CONVERSIONS FOR ONE HOUR SKIRMISH: FREIWILLIGER JAGERS & GRENZER NCO

 

Newly added contingent to my One Hour Skirmish  collection: Freiwilliger Jagers. It may come as no surprise to regular readers to this blog to hear that these are conversions.

Although they are not intended to represent any specific element, they are intended to represent any of the various volunteer and constabulary elements that were either raised to supplement forces during the continental conflicts of the era or that performed security/paramilitary operations in any number of frontier regions across Europe, particularly in the Hapbsburg dominions in the Balkans--and similar forces found under various flags across Southern & Eastern Europe. The above images from the New York Public Library Vikhuijzen Collection of Austrian Freiwilliger Jagers from the Temesvar Region provided the general model for these. Of course, nobody actually makes these figures (not quite, anyway)...

...but the Honved Infantry in Porge Kalap from the Keelman Miniatures Hungarian Revolt Line comes very close...

...and so, all that was needed to make them fit was to add the feather plume to the headgear.  I did so with a two step process. First I clipped small bits of lead foil to represent the feathers, then adhered them to the caps using dabs of J&B Kwik Weld (fast drying version). After that had set, I added more J & B Kwik Weld to the standing part of the lead foil to reinforce it against the handling that the figures would inevitably receive.  For those who are really curious, you can look at my April 7, 2019  post where I detail the same process for a set of unit-based figures.  Below, you can see the outcome of this latest project  (clix pix for BIG PIX)...

...the simple addition of the plume really transforms these figures (in my opinion) and was worth the effort.  In doing these, I aimed for the distinctive blue/gray color of the source images along with the black cording. It's not evident, but there are two shades of blue on these figures (an undercoat of Humbrol Azure Blue with a drybrush of Humbrol WWI blue, highlighted with a slight drybrush of light gray).  I went with black strapping given that this was a distinguishing feature of jagers and various and sundry volunteer/freikorps of the era. So far, we have accounted for the private soldiers, but what about the leaders?

For an officer, I used a Honved officer in shako (above right) from the aforementioned Keelman Miniatures Hungarian Revolt Line and a head swap from the Honved infantry in Porge Kalap (above left)...

The newly completed individually mounted converted officer (left) next to an earlier completed source figure (right) mounted on a unit base.

Detail of the completed conversion officer figure.

One Hour Skirmish is a very low level system, with small figure counts more akin to squad actions than platoons or higher. As such, officer figures can certainly be involved, but the more prevalent  "leader" figures at this level would be NCOs: soldier-leaders carrying rifles. Unfortunately, most leader figures (in pre-2oth Century lines, where I am focused) are of officers. So, to provide NCOS...  

...I used an actual era-specific NCO figure, a Keelman Miniatures German Legion NCO (above right) from the Hungarian Revolt line, with another head swap from a Honved Infantry in Porge Kalap...

...the resulting side-by-side comparison of the completed conversion (right) next to a completed source figure.

 

Detail of the NCO conversion.  I gave him yellow trim on his headgear as opposed to the officer's metallic gold, and his sleeve decorations (hungarian knots) are a bit more elaborate than those of the private soldiers (added using my "Home made Hungarian Knots" process). 

Especially attentive readers may have noted that the above German Legion NCO figure is not painted in accordance with the black-on-black scheme of that force (per the image of the German Legion taken from my October 2016 Post). 

I instead did this figure in an all-purpose scheme of brown jacket and blue trousers...

...one that will allow me to field him as a leader of Grenzers or any similar force in the era.

Excelsior!

CHOCOLATE BOX WARS RULES UPDATE

 

Chocolate Box Wars (CBW) Rules Version 2 

Greetings, dear reader(s).  The short version of the latest news is that the Chocolate Box Wars Resource Page has been updated. Specifically, a new version of the rules has been posted (V2) along with an updated player reference (version 25). The new version has a bright blue cover to help discriminate it from the previous version (v1, which had a red cover).  There are also two rules videos posted (illustrating the revised Rally and the Retire and Reform rule). If interested, please follow the link above to the resource page.  

Front side of Updated Player Reference (v25)

The header of the accompanying updated player reference is also bright blue.  This player reference replaces the interim player references that had been posted.  There is now only one player reference (v25). 

What's Different? 

Version 2 of the rules is not a major change. It incorporates the more permissive artillery Move and Fire action described in the December 19 Post and a more permissive version of the Rally rule that was revised to better reflect the base process found in the base 1914 rules.  The previous, more restrictive Rally is still available, but it is now in the optional rules (along with a brief rationale and an explanation of the different effects that both Rally versions have on play).

These rules changes and the updated player reference were proofed during the Chocolate Box Wars Tournament.  

The rules videos were produced to help illustrate the two unique "recovery" actions (Rally, and Retire and Reform) so that players would be able to manage these unique actions for themselves during the tournament. 

The State of the System

The system has now been proofed in a series of games that I've facilitated with a variety of players and in a series of tournament games that players have managed on their own.  The rules have proven to be stable, and the few modifications stemming from those experiences are reflected in this version, which should be final and definitive (in other words, barring some novel circumstance arising that we have not yet seen, I don't expect that there will be any further modifications). If interested, please see the CBW Resource Page for the updated materials. 

Excelsior!

MORE BALKAN BOYZ (PLUS) FOR ONE HOUR SKIRMISH

 

Caucasian Cossack image from the New York Public Library Vikhuizen  Uniform Collection. 

In this post, dear reader(s), I provide a report on some small additions made to my Balkan/Russo-Turkish War One Hour Skirmish collections. For anyone curious about the larger project, you can look back at my Dec 14 Blog post. The upshot is that it only takes a handful of figures to run a game in this system (and my variant focusing on the later 19th Century in particular)--and so also it only takes a few figures to add a handy contingent. In this post, I  cover two new contingents (plus a few specialty figs): dismounted Circassian/Caucasian cavalry (cossacks), and Reserve (2nd line) Grenzers.  As usual, you may clix pix for BIG PIX in this post. First, the Caucasian cavalry. 

Back when I was putting together my Russian Chocolate Box Wars army, I produced the above Caucasian Cossacks (the subject of my June 6, 2021 post) using the brown and orange scheme of the image at the top of this blog post.  These are Copplestone Castings Back of Beyond Caucasian Cavalry repurposed to represent Caucasian Cossacks, pre-turn of the century (same outfit, same lines). Of course, these warriors are not so much wearing a "uniform" as much as they are wearing their national costume (much like many of the other factions in the regions stretching from the Balkans to Afghanistan). When in the service of the Russians, these are often referred to as Caucasian Cossacks. When in the service of the Ottomans, they are referred to as Circassian or Caucasian cavalry.  In my reading of Quinton Barry's excellent, War in the East, (covering the Russo Turkish War of 1877-78), there are many battles that have OOBs with Caucasian Cossacks among the Russians and Circassian Cavalry among the Turks.  Of course, when fighting independently on their own in the "Back of Beyond" against Imperial/Colonial forces (be they British, Russian, or some other meddling power), these same warriors could be known simply as "Circassians," "Turkomans," or perhaps "Khivans." And of course, in the great cultural overlap zone of the Balkans, various factions of these types could be found on many sides, in many contexts: from military operations to bandit raids.  Now, back to the update. My One Hour Skirmish variant is infantry only, and I wanted to add some dismounted elements of these warriors to my force. 

I very much liked the lines of the Copplestone figures I had used previously, but they do not make a dismounted Caucasian cavalry figure.  However, given their headgear and long coats, I found that the Copplestone Bolshevik Siberian Rifle figures had very similar lines, and so...

...going with the same color scheme, I repurposed them to represent dismounted Caucasian cavalry/cossacks. The epaulettes and piping were not part of the sculpt, so I did my black underpainting lazy man's blacklining) to make them stand out...  

...this small batch of painting will provide plenty of "bang for the buck." These can be put on the table in a Russo Turkish War scenario (with either side), or in the context of any type of small unit action ranging from the Balkans to the Oxus. 

Speaking of the Balkans, I added another layer to my "Grenzer" contingent. 

I saw this image of a reserve Grenzer in my Ficthenbauer and Ornter A History of the Austrian Army  book, and thought to myself, "Self, that looks familiar..."

...that fellow looks very much like the Keelman Miniatures figure in the Imperial Austrian Army 1848-49 line." And, I think you can guess the rest... 

In the Austrian militarized border regions, all the male population, from 16 to 60, were subject to military service. As such, there were several levels of duty. The "enrolled" grenzers were akin to what we would today call "active duty" and would make up the rank and file of the standing grenzer battalions. Beyond those, there would be several levels of part time and paramilitary service, specific names and particulars would evolve and change over the years. These would be akin to what we would today refer to as "reserve" forces. The first tier of reserve grenzers were responsible for policing and local defense. These figures represent these fellows, who would be rotating in and out of duty in a constabulary role: law enforcement, security, and turning out to fend off bandits and other hostile incursions. The uniform would be applicable well beyond the 1848/49 timeframe. 

When I was shopping about for the grenzers, I saw this figure of a Hungarian Catholic Chaplain among the Keelman offerings. Again I said to myself, "Self, that looks familiar..."

...and so it was. I suspect that the inspiration might have come from this illustration in the excellent Gyozo Smogyi Honved Army 1848-49 book. And so I used it as a painting guide (the all white "demon eyes" are my own addition). In the absence of any others, he can work as a leader figure for the local lads. 

Speaking of leaders, I tossed in two command figures to the batch (also from Keelman miniatures: a Hungarian National Guard officer and a Hungarian--Honved-- officer in "slant cap"). These could work with any of my Austrian contingents in a One Hour Skirmish game set in the Balkans or in a Hungarian Revolt scenario pitting my Hungarians against my Austrians.

Excelsior!

MAYHEM 25 CONVENTION

 

The main gaming area at the start of the Saturday morning games. The room would become more busy as the day wore on. 

Greetings, dear reader(s).  This last weekend (April 11-13) while our friends in the UK were attending their premiere event, the Salute Show in London, we here in Northern New England were indulging in our own modest convention, Mayhem, held in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Here is a brief report on the goings on. 

Did I mention that we were in Northern New England?  This was the view out my hotel room window on Saturday morning. The snow would eventually let up just before noon: what better place to be on such a day than indoors playing games? And speaking of games, here are some shots from Friday and Saturday. I didn't catalog them while shooting (nor do I have the time to do so now), so I'm afraid that they'll have to speak for themselves. They will, however, give a sense of the range and quality of the games on hand. As usual, you may clix pix for BIG PIX...

Our Game Club Games

Once again, the "Conspirators" were present in force and hosted multiple games and played in many others (your humble correspondent included).

AJ, of AJ's Wargaming Blog, brought his Electronic Brigadier system to the con...

...his expansion into the American Civil war was on display in his 5 player Wheatfield at Gettysburg game (left), and he also ran his tried and true American Rev version in an an 8 player Freeman's Farm game.

Phil put ancients on the table in his Battle of Teleman, 225 BCE game (left). Later, he could be found donning a tricorne in Rich Wallace's Carnage and Glory AWI game.

Our Napoleonic contribution was provided by Robert R (left), who ran a 15mm Battle of Mockern (North side of Leipzig, 1813) game, and Dr Dick, who ran his 6mm Bavaria Ablaze (Davout at Ratisbone) game. 

Michael B provided some big ship pirate adventure with his 28mm Blue Waters, Bloody Pirates (the Governor's Daughter) game. 

I ran two games. On Friday evening, I put on my Borscht and Goulasch Chocolate Box Wars game. Unfortunately, I was busy setting up and then facilitating the game, so the only image I can offer is this one--if you squint you will see my game in the background against the wall (that's me leaning over the table in the black and white club shirt) .

I also hosted my Joust for the Fun of It game. I have run this game at all three of the Mayhem conventions to date, and it is becoming something of a Saturday Night fixture. I hope to bring it to the Mayhem '26 convention and continue the tradition. 

Excelsior!