Andy MacTaggart's Bolsheviks for Back of Beyond - Getting Started...

Following on from my recent post about my British infantry for the Back of Beyond/WW1 project, my good gaming buddy Andy MacTaggart has sent me some phone pictures of the Bolsheviks he's currently working on. They just need basing and they'll be done. I really like the various colours he's used for the uniforms on these - it makes them look more rag-tag than the highly trained professional British, which is exactly right. There's also enough variation in the colours from the mass of khaki that most of my forces will have (aside from the mass of White Russian/local militia that I intend to add once my core British units are done.) These are all Copplestone figures which really are superb and are a must-buy for this period. The Bolshevik range in particular seems more complete than the others which will no doubt serve Andy well as he builds his first force. 

I'll be posting pictures for him on here as his forces grow, as he doesn't blog and this is a good way to document both sides of our new project so you can follow where we're both up to. 

Into the Back of Beyond - 1/4 Hampshire Regiment 1918

 A bit more painting to show off after a long discussion with my good buddy Andy MacTaggart over potential future projects ended up with us both diving headlong into the Back of Beyond - Central Asia at the end of WW1. 

This is a unit of Copplestone 28mm WW1 British infantry in tropical kit. Lovely models, but the molds are beginning to show signs of age, with some worrying chunky flash issues to sort out. I've painted some of these before years ago for an aborted project and they are really good to paint, and this Back of Beyond idea has really got me interested! This unit can be used with either The Men Who Would Be Kings, Setting the East Ablaze or Triumph and Tragedy - all rulesets that would work for the period (although the former will need some tweaks). 

This unit represents the 1/4th Hampshire, one company of which served with the Malleson Mission against the Bolsheviks in 1918. The rest of the force will be based on Malleson's main Anglo-Indian force and will have 3 companies of the 19th Punjabis, plus a British artillery piece and a unit of Indian cavalry. Heavy machine guns will also be on the list. I think I may step outside the remits of Malleson's original force and add an armoured car and an aircraft before diving headlong into some local allies sourced from Copplestone's Back of Beyond - some White Russian infantry, some Armenian (or whatever else 'local' might mean) militia sourced from the Bolshevik militia pack plus various White Russian infantry and maybe some Cossack cavalry painted to represent Turcomen.... An eclectic force... The only non-Copplestone models will be some Indian Lewis gunners sourced from Woodbine Designs British infantry with Indian heads (purely because Copplestone don't do any), Indian Cavalry probably from Brigade Games USA (that'll cost me, but nobody else does decent WW1 Indian cavalry) plus some Woodbine Designs Indian Infantry as their dismounted counterparts, plus an Empress Miniatures artillery piece. The vehicles - well I'm not sure yet... 

These models were painted using my usual 'dip and highlight' technique. I'm pleased with them. they look the part, I think! 

Next up, a Muslim company of the 19th Punjabis...