A High Elf And A Blast From The Past

Well, I finally finished the High Elf Hero. He was a right swine to paint, for some reason, and to be honest I could've spent more time on his gems and the two small areas where I think the metal's showing, but it's hard to tell so I called it a day and based him. Thanks to the Basing Effect, he now looks perfectly OK and will fit in fine with both my Mordheim Warband and my putative Army of Tor Sethain for Warhammer Fantasy Battle 6th Edition.

My painting pile at work is now very sparse - I'll have to take the box home tonight to stock up! Not sure what I'll take back to work with me though; perhaps some more Necromunda or maybe a few more Fallen Men.

Recently I downloaded The Perfect Captain's Red Actions! rules, mainly to have a look at them with an eye to applying them to mine and Al Front's 28mm Back of Beyond stuff. Then, this morning, while I was reading Evan Mawdsley's The Russian Civil War, a thought occurred to me.

"Wait a moment," cried my brain, "surely you have not forgotten your poor old IT Figures Russian Civil War force, which you painted up in your youth!"

"Aha," said I, "now that you mention it, I had - but lo! With a bit of card and some glue, I can rebase them to Red Action standard and finally turn them into something to game with!"

IT Figures, of course, has gone bust, but the models can still be purchased here, under the name IT Miniatures (click on 'Contents' for a list of available figures - they come in packs of 3).

From memory, I have a fairly sizeable contingent of Red Sailors (who I used as Kronstadt revolutionaries in the one and only game that this little army has ever seen), some Red Guards, a 76.2mm Putilov field gun, a doctor and two nurses, some unpainted Red Cavalry and a Tchanka. That in itself is pretty decent, probably working out at about two 'companies' of Red Guard, one of Sailors and one of Cavalry, plus three supporting 'companies' in the form of two Maxims, the Tchanka and the field gun.

For opponents, I'm most attracted by the Volunteer Army and the Armed Forces of Southern Russia, mainly for all the 'colour' Regiments - Kornilovski, Denikov, et al. Although the potential for Women's Battalion of Death would be good, if I could find anyone that makes female Russian infantry... and then, of course, there's the Poles, the Freikorps, and a host of other forces that are both interesting to paint and field. For those interested in the 1919-20 Russo-Polish war, by the way, I strongly recommend Norman Davies' book, White Eagle, Red Star.

So, at any rate, I suspect that my previously published Project List for 2010 is now to be altered, as I have 'The Itch' and want to get hold of my old Reds, sort them out, identify potential force gaps that require attention (I'd like a company of CHEKA infantry, and some regulars to stiffen the Red Guards), and then purchase the Whites at Salute.

ADDENDUM:

Companies that make 20mm stuff for the RCW:

IT Miniatures
B&B Miniatures
Tumbling Dice
Reviresco (vehicles)
Emhar (Whippet and Male/Female tanks)
HaT Industrie (plastics)

Olley Painting Points:

This Week: 3
2010 Total: 37
2009 Total: 58
Grand Total: 95