Boxer Rebellion (21/100)*

August 31, 2020

Clearly, given the lack of posting here, not much progress on the Boxer Rebellion.  There was a bit more posted here: Tables of Adventure Boxer posts  However, the most recent post prior to this one is just below.  By no means is it abandoned.  I've just been focused on the AWI, Pony West, and Slightly Cracked Colonials (The Steeplechase) most of this year.  I will get back to it.  Just so much TOO much for me to work on.  I do hope retirement (next year hopefully, later in the year) will allow a great deal more progress.  We shall see.

June 22, 2019


Dramatic change in direction from yesterday's post and pictures below.  Decided I wanted to go with a whiter range for the walls - for multiple game use reasons.  So I gathered some spray paint and went to work and sprayed everything.  Then laid it all out and decided it was too white and added the colored wall tops and ramps - the walkways.  Above is a long shot of the 12' of wall (actually 143" give or take - lost some length in sanding out some end mismatches but it will be enough length.
A view of the ramp side from one end...
And the other end.
Same end straight on.
Other side from one end.
The watergate from the bastion side.
Same from the ramp side of the wall.
And last the ramp - still need to add some decorative pieces but it is now a 'playable' wall.


June 21, 2019





June 16, 2016June 16, 2016

The Tartar wall is now primed and ready for painting, or dry brushing and the texturing the top of the wall and the ramps.  Those are actual Boxer figures in the photos - painting by Gary B, not yet based or textured obviously.


The ramp after some belt sanding, caulking of joints, and spray painting - with some touch up after these photos were taken.
One of the main bastions.
The water gate with a few Boxers in the adjacent bastions.
That wall is tall - more Boxers at the base of the bastion.
A corner 'false' bastion (the corner being used in reverse with the cap piece in place.
An overall view of the wall - 14 of the fifteen pieces built for this project.  The 15th piece is the alternative gate so this is the full set up as intended.
Another shot of the same from the ramp side.
The water gate under Chinese guard.
The alternate gate which is quite a bit taller.
Why, even tall enough for a man to ride an elephant through!

It may not be a 'perfect' build, but it is a completed build - except for the painting which won't take long once I get started (and maybe some aded details).   The 'big' task left to do is the top surface and how to texture it.  But it is a BUILT project and that is what it is all about.  Intended for the Boxer Rebellion but useful in many other ways.


May 27, 2019

Some photos of the full sized setup for the Siege Of Peking game I'm working on:

First up, the left leg showing the German, French, Japanese, and the Fu Palace area.  Still debating part of this setup - where to put the wall, how to setup the ruins, how to setup the in tact buildings, especially the part of the Quarter for the Chinese refugees sheltering within the legation area.

The canal area - with a temporary canal (the actual model will be green to reflect the Jade River nick name for the canal.  The Hotel de Peking is on the left.  Will need at least one more bridge.  The gray space is the concrete floor of my garage - when setup on a table this will be open space for access.
The full Tartar Wall - less the yet to be built (still!) ramp.  Note the building at the near end, it has a mirror on the other end.  That is the American Legation to the left of the near end of the wall.
The image below shows the British Legation on the left and the Russian legation on the right.
 My variation of the gate into the Forbidden City.
 The wall of the Su - maybe.  As stated above, still under review has to how this will finally work out.
 Ditto as above, still under review and contemplation.
 The other three legations.  French at top left, German at top right, and the Japanese at the lower left.
 A closer shot below of the left side of the canal.
 And the right side.
 The Su again.
 And especially for Richard, my Foo Dogs outside the gate of the Japanese Legation.
I did take an overall shot on my iPad but have yet to send that over to the computer.  It will be a 12' x 12' square in a U-shaped setup.  Soon, I hope, the ramp will be constructed and then I can start painting.  


June 18, 2018


 The above shows the entire 12' wall - all but the alternate gate piece - with the corners being used as 'false' bastions.  See below for the corners being used as - corners!
 Just a slightly different angle.  There are both the German and American legations in full and partial of the Russian, Japanese, and French legations in the images.  Plus my stand in for the Hotel d' Pekin.
 This is a reverse angle shot.  Note the house on top of the Tartar wall, another one at the other end.
 What are 12 elephants with riders doing in Peking?  'Cuz.  They are actually part of my Indian Mutiny collection that is long delayed in any progress.  Here for scale.
 And another view.
 The top of the wall - will need some serious texture work.  And I'm think I may cheat and NOT do the crenellations.  Twelve feet of them is a LOT.
 Here you can see both house on the wall - and the distant view helps to give a sense of just how big that wall is.
 Above is an alternative setup of the wall with corners in place.
I set up the water gate here - not finished yet.  The other gate, below, is taller, tall enough for a tall rider on an elephant to have generous room to move through without ducking.
That is not the canal, just a stand in river to show where it will be.  And it will be a jade-isn green to match its name as the Jade River (as in a slimy green mess on top).  And that makes one hundred photos on this page.  I reserve the right to remove photos at some time in the future.

June 10, 2018


Above is a reversed corner piece - not yet glued together and not all of it gets glued together, see below.
The wall is not glued, the bastion is.  There will be a coating to 'soften' the corners.
All the bastions, four, are glued together.
A long shot of a full length wall with a bastion and a reversed corner.
This shows the interior of the wall, long top plate, only four cross pieces on the base.
And how about a dozen painted Boxers and a dead Boxer to give some sense of the size of the wall - remember, there will be four long wall sections plus a gate section and then the two corners.
 This shot gives a better sense of the height of the wall.
The corner 'end plate' which is glued together.  This will 'close' either end of the corner no matter how it is used.
And finally, a corner as intended - note the end plate in place and a bastion out of place for the moment.


June 6, 2018


Still only "dry" without glue but this shows my 'cheats' using some beams instead of doing all the geometry it would take to match the slopes on either side and the front of the bastion.  The back piece is simply a reverse of the moulding cut shorter to match the height of the bastion platform.
This view shows a possible location of the bastion against a wall section - still sorting that out a bit - probably won't make a final decision until I've got all the walls and at least one gate built.
In the back are stacks of a corner and then other bastion stacks and closer are the pieces for the other walls, can't see the gate pieces in this shot but they're there off to the right.
I have to admit I went out and bought another piece of moulding and recut the back pieces because I cut them too narrow last weekend.  But those pieces won't be wasted, I'll use them to match the ramps to the wall.


June 4, 2018

Just a few shots showing the Tartar Wall in progress.  The first one is one of the gate sections - without the gate cut in yet - and four Boxer figures from Blue Moon painted by Gary B. who is working with me on this project.  This shot also gives a sense of the height of the walls in relations the French legation closer to the camera and the American legation behind it.
The shot below shows the same bit of wall from a different angle and with one of the Blue Moon Boxer buildings on top.
This shot shows a 30" section of the wall without the bastions or crenellations yet.  It was very late in the day and under artificial light.
And, last, an end on shot showing the construction and that nothing is glued together yet.  There is the top plate which is a 1" x 4" cut to length sitting atop some 'table saw ripped to height' risers that run the length of the wall which rests on four cross pieces that match the top piece in width and then the two cut pieces of moulding to give the angle.  On the very top are two pieces to "raise" the wall which I might glue just inside the moulding since otherwise it will be too high.
All the pieces are cut now except for the crenellations so it is just a matter of gluing (and maybe some screwing) and clamping.  And then, when all is dry and solid, painting - but not before cutting in the doors for the two gates, the water gate and the generic gate.  Still need to build the canal as well including the part that will be under the water gate.  This is a HUGE project.

Doing some rethinking on how to do the ramps so stay tuned.

May 31, 2018


For a sense of scale, here are two photos of the Tartar wall "in the rough".  Those are 15 mm French and Indian War figures to give a sense of the size of the wall, most of the Boxer figures will be taller a bit at 18 mm.  The section above is 6' long but I will build shorter sections, longest will be 30".
Just another view to give a better sense of how tall the wall will be.  For those thinking the wall is out of scale, you are right -  it should be taller!  Still debating what I will do on the top, hoping once properly glued, the 'small walls' at the top will be high enough to suit my tastes and then all I will need to do is cut in the crenellations which will be plenty of work and, thankfully, only needed on one side.  Hmm, quick thought, I can just use short bits on the top to create the crenellations and long bits opposite - likely result in a much 'cleaner' wall.  

Have most of the supplies I'll need and hope to get started this weekend.  Found the local Big Box had 1 x 5 lumber which means I might not need to pull out the table saw, just the chop saw.

Edit: in the 'rush' to take these photos and then looking at them in the 'light' of day, I realize I've put the walls on 'backwards'.  By turning them the other way around, I will get the sloping effect which was the reason for using the moulding - but then there is that open gap at the bottom facing out.  Means I'll have to make some adjustments and probably use the table saw after all.  A bit more work but not excessive.  And that means the walls will get a bit shorter - C'est la Guerre.

(also corrected number of entries and photos in this thread)


April 26, 2018


 An overall shot of the "loot" for China.  Sources are many and not all may be useful but most will find its way into my games and Boxer modeling - especially so for the Spring Palace of the Divine Concubine.
 I got 35 packs of these to create a wall - sort of like decorated bamboo, that will cover about 3' of length.
 Don't recall where the Red Dragon banner came from but probably a restaurant or a package of something from China.  It is likely to hang outside of some fancy and official building.
 The panda bears are just kids toys.  The orange and green dragons are resin pieces and some more wood pieces, probably for gates in the wall above (?).  Those metal pieces by the stairs I believe all came from a doll house supply store, probably the best scaled items for 15 mm.
 The Foo Dogs to either side of the bridge (see below, too) were a cool find because their feet are properly positioned.
 The towers and that fancy gate are all aquarium decor but the tall towers will probably decorate the Imperial City wall north of the British legation - and maybe the gate will lead into it.  No, not accurate, but gives the right sort of 'impression'.
 Just more of the same.
 And ditto.
 The special box for holding all of this stuff - and an unrevealed surprise!  No, I'm not talking.
Check out the Foo Dog feet, the one on the right has its left foot on a gold ball that has lost most of its paint - but that is an easy fix.    And that's all for now.  The figure is a Blue Moon cart driver from the ECW range whose 'comrades' will be pressed into service for my Three Musketeers setup.  He is here just to give scale - and you extrapolate from him the rest of the pieces above with a bit of imagination.


April 25, 2018


 
The above items landed in my mail box yesterday through the kindness of a fellow LAF member and they will enhance the game - the rickshaws will just add to the 'atmosphere' but I think the boats will add to the fun.  I'm thinking to create them as 'fishermen' fishing in the "Jade" river!  
I really like the seated ladies.  Currently just slapped together for a quick photo op which I sent to my "companion in crime" on this project.  They are by Atlantic and the sets sell for a dear price so the gentlemen's kindness is deeply appreciated.  To that kind gentleman, THANKS AGAIN!


April 19, 2018

Found some time - in some compromised lighting - to set up a 9' long version of both 'legs' of the U, at least versions. 
 First up is a long shot.  I plan to use the extra foot (see previous entries below) to have some space on the far side of the Tartar wall, maybe allow the Boxers to try to scale the wall unexpectedly.
 Close to the camera are the three large Blue Moon Boxer ruins parading as the Hanlin library in ruins   - maybe?
 The British on the right and the Russians on the left leaving a channel for the Boxers.
 This setup shows the "Dutch" legation this side of the American legation.
 A different set up of the ruins.
 And another shot from the other side of the American legation.
 Now we switch over to the other leg, the canal on the right side of this leg, closer shots below easier to see.
 On the left is a regrouping of those three large ruins, this time as the Fu Palace and on the right just more ruins.  Clearly, I will need a bunch more ruins.
 Just another long shot of the same leg.
 This shows the German legation with those same in tact buildings - I'm going to have to thing about buying more of these larger (and more expensive!) buildings to fill some of the empty space - besides more ruins.
 A shot from the other end.  Japanese legation on the left, French legation on the right - and that's legation street near the camera.
That's it for today.


April 17, 2018

Don't know what happened but somehow corrupted the background on this page and a few attempts to 'fix it' haven't been entirely successful so I'm not tinkering with it anymore - at least for now.  Still pretty readable, I guess, for most.

April 16, 2018 


 A few shots of possible interest below.  This is 'stumbling' towards a set-up for a convention game.  One of the challenges of the Blue Moon Boxer buildings is their sheer size.  The old Staines wargame 55 Minutes at Peking used greatly scaled down versions of the Legations.  Can't do that with these gorgeous models.  This means painting more figures to have a well staffed legation.  I'm fine with that but it's been a bit of a challenge deciding how to set up a table.  I thought going to a 6' x 12' table would work but an experiment in that direction didn't get where I wanted to go.  So, I tried a different approach and thought two parallel tables might work - and it seems it will.  I've taken it a bit further and will add a 'central' bit of table at one end to create a "U" shaped table - it will be 12' in total width and 9' in total length with a 'bay' of 4' x 6'.  That should leave plenty of room for players and allow the Boxers to attack from along the canal - since the space between the tables will be the canal itself, or at least part of it.  The left side of the pictured table would be Canal Street that the British legation fronts on - all the other main legations front on Legation Street.  It is a bit 'forced' to have the canal centered on the center section that will house the water gate and then have each half of the canal 4' apart but, heck, sometimes we just have to compromise to create a workable game.



 The photo above is a trial run at 4' x 8' before I decided to go with 9'.  The British legation is the main compound on the left, the Russian legation behind, and down near the "faux" Tartar Wall is the American legation.  This setup will give plenty of room for ruins - and the other leg will allow even more room, especially the ruins of the Fu.


And to give a sense of how many figures will be needed to man the walls, above is 72 FIW figures on proper basing to line the walls of the Russian compound.  Since my European forces have 7 x 12 for 84 armed men, 24 unarmed civilians, a dozen 'gunners' for the gun/machine gun, and 3 leaders, that should work out okay - enough to man the walls but not enough to hold all the walls in strength necessarily, especially the larger British legation.


This shot just gives a sense of scale with some FIW figures below a 6" tall faux Tartar wall.


Here I've removed most of the flash from the openings in the Russian building (still leaving on the end windows for now).  Love that ornate staircase - which comes as a separate piece in the set.  What isn't shown is the Russian coat of arms on the other side.


And here is a decent idea of what the Russian gate will look like - though obviously nothing is painted yet.


Another shot of the British legation.  Based on positioning, I'd call the small building closest to the camera the Hanlin library with the garden beyond.  I'm not sure what the ruins at the back, which are part of the set, represent.  Maybe the Mongol market?  Is that Fort Halliday outside the gate?


Just another view of the Russian legation with some of the 'extras' that come in the sets.


 A view of the American legation and a couple of intact buildings.


I might use the building with the label showing as the compound for the Dutch legation - that label is the bag holding the awning and posts that will eventually be glued to the building on the right side of the compound.


And, last, a shot of the large ruin from Blue Moon, three owned, adjacent to the side of the American legation.  I will be adding a bunch more of their ruins to go along with the other ruins in the first shot above, all obtained at various swap meets.  Will also be adding at least 20 more Blue Moon in tact buildings to my collection, mostly the smaller Chinese buildings to fill in open spaces.


April 13, 2018


So, I've sorted my 144 Chinese casualty castings (I say castings because 19 of the castings have 2 figures each so 163 total dead men) have been sorted into all of the Chinese 'units'.  That is one casting for every foot unit and each cavalry unit plus one for each of the 24 groups of civilians and also one for each gun and crew, rocket and crew, or wall gun/jingal and crew.  None are allocated for the higher level commands, however.


Why 24 groups of Chinese civilians?  Well, it is China, the most populous country on earth.  And they can be used to represent the local population or the Christian Chinese sheltering within the legations quarter.  Most people leave this element out of their games but I think that fails to represent the realities on the ground at the time.


As I often say - and probably have typed here on this blog a time or three - I like my battles to be 'in the world' of that history, not just an 'antiseptic' battle.


December 13, 3017


And now for the Legation forces:


British: 2 x 12 man units of sailors, 4 x 12 man units of marines, 1 x 12 man unit of armed civilians, 2 x 12 people units of unarmed civilians, 1 Nordenfelt gun + 8 gunners, 3 command figures on foot


Russian: 1 x 12 man unit of dismounted cossacks, 5 x 12 man units of infantry, 1 x 12 man unit of armed civilians, 2 x 12 people units of unarmed civilians, 1 x gun (?) + 8 gunners, 3 command figures on foot (and 2 x 12 mounted units of cavalry for none legation events)


United States: 5 x 12 man units of marines, 2 x 12 man units of armed civilians, 2 x 12 people units of unarmed civilians, 1 x Colt machine gun + 8 gunners, 3 command figures on foot


Germans: 5 x 12 man units of see battalions, 2 x 12 man units of armed civilians, 2 x 12 people units of unarmed civilians, 1 Krupp gun + 8 gunners, 3 command figures on foot (and 2 Krupp siege guns maybe for German East Africa?)


Franco-Italians: 1 x 12 man unit of Italian sailors, 1 x 12 man unit of Italian Bersaglierie, 1 x 12 man unit of French Sailors, 1 x 12 man unit of French Marines, 3 x 12 man units of armed civilians, 2 x 12 people units of unarmed civilians, 1 one pound Pom-Pom gun + 8 gunners, 3 command figures on foot


Nippon-Austrians: 2 x 12 man units of Austrian sailors, 2 x 12 man units of Japanese infantry, 3 x 12 man units of armed civilians, 2 x 12 people units of unarmed civilians, 1 Nordenfelt (temporarily) + 8 gunners, 3 command figures on foot (and 1 x 12 mounted unit of cavalry for none legation events)


Additional Europeans: 1 x 12  man French Zouave unit, 1 x 12 man French sailor unit, 1 x 12 man Italian sailor unit, 2 x 12 man Russian infantry units, 1 x 12 man Japanese infantry unit, 2 x 12 man British marine units, 1 x 12 man British sailor unit, 1 x 12 man European polyglot unit, 1 x 12 man unit of mixed British and Italians, 1 x 12 man mixed German and United States troops unit, 1 x 12 man mixed Austrian, Italian, and Japanese unit, 1 12 man mounted European polyglot cavalry unit, 1 Nordenfelt gun without crew, 1 unit of 12 men digging (miners), 12 figure unit of unarmed civilians (women and children only), one mounted with one foot figure command group


That stuff in the above paragraph are all extra figures of various stripes that will be used to augment non-Legation games along with the cavalry listed under the legation forces.  There is a remote possibility I might add to this someday but not until vast numbers of figures are painted in all of my various period collections.


Lots and lots and LOTS of figures to paint.  Will put on one heck of a game one day - especially with all those lovely Blue Moon buildings!


December 12, 2017


Here is a list of what I've collected for the Boxer side of the Rebellion:


Boxers -  2 Commands of:


1 only of 2 sets below includes 5 mounted with 5 foot command sets


2 of all of the below listed:

1 mounted with 1 foot command set
8 units of 12 figures - Unarmed Boxers
2 units of 12 figures - Armed Boxers
1 unit of 12 figures - Gun Guard (mixed figures)
2  units of 12 figures - Tigermen
1 unit of 12 mounted figures - Tartar Cavalry
2 pieces of artillery with 8 gunners

Boxers - 2 Commands of


1 only of 2 sets below includes 5 mounted with 5 foot command sets


2 of all of the below listed:

1 mounted with 1 foot command set
8 units of 12 figures - Unarmed Boxers
2 units of 12 figures - Armed Boxers
1 unit of 12 figures - Red Lanterns
2  units of 12 figures - Tigermen
1 unit of 12 mounted figures - Tartar Cavalry
2 pieces of artillery with 8 gunners

Imperial Troops


1 set of 5 mounted with 5 foot command sets


12 units of 12 figures - Imperial Troops

4 units of 12 figures - Kansu Braves
1 unit of 12 figures - Gun Guard (mixed figures)
1 unit of 12 figures - Red Lanterns
1 unit of 12 mounted figures - Imperial Cavalry
1 mounted with 1 foot command set
2 pieces of artillery with 8 gunners
2 rocket units with 8 rocketeers
5 wall guns with 10 gunners

Regular Troops


1 set of 5 mounted with 5 foot command sets


16 units of 12 figures - Regular Troops

1 unit of 12 figures - Gun Guard
1 unit of 12 figures - Red Lanterns
1 unit of 12 mounted figures - Regular Cavalry
1 mounted with 1 foot command set
4 pieces of artillery with 16 gunners
5 wall guns with 10 gunners


Chinese Civilians


24 sets of 12 figures - 186 men, 90 women, 12 children  


Casualty figures for Chinese


96 dead, 48 wounded (+19 dead as part of two figures dead single casting):


77 lying dead figures + 19 paired dead figures (19+19)

10 crawling, 9 sitting, 19 standing, 10 kneeling with gun wounded figures
 - casualties (dead and wounded) assigned at the rate of one figure per unit to effectively double the strength of the Chinese forces (ground unit, mounted unit, gun, rocket, or wall gun set) but not command sets.  Once a unit is wiped out, place the casualty figure on the table and the unit regenerates fresh.

Those figures come from four sources, the new Blue Moon range from Old Glory 25s, the older range from Old Glory 15s, Lancashire Games, and the defunct Cellmate Miniatures.  That means a lot of variety.  

I'm a long ways away from any photographs of the figures - but have a painting plan for when I do start painting them, alternating one Legation command with one Boxer command.  That means once I've gotten two commands painted, I'll have enough for a game and then just build from there until the whole command is painted.

As designed, that yields six separate commands that are large enough, especially the Imperials and Regulars, to allow other players to join in for large convention games.

The legations will be listed in another post, hopefully pretty soon.

December 6, 2017


Dealing with flooding under house and while waiting for pumps to get rid of it, set up the legations and other buildings I've acquired - but not painted yet! - to take some more photos.   I've included the new "German" legation which uses the Austrian building sold by Blue Moon and some corners, walls, and the gate house.  I realized I need to buy two or three more packs of the barricades.  So, here are the photos with comments:



Above is an overall shot looking down Canal Street - obviously without the canal.  If you look closely, you can see some figures set up for perspective.  They are ACW figures, not Boxer figures, just the first painted figures I could grab and cavalry not infantry.  The figures on the walls are dismounted cavalry, Union troops of course.  If you click on the pictures they should get larger for viewing.
This shot is from the other end of the table.  Those wooden 'walls' are not my Tartar Wall but part of my cliff building project.  Nearest the camera is a Chinese building and then the British, Russian, and American Legations.  Across the canal - if it was modeled - are some Chinese buildings in the location of the Su Palace and then the misplaced French Legation which should be on the far side of the Japanese Legation but the table won't let it work that way so it is here.  Then comes the Japanese Legation and across Legation Street is the German Legation.  There are three ruins (all the same) and several in-tact Chinese buildings which might have been occupied by Europeans prior to the siege.  A bunch more Chinese buildings and ruins in the next order sometime next year.
Closest to the camera and somewhat obscured is one of the ruins and behind it a couple of buildings, one a courtyard style building and the other an industrial style building.
Here, for perspective, a column of cavalry is exiting the American Legion onto Legation Street and about to cross the invisible south bridge across the invisible canal.
This is another view of the German Legation, the arch and porch above it are separate pieces from the main building but included of course.
The Japanese Legation sits adjacent to a ruin - though, if the ruin were meant to be the Spanish Legation, it should be on the other side closer to the Russians who are on the other side of Canal Street.
Another view of the French Legation.
Another view of those Chinese buildings north of the French Legation.
The ruin and building north of the British Legation - more or less near the Imperial Palace.
Another view of the British Legation.
This photo shows a need to 'tart' up the Russian Legation.
The Americans again.
A barricade across Legation Street from the German to Japanese Legation (shades of future relationships?).
A lower altitude view down Canal Street.
The Russian metal gate pieces.
Some dismounted cavalry on the wall - but not based properly for such placement.
Another shot of the American Legation.
 And a long shot from the south.
The "German" pieces were cast in different color resins - but paint will hide that.
The Japanese Legation and a ruin and the barricade.
The French beyond the Japanese.
And the buildings beyond the French.
A building outside the American Legation, near the wall.
And then a shot showing the stand-in for the wall and the Americans.
Russians again.
And British beyond the Russians.

I have another full four feet and more of length to the table for adding more buildings.  The challenge, obviously, is having enough width.  (Ideal would be 6' x 9' minimum)


Now for lunch and then crawling under the house to deal with the flooding.


Enjoy!  And plan your purchases from Blue Moon!!!


Some additional information.  The above layout is 90" in total length from the faux Wall to the clutter at the other end of the table.


Size of the various legations:


British 24" x 24"

Russian 19 1/2" x 20 1/2"
American 17" x 20 1/2"
French 15" x 15 1/2"
Japanese 12" x 18"
"German" 17 1/2" x 17 1/2"

Hope that data proves useful to others.


August 8, 2017


This period has been sitting way back on a cold back burner - but not ignored.  And now that Blue Moon and Old Glory 25s have released their 15mm figures and buildings its moved up in priority.  Why, at least up to a warm burner if not quite the front of the line, unless the bug bites which is a distinct possibility.


What follows are some photos of most of the buildings I've purchased, the five legation sets and one Chinese walled building (not yet photographed) and, obviously, not painted yet.  Only got them yesterday so hopefully I'll be forgiven for showing them off unpainted but I figure some people will be glad to see them 'in situ' on a wargaming table even if the table isn't set for a game.


First photo show the British legation on the left and the Russian legation on the right.



This next view is just a back angle view of the British legation again.
Similarly, the Russian legation - which includes metal gates for either side of the gate and the gate itself.  The main building here is the only one with much flash on it, most of the resin castings were remarkably clean, won't take long to clean everything, wash it, prime it, and then paint it.  Painting it might take some time to do these wonderful models proper justice.
The space for the set-up here is 4' by 4' 1" and that allows a nice Legation Street but puts the three legation on the left more or less touching but a good gap between the British and Russian enclosures - as can be seen in the first photo above.  (oh, that 'hot spot' is from the summer sun through a skylight on our covered patio (or lenai as it gets called around these parts).
This is the American legation compound and it took a little bit of puzzling out to get it properly set up.  For all of these legations I've used a permanent marker on the bottom of all the pieces to both label which nation the piece is for and also to label (A, B, C, etc.) the connecting points to make it easier to set up in the future.
That is the French legation in the middle closest to the hot spot.  The trees are just there to add some color.  They will be felled out of there perches and turned into the main piece on a jungle base, hope I can find a few more but who knows, bought for cheap at a Ross store.
And here is the Japanese legation with quite a fancy gate house.  Really like it.
And here is a bit of a focus on my "profile hills" (or even mountains) that are a step closer to game ready.  They are inspired by an article found on the Major General's site - link on main page of this blog.
 A closer shot of one of the three 'jungle' trees.
This is a photo of the Chinese 'passive' civilians, fourteen poses, two of each pose plus two more figures - and those baskets to hang from those poles.  Purchased two packs of these to add to my Lancashire civilians for the Boxer Rebellion.  It's China, need LOTS of Chinese figures.  One of the packs had only 11 women, the other 12, both packs had at least 30 figures, one pack had one extra man so 61 Chinese civilians to add to my collection - and don't know what I'll do with that extra figure since I base everything in sets of three.
Last photo, for now any way, is of the European unarmed civilians.  Again, two figures of each pose in each pack plus a couple of extras of one pose or another to make it to 30 figures in the pack.  I've made both of these figure packs Extra-Large to make it easier for those interested to see them.
One very cool 'feature' of this collection is that several of the buildings can be used for other purposes, I can see a number of the main legation buildings being used in both pirate games and musketeer games at a minimum.  Will be ordering more figures and lots more buildings to get to my new goal for this reawakened collection.

April 7, 2013

Did a little browsing and found this blog with some very nice 15 mm building scratchbuilds for the Boxer Rebellions: http://15mmboxerrebellion.blogspot.com/

 Just recording it so I don't lose track of it when I get back to building my own, already started.  Great inspiration there.

March 14, 2013


Most recent addition to this collection is two pagodas found at pet store.  Always looking for more architecture suitable for this period in my scale (15 mm).


December 14, 2012


So, most of my figures (all?) come from three sources: Old Glory 15s, Lancashire Games, and Cellmate Miniatures.  Some might quibble about those lines matching to each other and I can see how some might be bothered but they are just toys in the end.  And I needed to go to all three to get the mix I wanted, which I will list below.  There might be the odd Irregular or some other figure that snuck in here or there.  One thing I haven't been able to find is casualty figures to suit the period, especially for the Chinese.  Donnington might have something I can adapt but I'd love to find a nice grouping of 15 mm Boxer era casualties.


All groups are of 12 figures each.  For the Chinese only, there are mounted command figures (with a dismounted figure to match to the foot figures) for every 4 units and then 4 overall leaders plus two groups of mounted command (one mounted figure and one foot figure).


For the Chinese, there are two mounted units and the following foot units:


4 x Imperials

4 x Chinese Regulars
4 x Chinese Regulars
with 2 guns and 1 rocket and 12 crew
1 x Red Lanterns
1 x Civilians (women and children)
2 x Workmen

4 x Armed Boxers

4 x Kansu Braves
4 x Tigermen
with 2 guns and 1 jingal and 12 crew
2 x Civilians
2 x Workmen

4 x Boxers

4 x Boxers
4 x Boxers
with 2 guns and 1 rocket and 12 crew
1 x Red Lanterns
1 x Civilians
2 x Workmen

4 x Boxers

4 x Boxers
4 x Boxers
with 2 guns and 1 jingal and 12 crew
2 x Civilians
2 x Workmen

For the Legations side of the equation (or the representative of the west in my variation since I don't plan to set it in Peking (or Beijing):


British:

1 x HMS Chinese
3 x Marines
1 x International
Nordenfelt and 4 crew
1 x Civilians (women and children)

United States/Italy:

3 x Marines
1 x Italian Sailors
1 x Italian Soldiers
machine gun and 4 crew
1 x Civilians

German/Dutch (yeah, Dutch, just 'cuz I want to):

1 x Sailors
2 x SeeBattalion
2 x Dutch
machine gun and 4 crew
1 x Civilians

French/Japanese:

2 x French Sailors
1 x French Legion
2 x Japanese Infantry
Nordenfelt and 4 crew
1 x Civilians

Russia/Austria/Armed Civilians:

3 x Armed Civilians
1 x Austrian Sailors
1 x Russian Infantry
gun and 4 crew
1 x Civilians

I'm also in the works (so many things in the works of late) of building a large temple and whole bunch of buildings to go both in it and around it.  I've also collected quite a few destroyed buildings to add ambience to the scene of destruction.  And I can always borrow one of my river boats to do something along the lines of a Sand Pebble inspired scenario.  I even have a couple of Chinese junks courtesy of those fine folks at Old Glory 25s (well, I did pay for them!)


This should be a fun and colorful period to put on the table.


When soldiers corrupt Poquin into Poo-queen you just know there's fun ahead.  And fighting in some place called the Palace of the Divine Spring Concubine?  I'm there.

Collecting materials to build my own structures for this one, have all the figures.  And, for a change of pace, I actually kept the figure count somewhere within reason here.  What happened to cause that, I wonder?


December 8, 2012


Today, while checking out a thrift shop, I found two pairs of resin dragons I'll use to decorate the Imperial City I plan to build.  Also found a small Buddha as well.


And then there is this, and I like it.  I think I'll call my variation of this period "The Shadow Boxer Rebellion"!  Such word play entertains me.


December 14, 2012


So, most of my figures (all?) come from three sources: Old Glory 15s, Lancashire Games, and Cellmate Miniatures.  Some might quibble about those lines matching to each other and I can see how some might be bothered but they are just toys in the end.  And I needed to go to all three to get the mix I wanted, which I will list below.  There might be the odd Irregular or some other figure that snuck in here or there.  One thing I haven't been able to find is casualty figures to suit the period, especially for the Chinese.  Donnington might have something I can adapt but I'd love to find a nice grouping of 15 mm Boxer era casualties.


All groups are of 12 figures each.  For the Chinese only, there are mounted command figures (with a dismounted figure to match to the foot figures) for every 4 units and then 4 overall leaders plus two groups of mounted command (one mounted figure and one foot figure).


For the Chinese, there are two mounted units and the following foot units:


4 x Imperials

4 x Chinese Regulars
4 x Chinese Regulars
with 2 guns and 1 rocket and 12 crew
1 x Red Lanterns
1 x Civilians (women and children)
2 x Workmen

4 x Armed Boxers

4 x Kansu Braves
4 x Tigermen
with 2 guns and 1 jingal and 12 crew
2 x Civilians
2 x Workmen

4 x Boxers

4 x Boxers
4 x Boxers
with 2 guns and 1 rocket and 12 crew
1 x Red Lanterns
1 x Civilians
2 x Workmen

4 x Boxers

4 x Boxers
4 x Boxers
with 2 guns and 1 jingal and 12 crew
2 x Civilians
2 x Workmen

For the Legations side of the equation (or the representative of the west in my variation since I don't plan to set it in Peking (or Beijing):


British:

1 x HMS Chinese
3 x Marines
1 x International
Nordenfelt and 4 crew
1 x Civilians (women and children)

United States/Italy:

3 x Marines
1 x Italian Sailors
1 x Italian Soldiers
machine gun and 4 crew
1 x Civilians

German/Dutch (yeah, Dutch, just 'cuz I want to):

1 x Sailors
2 x SeeBattalion
2 x Dutch
machine gun and 4 crew
1 x Civilians

French/Japanese:

2 x French Sailors
1 x French Legion
2 x Japanese Infantry
Nordenfelt and 4 crew
1 x Civilians

Russia/Austria/Armed Civilians:

3 x Armed Civilians
1 x Austrian Sailors
1 x Russian Infantry
gun and 4 crew
1 x Civilians

I'm also in the works (so many things in the works of late) of building a large temple and whole bunch of buildings to go both in it and around it.  I've also collected quite a few destroyed buildings to add ambience to the scene of destruction.  And I can always borrow one of my river boats to do something along the lines of a Sand Pebble inspired scenario.  I even have a couple of Chinese junks courtesy of those fine folks at Old Glory 25s (well, I did pay for them!)


This should be a fun and colorful period to put on the table.


March 14, 2013


Most recent addition to this collection is two pagodas found at pet store.  Always looking for more architecture suitable for this period in my scale (15 mm).


April 7, 2013


Did a little browsing and found this blog with some very nice 15 mm building scratchbuilds for the Boxer Rebellions: http://15mmboxerrebellion.blogspot.com/

 Just recording it so I don't lose track of it when I get back to building my own, already started.  Great inspiration there.





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