it means 'Down with Capitalists' - a subtle but significant difference!

Some rebels.  I couldn't figure out why the one on the left is carrying around a big pole.  The accordion player is a caricature of Putin, and the soldier dancing to his tune is based on Medvedev.

The chap with the sabre is based on Turkish President Erdogan.

Two well-dressed women

And a child rebel leading a bear.  Possibly a metaphor for the changes that the revolution brought to Russia!

I also finished up this Copplestone figure that has been in my lead pile for far longer than I care to admit!

And finally a group shot showing all the Siberia figures, defenders of manor as well as the rebels.

WWI Russians

 Wargames Atlantic recently released a set of plastic Russian soldiers for World War I (with the option to stretch the timeline to include the Russo-Japanese War and then on through the Russian Civil War).  I resisted for a while, but eventually Arthur asked for some, so I naturally caved and bought the three-box multi-deal. And of course I then overdid it and placed an order with Siberia Miniatures for even more WWI Russkis.

I've now got roughly a platoon worth of Russian infantry, along with some basic supports.

The core of the force is infantry from Wargames Atlantic.

Officers and NCOs.

And the riflemen.

From Siberia Miniatures, a stretcher party with nurse and priest.

I hand painted a regimental colour.  Not quite historically accurate, and not completely satisfactory.  I may need to replace it with a printed version.

Based on this image I found on Wikipedia of a Pavlovski Guardsman from 1914, I found some extra heads with mitre hats to make my own versions.

My order with Siberia Miniatures included a selection of members of Maria Bochkareva's Women's Battalion of Death.  There's a great article on them (with photos!) here:  https://girlswithguns.org/maria-bochkareva-womens-battalions-death/

I did my best to paint the correct slogan on the flag, which was made easier as the words are lightly etched on the casting.

Here's a photo of the flag.

Here is Maria "Yashka" Bochkareva herself (not a great photo, I will get a better one soon).

This is how she looked in real life.https://klimbim2014.wordpress.com/2016/06/06/maria-bochkareva-%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%B1%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0-1917/

Indy Neidel made a nice little video about her on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cndgoEd3fkk

These ladies are pretty hefty - they look quite intimidating next to the Wargames Atlantic infantry!

Support weapons include a field gun with an imperial navy crew.  I made up a couple extra loaders from the WA set.

The gun crew are magnetised so that they can be removed if necessary.

There's also Maxim gun with again, extra loaders from Wargames Atlantic.

No Russian army is complete without cavalry!

Officers

Lancers

And sabres.

As the Circassian Cossacks didn't adopt the new cavalry uniforms, these lads can come over from my 1880-ish army of Central Asia!

Late addition!  Here is a comparison shot showing the Siberia Miniatures field gun compared to the Great War Miniatures German field gun.