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!