Last Ak-47 order delivered!

Haven't sat down to update the blog in a few days, but last Thursday brought the delivery of the big order I was waiting on from OldGloryMiniatures.com, the modified version of the order that Warweb failed to deliver. My Warweb order is now in Paypal claim department's hands, waiting for a refund. But in the meantime, OldGloryMiniatures.com came through with an unexpectedly rapid delivery.

Now I just need to find time to open all the packs and start sorting out my units for both armies, including extra troops from political maneuvers. I have a sneaky suspicion that I'll have enough left over to start a third army when I'm done. I'm particularly anxious to see how many of what is in the command/weapons packs with 50 figures total.

The AK-47 rules are not concerned with the specific types of small arms on an infantry base, with the exception of man-portable anti-tank weapons (RPG/Bazooka), crew-served heavy machine guns, mortars, recoilless rifles, and anti-aircraft weapons. So those are the main ones I need to sort out of the weapons packs.

New arrivals and adjustments

Firstly, the Litko custom counters I ordered have arrived and I am very pleased with them. I think they'll do the job I want them to do. Now I just need to get the rest of the troops in so I can start building armies.

I finally decided to just cancel the Warweb orders and order direct from OldGloryMiniatures.com. I've initiated Paypal messages requesting a cancellation and citing the lack of communication. I have, however, decided to adjust my order in the process. I've dropped a couple of items and added a few more to better suit what I think I want for the final armies.

So the newly modified Old Glory order from OldGloryMiniatures.com is (totals of figures/vehicles, not packs):

Middle Eastern Regulars - 50
Middle Eastern Command - 50
African Irregulars - 100
African Irregular Command - 50
African Pickup Crew with HMG - 4
14.5mm ZPU Truck Mount - 4
Modern Pickups - 6
T-55 - 3
BTR-50 APC - 3
BTR-60A APC - 3
CMP 3 Ton Trucks - 6
AEC Armored Car - 3

Most likely, the army troops will get the tanks while the religious movement gets the armored cars, but we'll see.

I'm going to end up with an over-abundance of options for technicals by the end of this due to my random ordering from different sources instead of carefully planning. I've got a Landrover with RCL and a Jeep with RCL that came that way. But I've also got a total of 7 heavy machine gun vehicle mounts, 8 75mm RCLs, 6 ZPU-1 AA guns, 1 ZPU-4 AA gun, a quad 50cal MG mount, a twin-linked Gatling gun mount, a twin-linked auto-cannon mount, and a small rocket launcher mount. Which comes out to 26 possible weapon mounts (not counting the two pre-mounted RCLs), though some of those may end up as ground mounts too. This is partly due to the fact that several of them are multi-packs, particularly the RCLs that sent me too many in a pack and told me to just keep the extra when I reported it.

Lastly, I got an email from TheSceneUK that my order was complete. So hopefully it either shipped then or will ship by tomorrow.

Reinforcements Arriving

It's been a busy couple of days for the mail carriers in Kinyonga, though their labor is not yet over.

My full QRF order from Scale Creep Miniatures and my Peter Pig order from Brookhurst Hobbies arrived yesterday, but I was too busy with some real life things to open them until today. Today's mail brought the second order from Peter Pig UK, and the huts and blast markers from PaperTerrain.

With the Peter Pig BTR-152 in hand, I was able to compare the size of the old Maisto M939 diecast trucks I had. They're longer than the BTR-152, but the wheels are about the same size and the height is reasonably compatible, so I think for my purposes they'll work to fill in extra trucks where needed. The M939 is technically too modern for my setting, but I'm going with the "a truck is a truck" rule for now, at least until such time as I can acquire a significant number of proper period trucks for an insignificant amount of money.

Most concerning to me right now amongst the not yet received is the Old Glory figures and vehicles ordered from Warweb. The earliest of them were ordered 19 days ago. They're just barely inside their "allow 2-3 weeks" timeframe, with no notice yet of anything shipping, and no answer to phone or email. This makes me a bit nervous since I've never ordered from them before. I wasn't expecting so long a delay because I thought everything I ordered was listed as in stock; I'm wondering if I overlooked one that wasn't or if their stock count wasn't up to date.

Other than that, I'm waiting on the Old Glory ZSU-23-4 and M40 Jeep w/RCL that I ordered direct from OldGlory15s, the casualty/wrecked/pinned markers from Litko, the barbed wire from SnM Stuff, the Nu-bee Mi-4 Hip from Hattons, the AA guns and rockets from TheSceneUK, and the radio transmitter pylon from Shapeways. Of those, the last 4 are all overseas, so I'm not too worried about the timeframe on them. Litko produces when the order is received, so it always takes a little while for them to ship, but I'm used to them and their communication.

I need the Old Glory orders (both Warweb and OG15s) and the TheSceneUK heavy weapons to be able to start sorting bases and units, especially the technicals since there are 4 pickups and 4 crew-served guns in the Warweb order and an additional 3 guns and a rocket launcher from TheScene. Once I have those, I can sort out which weapons I want mounted on which vehicles. The pickups, Unimogs, Land Rover, BTR-40, and M939s are all candidates for weapon mounts.

Totalling Up the Purchases (updated 9/14/15)

One of the hazards of buying a little here and there is you can quickly buy more than you need or spend more than you wanted. I'm pretty sure I've ended up doing that already with the AK-47 project. I won't really be sure until I have everything in hand so I can sort it out and figure up points, but I was going through to figure up how many things I'd ordered and thought I'd post the list here in a single post at the same time. Counts are number of figures/vehicles/items, not number of packs.

Old Glory
original order from Warweb cancelled

New Old Glory Order
Middle Eastern Regulars - 50 *
Middle Eastern Command - 50 *
African Irregulars - 100 *
African Irregular Command - 50 *
African Pickup Crew with HMG - 4 *
14.5mm ZPU Truck Mount - 4 *
Modern Pickups - 6 *
T-55 - 3 *
BTR-50 APC - 3 *
BTR-60A APC - 3 *
CMP 3 Ton Trucks - 6 *
AEC Armored Car - 3 *

Old Glory 15s/Battle Honors
ZSU-23-4 Shilka - 1 *
Jeep w/106mm RCL - 2 *

QRF
BTR-40A APC/scout vehicle - 1 *
Ferret Mk 1 armored car - 2 *
Saracen APC - 1 *
Landrover LWB w/Wombat RCL - 1 *

 Peter Pig
Seated Drivers - 6 *
ZPU-4 AA gun - 1 *
ZPU-1 AA gun - 2 *
Gaz Jeep - 1 *
AA Crew - 6 *
75mm RCL - 8*
Dictator character - 1*
Religious Leader character - 1*
BTR-152 - 2 *
Toyota High Suspension - 1 *
Unimog Truck - 2 *
Landrover - 1 *
MG Gunners - 3 *

Rebel Minis
Hostages - 12*
News Crew - 2*
Modern Rioters - 21*
Riot Police - 20*
African Military (berets) - 27*
African Militia - 27*
Modern Police - 22*
Modern Civilians - 21*

Khurasan Miniatures
Galactic Dictator - 1*
Modern Western Civilians (rioters) - 10*

Litko
30x30 bases - 200*
30x40 bases - 25*
40x40 bases - 50*
Wrecked vehicle markers (custom, blue) - 10 *
Wrecked vehicle markers (custom, red) - 10 *
Casualty markers (custom, red) - 30 *
Casualty markers (custom, blue) - 30 *
Pinned Markers - 20 (+10 I already had = 30) *

SnM Stuff
Barbed Wire - 10 meters *

Paper Terrain
15mm Grass Huts - 15 *
Blast markers - 25 *

Nu-Bee
Mi-4 Hip model kit *

Finger and Toe Models
15mm ShantyTown shacks - as many as I feel like printing and assembling*
15mm ShantyTown Shops - as many as I feel like printing and assembling*

The Scene UK
Quad linked 50 cal machine gun - 1 *
Twin linked Gatling gun - 1 *
ML001 (vehicle rocket launcher) - 1 *
Twin linked auto cannon - 1 *

Shapeways
 Transmitter  Pylon - 1 *


Besides all of this, I may or may not use some diecast vehicles I have on hand for the project, once I see what the sizes of the 15mm vehicles are compared to my diecasts.

* - indicates I've already received it. Everything else is waiting to arrive.

A few more arrivals

Today's mail brought a couple of AK-47 related items.

Firstly, a set of diamond needle files ordered off of Amazon for about $16. I realized once I started receiving the figures that I really wasn't supplied for metal files, so I did a quick search on Amazon for highly rated ones and these seemed the best choice for my needs. We'll see how they perform. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0048087RQ

And secondly, my first order of Peter Pig figures direct from Peter Pig arrived (faster than some of my USA orders have). One each of  17-68 75mm Recoil-less Rifles, 17-43 Dictator, and 17-44 Religious Leader. They're remarkably clean sculpts, very nicely done. The Dictator will likely serve as the leader of the MUZ forces, while the Religious Leader will of course lead the MBU.

This evening...or I suppose now it's morning...also saw me finally figure out how to get to the right Peter Pig range on the Brookhurst Hobbies site and get the page to display 100 items instead of the default 10, so I may be forced to order a few more Peter Pig from Brookhurst to test them out now that I'm no longer having to page through all 2000 or so Peter Pig items 10 at a time.

More Recent Arrivals

I've recently added to my wargaming library the excellent Wargames Compendium by Henry Hyde. I've read chunks of it, but far from all of it, and found it just as good as I expected. Henry has a love for the hobby that comes through clearly, and a wealth of knowledge available both in his own brain and in his many contacts.

To give me some inspiration in painting up the new troops, I picked up Modern African Wars (2) : Angola and Mozambique 1961-74 (Men-At-Arms Series, 202) from Osprey. I've only really skimmed a bit of the text, since the war itself is not of great interest to me, but may go back later to gain more knowledge and flavor from the conflict. I may later pick up the volumes on the Algerian War and the Indonesian Confrontation from the same series.

Noble Knight carries some of the Rebel Miniatures figures, but not all of the line, and several of them are out of stock, so I ended up ordering part of what I wanted from them and part directly from Rebel Miniatures. Noble Knight also used the wrong photo on their Modern Police, so I thought I was getting Riot Police from them and turned out to be getting regular officers without the riot gear. I picked up a pack each of African Militia and African Military, the mistaken pack of Modern Police, and a pack of Modern Civilians. Today's mail brought the figures direct from Rebel Minis, comprised of 1 pack each of Riot Police, Modern Rioters, Hostages, and News Crew w/Robber. Yesterday's mail brought a tiny order from Khurasan Miniatures as well, comprised of one pack of Modern Civilians (despite the innocuous name, these are running and shouting and provided with bricks and molotovs as optional weapons) and one of "Galactic Dictator and Techno-Ninja." I really only needed the Galactic Dictator, a woman with long flowing hair and a suitably ornate military uniform, complete with frilled epaulettes, medal, and eye patch. I haven't decided what I'll use her for, but when I noticed her, I knew I needed one.

The AK-47 Republic Rules require both armies to be formed of exactly 5 units, but allow for each side to have one optional sixth unit of "Unarmed Militia", which means not so much unarmed as not equipped with military weaponry. They can still have knives, bats, pistols, bricks, molotov cocktails, and other such implements common to violent mobs. Under normal circumstances, this unit is required to always be off-board as a reinforcement unit that dices for arrival. However, I have it in mind to set up a scenario with the rioters as the cult's "Unarmed Militia" and the riot police as the government's "unarmed militia" and start both on the board in a confrontation, with military units of both sides responding to the eruption of violence.

The other arrival in today's mail was a set of bases from Litko Aero. A lot of 30x30, the standard AK-47 base size, and smaller quantites of 40x40 (towed weapons and tanks), and 30x40 (cavalry and possibly trucks, technicals, etc). The 30x40 may end up being superfluous, because I'm no longer sure if the vehicles will fit on them. I'll have to wait and make my decision once the vehicles arrive.

I'm still waiting for arrival of figures and vehicles from Peter Pig, Old Glory (via Warweb and Old Glory 15s), and QRF (via Scale Creep Miniatures); Barbed wire from SnM Stuff; some markers/tokens from Litko; and a set of needle files from Amazon.

AK-47 Update

After some puttering about with an African name site online, I've decided to rename my new AK-47 Republic from Ztumsia to Kinyonga. It's supposedly Swahili for Chameleon, which seemed quite suitable. This means the Nationalist army MUZ is now the MUK.

I also decided to rename the tribes mentioned in the narrative.

The Zaitu are now the Chandu (Swahili for Octopus)
Papa Noote's tribe are now the Twiga (Swahili for Giraffe)
And the new religious appointee, Brother Isaac, is now of the Imfezi tribe (Yoruba word for Cobra)

For now, I've left the names of the characters unchanged, but I may later find myself giving them "real" names as well. We shall see.

The first order of figures to arrive included one pack each of Rebel Minis African Militia and African Military. I've sorted out 6 small arms bases and 3 RPG bases of the militia into tiny bags. Those may not stay sorted as they are once the rest of the figures arrive, however. I also received a package each of Modern Police and Modern Civilians, but I'm not sure they'll work for what I was initially thinking about. All of those were ordered from Noble Knight.

I'm still awaiting deliver of a mixed group of Old Glory 15mm infantry and vehicles from Warweb, so once those are delivered I'll be able to sort out my troops better. Also waiting on an order of suitable bases from Litko.

Figure Identification

Can anyone help with identifying these figures?



There has been a little speculation that they could be Scruby, but nothing concrete.

Items for sale or trade

Books
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Osprey Men-At-Arms 64 Napoleon's Cuirassiers and Carabiniers
Osprey Men-At-Arms 55 Napoleon's Dragoons and Lancers

25-30mm Old Glory
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SYWA-13 Austrian Hussar Command - complete (1 standard top broken off but present)
SYWA-08 Austrian Hungarian Grenadier Command - complete
SYWA-03 Austrian German Grenadier Command - 1 officer w/spontoon, 1 drummer, 1 standard bearer
SYWA-04 Austrian German Grenadier - 1 wounded marching hatless, 12 marching grenadier variants
?? unidentified 18th century - 2 officer marching with spontoon over shoulder, 2 officer standing with sword upright
AWI-21 British Grenadier March Attack - 1 officer, 1 standard, 1 fifer (I think), 1 drummer, 11 marching

25mm Barry Minot plastics
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2 Highlander
3 AWI light infantry advancing
2 AWI musketeer in tricorn advancing
16 AWI grenadier in bearskin advancing

30mm Spencer Smith plastics
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2 drummers (1 painted and based)

25mm Sash & Saber
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1 Prussian Grenadier Advancing Shoulder Arms (Prussian Cuffs)

1/72 Plastic Napoleonics - Boxed
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Manufacturer Code # Name Number of Boxes Number of Figures
Italeri 6058 British and Scots Infantry 1 50
Zvezda 8021 French Infantry 1 50

1/72 Plastic Napoleonics - Loose
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Manufacturer Code # Name Number of Figures
Esci 227 French Line Infantry 75
Esci 215 Napoleonic British Infantry 127
Airfix 01744 Waterloo French Infantry 141
Esci 214 French Imperial Guard 127
Airfix 01749 Waterloo French Imperial Guard 50
Airfix 01736 Waterloo French Cavalry 24

1/72 Plastic Samurai
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Caesar 003 Japan Samurai with Ninja - 1 box (with box, but off sprue, unpainted)

1/87 Vehicles
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Roco Marder I (missing targeting asembly on left of turret)
Roco fuel tractor/trailer (Z168 maybe, with scoop-entry on tractor?)(painted)
EKO WW2 dump truck
Roco water tank truck (Looks like the #148, only it has the scoop-entry rather than doors on the tractor)

1/72 Plastic WW2
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Airfix 01748 USAF Personnel (loose figures, but should all be present)
Airfix 01747 RAF Personnel (loose figures, but should all be present)