Ansar / Dervish Gun Crews

                                      Ansar / Dervish Gun Crews

I promised a good friend of mine that I would paint him some 28mm Dervish gun crews for his upcoming Sudan convention game for use with his TSATF variant of naval combat called "Gunboat & Dhow". Well about a year or more later I've finally gotten around to completing them! Thankfully he wasn't relying on these for his game.....

(All of these awesome gun positions were made by Bill Daniel at The Gamer`s Garage. wdaniel994@comcast.net)

These gunners were slightly converted from Old Glory Ansar swordsmen and spearmen packs CSD-04 & CSD-05. The weapons were removed, arms re-positioned, holes drilled in the hands, and fabricated gunnery tools installed. One crewman is a Perry plastic figure and another is an Askari Mini's fig from the excavation pack used as a ladle bearer. The gun crews are set up for the standard The Sword And The Flame gun crews of (3) gunners and one commander. The figs have a hand spike, sponge, rammer, ladle, bucket, or fuse lighter.

                         The following pics are the works in progress set.

Once the figs are completed, glue dried, figs cleaned and washed they are ready for priming. In this case I chose a flat white base coat followed by painting the various skin tones.

  This photo shows the troops just before applying the Poly Shades Minwax wash and sealer.

Followed by the figs being brushed with the dip but prior to being sprayed with Testors lusterless Flat sealer. I let the paint dry for 24 hrs, then brush the minwax dip and let dry for 24 hrs, then I spray them with matt flat sealer.

And the final step is to add a little flocking or bushes to the bases. The end product is a nice flat finish that is fairly strong and protected.

Here are (2) pics of an Ansar crew from Cannon Fodder Minis. There are (3) captured Egyptian Gunners pressed into service with a large Sudanese task master "commanding" the battery. This unit is set up for The Sword And The Flame, it's a basic (4) man gun crew, (3) gunners and (1) commander/officer.

The Wind And The Lion - Painting Notes- German Asia Korps Gun Crews

The Wind And The Lion - Painting Notes- German Asia Korps Gun Crews

In this post I have uploaded the notes I made for painting the German Asia Korps gun crews for my The Wind And The Lion TSATF game that I ran with my buddy Nick Zizo. We took this game on the convention circuit and ran is many times at cons like the first ever Colonial Barracks con run by the Broms in NO to the two HMGS-South cons in S. Fl. We built custom terrain, converted existing figs, and painted available figs to portray the troops in this classic movie. Most of the troops and weapons are accurate for the nations and time period of Morocco in early 1900.

                         Painting notes for the German Asia Korp gun crews.
I've painted (2) gun crews to represent some of the troops that are present in the last climatic battle scene. One crew was made up of converted 25mm Old Glory German Sea Battalion figures from their Boxer Rebellion line. The rifles were removed, arms altered, and artillery shells were glued into their hands that were made with thick brass rod that was filed and formed into breach loaded artillery shells. Based on my research at the time in 2010 I found that the HE or Canister rounds had a black warhead with a red band painted around it denoting the type of round. Unfortunately I cannot find that source, so until I do find it or until someone more knowledgeable than I corrects me I will leave the shells as is.

I used Delta Ceramacoat's Cloudberry Tan for the uniforms and sun helmets painted on figs that were primed in flat black spray paint. The bread bag was painted Polly Scale acrylic Linen. The boots and webbing are Polly Scale Flat Black.Once the entire figure is dry I brush on my sealer and weathering mix, Polly Shades MinWax "Tudor Stain". This both weathers and protects the figs. I let this dry for 24 hours and then spray it with Testors "Lusterless Flat" to remove the shine and further protect the figs.

The second Asia Korps gun crew was made using the now OOP Lead Boiler Suite Company German WWI / Colonial troops slightly converted by adding artillery shells or ammo boxes in their hands. The paint jobs are the same. The bases are simple 3/4" or 1" round steel washers that are coated with a gel product mixed with sand and small ballast rocks.

The Hun The Frog & The Lion - 4

                                     The Hun The Frog & The Lion - 4
                         Meet the Hun, The Frog, & The Lion, prior to the battle.


The next installment in this series is the introduction of the command elements for this scenario The Hun The Frog And The Lion. As a reminder for this scenario, Germany and France team up in 1903 (yes not likely, I know) to rescue the captured German Envoy Graf Manfred von Kriegslieber from the nefarious Moroccan brigand The Emir Ali-ben-Fulin-Arown based in the arm pit of the world, Mogadir!

The Hun Command:

                            Korvetten-Kapitän Erich von Rudelsberg, Mission Leader (Whites)
                                                             Wargames Foundry

Oberleutnant Erwin Manstein, CO Imperial Marine Detachment

Copplestone Castings

Feldwebel Karl Räder: Color Bearer: Old Glory Miniatures

                                        
                                                The Frog Command:


                          Capitaine Joseph de Lory, Mission Leader (#1) (With sword)

                Lieutenant Charles Dupin (#2), CO Marine Detachment (With the tri color)
                                                            Askari Miniatures.

Serjeant Paul Descartes (#3), Caporal  Jean Valjean (#4), 1st Section with 10 Marines plus Hotchkiss MG)

French Hotchkiss HMG: Woodbine Design, Pack # FRN05 with Legion heads and painted as French Marines.

                                   French Sailors supporting the lading.
French Sailors Skirmish with Command: Pack #CBP-06 by Old Glory Miniatures

                                             The Lion Command:
                                       The Emir Ali-ben-Fulin-Arown

            The Shore Batteries, commanded by that infamous renegade, Moshe Lipschitz Pasha, one of the Lion's commanders.

                                             The Bashaw's Forces

                       The Tribal Levy Troops, Old Glory Arab Cavalry figs.

 The Bashawa's European trained troops, Old Glory Egyptian Camel Troops from the Sudan range.

 The Bashaw's Black Guard Cavalry an be seen in the background, fig mfgr unknown.












Manufacturers of the terrain and figs, as best as I can remember.
                          CO Imperial Marine Detachment: Oberleutnant Erwin Manstein:
Copplestone Castings, http://www.copplestonecastings.co.uk/prod.php?prod=100
         
German Mission Leader: Korvetten-Kapitän Erich von Rudelsberg, Mission Leader (Whites)
http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/darkest-africa/explorers  
Pack: Traders and Travelers - DA017

Feldwebel Karl Räder: Color Bearer: Old Glory Miniatures, German Sea Battalion Pack, bugler with the bugle removed and a hole drilled in his hand.
http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CBP-03&cat=228

Force Commander: Capitaine Joseph de Lory (with sword):

2IC: Lieutenant Charles Dupin, Marines (with Tricolor):
http://askari-minis.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=21
Both from Askari Miniatures French Colonial Command Group: Code FR-17


French Hotchkiss HMG: Woodbine Design, Pack # FRN05 with Legion heads.
https://www.grippingbeast.co.uk/FRN05_French_HMG_and_3_Crew--product--4039.html
French Sailors Skirmish with Command: Pack #CBP-06 by Old Glory Miniatures
http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CBP-06&cat=228





The Lion: Foundry, a Baluchi from the Darkest Africa Range. May be out of production.
http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/darkest-africa/baluchis/


Moshe Lipschitz: Unknown
Native gun crews are a mixed bag of Wargames Foundry Darkest Africa gun crew, Afghan Pathan gun crew, and Old Glory Arab Machine Gun crew from the Sons of the Desert - French Foreign Legion range, http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com/proddetail.asp?prod=SOD-18




Gun emplacements: Bill's Gamers Garage: email bill for custom terrain: wdaniel994@comcast.net


Adobe dwellings: The Colonial Steamboat Company: http://www.colonialsteamboat.co.uk/


Docks: 1) The Miniature Building Authority: http://miniaturebuildingauthority.com/
            2) and A now defunct internet co.