Back to the Back of Beyond!

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 Hobby Project 2.0


I've been reflecting upon my hobby progress -or lack there of- for some time now, and I've come to a few conclusions. 

What's most important to me right now? What's the biggest focus of my hobby efforts? My Back of Beyond project.

China. The 1920s. 

I've neglected this project. I've picked at it here and there, with little goal or solid idea in mind, no real drive or direction and have little to show for it. 

I want to change that. I want to change how empty and neglected my blog is as well. So now, I declare it time for my Hobby Project 2.0. It doesn't matter if I have any war games or not, I want these models done for my own pleasure, because I enjoy painting them, because I enjoy dreaming up a story surrounding them, because I love them and I love this wonderful hobby. 


I've got some terrain under construction, a decent Manchuria/Inner Mongolia table slowly in the works. A small village, some wheat fields (rice is southern china, wheat is northern) some bamboo groves and some woods. This is an as of yet unnamed land, somewhere in Chahar Province, Eastern Inner Mongolia by the Mongolian and Manchurian borders. This is the home of my Warlord and my Nationalist Army, where they scrap for dominance and control. 

I have two large armies, and three small ones. 


My Nationalists. The Revolutionary Army of the Frontier. 


The RAF consists of:

It's Leader, Colonel Chang Chung King, his Soviet Advisor Yakov the Bloody Bolshevik, and his trusty body guard, the Western Mercenary Two Gun Moses. 

Chang's Army consists of  two squads of Nationalist infantry, 6 men each, 6 sword wielding maniacs - the Dare to Die squad, 4 SMG storm troopers each with Bergman MP20s, 6 fanatic albeit green members of a KMT Left Student Militia, a small mountain gun, a Hotchkiss MG, an improvised armored car, and an airplane - the specific model I've forgotten (note the dust...)


 


Opposing the Nationalists for control of this as of yet unnamed land way off Back of Beyond in Chahar Province, is the National Self Defense Army, troops of the regional Warlord. 


The NSDA consists of:

Their leader, Governor Tao Le Choy, his White Russian Advisor Anton the Iron Cossack, and his trusty ally the Western Mercenary One Armed Gordon. 

Tao's Army consists of  two 6 man squads of Warlord troops, a squad of especially poor warlord troops armed only with swords and pistols, a veteran squad of White Russian Mercenaries seeking employment after the fall of Tsarist Russia, a 4 man Storm Trooper squad armed with MP20s, one light mountain gun and one maxim MG. They're supported with an FT-17 and a Curtis Jenny biplane. 



The astute among you, or at least those paying attention will notice that these army compositions are nearly identical. That's the point, I want to keep them fairly balanced. There will be some differences but strictly in quality of troops. The Nationalists swordsmen will be crack determined veterans, while the Warlords will be poorly armed and poorly motivated troops. The Nationalists Student Militia will be green and untested if not driven, while the Warlords Russian Mercs will be stoic veterans of many wars. The differences will really come in how they're stated out, and I intend to run them with Fistful of Lead and Fistful of Lead Bigger Battles. 

But that's not all that's out in this as of yet unnamed land! 

An army of bandits, or perhaps just pissed off civilians consisting of two 6 man militia squads, one 9 man Red Spear Society squad, one antiquated bandit cannon, and a cast of unnamed HQ units. 


A small detachment of Japanese Naval Troops (How'd they get so far inland?!) and supporting armor. 


And even a small squad of Americans, the landing party form a Gun Boat. Clearly very lost.. the Yangtze is much farther south!




I'd like to add a few more things here and there to this project. I want some more era appropriate armor, I'd like to beef up the Japs a bit, I even have some cavalry troops tucked away I may consider busting out and dusting off. But for now, this here is the goal along with my table. The Nationalists and Warloards and table are priority, the rest are something to pick at when I need a break. 

Hopefully this will be the last post with dodgy pictures. I intend on obtaining a light box soon. 

But for now, let's return back to The Back of Beyond! 

Until the next post! 


 

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