2026: The Grand and Glorious Plan!

Yep. Sam is back. He is kicking ass and taking names - and he is finally running out of names and will be (hopefully) kicking more ass as he looks for Charlie.

Happy New Year! Each year I develop a plan (What? You were a Joint Operational Planner in your last years in the military?) to focus my hobby activities and this year is no different. On with the plan!

1. Phase 3 of the Boxer Rebellion Project for The Men Who Would be Kings. To complete my Chinese Field Force for the Boxer Rebellion I'm going to add two Boxer units of 16 figures each. The Boxers will be from Crusader Miniatures Boxer Rebellion Range.

2. The American War for Independence in the South. As a military historian I had a special interest in the AWI in the South (harrumph, published papers, etc.). I have down the AWI in miniature twice in 25/28mm and now I'm going to do it again using Warlord Games Epic Revolution range of 13.5 mm figures. The British and American armies will be representative of he armies that fought in the last years of the war in the South. I will post later on the planned organization of the two forces.

The first unit completed is the Musketeer Regiment von Bose of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel which famously fought back to back during the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. German troops comprised 1/3 of units for the British Army during the AWI.

 3. The Search for Charlie. Listen up! The Quest is on for 2026. Yep . . . finally. And the bad guys are wetting their pants.

4. Terrain. I just realized I have no 15mm terrain for the AWI. Hmmm . . . In addition a key piece of terrain will be built for "The Search for Charlie" that will be needed later in the adventure.

5. Games, Games, Games.

In addition to our Pulp Campaign "The Search for Charlie" there will be action in the Peninsular during the Napoleonic Wars, China in the 1900's, back to the NW Frontier in 1897, the English Civil War, some Unmatched and why not - some WH40K action.  Depending on progress maybe even the AWI.

Short and focused. Let's see what happens.

Favorite Units I painted in 2025

 

Wow. Where to begin?

1. Ogre: Infantry in Power Suits. These were not a challenge to paint but I think they look so cool!

2. Austro-Hungarian Naval Brigade from the SMS Zenta. Who would have thought that the Patriarch of the von Trapp Singers (The Sound of Music) was decorated for bravery during the Boxer Rebellion. Copplestone Miniatures Back of Beyond Russian Naval converted to Austro-Hungarians.

3. Imperial Japanese Infantry, Boxer Rebellion. Imperial Japan had the largest contribution of forces to the 8 Nations Alliance and I am really liking Crusader Miniatures new Boxer Rebellion range. Naval ensign hand painted by me.

4. Imperial Chinese Unit, Boxer Rebellion. You can never go wrong with figures from Wargames Foundry. Banners are from Crusader Miniatures. Flag hand painted by me.

5. Kansu Braves, Boxer Rebellion. Another winner from Crusader Miniatures and banners from Crusader Miniatures.

6. Imperial Chinese Krupp Mountain Gun. I think I'm seeing a pattern here. Figures by Wargames Foundry and gun by Askari Miniatures.

7. Musketeer Regiment Von Bose. I'm returning to an old favorite, personally and professionally (it's hard to take the history out of the military historian after numerous thesis', articles, dissertation, ect.) the American War for Independence. Proving to myself that I could still paint small figures in gaming detail, I'm going to use the Warlord Games Epic Revolution range in 13.5 mm. First up is the Musketeer Regiment Von Bose which famously fought back to back at the Battle of Guildford Courthouse.

Now it's time to get ready for the 2026 plan.

The Boxer Rebellion Project, Part 21: Phase 2 Complete

Captain General Nieh Shih-ch'eng of the Tenacious Army 

Huzzah! Phase 2 of the Boxer Rebellion project is complete. Phase 1 was the building of an 8 Nations Field Force for The Men Who Would be Kings based on the General Gaselee's Relief Force and Phase 2 is the Imperial Chinese Army component of the forces that opposed them.

1. Chinese Imperial Infantry Unit.

    Irregular Infantry: 4 points.

    Poor Shots: - 1 point.

    Total: 3 points.

2. Chinese Imperial Infantry Unit.

    Irregular Infantry: 4 points.

    Poor Shots: - 1 point.

    Total: 3 points.

3. Chinese Imperial Infantry Unit: The Kansu Braves. How can you not have a Chinese army without the Kansu Braves!

    Irregular Infantry: 4 points.

    Poor Shots: - 1 point.

    Veteran: +1 point.

4. Imperial Chinese Artillery.

    Well drilled: 6 points.

    Total: 6 points.

5. Phase 3 will be two units of Boxers of 16 figures each. They will either be metal Boxers from Crusader Miniatures or hard plastic from Wargames Atlantic:

Chinese Boxers x 2.

    Tribal Infantry: 3 points.

    Fierce: 1 point.

    Total: 8 points.

Total Force: 24 points.

I'm not exactly sure when I will start Phase 3 as I promised myself I would finish what I have started with Leval's German Division for the Peninsular War and the planning of a return to an old favorite but in a new scale for me. I'm sure I'll start the Boxer's no later than the beginning of the new year.

Confederation of the Rhine Battalion Number 3 (Frankfurt). Figures from WoFun Games converted by me.

Commander of the 3rd (German) Division: General Jean François, Baron Leval.

On to the Iberian Peninsula!

The Boxer Rebellion Project, Part 20: Imperial Chinese Odds and Ends

 I had a few figures leftover from my Wargames Foundry order so I am not putting them to waste. First up is another artillery figure carrying an artillery round into a flag bearer. Chinese armies were known for having lots of flags in their units so the more flags the better.

Now that I am looking at the photos I need to do some touch-ups on the flag where I made the cuts. Next (posted in the previous blog) is another artillery figure that I made into an artillery lieutenant:

Speaking of artillery, I originally had the figure of the Imperial Chinese General Li Shimin from the Taiping Rebellion as the artillery officer for my gun holding a linstock. Since I purchased a Krupp breech loader, I have now made him into a banner bearer. His armor is outdated for this period - but so what? It looks cool. He will either go with a unit, be an objective marker, or just look neat on the tabletop.

Original role.

New Role.

Next up is another figure of General Li Shimin that maybe a leader, objective, etc. Th color and patterns are based on a uniform in a museum at the British Museum.

Phase 2 of the Boxer Rebellion poject is just about finished!

The Boxer Rebellion Project, Part 19: New Officer for Imperial Chinese Krupp Mountain Gun

 When I first started planning my Imperial Chinese force for The Men Who Would be Kings, I purchased my artillery crew from Wargames Foundry before I purchased a field piece. Initially I painted an anachronistic command figure and gave the figure a linstock from the sprues accessory.

Of course I then purchased a Krupp mountain gun Model 1895 from Askari which is a breechloader - no linstock needed! I had some extra artillery crew and I added a tulwar from the Perry Miniatures Afghan Tribesman hard plastic box and Ta Dah! An instant Artillery lieutenant for the Tenacious Army.

The Boxer Rebellion Project, Part 18: Kansu Braves from Crusader Miniatures

Kansu Braves from Crusader Miniatures

Huzzah! My third infantry unit is complete for my Imperial Chinese Field Force for The Men Who Would be Kings. I had earlier completed the Command pack for this unit and now I have finished it with two packs of BKB001 - Kansu Braves with Rifles.

The Gansu Braves or Gansu Army was a combined army division of 10,000 Chinese Muslim troops from the northwestern province of Kansu (Gansu) in the last decades of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Loyal to the Qing, the Braves were recruited in 1895 to suppress a Muslim revolt in Gansu. Under the command of General Dong Fuxiang (1839–1908), they were transferred to the Beijing metropolitan area in 1898, where they officially became the Rear Division of the Wuwei Corps, a modern army that protected the imperial capital. The Gansu Army included Hui Muslims, Salar Muslims and  Dongxiang Muslims, and Bonan Muslims.

General Dong Fuxiang.

The Braves, who wore traditional uniforms but were armed with modern rifles and artillery, played an important role in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. After helping to repel the Seymour Expedition, a multinational foreign force sent from Tianjin to relieve the Beijing Legation Quarter in early June, the Muslim troops were the fiercest attackers during the siege of the legations from 20 June to 14 August. In addition they played a key role with the Tenacious Army against General Gaselee's Relief Force. They were fierce, if undisciplined and suffered heavy casualties especially at the Battle of Peking. After the Eight-Nation Alliance relieved the siege, the  Kansu Braves guarded the Imperial Court on their journey to Xi'an.

Anonymous Chinese woodblock. Bodies thrown into the sky as Dong Fuxiang's Kansu Braves attack Western and Japanese forces at Tianjin.

For the Eight-Nation Alliance, Tientsin was the bloodiest battle of the Boxer Rebellion. Two hundred and fifty soldiers of the allied armies were killed and about 500 wounded. The Japanese lost 320 killed and wounded; the Russians and Germans 140 killed and wounded; the Americans 25 killed, and 98 wounded; the British, 17 killed and 87 wounded; and the French 13 killed and 50 wounded. Casualties for the Chinese Army and the Boxers are unknown.