Campaign Game 1 - Where Are All The Horses?

This is the background of the first of the seven scenarios of the Russian Invasion of the Colony of South Australia campaign game:

Where Are All The Horses?

Dawn on Sunday 17th August 1879 found South Australians with a new view off their coastline a Russian invasion fleet! While a frigate acted as lookout for the fleet, an old monitor blockaded the port and four fighting ships bombarded the Fort Glanville building site ‘just in case’ the rest of the ships lay at anchor off Henley Beach disembarking the invasion force by row boat! It was a long and back breaking task! The first troops ashore were two rifle companies from the 36th Division and their task to secure a safe perimeter and they met no resistance. Later in the day the men of the 1st Transbaikal Cossack Regiment were ashore and they were relieved as they were more used to life on steppe than on the rolling waves. Lieutenant-General Lazarev and his staff were ashore by nightfall.

While a few junior officers urged the army commander to push to the city of Adelaide with the four companies he had at hand Lazarev was a wily old bird and was not going to risk his troops in small packets at least not without a complete picture of the South Australians positions. The failure of the fleet to secure an intact jetty was telling and he was painfully aware that to get his full force ashore with all their equipment was going to take at least 48 hours!

Monday afternoon Lazarev was at last confident to move, he looked to the Cossacks who had now rested and were eager for action. They were ordered to advance from the beachhead in small groups and obtain intelligence on the enemy’s dispositions and more importantly begin foraging for victuals, horses and vehicles.

Lazarev's opposite Lieutenant Colonel Downes the commander of the South Australian military forces was meanwhile working like a man possessed he had no sleep in the nights before the invasion as he busily reacted to the initial sightings of the Russian fleet and had instigated the burning of the jetties and the sinking of two steamships in the harbour entrance to block it. While Governor Jervios met with the Russian diplomatic mission that had been sent out from the beachhead Sunday afternoon he garnered all the knowledge he could about his foes. He learnt an important piece of information from various sources viewing the Russians coming ashore they appeared to have brought with them only ammunition and ordinance, there it was crate after crate of bullets piling up on the beach, he opined from this they would be reliant on various locally procured items so immediately dispatched riders and Constabulary to instruct all the residents to the west to withdraw to the confines of the city mile with haste and bring with them every item of food, all their livestock and any wheeled transport they may own so as not to leave them for the invaders. The squares in the city soon resembled farm yards but little was left for the Russians.

Sunday evening Downes spoke with his available company commanders and selected squads of expert marksmen were dispatched westward toward the beachhead to lay in wait for the expected Russian reconnaissance parties ambush them and retire promptly, his aim was to inflict maximum casualties on his foes at the minimum cost while he concentrated his defending forces.

The stage was set, Monday the 18^th of August 1879 would see the initial clashes of the campaign and it was men from the Unley Volunteer Rifle Company and the 1st Transbaikal Cossack Regiment who would exchange the first shots...

AAR and scenario forces, set up, special rules and victory conditions to come next!

Captain Darling & The Russian Army....

The Russian Invasion of the Colony of South Australia was not Captain Darlings first encounter with the Imperial Russian Army, he had fought alongside them during the Second Great Martian Invasion of Earth with the 3rd Steam Powered Armoured Brigade comprising men from the British, French and Russian Empires in the Crimean theatre of operations during 1875. It was during this period of Darling's life that he acquired his fondness of vodka and caviar. He got on well with the Russian warriors of the Brigade and preferred their company to that of the French,he was heared to have said:

"You know where you stand with simple Russian folk but how can you trust a Frenchman who scoffs frogs legs and washes it down with red wine that would be best used to strip paint from a privy door!"

The 3rd Steam Powered Armoured Brigade fought continuously against the Martian invaders until their defeat in 1876 and was looked upon as an elite force with a prestigious reputation.

There is only one known picture of the good Captain from that era it is of poor quality and is below. He was photographed by the wreckage of a Martian Scout Tripod Machine in the company of a Russian staff office called Colonel Ovsiannikov who is on his left and another unknown junior officer carrying a Russian standard to his right. 

Russian Invasion Force In 28mm

Replicating the Russian Invasion Force in 28mm required the purchase of figures from several manufacturers. Askari, OutPost and Perry figures have been used. I really like the look of the OutPost figures they have that stocky Russian appearance, the Askari sailors are very good but I was less than impressed with the four army figures from them they look 'odd' especially the drummer (a Wallace and Grommit extra perhaps?) and lastly the Perry figures and Gatling gun were up to their usual standard. They uniforms portrayed are from the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 - 1878.

The Army figures breakdown as:

• 1 General/Staff Officer
• 4 Officers
• 1 Standard Bearer
• 1 Bugler
• 1 Drummer
• 3 NCOs
• 44 Privates

The Cossack figures breakdown as:

• 1 Officer
• 1 Bugler
• 22 Cossacks

The Naval figures breakdown as:

• 16 Ratings
• 3 Gorlov Gun Crewmen
• 1 "Gorlov" Gun
The Russian General/Staff Officer from OutPost:



The Russian Command figures are mixture of Outpost and Askari figures: 

A sample of the Russian Army Privates all OutPost figures:

All the Russian Army figures!

A sample of the Cossacks from OutPost: 

Hide your women, all the Cossacks!

The Perry "Russian" Gorlov Gun and Crew:

A note regarding the "Gorlov" Gun - Since in this 'history' the Russian army hasn't included any artillery in the invasion forces order of battle there would have been no actual Gorlovs available as they included these in their artillery units. I have in my 'history' taken the line that Lieutenant-General Lazarev being a forward minded general wanted to include these in his order of battle so decided while in Vladivostok to puchase several British made Gatling Guns with Broadwell Drum magazines and ammunition through arms dealers in Hong Kong and then ensured they were aboard his ships. Russian naval crews were familiar with the Gorlov so would man these weapons.

Coming Next "the action" begins with Scenario 1!

South Australian Force In 28mm

We have seen Captain Darling rendered in 28mm well it's time to show the figures representing the South Australian Volunteer Riflemen and gunners.

Selecting figures to represent the South Australian militia forces was an interesting task and determining the paint scheme was even more challenging. In the years since the Colony of South Australia was declared the militia wore a wide variety of uniforms and this variety was still in existence in 1879 the year in which the campaign I am recreating was waged. After speaking with a local uniform expert (Grant Napier, his website is http://www.grantsmilitaria.com) standardization of the militia's uniforms and equipment was being introduced at this time and unsurprisingly the British army was being used as the model. Also since I am looking at company level actions I could avoid the unusual and bizarre uniforms some companies fielded. I've gone with Zulu War British figures and they are painted in colours typical of the British of the time which fits in with the standardisation that was occurring. Regarding the painting the webbing there are references to white, black and brown colours for the various items. I went with white so these figures can easily be used for British.

The figures selected are from the Warlord range, the British Zulu War ones. There are a total of 48 figures from two boxes.

They break down to:

• 2 Officers with helmets
• 2 Officers with caps
• 2 NCOs
• 2 Buglers
• 40 Riflemen, 20 in various standing poses and 20 in various kneeling poses

The Captain Darling figure previously shown is a Perry metal from their Zulu War Naval Gatling Gun set.

The South Australian artillery uniform was much easier to research as Fort Glanville in Adelaide has a dedicted group of reinactors and they are a perfect model to copy!

A Warlord metal Zulu War 7lber gun and crew were used to represent these.

The South Australian Command:

From left to right: Bugler, Officer in helmet, Officer in cap, NCO

Close up sample of Riflemen in a movement base:

Close up sample of Riflemen with Captain Darling in a movement base:

All the Riflemen available for use:

South Australian Gun and Gunners:

 

Coming soon the Russian Invasion force in 28mm...

South Australian Defence Forces

The defence forces of the Colony of South Australia had a chequered history since its establishment in 1836. Since South Australia was established as a free colony garrisons were not required as prison guards like the other colonies so very few British troops were at hand for use by the Govenor. Over the years mainly due to invasion fears from France and Russia militia forces were raised but the numbers then dwindled as the fear of invasion did.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1877 raised the fear of a Russian invasion yet again. At the same time a delegation from Britain was appointed by Government to visit the Australian colonies and furnish a report on the means of improving their defences. A memorandum on defence was laid before the South Australian House of Assembly on 12^th of December 1877. It recommended raising a land force consisting of 940 men, for the building of two coastal forts; the completion of a military road along the coastline before the City of Adelaide, torpedoes to be placed across Port Creek and a supply of field guns to be amassed. A further recommendation was for the purchase of an ironclad. This plan was far from complete when the first Cossack placed his foot ashore at Henley Beach on Sunday 17th August 1879.

Two battalions consisting of 21 Volunteer Rifle companies existed when the invasion commenced. Company strengths varied from 45 to 100 men. They were deployed far and wide across the Colony and would need to be mustered for service. Luckily the strongest and best trained of these units were located in around the City of Adelaide so would be ready for action promptly. A couple of companies of Mounted Rifles were present in Adelaide too these were not cavalry and were not expected to fight on horseback.

The average South Australian militia man was enthusiastic to defend his homeland and well trained in the use of his rifle (the Martini-Henry) as attendance of training sessions and the many shooting competitions was very high. But these militiamen were untried in action and Lietenant-Colonel Downes believed he commanded a force that would be best used in shooting matches from good positions rather than used in grand charges and close combat his decisions during the campaign reflected his beliefs. Other South Australians (like Captain Darling) had complete confidence in the rank and file and thought if lead well could accomplish anything!

Two Batteries of relatively light artillery were available and they were manned by well trained and dedicated crewmen. They could not be expected to duel with the Russian fleet and its big gun ships hence the rapid withdrawal of the Colonies forces from the coast.

Regarding fixed coastal defenses in 1879 the Colony had nothing to offer, the Russians had selected the time of their invasion well the first of three proposed forts, Glanville was not anticipated to be even partially operational until 1880 and the others at Glenelg and Largs existed on paper only when the invasion fleet appeared on the horizon!

Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Downes (1834-1923)

Francis Downes was born in Dedham, Essex, England on the 10^th of February 1834. In 1877 he was recommended for the post of Commandant of Military Forces of South Australia and when he was offered it he accepted with great pride. He was credited with changing a poorly disciplined volunteer force into a highly trained and proud ‘army’!

Captain Darling in 28mm!

During the 1880 campaign in the Adelaide surrounds Captain Darling was an officer serving with  Lieutenant-Colonel Downes staff and he dressed accordingly.

He wore a tailor made uniform and looked the epitome of the dashing Victorian officer: 

• Foreign service helmet with cloth puggaree - reportedly stained with a good scotch rather than tea! 
• Blue tunic styled on the 1878 pattern undress frock coat with gold plated buttons - Darling preferred blue to scarlet for his tunics he commented it complemented his deep aqua eyes better!
• Tan baggy pants
• Custom black boots from London with tan puttees

It was not unusual to see the good Captain at the front with a Martini-Henry rifle in his hands while in the thick of action but he usually sported the below weapons: 

• A Webley Mk4 pistol in a leather holster on his belt
• A  Pattern 1845 sword

His belt buckle was often remarked on as it was a custom item in gold and featured a crown over the Egyptian symbol of  the 'all seeing eye', it was said he acquired this during his African campaigning and many rumours abounded about its magical portent and some said Darling dabbled in the dark arts of the African healers, better known in Imperial quarters as 'witch doctors'!

How how does one represent a legend in 28mm scale for gaming purposes well with a Perry miniature that's how!