To Horse!

They've been a long time coming, but the cavalry finally arrived. My Red forces for Red Actions! just received some mounted reinforcements. These are a mix of 'Bolshevik Cavalry' and 'Bolshevik Cavalry in Greatcoats' from Copplestone Castings.

I haven't tackled painting horses for ages. I know a lot of wargamers hate painting horses, but I quite enjoy the process. No speedpaints, oil paint wipe method, or other fancy tricks here. I just paint them the same way I paint any figure; base coat, shading and highlights. It's what I'm used to and works for me. I wanted to get these done quickly, so I've restricted the horse colours to bays and chestnuts. I guess they would have been the most common colours anyway. I make no claim to authenticity of colours or markings. I know, for example, that the manes and tails on chestnut horses aren't dark, but hey, I like that aesthetic and choose to paint as I like. Horse purists be damned!

For ease of handling I prefer to paint the riders and horses separately.  To achieve this, the riders have to suffer the indignity of being temporarily impaled on a length of brass rod set in a weighted base. Once painted, riders are matched to horses and fixed with a blob of two-part epoxy glue, which I find gives a more durable bond than superglue. Any small gaps between rider and horse are filled with modelling putty which, once set, is painted to match.

Cavalry, of course, need leaders. A search through my collection unearthed three likely candidates. I remember these were an eBay purchase from years back when I first became interested in gaming the Russian Civil War. They've been waiting patiently all these years for the chance to saddle up. I think one of the reasons I bought them (apart from being a decent price) is that they fit in well with my own painting style. After re-basing them to match my other figures, I think they work perfectly. I have no idea now which seller I bought them from, or who painted them. If by some unexpected chance you are reading this and recognise these three splendid chaps as your own handiwork, do let me know so I can credit you!

And now,  To Horse, Proletarian!

Back to the Bolsheviks

After a long gap, I have returned to my Russian Civil War forces with a new addition to bolster the Reds. Using my chosen rule-set, Red Actions! by The Perfect Captain, these will represent a company of Red Regulars. I didn't want them to look too uniform since the term 'regular' doesn't really refer to the state of their dress. A mix of Copplestone Castings 'BU03 Elite Bolshevik Infantry' in budenovkas and 'BU01 Bolshevik Infantry' in peaked caps did the job.

I tried something different with the flag this time. My previous flags were simply printed onto plain paper which gives perfectly acceptable results but doesn't reproduced the intensity of the original image colours particularly well. That's fine for representing battle-worn or faded flags, but I wanted something a bit more pristine this time. The answer was to print the flag as before, but then 'paint' it with artists' inks. I printed several copies so I could experiment and practice a bit. It needs a steady hand for some of the finer detail, but I found that with a bit of patience I could achieve an acceptable result. It's really just careful 'coloring in' over the existing printed colours, but the colour saturation is much improved. 

I chose not to represent a specific unit, so the flag is a generic design with slogans and symbols pulled together from various online sources and assembled in Word and Photoshop. I can't vouch for the accuracy of the text, but at this scale and at a distance on the tabletop I think it conveys the right look.

The coat is quite new comrade, only the holes are old.

More Bolsheviks. This time in greatcoats. I had to have a little rethink about these guys. When I first started collecting figures for Red Actions, my purchases were quite haphazard. Nothing was planned out and I just picked up packs of figures as my fancy took me. It was only later, when I started doing a bit of planning that I realised I had an odd mix of figures in summer and winter dress. My original solution was to paint two forces, one for summer and one in greatcoats with snowy bases for winter. What was I thinking?!!! At the speed I paint, that was never going to happen.

I could just have sold the figures, but I like them too much. So, they join the ranks of their lighter clad comrades - a bit over-dressed for the season perhaps, but let's suppose the air is still damp with the Spring rain, or the first chill of early Autumn. I'm not going to be too fussy about it anyway and they are a handy addition to my RCW forces.

Bolshevik Commanders

Another small addition to my Russian Civil War collection. I resolved to pick some small, easily achievable goals to get my painting back up to speed. These chaps fitted the bill perfectly. Copplestone Castings miniatures are always a joy to paint and with their greatcoats providing some large areas and minimal additional detail I got them finished and based in double-quick time.