Retreat From Moscow

Like Rangers of Shadow Deep, Silver Bayonet uses clue markers and a deck of cards to drive the game scenarios.

The artwork in the Silver Bayonet rulebook is fantastic and very thematic, and it inspired me to bash together half a dozen clue markers rather than just using plain tokens.

So there’s an odd stone circle with blooming flowers surrounded by snow, an odd ritual, a skull hidden away, a lost shako and bloody drag marks, some bloody footprints and a broken and bloody fence with claw marks. Some worked out better than others, but I’m pretty happy considering these were all put together using things I had lying around with pretty low effort.

A couple of scenarios also call for grave markers, so I roughly made some from lollipop sticks. The graves can also act as clue markers if a scenario calls for more than 6 markers.

Another quick and simple painting effort for this one. The model is again from Otherworld Miniatures, a Hellhound from their dungeon encounters. I love the stalking pose and the uncanny human looking face.

I was a little undecided what colour scheme to go for, but decided that since I enjoyed the fast painting and end effect on my other wolves, I would replicate the scheme on my werewolf and see how it looked. Quite happy with the end result.

The model is by Otherworld Miniatures.

A quick painting guide for the wolves (more for my own reference)

• White base coat
• Grey wash all over
• Sepia wash targeting mid-tone and darkest fur
• Black wash on darkest fur only
• Drybrush white all over, lighter in the darker areas
• Re-wash with sepia if necessary (i.e. too heavy drybrush)
• Re-wash with umber on darkest fur if necessary

The Silver Bayonet rulebook arrived a few days ago and was very quickly read cover to cover. The rules very much follow from McCollough’s other games, but with an interesting switch to using 2d10s rather than d20s, and having a pool of fate dice for re-rolls. Very excited to give the game a try soon.

With the rules finally in hand, I’ve been able to assemble my French unit. There’s a cap on 8 models per unit, with recruitment points to spend on different soldier types, with each nationality having a slightly adjusted pool of soldier options. It is advised that more models is better than taking a small band of elites.

I decided that the Carabinier with the dual pistols would be Officer for my French unit, mainly because I love the model so much. I had an idea in my head that this would be a team of some experienced soldiers who have had previous encounters with the supernatural before, supplemented by raw recruits who have fallen in with them during the chaos of the retreat from Moscow. I decided that I would have a young Polish officer with a few men to represent the rawer part of the unit – in game terms a Junior Officer, accompanied by two Infantrymen and a Grendier.

A veteran of the Old Guard, my Vivandiere and another French infantryman completed the unit roster.

I’ve got a fair bit of work ahead of me still, as one disadvantage of the Retreat from Moscow theme is my distinct lack of winter terrain, something that I’ll be trying to address over the next couple of months, along with continuing to build up the bestiary and making some thematic clue markers.

Vivandiere or Cantiniere were woman who were attached to the French army to act as sutlers or canteen keepers, and acted as vendors of food and drink to their attached regiment to complement their rations. They were not soldiers, officially serving alongside their husbands, (although the rule that vivandières had to be the wives of soldiers in their regiments was not always strictly enforced).

They fought in every campaign of the Napoleonic Wars,  and it was common for cantinières to provide food and drink to the troops while under fire (generally at no charge on days of battle), nurse the wounded, and generally stiffen morale. Some cantinières reportedly carried muskets and fought in the ranks.

A Vivandiere is a recruitment option for a French unit in the Silver Bayonet. This model comes from Black Hussar Miniatures, a small indie company in Germany, who have a small range but very interesting Napoleonic figures and accessories like wagons, field kitchens and bakeries. They also have some FIW and Saxons for the 7 years war.

The Silver Bayonet calls for some brigands in a few games, so I picked up some armed Russian peasants by the Perrys. These are again some very characterful models, and seemed to be an ideal choice. From a French perspective, I can easily imagine Russian peasants defending their homeland being described as ‘brigands’ in official dispatches.

Having read over the various scenarios in the rulebook I probably need at least another couple of models, but I figure I can simply use some spare French to represent deserters until I paint up some more Russians.

I picked up a set of wolves from Otherworld Miniatures, mainly because I liked the models, but also because they are fairly large, standing around 20mm high to the shoulder. These are intimidating beasts when placed next to a 28mm Napoleonic Perry model, which works out well to my mind. In a black powder era, a normal wolf is not going to be much of a threat, and would avoid humans anyway. These big wolves look threatening and I imagine them being drawn out from the Russian wilderness by other forces.

These were painted with a super quick method, using a series of three washes over a white base coat, and then dry brushed to finish.

I should have my copy of the Silver Bayonet arriving soon, which will give me a chance to reconcile my random collection of models with what’s actually in the game rules. North Star have mentioned that the second wave of releases will be in January, with units for the three remaining nations (Austrians, Russians and Prussians). The third wave will be in Feb, and will have some specific monsters, including goblins, revenants, scarecrows and vampires. There’s a preview of the vampires sculpted by Mark Copplestone on North Star’s Facebook page, and they look great. North Star are also releasing models for a Retreat from Moscow range to support Shakos and Bayonets, so I’m expecting for this project to continue to grow in the New Year.

Next up on the painting desk will be some armed Russian peasants to act as bandits, and a Cantinière to add to my French.

Finally found a vampire miniature that I think works with the aesthetics and theme I’m going for. I particularly like the little rat minions gathered around his feet.

The model is by Reaper Miniatures (specifically Anselmo, Nosferatu Vampire).