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The Red Sabre Beyond the Empire

The Red Sabre Beyond the Empire

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Project Blog by elysium64 Cult of Games Member

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About the Project

I have been a long time fan of Mark Copplestones sculpts, ever since his Grenadier days. When he went solo and created Copplestone Castings releasing his Back of Beyond miniatures I bought quite a few and read Peter Hopkirks "Setting the East Ablaze" a truly wonderful book that reads,like a Boy's Own adventure, though historically accurate. With my love of pulp, Cthulhu, and a new found fascination for Central Asia I was hooked. Years passed and through lots of moves and changes of heart my collection dwindled. Then few a years,ago I re-read the book and bought a few adventurers and some Bolsheviks but did not do much with them. In September of 2024 a dream came true and my brother and I joined a small tour of Uzbekistan, visiting Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand and staying in a yurt in the desert and a mountain village. This bought the adventures back to life, and now I am determined to get a good versatile gaming set, that I will use in the "Beyond the Empire" and Setting the East Ablaze" rule sets as well as adapting the "Silver Bayonet" into the "Red Sabre" my Cthulhu inspired pulpy adaptation. I hope to also adapt so that I can enlarge the games by taking small 5 or 10 man units. Hoping I stay on track these are my adventures in the,Back of Beyond.

This Project is Active

Uncovering the Clues

Tutoring 2
Skill 3
Idea 3
1 Comment

Thank you very much for the Golden Button.

Questions were asked and their seemed to be a bit of confusion over the source material.

 

This is the original book that inspired me all those years ago. ( not the ruleset which again was inspired by Peter Hopkirks book). To this day I think this is one of the best history books I have ever read. Truly inspiring.This is the original book that inspired me all those years ago. ( not the ruleset which again was inspired by Peter Hopkirks book). To this day I think this is one of the best history books I have ever read. Truly inspiring.
Uncovering the Clues
For Lloyd. This is indeed a Lledo car which I disassembled and added interior detail too. They are spot on scale wise for 28mm figures.For Lloyd. This is indeed a Lledo car which I disassembled and added interior detail too. They are spot on scale wise for 28mm figures.
Uncovering the Clues

Currently I am painting some more characters inc. the wonderful Pulp figures film crew, will post later. I have also been spending a lot of time drafting out my first adaptation/ edition of Red Sabre. I have changed some of the shooting rules to reflect the more modern guns and have been creating rules for new weapons, LMG’s (and possibly HMG’s, but these will definitely need play testing so that they are not too unbalanced).

I have written faction lists for, Bolsheviks, Uzbekistan, Adventurers/British, Mad Baron, Warlord Chinese and Turks.

I have also created some new troop types inc. LMGer, Cossack, Spy, Mongol, Commissar and Foreign Advisor.

I will share these ideas with you in a future post.

Back to painting now.

A new truck arrives as ominous omens gather.

Tutoring 6
Skill 6
Idea 6
1 Comment

I have updated the photographs in the first post though they are now on their side GRRR!

This week I have finished off a van, a flock of crows and 15 Bolshevik infantry.

I added some Jerry cans to the back, but it did not sit right that they were just glued there. So I used so Photo etch sprue which I cut to size and glued into position.I added some Jerry cans to the back, but it did not sit right that they were just glued there. So I used so Photo etch sprue which I cut to size and glued into position.
Once I had left the glue to cure for a few hours I bent the straps to form around the cans, gluing as I went.Once I had left the glue to cure for a few hours I bent the straps to form around the cans, gluing as I went.
I do not know if they had sand tracks on the 1920's but they look cool and it is PULP.I do not know if they had sand tracks on the 1920's but they look cool and it is PULP.
I also found some grill on the photo etch sprue so I cut to size and added texture to the grill. You can also see some of the interior details I added earlier.I also found some grill on the photo etch sprue so I cut to size and added texture to the grill. You can also see some of the interior details I added earlier.
The van is now finished, I think the Jerry cans have come out really well.The van is now finished, I think the Jerry cans have come out really well.
Asking for directions.Asking for directions.
Under attack. A good view of the completed sand tracks.Under attack. A good view of the completed sand tracks.
The flock of crows, this week I just painted the beaks and feet and painted the corpse, for the blood pool I used GW fleshtearers contrast paint.The flock of crows, this week I just painted the beaks and feet and painted the corpse, for the blood pool I used GW fleshtearers contrast paint.
The freshly mustered raw Bolshevik troops supported by MG's.The freshly mustered raw Bolshevik troops supported by MG's.
Another view.Another view.

This week I will be painting various civillian types and creatures.

I am waiting to the end of the month to order the remaining Bolshevik forces and the start of the Uzbekistan defenders.

My Nefarious Plans

Tutoring 8
Skill 8
Idea 8
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Before going to Uzbekistan I already had a few characters and adventures as well as a unit of Bolsheviks painted. Having returned completely inspired by such an amazing country I am starting with building forces for the “Beyond the Empire” rules ( available from Cavalier Books).

I will aim to build four small forces. Each force will consist of one of two cavalry units of 6 men each, and up to four infantry units 10-12 men each, along with supporting characters/special units (leaders, heroes mg teams, armoured cars, planes etc) , these characters will also be chosen to represent archetypes for “Red Sabre” my ongoing adaptation of “Silver Bayonet” for this setting. I will be focusing on these characters with rules ideas and asking for help ( stars /rules for lmg’s and hmg’s???) in future posts.

The forces will be:

Bolsheviks

As I already have half a force either painted or just requiring a couple of more painting sessions this is the obvious first place to start. The force will consist of three infantry units and one cavalry plus characters/special units.

I will be using Copplestone Castings (CC) for all of these figures.

Veteren infantry – Siberian Rifles

Elite Infantry

Raw infantry – standard Bolsheviks troopers

Lewis gunners, HMG team, FT17 tank (Empress Miniatures =EM), Garfield Putilov armoured car (EM) and a Nieuport 17 biplane.

Leader.

Uzbekistan Defenders

Having been inspired again by my holiday this has to be the next force. There are no specific models that I know off so this is going to be very Pulpy. Many of the,Characters are going to be from the Artisan Designs (AD) North West Frontier Afghan models as well as using their Afghan Herati troops as the Elite Infantry Emits Guard,  the other infantry and cavalry will be AM Afghan tribesmen (I will re-sculpt a lot of the turbans into Astrocan sheep will hats) along with with a unit of Mongol tribal cavalry (CC).

This force also has a unit of mercenaries, I will be using the Copplestone Mercenaries pack and Great War Miniatures Late WW1 German infantry. There were a lot of German imprisoned just outside Tashkent so these kind of make sense to me.

I will also give them a,Crossley armoured car (EM) and a Roland C..OK biplane.

The two future forces will be an Expeditionary/Archaeological force consisting of lots of characters (CC &EM) one unit of infantry (EM Jazz Age British Infantry) and an EM Model T-Ford with HMG ( I love this,model and had to find an excuse to use it).

The final force for now will be that of the Mad Baron, purely because it can be,so eclectic. Mongols, Tibetans, Ragged White Russians, Chinese Spearmen all from CC and Japanese Infantry and artillery from Tsubo.

I will probably find excuses to give both these forces a plane even though not necessarily historically accurate.

I may then expand these four forces further, or add in Warlord Chinese, Turkish and British probably a bit of both😄

I plan to scratch build a Mosque and a couple farm houses/yards.

I will also intermittently be adding various horrors and Cthulhu creatures to support the “Red Sabre” side of the project.

Sorry for the poor photographs, I have created this project on my fire tablet and the camera,is,not great, but is far easier to create project. I will work on replacing the photographs

 

 

 

 

 

The Bolsheviks that are painted. A unit of Elite Infantry - Siberian Rifles, FT17 tank, and characters.The Bolsheviks that are painted. A unit of Elite Infantry - Siberian Rifles, FT17 tank, and characters.
Various adventurers, and clue markers, I had fun creating these.Various adventurers, and clue markers, I had fun creating these.
A few A few "Red Sabre" miniatures. Mi-Go, Great Face of Yith, Ghoul, Sand People (Rafm), Vampire (Northstar Dracula's America- NDA) and a Hound of Tindalos (Modiphius).
The Bolsheviks raw infantry nearly finished.The Bolsheviks raw infantry nearly finished.
Some Tcho-tcho and Copplestone gangsters/civilians that I may use.Some Tcho-tcho and Copplestone gangsters/civilians that I may use.
Elite Infantry officer and two Lewis gunners (will adding the Elite Infantry pack at the end of the month). Yaks,, cavalry lancers/ standards ( not decided yet) and a Lledo can with interior detail and storage for my Archeological/ Expeditionary force which will now be called the Adventurers force from now on as it is a lot bloody easier! Elite Infantry officer and two Lewis gunners (will adding the Elite Infantry pack at the end of the month). Yaks,, cavalry lancers/ standards ( not decided yet) and a Lledo can with interior detail and storage for my Archeological/ Expeditionary force which will now be called the Adventurers force from now on as it is a lot bloody easier!
Some more Cthulhu /horrors still to be finished. 4 Ghouls, 2 Dimensional Shamblers, Ghast, Spawn of Tsathogua, Cthonion (Rafm), Werewolves (NDA), Dark Young of Snub-Niggurath, Crows ( Reaper Plastic).Some more Cthulhu /horrors still to be finished. 4 Ghouls, 2 Dimensional Shamblers, Ghast, Spawn of Tsathogua, Cthonion (Rafm), Werewolves (NDA), Dark Young of Snub-Niggurath, Crows ( Reaper Plastic).

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