Merry Christmas!

A Merry Christmas to each and everyone!

WIPs of the Japanese cavalry command set(s)

The move has gone well so far, just some wrapping-up left to do.

Paul Hicks hasn't also been idle:

As you can see there'll be a mounted and dismounted versions each of an officer (the gentleman in the fancy jacket), NCO, ensign and bugler.
They will be released together with the cavalry troopers early next year.

We are moving!

Hello everyone,

This is to let you know, that we will be moving next week!

All orders received so far will be processed as usual resp. most are already on their way. As we don't know exactly, when we will have a proper internet connection and the stock of miniatures at our new place, we can't take on any new orders until further notice.

We will back to normal with regular service in early January 2015 at the latest. Hopefully with new miniatures not much later.

Thank you very much for your understanding!

First WIPs of the Japanese cavalry

Here are the first WIP shots hot from Paul Hicks' sculpting table. These are the four sets of troopers (two sets each mounted and dismounted) of the forthcoming Japanese cavalry.

No release date yet, but hopefully early next year.

Pro Gloria: Plastic Landsknecht Box (Indiegogo)

Speaking of plastic sets... the fine chaps of Pro Gloria Miniatures are currently running a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to fund a box full of plastic Landsknechte!

The basic box containing 24 miniatures (plus a lot of extra parts, weapons, heads, etc.) is available for only € 24.- incl. worldwide shipping.

 

If you are interested in 16th century wargaming or looking for pretty nice miniatures for a Warhammer Empire Arm, please make sure to check out the campaign! (All the details and a lot more pictures can be found using the link below.)

Link to the campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/plastic-landsknecht-box

First Sneak Peek on a new project: 28mm/1:56 Plastic Great War/WW1 German Infantry

Hello everybody,

While we are eagerly waiting for the new greens for the Russo-Japanese War from Paul Hicks, here is a small sneak peek as an appetiser for a completely new project: a plastic set of 28mm/1:56 German Infantry for the Great War/World War 1, the early period of the war to be precisely.

The work 'behind the scene' has been going on for some time now. Stephen May is responsible for the sculpting of the 3-Ups with the exception of the Mauser G98 rifle, which was digitally sculpted by Will Jayne.

Stephen is well known for being the guy behind Immortal Miniatures and also doing all the sculpting work for the miniatures released under the Immortal Miniatures label, including several plastic sets of ancient Greek Hoplites. Some time ago Stephen decided, that it was time to embark on new projects and the former Immortal Miniatures sets are now sold by Warlord Games as part of their Hail Caesar range.

Stephen and Will are currently running Spectre Miniatures, doing a range of 28mm miniatures for modern day combat in Africa.


But back to the miniatures:

The goal we are aiming for with this set is to have the plastic miniatures matching Paul Hicks' work. So they will work (size-wise) both with our ranges for the Russo-Japanese War and the Freikorps era and also with Paul's own range of miniatures for the great war he is releasing under his label Mutton Chop Miniatures.

The plan is to have one frame containing enough parts for eight complete riflemen:
8x different bodies (legs + torsi in one piece)
8x different sets of arms (different poses: firing, loading, etc.)
8x different heads with Pickelhaube helmet with cloth cover
2x different heads with Krätzchen field cap
8x knapsacks + canteen & bread bag
8x sets of spade with bayonet sheath
8x pairs of ammo pouches

If everything works out as planned, we can use the basic frame for various units of the Imperial German Army by adding new sets of arms (with different lapels and/or the older Gewehr 88), sets of heads with other headgear (like the shako of the Jäger units) und suitable ammo pouches.
Maybe even some futuristic rifles and heads/helmets, so the miniatures could be used for SciFi games as well, who knows. ;-)

WIP-overview of all bodies and various parts.

WIP-mock-up of a marching miniature.

 

Size comparison with a regular 28mm metal miniature (a Russian trooper from set RS-R02).

 WIP-mock-up of a firing miniature (the recessed grip on the rifle has been filled in the meantime as it was only a feature of a later variant of the G98 not available at the outbreak of the Great War).

 

Please note:There's NO release date as of yet, especially as plastic production is a whole new field of activity for us. We have already been in contact with Renedra Ltd., though, who are doing the tooling and handling the production for many other miniature companies like Perry Miniatures.

Russo-Japanese War feature in Wargames Illustrated #322

Wargames Illustrated published an interesting feature on the Russo-Japanese War in their issue #322.

The article by Col. Wilbur E. Gray, US Army (Retired), is worth a read by anybody interested in the war and looking to recreate it on the tabletop.

Besides some contemporary photos, the article is accompanied by several photos of Tsuba Miniatures' range. Somehow I couldn't find the credits for these photos in the printed issue (maybe I just overlooked them), so here they are:

Houses scratch-built and painted by Ben Steegmüller

Photos, set-up and rest of the terrain (crates, barricades and the table itself) by Jan Groß

Miniatures sculpted by Paul Hicks

Miniatures painted by Simon Bradley

Here are some of the photos for those of you, who haven't had a chance to get a copy of Wargames Illustrated, yet:

 

Unfortunately, the latest two sets (Japanese ammo bearers and Humanity triumphant) didn't make it in time for the photo shoot.

New miniatures delayed

 The new miniatures (the Japanese cavalry), scheduled for getting sculpted back in August 2014 have been notably delayed. Paul Hicks had an accident in July and while not being dramatic as such, it affected his sculpting hand badly. His sculpting output should be back to his regular volume soon but I don't have a date for the Japanese cavalry green, yet.

Frohe Ostern! Happy Easter!

Good Source for the *erm* Source on the Freikorps Werdenfels

I posted the book Revolutionszeit im Bezirk Garmisch 1918/19 (German) by Josef Ostler (Mohr - Löwe - Raute) as the prime source on Freikorps Werdenfels in my little bibliography post on the subject about a year and a half ago.

Already at that point it was OOP and rather tricky to get for a decent price.

The user darkfire of the Sweetwater Forum just pointed out to me, that a book shop at Garmisch-Partenkirchen still has several copies of the book available. Apparently this shop was involved in the publishing in the first place.

Here's a link the shop: buchhandlung Adam
(If the link shouldn't take you directly to the book, just put the book's title given above into the 'Schnellsuche' (i.e. 'quick search' field.)

I can't comment on the shop's policy on shipping abroad or the shipping costs as I couldn't find that information on their homepage but it is surely worth dropping them an e-mail: buchhandlung.adam (at) t-online.de

Japanese ammo bearers and 'Humanity triumphant'

Fresh from the painter's table, this time Simon Bradley of StoneColdLead Painting, these are now also available:

RJ-J09 Japanese ammo bearers (3 miniatures + pack mule)

The two ammo bearers' carry the blue insignias of the transport/logistic branch of the army, while the soldier receiving the ammo pack is a regular infantryman.
This is a little bit of artistic licence as I couldn't find out, if these ammo bearers were actual members of the transport branch or maybe just members of the infantry regiments. Be that as it may, the blue makes a nice change from the regular red. ;-)

The second set is presumably of little use for actual gaming (well, maybe as distortion markers or something like that) but it would make nice dioramas, etc.

RJ-M01 Humanity triumphant (2 miniatures + 1 double figure)

Some more shots:

As it doesn't really fit into the Russian or Japanese category only, I put it into its own (Russo-Japanese Misc.). I hope to add more like this into this category to liven the gaming tables up. The next release on the list is the Japanese cavalry, though. ;-)

Sailors in Munich?

Some people are curious, if there actually were sailors taking part in the fightings in Munich in 1918/1919. (Of course, the miniatures are suitable for all locations in Germany and beyond during this turbulent times.)

The short answer is 'Yes'. ;-)

A photograph titled 'Rote Garde' ('Red Guard') showing revolutionaries in front of Munich central station. Note the two sailors in the middle of the photo (the right one with and the left one without the national cockade on the hat).

Although Bavaria was (and still is) a landlocked state and Munich itself is near the Alps there were sailors present and fighting during the German Revolution. After the Kiel mutiny in early November 1918, the spark that lit the flame of revolution, the sailor had become a symbol throught out the German states. 

The men serving in the Imperial Germany Navy came from all states throught the empire not only from those with a long standing naval tradition. After the mutiny some just wanted to go home and ended up in the local fightings, while others were sent as part of units to assist the workers' and soldiers' councils and the new governments in the different cities and regions. The Volksmarine Division (People's Naval Division) in Berlin maybe being the prime example.

On February 15th, 1919 a unit of about 600 armed sailors arrived in Munich coming from Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea. Among them was Munic-born Rudolf Egelhofer, who became Stadtkommandant (town major) of Munich and supreme commander of the Bavarian red army in April 1919. He is supposed to have orderd the shooting of the ten hostages held at the Luitpold Gymnasium (grammar/secondary school), most of them members or at least associated with the Thule Gesellschaft (society). Egelhofer himself was arrested by 'White' troops on May 1st, 1919, severely mistreated and and finally shot without trial on May 3rd, 1919.

Rudolf Egelhofer, * 13. April 1896 Munich-Schwabing; † 3. Mai 1919 Munich

Some contemporary sources also claim that some young men who had never seen the sea in all their lives gathered sailor's uniforms from all kind of sources: shops for naval equipment, merchant sailors, costume rentals or theater props. The sailor's garb meant a hot meal each day and also a certain desirability to the ladies...

'Red' Sailors available

I'm sorry, that it took so long until these are finally available! The moulding and casting has already been finished some weeks ago but I had my final exam at university last week and wanted to have that out of the way before committing to Tsuba Miniatures once again.

The good thing about the delayed release is that Andrew Taylor had the time to paint the miniatures in the meantime. Iain of Flags of War, once again, contributed to the little project with two all new sheets of flags for the Sailors or any other force fighting for the Räterepublik and against the Freikorps.

Just a word on the national cockade (the little round patch on the hats/caps): While a lot of sources claim, that they were nearly always removed, quite some contemporary photos show the Sailors (and other men fighting for the Räterepublik) still wearing them. Often there are men with and without the cockade shown in the same photography. Most of the miniatures come with the cockade sculpted on as it is easier to file/scrape them off rather than paint them on freehand.

The make-up of the sets is pretty similar to those of the Freikorps Werdenfels but the command and assault sets are slightly different:

 

  RS-01 Command 

(containing two Officer/NCO types, one Standard-bearer and a Sailor priming a hand grenade)

 RS-02 Sailors advancing

(containing four different Sailors with rifles)

  RS-03 Sailors firing/loading

(containing four different Sailors with rifles)

 RS-04 HMG team

(containing a MG08 and a crew of three)

RS-05 Assault team

(containing two Sailors armed with MP18 SMGs and a two-men MG08/15 team)

The pricing is also similar to the Freikorps Werdenfels:
€ 7.50 per single set of miniatures and € 2.50 per flag sheet.
Again, a deal containing all five sets + one sheet of flags of your choice is available for € 36.- (instead of € 40.-, thus granting 10% discount).

Here are the two sheets of flags (to simplify things, I've changed over to using the codes of Flags of War for the flag sheets):

INT02 German Communists (Rote Garde)

INT03 German Communists (Alle Macht)

As you can see, each sheet gets you one plain red flag and another one with a written slogan. The first one (INT02) reads:

Rote Garde

hoch

d[ie] soz[ialistische] kom[m]unistische

Räte Republik

which translates pretty much to:

Red Guard

long live

the socialistic communistic

Republic of Councils (or Soviet Republic)

The second one (INT03) reads:

Alle Macht

den

A[rbeiter-] u[nd] S[oldaten-]Räten

which translates to:

All Might 

to the

Workers' and Soldiers' Councils

These slogans are based on contemporary photos. I will post the respective photos over the next couple of days. Here's one of them in use on the Sailor carrying a standard:

'Sale' on misprinted flag sheets: 

Due to a misunderstanding the first print-run has some typing errors on the second flags on the respective sheets, while the plain red ones are perfectly usable. If you only want the plain red flag, just let me know. I can let these sheets go for just € 1.- per sheet instead of € 2.50.

PLEASE NOTE: If you order a regular sheet INT02 or INT03 you will receive a correct sheet of the second print-run without any typing error.