Reviresco 2.95 Inch Mountain Gun and Crew - Painted

These were finished about a week ago - it took me some time to settle down and post piccies.

Reviresco minis seem to paint up remarkably well for figures that are two decades old or more. These are painted in duty smocks and tropical kit.  I must needs go back and paint in the eyes on the crew - also, a standing figure in tropical kit went missing during the painting process, which turned up a day or two ago.

Must flock those bases on the pack train. And order another two sets.

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Reviresco 2.95 Inch Mountain Gun and Crew

I'm looking to do more Colonial miniature wargaming, but I'm tired of Zulus and Mahdists.  Also, I'd like to use my new French Tirailleurs Seneglais if possible, along with my British Askaris.

This essentially narrows my choice to the Great War and the East Africa Campaign. Here, the German colonies found themselves surrounded by the more populated colonies of the Allied Powers - Britain, France and Portugal.

This would also dove-tail nicely into a Great War on Mars campaign - something I've wanted to do for years.

I picked up the 2.95 Inch Mountain Gun and Crew from Reviresco, with the foreknowledge that John McEwan's minis are sometimes too small when compared to modern ranges.  I was pleasantly surprised to find this particular set scales well with the old RAFM (must we start using this term with RAFM as well...sigh) Space 1889 miniature range, and not too badly against the Old Glory colonial range.

Courtesy: Reviresco Miniatures

As for the detailing - well, the gun is very nice, though the older mould is showing the beginnings of wear. The gunners are fair-to-middling, though they paint up alright. Included in the pack are three pack horses and two pack mules.  The loads they carry are customisable - nice touch.

Courtesy: Reviresco Miniatures

There are two guns included - both may be assembled, though one is clearly intended to be attached to the pack train and transported disassembled.

Reviresco 2.95 Mountain Gun Crew
Animation: 3
Detail: 2
Proportions: 5
Variety: 4
Overall: 3.25

Reviresco 2.95 Mountain Gun Pack Animals
Animation: 3
Detail: 3
Proportions: 4
Variety: 4
Overall: 3.25

The 2.95 Mountain Gun wasn't adopted by the British Army - it was purchased by some Colonial authorities and taken into a few of the Colonial defense forces, especially British West Africa and Egypt.

I hope to have pictures of the finished, painted figs up in a few days. For now, pics from Reviresco will have to do.

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French 90mm de Bange Proxies

In 1889, the most common gun accompanying the French Coloniale on campaign was the de Bange 80mm mountain gun, of which Askari Miniatures do a fine model.

At the same time, the most common French artillery piece you would find aimed at the German frontier would be the de Bange 90mm rifled breech loader. Hundreds of these were made after 1877, replacing the Reffye and Lahitolle systems. They were used well into WWI, despite being obsolete, due to production shortfalls concerning the 75mm Puteaux.

Courtesy Musee du Armee

As the competition on Mars heats up, and open war becomes more likely, the Armée de Mars is going to need some 90 de Bange on hand.

I have not yet been able to find a manufacturer who makes or is willing to make this integral cannon, so I've located the next best thing - the sexy proxy.

Old Glory SAW-28

Old Glory make an American 3.2 inch rifled breechloader in their Spanish-American War line.  Since the Americans were being influenced by French design, it's no surprise that this gun has a similar stepped barrel and clean lines. The trail is a little too wide for the de Bange, being designed to navigate wide American roads and not narrow, French lanes in the Vosges, but that's minor and easily corrected by filing down the trail axle and inserting a new axial pin. I haven't done that with the set I've just finished, but I probably will in future.

Miniatures by RAFM and Old Glory

 There are also two upright supports (for a gunshield?) on the Old Glory original. These were easily removed, as the reader will note in the pictures.

Such a Pretty Gun

En redoubt

 Now to find some limbers!

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Reviresco British Gun Weasel

What follows are some pictures sent to me by John at Reviresco Miniatures.  Apparantly my doddling about (q.v.) with his Fate Racing Car inspired him to do some conversions of his own, and here is the result.

Photo courtesy of Reviresco Miniatures

Photo courtesy of Reviresco Miniatures

Photo courtesy of Reviresco Miniatures

John added smaller seats and tracks from the Lenin Rolls winter set.   The solid wheels are extras from his automobile line.  The new sides and longer fenders were made from .03 plastic card. The gun is from the 6lb Quick Fire Set and the crew from the British Pith helmet artillery crew. The caterpillar tracks are from his Racer modification kit.

This makes for a distinctive tracked gun carrier that would do any Space:1889 wargamer proud, operating on Mars, Venus, or the Western Front, especially if you were considering “Weird War One” or (as has been suggested on TMP) Very British Civil War.. 

I think, in the general climate of Happy Meal/Jumble Sale vehicles that seem to be saturating the Victorian Science Fiction genre these days, John’s Gun Carrier, Mk. 1 “Weasel” offers a unique, yet reasonable addition to General Wood’s #1 Column advance on Œnotria.

John tells me that if there is enough interest in this model, he'll kit it up for sale.  Visit his website and let him know..

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Askari Miniatures 80mm Mountain Gun and Artillery Mules

One of Askari Miniatures virtues is their focus on ranges outside the standard British Colonial paradigm, on the less well known areas of Victorian campaigning.

One of these less-well-known areas is late 19th century French artillery. In 1889, the French were using several types of field guns, including the De Bange (pron. de baunj) 80mm mountain gun. This weapon crops up on many Coloniale orders of battle, from Chad to Tonkin.

Askari do a nifty model of this gun, shown here with Seneglais crew.  There are also two European officers which I can't show at the moment, because they are still being painted.

Askari also make a set of artillery pack mules which will accept the dis-assembled guns for transport. Also included are pack "bits" (ammo boxes and marching packs) for fitting out a supply mule.

Often, I use the ammo mules as a general supply proxy. I'm of the opinion that as wargamers, we don't always pay enough attention to the supply train. In the 19th century, the colonial forces were often operating well away from their supply base, and including elements of the supply train is both accurate and tactically challenging, as one must task miniatures to guard the train or risk ruin.

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Mind the Gap - Canal Martian Artillerists

One of the challenges in miniature wargaming is filling the Product Gap in a line of miniatures.  In the RAFM Space:1889 line, there is a current dearth of Maritan native artillerists. I say "current" because RAFM is currently discussing how best to expand this line, and I hope they are contemplating new artillerist figs for the Canal Martians.

In the meantime, I've been using RAFM Elves of the Crystal Isles "buccaneers", which can be found, occasionally, on eBay. These were sculpted by Bob Murch, who also sculpted many if not all of the RAFM Martians, so they fit in fairly well.  The only divergence is the elves are wearing boots/shoes.

I can live with that.

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And More Œnotrian Artillery

Rounding out the Œnotrian artillery park is the mighty Lob Gun.

With RAFM 28mm figure for scale

While there is no direct Earth equivalent on the Soldier’s Companion artillery tables, the Lob Gun’s performance equates to that of a 10” or 11” mortar. As non-rifled, indirect artillery, a lob gun only hits on a 6, regardless of range.  However, with a range of 6 feet on the table, the lob gun can reach out and threaten most units in your average Soldier’s Companion game.

Lob Guns don’t work well against open order infantry, and are best used in defense of towns, where they can threaten enemy vehicles, like slow-moving British land juggernauts (tanks) and aerial gunboats. The Lob Gun’s slow rate of fire (1 shot per three turns) means they are best deployed in pairs, or even better, in threes.  Three Lob Guns, fired one per turn defending during a British assault, might goad the Red Terrans into launching a premature attack.
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The particular model shown is from J.R. Miniatures and is cast in two-piece resin (base and barrel).

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More Œnotrian Artillery

Here are a coupe of rogue guns for use in defending town walls.  Rogues performance is equivalent to that of the 68-pounder, albeit with a slower rate of fire.  This can be explained by the 68's use of the percussion cap for firing, while the rogue still uses the "prick and prime" method.

Rogues are not much seen in the field, being very heavy and difficult to maneuvre, but they are useful in knocking down the walls of smaller Martian states. Any siege train on Mars expecting to carry the day will feature a battery of rogues, and any municipality hoping to resist will mount a few on the walls, as a deterrent.

These are part of a three-gun set from Scotia Grendel - you will find them under the Medium Dwarven Artillery.  As resin-cast, there is a bit of "greeblische" around the base, simulating churned-up dirt from the field. This might bother the extra-fastidious when deploying them on a stone parapet.

 I wasn't entirely certain these would scale well with my RAFM Martian gunners, but they do.

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