First Squad of Toulmorese

Yawdryl B'ndyt sat his squad in the shade of a pink bungadoo tree. Clicks and croaks from jungle creatures came from the undergrowth. T'ym and Taym, two of his Ryshi gunners, were nosing around in the bushes looking for something to eat.

"Oi! Listen up you mob" B'ndyt growled. "An' put that down T'ym, yaz ain't know where it's bin." Shame faced, T'ym reluctantly dropped a bright red beetle he had been about to eat.

"Medic said the red ones give yaz the scoots,  anyway ya daft nob!" Taym chided him.

Satisfied that he had everyone's attention, B'ndyt spread out a map. Droplets of sweat falling off the end of his snout hit the waxed, waterproof sheet.

"Right, bucks 'n dynas, Bossquar give us a job, 'n it's bonzer." He used a stick to point at the map. "This is our mob here, all cushy in our bunkos."

"An' why is we here, exactly, Boss?" J'yk said with genuine curiosity. 

"Too keep you away from the dynas, ya grub!" This was met with hoots of laughter and good natured shoving.

"All right! All right!" Yawdryl B'ndyt went on. "This loverly tropical paradise we find ourselves at is sitting on strategic airship lanes. So we control this, we can move our airships through. See?"

J'yk nodded, like he understood. 

B'ndyt pointed to a spot on the other side of the island. "Thing is, see, the bozzer of it is the Roylies have the same notion, an their mob is ovah 'ere."

"So we's going on a walkie up this trail, set up an OP here (he pointed at a ridgeline), dig in, and have a brew. An' make sure no Roylies come the other way wit' the same notion."

"Three days rations. All the ammo and water you can carry. Blu'y, you're point. Byngo you're rear. T'ym and Taym, you've got extra biccies?"

"Sure thing, Boss. But..." Taym paused. "The choccos 'ave all melted."

*******************

Here we are, the first squad of Toulmorese. Quar army number 5!

Their caps made me think Australians. I was briefly tempted to go more 8th Army,  but the Gloam-Hyyn arriving pushed the decision to more of a Burma or Vietnam feel. This certainly inspired a rewatching of Platoon after 40 years.

Their fatigues are Antique Green craft paint. Helmets are Tamiya Olive Drab with a sepia ink wash. Webbing and equipment is Tamiya khaki with a sepia ink wash over top.

Laser Plants are from Gamer Grass. 

I have now used all of my plastic bodies, and pretty much exhausted the extra weapons from the plastic set. The ryshis in particular are hard to fit on the printed running torsos and need gap filler. But I wanted to make sure I used my limited plastic torsos for some special characters. 

In the fluff the Toulmorese squad structure is a little different. The three ryshis are grouped together into their own team. They are also allowed a marksquar carrying a captured, longer ranged, Harlech rhyfle.

I have an stl for Crusader arms carrying a harlech. I should get Don to print a pair and another running torso. It would certainly fit my idea of these quar being similar to Chindits, penetrating deep into the jungle to take the war to the enemy. 

Apologies to any Australian readers for my mangled attempt at writing an Australian voice and slang. My knowledge is entirely from watching Australian murder mysteries and Bluey. But they're Quar, so they aren't exactly Aussies, are they?

Rolling in a Big Pile of Quar!

 

Don't kink shame me!

The cause of the Quarish baccanale is a Big Box of Quar arriving from Don.

In addition to some utilitarian hit/shock dials (because shock piles up very fast in TQW), there are bits to add to the Coftyrans, Crusaders, Toulmorese, and the PPCLI.

This little recoilless rifle is cute AF, and in my mind looks too modern for the Tollyn Maeryn. I'm issuing one to the Toulmorese (as shown) and a second to the Crusaders to replace the German infantry gun they currently have. That will go to the Tollyn Maeryn. The gunner bodies however are going to get used with different heads for the PPCLI and some 8" howitzers (see below)

Moth Cake Chef. A Tribe membership reward. Got two. Pink hat and he'll be at the Tea Wagon for the PPCLI. Khaki hat and he'll be at the Field Kitchen for the Crusaders.

I liked how the PPCLI Squirrel Handler turned out so well I had Don print me another running body and more squirrel baskets. So now the Coftyrans have a Squirrel Handler too!

Paerydyn Heavy Gun Tractor for the Coftyrans. Big gun, heavy armour. Something to counter the Baeliogs. Got two. Because. Don't judge me.

A troop of Squeedles because the PPCLI need some armour. They're lightly armoured and fast(ish?), so I hope five is enough when encountering Baeliogs or Chyweethls. 

But wait! There's more!

Not one, but two, count 'em! TWO new armies!

The swamp dwelling Gloam-Hyyn have arrived.  I can organize them into 4x squads of seven, plus a Scout group, and HQ elements. Their camouflage helmets and functional sandals will make them a fine opponent for the Toulmorese. 

As I was sorting figures I noticed some broken gun barrels and hit on some conversion ideas.

Broken carbine? No problem!

Add some left over Crusader packs and I've got a Medic!

Scouts and Trackers with their barely tame Sarf-Cyn attack beasts.

HQ Group. Squirrel Handler, Master-Yawdryl, more than enough officers. In the fluff the officers are on attached duty from the Royal army, so they look more regular and are wearing hip waders! But I've got enough extra to try some conversions on. I might even attempt doing a leg swap to make one who's gone "native."

Four squads: each with 5 rhyflers, 1 cryfen LMG, 1 Yawdryl with Doru. Single piece figures, but different packs to give some variety.

Extra Cryfen and Yawdryl, plus another broken carbine, who will be wrangling the Ganga pack animal.

Painting them will be Phase 6, I guess.

Phase 6B will be making some jungle terrain. I cant borrow Pasha Dan's all the time.

Then there's Phase 7. The Tollyn-Maeryn in spiked helmets and older style uniforms. They will be First World War German analogs. And provide the 12-16 gun crew I need for Brequar Manor. Or any Verdun style games I want to set up. 

Not one piece prints. So many arms. But I'm going to ask Don to mirror some of the enpty handed left arms so I can make gun crew.

They're pretty simple. Big squads of bolt action rhyflers. So I'm going to give them some metal Vickers HMGs to put in their trenches. 

Eek! Don printed four of the Faelvor Armoured Wagon, but (at least) two burst and covered everything with uncured resin. So I'll have to wash them in isopropyl and see what can be done. Maybe I can make a nice wreck for No Quar's Land.

Phase 7B will be making, or buying, three more gun pits to accommodate the four 8" howitzers Don printed for me. And making some kind of fort-bunker thingy, because the forts at Verdun have grabbed my imagination somewhat. 

8" howitzers that have been waiting patiently for enough crew.

Yes, in the fluff (I hate "Lore"), they're Crusader aligned, but I'm going to use them as enemies for both my "British" Crusaders and "French" Coftyrans. 

The new fluff coming out is depicting a lot of political chaos and strained alliances, so I think Zombiesmith is positioning the game so that anyone can fight anyone else. 

I imagine a Royalist Public Affairs Officer would say the "Crusaders" are whoever was shooting at them today. And anyone fighting the Crusaders on any given day become by default a "Royalist." Rather like the various groups opposing the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War. They're all "White" but not all are fighting to restore the Tsar and Imperial Russia.

So now to get back to painting the Toulmorese, so I can dig in to the Gloam-Hyyn!

A Coftyran Miscellany

Here are some random bits I finished off last week at the same time as the Toulmorese tractor and the Ensign for the PPCLI.
 

First a pair of medium to heavy tractors for the Royalists. These are Aerfen tractors. Offically for Gwynt. But I like the tea pot shaped Squeedles better for the P'tryshas. These are big caemate style self-propelled guns, like all the other Coftyran tractors, and the slab sides are nice for the Modernist camouflage.

To both I have added a pile of stowage behind the hatch. This one also got a metal roll of camouflage netting to hang along the side. Some of the last of my metal stowage.

There is also a lantern that broke off one of the giant beetles. Waste not, want not. You haven't seen my beetles yet because I'm stuck on painting the shells.

Aerfen Number 2. I suppose I should give them identifier numbers?

These bring the Coftyran Tractor Corps up to 11 assorted AFVs.

A special character from the Tribe. Because of his soft cap and sword I'm using them as a Support Team for my Trench Raider Group. Hence the camouflaged snouts. 

Finally a couple of Baenyrs, or Officer Cadets. Youngsters trying to earn their Commissions. One clutches his sword, possibly a heritage piece from his clan. The other confidently waves a pistol. In This Quar's War you can detach rhyflers from your squads to form an extra squad lead by a Baenyr. These are both one piece prints.

As you can see the print of the one holding the sword is the basis for my PPCLI Ensign.

Assembly of the 30 plus figures for my Toulmorese force continues. I had a brain wave last night for another headswap, to add another character to the force, and fortunately I have some extra Toulmore heads to do it with.

I am impatiently waiting for another shipment from Don, which will have a whole troop of Squeedles, plus the Gloam-Hynn and other bits to hopefully finish off the PPCLI, and Toulmorese, and Crusaders.

Starting Quar Army #5! Toulmore

Okay, here's the FIFTH Quar "army" started. Granted, Quar army number 3, the Partisans, is only 5 figures (for now!). But with the Crusaders, Coftyrans, and PPCLI pretty much done (there are a few pieces I want to add, but waiting for the Tribe, printing and sourcing alternative stls to get what i desire), its time to start on the next lot. Although I doubt I'll get them done before the next box arrives from Don.

Perversely, I'm starting this army with their tractor before I even finish assembling the infantry. I didn't particularly like this tractor at first, but it's rather grown on me. Which seems to be a common theme with Quar.

The Twaenhyr is the "official" tractor for the Crusader aligned Toulmorese. Another 3d print from the MyMiniFactory Tribe and Don's resin printer. 

Because I'm planning on building the Toulmorese and Gloam-Hyyn as bayou/mangrove swamp/jungle fighting opponents I went with a more "jungle" feel to the camouflage. It's certainly inspired by Japanese tanks anyway.

Fighting in jungle, the Toulmorese troops only need one tractor. But they can borrow an Alithean if needed too.

I added some metal packs, because all tanks need stowage.

So, it's done, I just need to assemble and paint the infantry.

H11 LMG gunners with assistants, and officers behind 

Squirrel Handler giving his squirrel it's assignment, and a Medic ready to dispense tea and sympathy 

Light mortar operator with a No.2 carrying more ammunition 

I've only got 10 or 11 plastic bodies, so I'm making sure I get all the special figures built first before the rhyflers. 

I'll have 20 or so when I'm done. 

A nice little background video for Toulmore is here.

Presentation of Colours

Flags have been part of Quar since the beginning. When I started out I didn't get the Company HQ Squads because they contained standard bearers and musicians, figures I didn't really want and would just negate the bulk discount for buying a whole unit. Since I was reaching for an alternative First World War, flags didn't really fit.

But the thing about Quar, the more you're around them, the more you get sucked into their goofy little Seussian world of over-sized bugs, and weird ways of doing things.

An army that is going to insist on wearing pink coats with purple facings on the same battlefield with tractors and machine guns is probably still going to be carrying it's regimental colours into battle too.

Quar are going to Quar.

In This Quar's War flags give a benefit in break tests to troops within a certain range.

He started out as a Coftyran Baenyr, or officer cadet, nervously holding his sword up. But the blade snapped off in transit. I decided to drill out his hands and insert a metal spear from my bits box. I then decided to transfer him from the Coftyrans to the PPCLI and snipped off his head and added a spare Gwynt bicorne. Being an Ensign, he doesn't get the big plume worn by the Is-Caertens and Caertens.

The flag is inspired by 18th Century Prussian infantry colours. If I switched the Squirrel with an eagle and added Frederick the Great's monogram, it could probably be a Fusilier regiment's flag.

He's smaller than the other figures, being a youth. So I made his spots smaller.

It's his first battle, but he's nervously determined to do his best for his Princess.
 

Praefect Carolianus Silex

I was commenting on Bluesky about the fact that my 3rd century Roman force was going to make a tidy army for Midgard, I just needed a mounted commander to be suitably heroic.

A message slid into my DMs from Carole Flint (read her blog here). "What's your address? I've got extra Victrix Roman Generals."

So after quizzing me on head and horse options, she very kindly sent me the parts to make this fellow. Who arrived last month after being delayed by the Canada Post strike.

He didn't take me long to assemble or to paint really. Honestly he was done so fast during a Friday night Zoom paint-and-chat session (yes, a friend still organizes one every week), I set him aside for a few days before basing, just in case I'd forgotten something.

As a nod to my benefactor in Bristol, I've named him Carolianus Silex. Hopefully he'll do better than Shakespeare's tragic hero.

I've been calling him a Tribune, but I guess he's actually a Praefectus Cohortis. My Romans are modeling a Cohortes Equitata, a mixed infantry and cavalry auxiliary cohort. These units did a lot of the hard work on the frontiers, while the legions were further back building roads and plotting rebellions.

Now I really must get my thumb out and make some 120mm movement bases and finish my Goth/Rohirrim heroes so I can play some Midgard!