Colonel Shuffle's Mississippi Boys in 28mm

Colonel Shuffle leads his Mississippi Boys forward.

 

A while ago a purchased what was then the latest of the Osprey 'Blue Book' rulesets: Rebels and Patriots. Trouble was I didn't have an appropriate collection to game with it, so when I chanced upon the Perry's Battle in a Box set featuring the ACW, I ordered it. This, in spite of the fact that I already have full 6mm and 10mm ACW armies! But I thought that the new Perry's would fit perfectly into the R&P concept.

Rebels and Patriots encourages you to come up with 'company' sized commands under a specific leader (not that we gamers pay too much attention to what is often a core concept of some rules). So, I've come up with an initial company, "Colonel Shuffle's Mississippi Boys"  Why not?

The odd thing about these sculpts is the while the Union figs have what might be called a 'fine, upstanding' posture to them, the Confederates look like they are shambling along with an ape-like lope. A message somewhere there from Perry's?

The ape-like lope.

I've painted up about 30% of the box, with more to come.

"Be there anyone man enough to tangle with Colonel Shuffle? Well? Be there?"

Freikorps vs. Spartacists, 1919

A vintage image of Freikorps FK Bund Oberland, Munich 1919.

I'm always on the lookout for projects that will reduce my Mountain of Lead. I have three criteria for these:

• A new project has to reduce the Mountain,
• It can't involve buying any new figures (or at least, purchases have to be kept to minimum),
• I can't be too fussy about mixing figure styles, etc. The idea is to get stuff out of storage and onto the table.

I was recently reading one or two books on the German Revolution/Civil War of 1918-1922, and it struck me that this would be a likely fringe project to develop. Unlike the Russian Civil War the internal conflict in Germany was of 'low intensity', even if it was very widespread. No masses of tanks or heavy artillery!

The Münchner Spartakus-Arbeiterkollektiv 'Rosa Luxemburg' rally to the cause.

The items I already had on hand (all 15mm) were:

• About 80 or so old (very old!) late WWI Germans,
• An equal number of late WWI British,
• A pack of c. 40 newer late war Germans,
• A pack of c. 40 newer late war British,
• A pack of c. 50 newer 1940 French Tirailleurs,
• A few odd armoured cars, artillery pieces, etc.

Freikorps on parade. Front-to-back: FK Heybebreck 'Werwolf', FK Sturmabteilung Rossbach, FK Bayerischen Schutzenkorps (FK von Epp).

I had already painted up the old British, with the idea that I could pair them off against the Germans for 1916-1918 actions -- but the thought of making all those trench features, etc. put me off. The German Civil War wouldn't require that.

The rules I plan to use are a modified version of Xenos Rampant (Osprey).

A couple of captured British armoured cars lead the Lancer squadron of FK Lichtschlag. 

I converted the Spartacists from the 1940 French. I studied the cut of their uniforms, and apart from the puttees (it seems just about everyone wore those) the uniforms appear very similar to civilian wear. I kept one-third of them in their Adrian helmets (army surplus), cut down another third to resemble Homburg hats, and used green stuff to put the last third in worker's caps.

The workers surge foward ...

led by their banner-waving Shop Stewards ('Shops Steward'?)

The FK armoured cars will be 'put to good use' against them.

Unfortunely I'm short of Spartacists, so I'll have to fill out their ranks with the British -- justifying that by saying they're using hoards of captured uniforms and equipment. Or have the front shifted to the Baltic and let the Brits represent Latvians, etc? I don't want to get too precious about this!