How to build an army, when not playing a certain game...


  • Sorry for the long post!
    (Admin, this might be better under Painting & Modelling, but since it it also other models than WGA I put it here. Please move it if you think it might be better somewhere else)

    When I got back into the hobby a little more tham two years ago I wasn't, and still aren't, really into playing any games. What drew me back was building and painting. But the problem was that I really also wanted to build an army of sorts. I could of course set out to build a historically correct army of my own choice. But that meant having to stick to certain models, and having to make sure everything looked at least some what like the pictures in the Osprey books. At the same time I am interested in both SF, WWI and the mid to late 1800's.

    So my solution was mixing and matching based on a buch of lost causes, armies that never happened and base it all on a huge "what if". This way I also had the priviledge to not have to use an army that historically have been guilty of really horrible atrocities, which to be honest more or less all winning armies have been guilty of. Some of these lost causes might have drokked up and made themselves guilty of atrocities if they had not lost, but we will never know.

    My first new miniatures was a bunch of soviet naval infantry and other Soviets från Warlord Games. And the idea was to create an army based on the Kronstadt Rebellion and the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine, a.k.a. the Makhnovists.

    But then I found the Grognards, and started buying them. Soon after I got some WWI germans.
    That messed things up army building wise. I put the soviets on the back burner(and later gave them to a friend that wanted to get back into the hobby), thinking that I will start building soviets again if plastic russian/soviet naval infantry turns up on the market(*hint* WGA *hint*).

    Instead I had to find troops from Germany and France, that lost and also possibly could work together in some way. I ended up in seing them as two different battalions in some kind of third way international socialist army. I still have not found a good name or story for the army itself, but the battallioins are now Battalion Spartakusbund and Battalion la Commune. Based on the troops of the lost German Revolution and the lost Paris Commune of 1871.

    At the moment my goal is that Battalion la Commune will consist of four companies.

    Compagnie Louise Michel - Grognards
    Compagnie Republique de Salé - Grognards(Foreign Legion style)
    Le Garde Révolutionnarie de Zouaves - Perry Minatures Zouaves for ACW
    Compagnie Leo Ferre - WWI French

    I might add one more when/if Perry releases the french infantry for French-Prussian war and make them into the National Guard of the Paris Commune. I am also looking at adding cavalry and artillery

    The goal for Battalion Spartakusbund at the moment are the following; Infantry(two companies), cavalry(one squadroon) and artillery(one battery).

    Kompanie Luxemburg - WWI germans and I am looking at adding one platoon Perry French-Prussian Prussians
    Kompanie Rudolf Rocker - Raumjäger with WWI German heads
    Skvadron Liebknecht - Victrix and Warlord Games french Napoleonic lancers with WWI German heads
    Batteri Landauer - Raumjäger with an asortment of different Tamiya artillery

    I also have some Tamiya vehicles that I still havn't figured out how I want to use them.

    For a quick view, this is what all the finished ones look right now.

    The entire army

    The entire army today

    Grognards

    Grognards

    Grognard Heavy Weapons

    Grognard Heavy Weapons


    French Foreign Legion style Grognards

    French Foreign Legion

    Zouaves

    Zouaves

    WWI Germans

    WWI Germans

    Raumjäger

    Raumjäger

    Cavalry

    Cavalry

    Artillery

    Artillery


    So that is what the army looks like at the moment.

    My thought is that I might be as bold as to use this thread to document my progress with the army as I go along, as much for myself as for others. I you guys are interested.

    Next up is getting some WWI French and to paint a bunch of Germans I have built, but that have not yet seen any paint.

    Further ahead I am looking at adding Canon Fodder as a batallion of convicts that escaped from the enemy and joined up. Bulldogs and some other Brits for a brittish battalion. Afghans, a mix of WGA and Perry, to make into kurds(the beards are the problem I will have to find a solution for). And of course, if there are plastic Soviet/Russian Naval Infantry or plastic WWI Cossacks somewhere in the future I will restart my russian troops.

    I aim at an update the first week of 2022.



  • Tell us more about the cavalry, they look great!


  • Good work, especially with the artillery.


  • @JTam the tropp you see here is Victrix French Napoleonic Imperial Guard Lancers with a headswap with the WGA WWI German pickelhaube.

    I also have a finished tropp made from Warlord Games Napoleonic French Line Lancers with a headswap with the WGA WWI German stahlhelm(seen below).

    I really like the Victrix set, except the epaulettes. My excperience with Victrix is usually that they are pretty poor on detail and have rather dull poses, but not this box. The Warlord Games box have horses that are a bit on the smaller side, but still works fine. The poses are a litte dull, but also works fine.

    The paint job is inspired by German WWI cavalry, and in no way meant to be correct.


    German cavalry


  • @Erebos Hammerhand thanks!

    My plan is three of these(Tamiya, 1/35 German 75mm Anti-Tank Gun), three flaks(Tamiya, 1/35 German 20mm Flakvierling 38) and one huge MF(Tamiya, 1/35 German 88mm Gun Flak36/37) to make one battery.


  • Thank you for the recomendations. Your Model inspired me to build that Tamiya Anti Tank Gun for my Raumjäger army.


  • @Sam Bellamy 

    Simple and effective conversion.  Great info on the donor kits.  Thank You!


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