Bhistis

I had thought to title this post 'Bhisti Boys', playing on the name of the Beastie Boys band, but then realised that calling these bhistis 'boys' might be taken out of context.  Anyway, bhistis or water carriers are and have been for generations very important figures in South Asia.  These figures come from Empress Miniatures' (Iron Duke) Indian Mutiny collection, but in my games might end up supporting my Indian Army in Afghanistan in 1880, or with the Jhamjar army in 1920.

PanzerGrenadier Gruppe

One of the support options for most forces in Chain of Command is an extra section or squad of soldiers.  It can be quite handy to have the extra firepower and manpower.  So to enhance the options available to my German forces, I've assembled one more gruppe of Panzer Grenadiers.

The squad is divided into two teams, each with a machinegun and five men.  With two machinegun teams, PanzerGrenadier squads have lots of firepower.

For an easy visual distinction, the first team is prone or kneeling.  

The second time is standing/advancing.

We're putting the band back together

There's a scene in the 2008 Russian Civil War movie "Admiral", about White Russian leader Admiral Kolchak, when the White Army charges into battle led by their band.  (the movie was released in 2008, the Russian Civil War was from 1917-1922)  It's scene that's stuck in my mind, so when Empress Miniatures released a Russian band as part of the 1905 Russo-Japanese War line, I knew that I wanted one of these sets for myself.

I did a bit of creative interpretation for their uniforms.  I decided that the 1905 uniform was a bit too bland, so I went for a look that was inspired by the uniforms of the Russian Guard in 1877.  That's where I got the green gymanstyorka shirts with white trousers and caps. With the 1877 colours, they could almost join my current 1880-ish Russian Army for Central Asian adventures. Almost...

Here's a scene from "Admiral" that inspired this purchase!

Soviet Cavalry Officer

Here's another figure from my backlog.  Company B markets him as 'Marshal Zhukov', but to my mind he's a bit thin to be Georgi, who in every photo I've seen looks to be a pretty hefty man.  So for my purposes, I've painted him as a more generic cavalry officer.

By comparison, here is Zhukov (courtesy wikipedia By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78611068). Actually, after taking another look at Company B's webpage, I see they call him 'Zurkov', so maybe they mean a different bloke altogether ;^)

I have an on and off interest in building up a Red Army cavalry force, and am somewhat surprised that only one company (West Wind Productions) seems to offer them in 28mm size.  Surprising as I can find German, French, Polish, Hungarian, British and even German Cossack cavalry, even though the Soviets had some 80-odd cavalry divisions, which must be more than all other armies' cavalry combined!  Of course, the Soviets were sensible, and their cavalry fought dismounted, so their horses were more like the trucks that other armies used to transport troops to the battlefield.  This would make having actual Red Army cavalry on horses as useful as having US infantry in deuce and half trucks - ok for display purposes but a hindrance in an actual game!  

And I have seen articles like this one or this one which involved conversions, or this one using RCW cavalry.  If I ever get back to my WWII Red Army, I might consider following suit and trying my own conversions.

Jump Off Point - Mule and muleteer

Soldiers of all armies in Sicily and Italy found the parcity of roads to be a major logistics challenge.  The terrain was rocky and mountainous, so roads were few and poor.  Moving off-road was near impossible for wheeled and even for tracked vehicles.  The logistics problem was exacerbated further for 1st Canadian Division as many of the division's vehicles were lost on ships torpedoed en route to Sicily.

As a result, mules were conscripted into service to transport materiel.  In this case, I am going to use this as a Jump Off Point for Chain of Command.

The soldier is Perry Miniatures, and the mule is from a Brigade Games mountain gun team.  

 Photo from http://www.rcsigs.ca/index.php/Operation_Husky_and_Canadian_Signals

photo from http://silverhawkauthor.com/invasion-of-sicily-operation-husky-10-july-1943-carleton-38-york-regiment_998.html

I've made a larger base to represent the jump off point, but the figures are just blue-tacked on so that I can use them for other purposes if need be.

Another marker that can serve as a JOP comes from a Woodbine Design Company character set, a pile of empty tins!

All in all, the collection of JOPs is growing, at least for the Canadians.  I need to redress the balance to provide more German-themed JOPs.

WWII Characters

Here are some character figures that have found their way onto my painting desk.

In the middle, we find Old Blood and Guts himself, Major General George S. Patton, Jr.  This figure was a bonus when I bought Bolt Action 2nd Edition from Warlord Games.

He has his famous ivory handled pistols, and an Armored Division patch on his left arm.

The other two figures are sculpted by Bob Murch of Pulp Figures, but marketed as part of the Crucible Crush company.  First up is an 8th Army soldier ready to fight in North Africa (which I have painted to match my 1st Division Canadians).

Unfortunately, the figures are a poor match for my Perry figures!

Last up is a special release, a donation from Doug.  This was a special release, a Canadian soldier with a cup of tea.  He is wearing the Mark III helmet, which was issued to the 3rd Canadian Division for D-Day - so my figure is wrong for having the 1st Division red patch instead of the French Grey patch of the 3rd!  

So even though they're not likely to be in a game, they are still magnificent looking models.

Dismounted recce patrol

Recce troops often needed to dismount from their vehicles, mostly so that they could get nearer to the enemy undetected.  And I've completed a couple of dismounted Bren teams to support my new Piddle-Dee Gee carriers.  In game terms, the carriers will be able to move to an appropriate area on the battlefield, and then the Bren team can either fight from on board their carriers or dismount to find better cover, or possibly to occupy an objective.

Here's a lovely glamour shot of what I'm thinking of:

There are two teams of four men each.  Each team is built around a Bren gun with a JL.

Markings on the bases slightly different in case it becomes necessary to tell the two teams apart.

Figures are Perry Miniature Desert Rats.