Garibaldi Extras .

Been under pressure to get some more of the Garibaldi project done , 'A' is calling around for a game this week so I buckled down and applied paint to metal . I needed some more of the Sicilian volunteers that rallied to Garibaldi's 'Thousand' , these are described as wearing peasant clothing and I've struggled so far to find some suitable figures that match the stature of the 'Irregular' figures I'm using . They also have to look 'Sicilian' - I found that Foundry do a small range of French Revolutionary figures and so I ordered a couple of packets - I think they fit the bill and look suitably peasant like and revolutionary . 

They also had a figure representing 'Marie Ann' , who I've painted up as that often overlooked female Italian revolutionary Figga Roule , seen here inspiring the peasant forces .

To oppose these figures I have painted up another Neapolitan unit - the  1st Battalion Foreign Carabineer Regt.

I've also done a limber and team for the Neapolitan Artillery .

And even one for the Garibaldini - I hate doing limber and teams - they are such a pain to put together as the manufacturers NEVER seem to have any method of fitting the horses to the limber -But I think they are very attractive when present on the table . So that's everything sorted out ready and the table and scenario set up , the battle report will follow soon. 

The Author at Play.

 

The writer relaxes in his gaming room only to be interrupted by his spouse 

'Got a Ticket to my Destination' (Part2)

The Red forces close in on the railway station and the fleeing Baron Smirnoff.

Both sides start accumulating suppression points (the Red unit nearest has got 3 - hence the marker) -this lessens their effectiveness and can lead to them routing .

Red Cavalry !

They charge in and destroy the 'White' riflemen .

The Baron's bodyguard 'Big Ivan' shoots it out with the Red forces leader.

He charges into the Red infantry !

And causes them to turn tail single handedly - help by good dice rolling by himself and very poor morale roll by the Reds.

The Red Commissar attempts to rally them - but fails !.

'Big Ivan's' luck runs out .

Then in the nick of time - Chinese Cavalry sent by General Feng Shui to save the Baron arrive , I had decided that they would appear on move 10 - if the Baron survived that long.

They deploy and advance on the Red forces.

Fearing a International incident the Red Army withdraws in the face of the Chinese force. Well actually they had taken heavy casualties and about a third of their force had run away . General Baron Smirnoff  had survived - for the time being - and has joined the private army of the Chinese Warlord Feng Shui . But the Red Army have sworn to eliminate him !. The rules worked as well as I remembered and are ideal for solo play , each unit has a stats card and are drawn randomly , shooting is done by the figure using a D10 + or - factors and casualties can be either - killed,wounded or suppressed . A good simple set of rules with lots of cinematic action .

"Sitting on a Railway Station"

Been continuing my clear out of wargaming detritus and whilst reorganising my box files full of figures came across my Copplestone Miniatures RCW 'Back of Beyond' collection - I was aghast how much of this stuff I had painted in the past and had not played with for a long while . So I decided to set up a small game using my old favourite rules 'Triumph and Tragedy'

General Baron Smirnoff and his party are fleeing from the advancing Red forces and in an attempt to leave the country and reach China have made it to Railway Station No. 7 where they hope to catch a train to take them to their destination . 

The Baron , his mistress Olga and the Head of Security Boris Chekov (no relation) await the train - the railway staff cannot understand were it is and are less than helpful in suggesting an arrival time .

Railway Station No.7 . The Baron has with him 2 units of 'White' infantry and a group of Chinese bandits who are in his pay . 

The Baron and his party are forced to stay overnight in the Railway Station as they await the train and the troops bed down in the surrounding huts .

Little do they know that the track has been cut by the Reds and as dawn breaks a party of Red Guard sneak up to the station to capture the Baron. 

However the Chinese Bandits are alerted and open fire on the advancing Reds .

However as the rest of the Barons force tumble out of their beds in response to the shooting more Red infantry move up in the cover of the ruins , will the Baron ever catch his train ? will help come in time to save him ? or will the Reds capture him ? - all will be revealed in the next episode !

The Garibaldi Project

Last year I started yet another project (sigh!) ,this was using the new range of figures from 'Irregular Miniatures' . Like many gaming enterprises this has staled somewhat as other things have got in the way - the story of my wargaming life . However in a moment of serendipity I came across this book in an box of rather tatty books in a charity shop in town -

Rather dated by now - it was originally published in 1911 - but it got me thinking again , so I have decided to revisit this era and collection and give it another go . I have copied the original posts of my old defunct blog to recap and set the scene 

Oh No ! Not ANOTHER New Project !.

Okay so I need another wargaming period/project like I need another hole in my head !, I blame Christopher Hibbert - for years I have been avoiding this book because of it's potential wargaming ideas , then I got a second hand copy and the rot set in . I also blame 'A' for NOT talking me out of it ! - instead he positively encouraged me to go ahead !  by pointing out that Irregular do such a cute range of figures for it and then lending me a couple of books on the subject .

Then of course Irregular do such a good mail order service (following day delivery) that before you know it I'm cleaning up figures in the garden ready for spraying instead of cutting the hedge !.

The figures are very nice with a certain quirky style with them (Garibaldi himself mounted to the left of the photo) and I plan to use them with 'Black Powder' rules . I will use the orbat for Garibaldi's first battle with 'The Thousand' so not to many figures to start off with (oh I've heard that one before!). Well off to spray them up . Oh dear what have I started !.

First Fruits.

Have had a bit of a 'PaintFest' and got the first 12 of the Garibaldini done , the figures are very easy to paint and it's sort of like painting slightly more colourful ACW Confederate infantry . Got to 'Basetex'  the bases and paint the command and will post when this is done.

Garibaldi - The Man - The Biscuit !

My delving into a project knows no bounds , so in the name of research I had to purchase ( and eat  ) some Garibaldi biscuits . These were first produced by Peek Freans  in 1861 in honour of the man . To pinch a quote from Alexi Sayle ( comedian ) ---

'it's quite interesting, you know, the number of biscuits that are named after revolutionaries. You've got your Garibaldi, of course, you've got your Bourbons, then of course you've got your Peek Freans Trotsky Assortment." [sings] "Revolutionary biscuits of Italy / Rise up out of your box! / You have nothing to lose but your wafers / Yum yum yum yum yum!"'

Redshirts .

I have got the first unit of my Garibaldini done , I think 16 figures looks to small so I may add another base .

I will be using them with the popular 'Black Powder' rule set and will have 5 bases as my standard unit .

These have been painted up as Garibaldi's Genoese Carabineers and will count as a 'small' unit under the rules. I have got some of their Neapolitan opponents done but not quite finished as they need a flag and our printer has run out of ink and I keep forgetting to buy some .

Neapolitan Infantry

I've got the first unit of Neapolitans done to oppose the Garibaldini - the 10th Regiment. This will be a 'standard unit' for 'Black Powder' rules although I will add another base as I think 16 figures looks a bit small !.

I could have painted their trousers white (summer wear) but being a wargamer I could not resist the winter uniform of red trousers . The Neapolitan regimental flags have a complicated coat of arms on them but with modern technology and 'cut and paste' I managed to knock one up - and now nobody can see it on the model - rats!!! , the flag pole took several attempts to get right as well . I 've started on a second unit so I'm pleased with the way the project is coming on .

Garibaldi Update .

Its been a while since I posted anything about my Garibaldi/Red shirts project . It's been chugging along in the background slowly and it's nearly got to the point when I have enough for a game - using Black Powder. Here is a command figure for the Garibaldini , a Irregular figure of course .

Neapolitan command - CinC  in full dress and a subordinate in undress uniform , again Irregular figures.

A Neapolitan gun and crew.

Garibaldi's Sicilian Volunteers 'picciotti'. There are lots of references to these in his early battles but not much in the way of uniform/clothing description . I decided that Spanish Napoleonic guerrillas would be the nearest I would get , the next problem is size - the Irregular figures are quite small - true 25mm and lots of modern figures do not look right with them . I thought I would try Hinchcliffe - they do a limited range of Spanish , so I mixed in a few AWI  militia . They will count as Irregular skirmishers and be in 2 small units when finished.

Cavalry For The Garibaldi Campaign.

Neither Garibaldi or his Neapolitan foes had much cavalry at the start of the Sicilian campaign , the only unit the Neapolitans had was the Horse Chasseur Regt. , which is portrayed above . 

Garibaldi had even fewer cavalry , in fact at the start of the campaign the Guides were not even mounted !. I have decided to give them horses - both units will count as 'small' under the 'Black Powder' rules. The figures are of course from Irregular.

Preparing for War.

I've been thinking how to use my 25mm Napoleonic collection for quite a while now . Originally I was going to use them in a O.S.type way but have tried several other sets including 'General D' Brigade'- but as I tend to game solo I found these rules a bit long winded and difficult to remember as I tend to play only the odd move or two per day over a week. The figures are Foundry 25/28 mm bought when they still did 'the more you buy the more you save' deals and are mounted on pennies , my wargaming colleague 'A' is a big fan of 'Black Powder' and has been pestering me to try them out for ages . So I decided to give them a go, having played a couple of small test games I thought I would re base my figures to be more user friendly but still be usable for O.S. if needed.

Here are the original figures , I decided to use the 'Warbase' sabots which fit pennies.

I brushed on some 'Basetex' to the sabot and the figure bases , highlighted then added flock .

A completed Bavarian Battalion - 4 companies each of 8 figures . This has been a bit of a mammoth task but is nearing the end .

An Austrian artillery battery 'al a sabot' .

I also made some casualty markers up , to record the hits on units , the numbers are a bit obtrusive - and the original were a lot smaller - but you could not see them across the battlefield ! .

I also made up a selection of markers for the Generals - this Bavarian CinC has a staff rating of 8 .

Some more of the casualty markers , 'A' is calling round for a game next week so these will get to be used in anger then . I will report on the game in the next posting.