18 September 1890 - Lieutenant Lowell & Naik Majendra Bahadur Gurung #4864, Billy Fish

 

Lieutenant Lowell and Naik Gurung # 4864 are moving through the foothills looking for good ground for the 1st Brigade to advance upon. 

As the Russians move south across the Chitral Territory border …..

….the British move north towards Chitral to relieve the beleaguered garrison of Chitral Fort. 

The Anglo-Indian 1st Brigade of the Chitral Field Force is probing north towards the Chitral territory. The attached political officer Lieutenant Reginald Lowell scouts ahead with a patrol of the 77th Bengal Lancers and is accompanied by his adjutant Naik Majendra Bahadur Gurung, aka, Billy Fish. 

 

                          

Political Officer Lieutenant Reginald Lowell (left) and General Sir Leighton McGuinness (right)

                            

Naik Majendra Bahadur Gurung, aka, Billy Fish, Naik Gurung # 4864 of the 2nd Gurkhas. 

They have come across many villages and tribes of various Pashtun peoples. Some encounters have been productive, others have not.

On the approach to Shalkani village Jemadar Singh of the 77th Bengal Lancers dismounts with one section and advances on foot, lead by LT Lowell and Naik Gurung #4864, while the remaining section maintains a perimeter security picket. 

Naik Gurung #4864 makes contact with a shepherd who takes him to the village head man’s house where LT Lowell and Billy Fish make introductions. 

                            

They are invited to tea and discuss the world. As LT Lowell questions the village elder he sees an old British cavalry saber by the fire, he moves towards it, noticing the Ishapore India 1840 manufacturing stamp. As he attempts to pick it up Tulwars are drawn and jezzails are pointed towards the ferenghi. LT Lowell draws his saber as well. 

Billy Fish does not draw his weapon, instead he laughs loudly. They all look at each other and a riotous laughter breaks out amongst them all. 

“I see you like my saber Lieutenant!” says Abdali Rahimi Khan. 

“Yes indeed Khan” LT Lowell responds. “I noticed a barracks and date stamp, Ishapore India, 1840!”

“You have good eyes and even better perception for a foreigner.” Abdali says with squinting eyes. “My father served in the 3rd Bengal Native Infantry Regiment  during the Indian War for Independence, this saber belonged to his officer who died protecting his men! No one touches this saber. “

“Understood Khan, my apologies for any disrespect and my gratitude for your family’s service to the crown!”

With many stories being told and the sun beginning to set LT Lowell and Naik Gurung #4864 bid farewell. 

LT Lowell and Naik Gurung #4864 discuss the meeting as they head back to their cavalry escort. 

“That was a very productive meeting. Cooler heads prevailed thanks to you old boy! The general is going to be very pleased with the information we gained about the surrounding tribes and the hidden pass through the mountains.”

“Yes sahib, what do you think 

Abdali Rahimi Khan will do with the rupees and rifle you gave him. I have a feeling we will see him again sah.” Billy Fish exclaimed. 

That night LT Lowell briefs General McGuinness and his staff.

This action was fought out using a deck of playing cards and TSATF to determine the characters actions. 

TSATF re-crew guns @ TMP

There’s a very interesting thread on The Miniatures Page regarding the ability to re-crew guns with personnel other than trained gunners in the rules set The Sword And The Flame. Since I’m a big fan of these rules I planned on replying with my $0.02 and decided to post it here as well in case the discussion comes up again in the future. I think I’ll post other TSATF  rules questions, issues, house rules, mods, etc on my blog as well as time permits and questions arise.

Here’s the post on TMP in the 19th Century page under The Sword And The Flame section:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=560054

Here’s my reply.

What a great TSATF topic. I like the varied responses. First off, all the answers are right if that’s the way you want to play! Larry always said to play them as we want to. 

There is a rule that covers the gun crews. 

Section VIII: The Fire Phase

Subsection: B5, Pg 27

Gun Crews: It takes at least two figures to fire an artillery piece or machine gun. At least one of the figures must be a crewman for that type of weapon. 

Obviously this infers that figures other than gunners can re-crew an artillery piece as long as there is one gunner left for that type of artillery piece. 

Here’s how I do it, as long as there is one original gun crewman left unwounded. 

If the re-crew is Navy or Marine personnel they still roll 3 die per gunner. Any other imperial personnel only roll 2 die per gunner.  I rationalize it as many Navy and Marine personnel were trained as gunners as well to serve aboard ship while most other branches did not undertake this additional training. 

If the crew served weapon is an MG that normally rolls  1D6 for jamb each turn and more than half the crew is untrained, they roll the standard 1D6 trying to avoid a 5 or 6 rather than the usual 6 for a jamb. But that’s just how I do it. 

I also make different rules or judgments, most of them scenario specific for the troops involved in that battle or campaign. 

But like Larry said, play them how you want to!

Here a few Gun Crews in action for your viewing pleasure. 

                          

                          

Egyptian gunners, by Old Glory 25mm Miniatures , serving a Houston Ships 75mm gun on the bow of one of Last Stand Dan awesome handmade gunboats! Figs, Gun, and  Boat all built and painted by my buddy Dan. 

British gunners, by Old Glory, painted by Last Stand Dan man a 75mm gun on one of his handmade gunboats in one of the many Sudan scenarios he’s run across the country at various cons. 

German Seabatallion gunners, converted from Old Glory German Marines, painted by me, man a bow gun on one of Last Stand Dan’s gunboats in the scenario, The Hun, The Frog & The Lion. This incredible scenario was designed by my friend Patrick from The Virtual Armchair General. He sells all sorts of cool products for gaming as well as the excellent Game Card Decks for my favorite rules, The Sword And The Flame.

German Seabattalion crew man upper deck Machine Guns. 

Figures are the defunct Lead Boiler Suite Co and Old Glory German Marines, serving MG’s aboard the Cite de LaMeers custom made by Last Stand Dan during the large TSATF game The Hun, The Frog, and The Lion designed by my friend Patrick of TVAG - The Virtual Armchair General.

               

Dervish Gun crew I painted and converted from Old Glory Ansar and an Askari Minis Arab laborer. I made and painted these for my buddy Last Stand Dan. The terrain is made by Bill Daniels of Gamers Garage. 

Another Dervish / Ansar gun crew, mfg by Cannon Fodder Miniatures, serving a Foundry cannon, undercover of a Bill’s Basement custom terrain gun pit. The figs represent captured Egyptians in chains commanded by a large Ansar wielding a whip. This is another crew I painted.  

Old Glory Sikh gun crew with a Castaway Arts Miniatures

baggage camel. 

Gripping Beast WWI French Hotchkiss MG crew with Legionaries heads which I painted as a 1900 French Marine MG crew. 

Wargames Foundry Regular Afghan Gun crew supported by Afghan Regular Infantry. The infantry & gun painted by my friend Nick Stern. The crew loads grape shot to stop a charge of Cossacks in the battle for the village of Terakh Mir, NWF 1890, ongoing NWF Campaign. 

French Naval Gun Crews mfg by Askari Miniatures, painted by me, serving MG’s aboard another custom made gunboat by Last Stand Dan. Askari Minis has all manner of French colonial troops as well as many other nations and some of the best artillery pieces in 25mm. Photo from the Scenario, Kaiser’s Revenge, The Horn of Africa, 1903.

 

Spanish Gun Crews from Old Glory Miniatures SAW range

painted by my friend Mark Coolidge. He also made all the terrain for this awesome Spanish American War game he ran for us at our SMG -Club House - Das Krieg Haus in Fort Lauderdale Florida. 

German Marine MG Crew, unknown mfg painted by my friend John Murk, fighting my French Marines in an exciting TSIA game run at an HMGS-South Convention run by my buddy Dr. Dwight Jones, who also made all the terrain for this game. 

Here is an American Gun Crew from the same game and collection above, Mark Coolidge. 

A destroyed Pathan Gun Crew made by Wargames Foundry

painted by me. This gun and crew were destroyed in a recent NWF game ran by me at Das Krieg Haus as part of our Epic LAF - Epic NWF Campaign - Never Trust Anyone on the Frontier. The gun and crew were taken out by Russian counter battery fire at the battle for the village of Terakh Mir. Artillery hit marker made by my friend Bud at Bud’s Blast Markers. He’s got an array of all sorts of amazing blast markers!

                           

                        

French M1897 75mm Cannon - Askari Miniatures - 28mm

 

This awesome kit is very easy to build, sturdy, and a joy to paint. In my humble opinion this model is excellent and will provide a more than reasonable facsimile on the tabletop. 

However, It has been replaced by a newer version which has new wheels with the proper number of spokes and a few more parts for variations. I’ve since gotten the new model and will be building it shortly. 

My references for this project. 

Here’s the model with (2) Askari French Marine gun crews and a French Naval Landing gun crew for scale. All of my gun crews are (4) men as per my go to rules set The Sword And The Flame. These crews will see much action across both Asia and Africa!

Askari Miniatures Link: https://askari-minis.com/

Here’s the link for this model: 

https://askari-minis.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=23_45&products_id=49

British Rolls Royce on the Grim 1920’s Afghanistan

 

For my second entry in this years Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge #12 I will be visiting the planet Vulcan. Each AHPC has a theme, this year the pictured solar system and accompanying interpretations are guidelines to follow, but only for those who choose to. Otherwise participants can paint what ever they want and score according to the standard AHPC criteria. See link below. 

The 12th annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge

The setting is Afghanistan, 1920’s, post 3rd Afghan War. Sniping at invaders on the Northwest Frontier is not just a Pashtun pastime, it’s a mandatory full time tactic to dissuade invaders. To counter the sniping on resupply and troop convoys as well as for reconnaissance the Anglo-Indian forces began to deploy Armored Cars. 

This Rolls Royce armored car is a 1920’s version with solid tires left over after WWI and shipped to India for hard duty on the Grim. 

How does this tie into Vulcan, well, it’s a “logical” solution to a tactical problem, of course. 

This vehicle is a 3D printed model, a gift, 1 of 4 armored cars from a long time friend. It’s got the perfect amount of detail and tons of rivets. I drilled out holes in the hull and turret bottom for a magnet and scrap metal to be able to keep the turret rotating without the turret falling off.

Prime Coat: Flat Black spray paint

Body Base Coat: Glidden (paint sample) No1 Warm Caramel

Various Washes around details & rivets: Delta Ceramcoat: Burnt Umber

Wash of Delta Ceramcoat black on tires, radiator/ condenser, and wheel wells. 

Tires: PS Grimy Black with a black wash. 

High Light: with base coat. 

Points: 42

(1) 28mm vehicle points: 20

Planet Points: 20

1. Solaris: Russians 1880’s
2. Vulcan: 1920’s British Rolls Royce A/C

13 Sept. 1890 - Tirakh Mir - Chitral

The rumors of a large Russian force crossing the border from Zebak into the Chitral Territory have been confirmed. Refugees from the pillaging of Zebak in Badakhshan by the Russians have made it to neighboring villages on the south side of the border. It is said that the Russians have Tajik allies with them and have made a strong base in Zebak from which to attack Chitral!

A village on the road to Tirakh Mir has been occupied by the Russians for a night laager. A young man with ties to Umra Khan and related Ali Razah Khan has left his village before the heathen feringhee made camp. Hidden in the foothills above his vill he made a sketch of the camp and his vill to take to the local Mullah. He told his siblings that it is his duty to report this defilement of his country by the northern feringhees.

 

Ballah Khan, younger brother of Ali Razah Khan has mobilized his forces intent on attacking the Russians in their forward camp at sunrise on the morrow. Local popular forces of the Regular Afghan Army have a fort on the border close by, will they join in the attack?

Hand drawn map made by Bhalla Khan while hiding in the foothills in the southeastern corner.

This game will be run in person at the SMG - South Florida Miniatures Gamers clubhouse, Das Krieg House in Fort Lauderdale Fl. My buddy Bob who’s running the Russians in this campaign is flying in for a visit to play this game. He’s been sending me troops to use in the game for weeks prior and I’ve been painting Russians to add to the battle as well as making custom game cards for all the forces involved. We will be using my favorite set of rules: THE SWORD AND THE FLAME

Here are some of the custom game cards. The front has the movement, fire, and morale charts while the back has the melee stats and mods. They are a half sheet of standard paper in a plastic page protector and kept in a small binder for future operations. The plastic covers also make good coasters for a frosty beer.

TO BE CONTINUED:

15 September 1890, On the road to Tirakh Mir, Chitral …

Game table set up as per Ballah Khan’s hand drawn map. 

Link to the campaign on the Lead Adventure Forum:

Never Trust Anyone on the Frontier