Well it took a while for us to all get our schedules aligned, but Victor, Steve and I finally managed to sit down for our first Back of Beyond game. In this scenario, remnants of the Czech Legion and the French Expeditionary Force are in retreat from the Bolsheviks. Cut off from a coastal evacuation, they have been forced to make their way overland through western China, hoping to eventually reach British India. Harassed by bandits and the local warlord, they have decided to go on the offensive and launch an assault on the local outpost of Nyima.
The Europeans have encircled the outpost, which is guarded by infantry and a few units of cavalry.
The Chinese mortar team on the temple roof misses its target, but the cavalry units come roaring across the plains. A unit of Chinese regulars slams into the Czech infantry, with each side taking a few casualties. Tibetan irregulars just reach the French marines, but inflict minimal injuries.
Fighting continues between the cavalry and infantry units, while French Foreign Legion, Senegalese and Basmachi troops start their march towards the outpost. The Chinese troops are waiting at the windows for them, but everyone remains out of rifle range for the moment.
The Chinese cavalry and Czech infantry continue to battle, with neither side showing signs of breaking. Czech artillery rains down fire on the outpost, killing the Chinese mortar team. French cavalry races towards the Tibetans, but the Tibetans manage to slaughter most of the marines first.
The Chinese and Czechs manage to spill a fair amount of each others blood, while the Tibetans destroy the French cavalry.
The Chinese Cavalry attempt to mop of the last of this Czech unit, while the Tibetans destroy the French heavy machine gun. Meanwhile as the French get closer to the outpost, Chinese "Dare to Die" fanatics begin to emerge from the buildings. Some of these are killed by the Czech mortar team.
The cavalry units attempt to complete their mopping up actions, while the Czechs continue to bombard the outpost. As the French close in, the Chinese open fire. However, their skills as marksmen are lacking.
Both the Czechs and the marines eliminate the last of the Chinese cavalry, while the French begin their assault. However, none of the French bombs manage to make it through the windows. The Czechs secure the perimeter around the back of the outpost.
This time the French meet with better success, killing all the occupants inside one building. While the Czechs watch helplessly, the Chinese fanatics come swarming down the hill, catching the Foreign Legion from behind.
The Basmachi join the fray, and it devolves into a bloody melee. However, by this time the attackers are out of turns without having taken possession of the outpost. The Europeans are forced to retreat and what remains of the Chinese forces are left to fight another day.
Overall it was a fun game, though we definitely need to get more familiar with the rules. We were also working with a mix of 2nd 3rd editions of "Contemptible Little Armies" which only added to our confusion. However, with a little time and perhaps some home brew modifications, I think we'll be able to get a lot of fun games out of this.
Note: The video clip is intended to mimic the sensationalist newsreels of the early 20th century and contains period wording not in line with modern sensibilities. I do not condone racism.
I am still only halfway through this unit, but the first six cavalry figures are off the table. These figures are a mix of the regular and nomad cavalry packs from Copplesestone. As with my previous Tibetan figures, I've decided to make their coats a bit more elaborate. For reference, I've used photographs of riders and attendees at Tibetan horse festivals. This requires a bit more time to paint when compared to my warlord troops, but I think it's worth it to have some color on the table.
The Tibetan flag is made of paper, with the edges trimmed using decal scissors to create the fringe. The flag can be downloaded here if you haven't seen it already.
My hope is to have the remaining six figures ready by next month.
Today I managed to slap some paint on a few of the Brigade Games figures that came in Friday. These are Big Sword troops that I'm adding to my Copplestone Dare to Die unit. As I mentioned in the last post, the Brigade figures are a bit shorter so I've padded up each base with a washer to help compensate. As these represent the Ma troops after they became the German trained 36th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, I've moved away from the blue-grey uniform to to a green-grey color (German Fieldgrey is the base). The Kuomintang sun has been added to the helmets using decals from Brigade. They are a bit big with a lighter blue background than I would like, but still are better than anything I could hand paint.
Here they are mixed in with a few of my Brigade figures:
Even with the padded bases they still look a bit small compared to the other figures. However, as long as your looking from above I think they will blend in ok.
So today I received a package of Chinese soldiers from Brigade Games' "China at War" line. My plan is to use them to push my warlord army into the early part of the Second Sino-Japanese War (WWII). The figures are very nicely sculpted and cast, but definitely on the smaller end in terms of size.
Here they are next to the Copplestone Chinese. They are slimmer in build and approximately half a head shorter. If you pad the base up a bit (I've added an American nickel coin, which is almost 2mm thick), I think you can get them to look a bit closer in size. I'd like to mix the figures in some units, so most likely I'll be taking this route.
Here's another shot showing how the average size is approximately 24mm from base to eye. My Copplestone Chinese run approximately 28mm base to eye.
As I get these painted, I'll post additional photos to see how they blend together.
Work and home life have been slowing me down a bit lately, but I'm still plugging away on painting my Chinese warlord army. Just off the table is my executioner team:
As with the rest of the figures currently in the army, they are from Copplestone Castings (though I now have some Brigade figures on the way). I think of these teams as terrifying psychological weapons, so I've decided to make mine rather gruesome looking and go heavy on the gore.
The ground has been given a coating of blood, dry brushed with gloss medium to make it look fresh, and plenty of splatter has hit the executioner himself. The prisoners' skin has also been given a wash of deep red and violet to show the vicious beatings they took in their final days.
Though this vignette is much more shocking than something I would normally put on the table, I think it really captures the horror of what it represents.
