New Range: Freikorps Werdenfels

First of all a big sorry for those, who are waiting for a Russo-Japanese War update! 

The RJW will stay our main line (with hopefully many more miniatures to come) but it just beat another subject by a heartbeat when I had to decide, which range I wanted to get done over a year ago. A very close second had been the Freikorps Werdenfels. 

But as we say in German 'aufgeschoben ist nicht aufgehoben' (i.e. 'postponed is not abandoned'). They had to wait a little bit before they could make their debut but Paul has been working on them over the last months next to the Russians and Japanese and finally they are here.

The Freikorps Werdenfels

In short (I hope to post some more details over the coming days), these guys were part of the federal troops sent to Munich to fight against the Munich Soviet or Concil Republic in May 1919.

All miniatures sculpted by Paul Hicks with the notable exceptions of the Dachshund by eBob and the MG08, which is used under license from Musketeer Miniatures. All these miniatures have been painted by Andrew Taylor, as Simon is very busy (not least with some Russo-Japanese-War miniatures). This first release features the following five sets:

 FW-01 Command 

(containing a medic, an officer with a dachshund, a Stormtrooper/Veteran and a NCO )

FW-02 Riflemen advancing

(containing four different riflemen)

 

 FW-03 Riflemen firing

(containing four different riflemen)

 FW-04 HMG team

(containing a MG08 and a crew of three)

   FW-05 Specialists

(containing a Bugler, a Standard-bearer and a two-men MG08/15 team)

All miniatures are supplied unpainted and some require some modelling work!

All the above shown sets are priced € 7.50 each and are eligible as part of a five-set-deal for € 35.- (you can also get sets from different ranges as part of the very same deal, i.e. you can mix and match Japanese, Russian and Werdenfels sets in one five-set-deal, if you like).

We also have a special 'Werdenfels'-deal containing one each of the five sets FW-01 to FW-05 and a sheet of paper flags (shown below) from Flags of War for € 36.-.

The 'Freikorps Werdengels' range also marks the start of the cooperation with Flags of War, which will also see flags for the Russo-Japanese War (starting with the Japanese).

The 'Freikorps Werdenfels' flag sheet contains one generic Bavarian flag (that can be seen used on the painted example in the above picture of set FW-05) and a specific one for the Freikorps based on contemporary photos. 

The sheet is available as part of the 'Werdenfels'-deal are on its own, in which case it is prices € 2.50 per sheet.

(All prices exclude postage.)

Some potential FAQs:

Q: Why the odd make-up of the command and specialist sets?

A: Basically that's due to historical accuracy. While the command set is supposed to be accurate (except for the dog), the specialist set is more of an educated guess with no photographic evidence (for example the standards are shown on a couple of photos but only on those showing in-camp and on-parade-scenes).

Q: Will there be any additions?

A: Well, that'll come down to the reception of this first 'wave'. Plans include an assault set (armed with SMGs and a two-men flamethrower team) and a couple of sets of Bavarian civilians.

Q: Which sets of rules are these designed for?

A: These weren't designed with a specific set of rules in mind so it's up to you. There are a lot of suitable interwar rules available, my personal favourite being 'Triumph & Tragedy'. There's a free T&T-supplement available for the Freikorps-era at the Lead-Adventure-Forum.

Q: What else besides the actual historical background can the miniatures be used for?

A: Again, that's up to you. ;-) Pulp games spring to mind (why should always those dastardly Prussians have all the fun?), they could be allies or enemies of Hinterland's Hussar ladies and/or maybe part of an Bavarian Venus or Mars expedition in a VSF game. 

An interesting fact for the VBCW-fans, that Iain of Flags of War made me aware of, is that Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria was the heir to the Jacobite succession from 1919 until his death in 1955... so maybe after loosing his father's Bavarian throne, he might pursue the claimes he had inherited from his mother...

 

 

New castings are in

We received the castings of the three new sets from Griffin Moulds (I'm sorry about the bad photos):

 RJ-J08 Japanese Standard-bearers & Buglers
(incl. two standard tops with poles)

 RJ-R04 Russian Troopers charging

 RJ-R05 Russian Standard-bearers, Bugler and Drummer
(incl. two standard tops with poles)

PLEASE NOTE: The standard-beares require some modelling work, i.e. drilling out of the hands holding the standards.

These are now all available. ;-)

More painted Russo-Japanese War miniatures

Again some amazing paint jobs by Simon Bradley of StoneColdLead Figure Painting.

First up is the rest of the Japanese:

 From left to right: NCO and Officer from RJ-J01 Japanese Officers & NCOs; Casualty and medic from RJ-J07 Japanese Casualties & Medical orderlies

Detail shot of the casualty and medic 'vignette' (just the two seperat miniatures put on a single base)

RJ-J05 Japanese Troopers firing I 

RJ-J06 Japanese Troopers firing II (with gassai-bukuro) 

 And also the Russian command miniatures to lead the troops from the front:

RJ-R01 Russian Officers & NCOs

New Release: Manchurian Bandits

As the Russian Officers and NCOs set was our tenth relased set, it called for something to mark the occasion. So we are proud to announce the release of a set of Manchurian Bandits! (Manchuria remained a hot spot after the end of the RJW for the better part of the first half of the 20th century.) So while not strictly Russo-Japanese War related, these miniatures are at least geographically a good match.

 

 MISC-01 Manchurian Bandits

Please note, that the miniature on the left comes with both, the shown repeating rifle AND a double-barreled shotgun option. 

 

As always, Paul Hicks did the sculpting, Griffin Moulds the moulding and casting and Simon Bradley finished them of nicely with an amazing paint job, everybody has come to expect from him.

This set is now availble for € 6.50 and includes the three miniatures (the one on the left with two weapon options). All miniatures are supplied unpainted and unassembled!

Banner tops greens

As promised here are the greens for the banner tops, which will be included with the standard-bearer sets. First up is the Japanese one. It is three-sided and shows the symbol of the royal family, a chrysanthemum blossom, on each side.

This will be included two times in the standard-bearer set as all the Japanese standards used this top. (I guess that's due to fact that the 'new' Imperial Japanese army had just been established in the decades before the Russo-Japanese War.)

The Russians on the other hand used a multitude of different standard tops. Therefore the Russian standard-bearer set will include two different variants (one of each), of what seems to be two of the most widely-used ones. 

The first top, similar to the Japanese one, is in form of the symbol of the Romanow dynasty the double-headed eagle.

The second one is in form of a drop with a cross inside. This cross, looking somehow similar to the Prussian/German Iron Cross, is the Cross of St. Georg a Russian decoration for valor first established during the Napoleonic Wars.

Colour/Painting Guide: Russian infantry

There have been some enquiries about the colour Simon used for the Russian infantry, as I suppose that's a usefull bit of information to a broader audience, here are his recipes:

The colour schemes for the Russian Uniforms were: Trousers were a base mix of VMC Russian Uniform WWII and black highlighted with GW's defunct Dheneb Stone. The light tunics used a base mix of VMC Khaki Grey and German WWII Beige Camo highlighted with VMC Stone Grey. The drab tunics were a base of VMC Russian Uniform WWII and another defunct GW colour, Charadon Granite and the highlight colour was again Dheneb Stone.

The next greens

Hey everybody,

Back from the holidays (since last week, actually ;-) ) and also back with some new greens from Paul.

This time with standard-bearers and buglers (and a drummer) for both the Russians and Japanese. Please note that each of these sets will also include two standard tops, which are not shown on the photos (I will post photos of these as soon as possible).

Unfortunately there had been an accident with the masters of the HMGs, so these have been switched to the next release. Instead we have a set of charging Russian troopers in this batch due to popular demand.

  

RJ-J08 Japanese Standard-bearers & Buglers

 

RJ-R05 Russian Standard-bearers, Bugler and Drummer

 

 RJ-R04 Russian Troopers charging

All these sets will be priced € 7.50 each and will of course be eligible as part of the 5-set-deal.

Thanks for your view!