Don River Cossacks for Bolt Action

While painting my Cossack cavalry, I painted 30 on foot and thought "That's the start of my next project." Cavalry in WW II dismounted before/once shots were fired, so that's the basis of this version. Also, I've never seen a "foot Cossacks" Bolt Action army so I decided to fix that. Different is good!

These are mostly Copplestone Casting Miniatures superbly sculpted by Mark Copplestone. Mixed in are some Siberia Miniatures and Warlord Games Soviet plastics with headswaps.  

I really enjoyed this project greatly and will continue to add a few more units and bits of character to the lot. I'm planning to debut them at a local Bolt Action event next month. Cheers and I hope you're staying warm!  

Cossacks for Bolt Action

Bolt Action has been pushing for my #1 game spot based on a mix of our active community of great players and the many local events.  The Snafu-Bolt Action podcast team hosts an amazing 3 day event each November.  Day 1 was a themed 800 point Recon Rumble that required a transport seat for each infantry/foot sloggers OR a horse. I chose to paint 30 mounted and 30 dismounted Don River Cossacks. Figures are a mix of the superb Copplestone Castings "Back of Beyond" figures and 3D prints too. 

Cavalry in Bolt Action is suboptimal and tricky to run. They're big, hard to hide, they can only fire 6" when mounted and they can't go down to grab cover.  I only got 2 practice games in with them before the game day so my expectations were very low.  Imagine my surprise when I got Major Wins in games 1 and 2. For game 3 table assignments, the TO said I was on playing for a top finish on table 1, Pavlov's House. I briefly panicked, then bought and guzzled a tall Red Bull.  Game 3 was a nailbiter against a superb opponent. The early game was good to me but it started to slip away in the middle game and towards the end. As time expired, I just managed to rush my cavalry off the table to score my 3rd major victory!!! To make it even better, my Cossacks scored "Best Painted" in a large and lovely field of Bolt Action armies.  I was and still remain over the moon about it.  

Pavlov's House table with working streetlights!

My "I can't believe it" face looks surprisingly like El Duce.

I found a Russian company that sells Cossack heads so I put in an order to create an all Cossacks on foot Bolt Action force. I've got the Warlord Game plastic ready and waiting!  And for January, we're planning to start a Stalingrad campaign. My goal over winter break to find, build and paint a ruins table.  It is a great time to be gaming and I hope all is well in your corner of the gaming world! 

 

Victrix Numidians

I finished up my Victrix Numidian warband this weekend.  Like many of my projects, this was not planned.  I got a box of mounted Numidian warriors as part of a trade. After putting them together, I loved the look of them so much I put in an order for a whole warband.  These lads will run under the Saga Age of Hannibal rules.  I've painted Numidians so many times in 15mm.  It was a treat to finally paint them in 28mm.  I'm greatly enjoying painting and playing ancients in this scale! 

The Ellie is from Northstar Miniatures.  I took a Numidian horseman, cut his legs off (sorry!) and used greenstuff to mount him on the elephant's neck.  If you want an Ellie bigger than the Victrix model or one without a Howdah, Northstar is a great alternative. 

Shout out to Little Big Men Stuido shield transfers.  Though pricey, they pop nicely once you paint them in and dull them down with a matte sealer.  I might buy and build the Numidian Shield and Spear infantry to round out this bunch. No project is every quite done, is it?