While I've been a way, I've had some time to review my progress with the Red Actions! project, which appeared out of nowhere but is now my main project as far as land warfare is concerned this year. I'm putting together a White Volunteer army c1919-1920 based on the Pygmy Wars lists, so have quite a lot of lead to sand, scrape and base before starting on the painting, which will be my main task for the next three months or so.
To date, I have based up five infantry companies including five bases, a command base and a machine gun base each, giving me one more than I need for a full battalion. I have also assembled two heavy howitzers and two field guns, together with two mortar bases. I've also based up a couple of forward observers, not for Red Actions! but to use with It Rolls For Ivan. Last but not least, I have assembled two resin Austin armoured cars, giving me more than I need but the option to deploy both of them for specific scenarios or as a unit.
So, what's left to do? I have four limbers to build for the artillery and may make a couple more field gun bases, this time using British 18 pounders, as I have a couple spare and it would be a nice extra, the AFSR being equipped with a lot of British kit. I also have a Whippet tank to assemble, which is a rather crude QRF model, and may build a Mark V tank from the same range if I can work out how to fill all the gaps? To wrap up the vehicles there's a very nice Nieuport 17 fighter in resin from the Old Glory range, which is now out of production, and a command base using the Peter Pig staff car and crew.
The biggest job, however, will be to base up the cavalry. I don't plan to do more than a couple of units of cavalry, each of four bases plus a command base, as I'm not keen on painting horses! The plan is to base up one unit with sabres and rifles and a second with lances, the latter using the Peter Pig pack of standard bearers. There's something about lance armed cavalry that appeals, even if they are pretty much obsolete, especially for the Russian Civil War. I could also assembled a Cossack cavalry unit, as it appears in the support lists, but I will probably leave that to a later date.
I reckon I can get the bulk of the basing for this project done by the end of the month...that will give me three months in which to paint up the army, with a deadline at the end of July. Phew! The plan after that will be to get some games organised at the club with my project opponent, Andrew, who is assembling his own Bolshevik Konarmy force. If those go well, we might even have a crack at a mini-campaign using the Beyond the River Don supplement for the Red Actions! rules, as it would be a shame not to make the most of all the effort we have put into the project!
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