Graham Minshaw kicks sand in the face of convention. One of the satisfying things I have discovered about writing for this journal is that it is a form of self motivation. After writing the scenario and rules for a skirmish game involving rabble, Militia or "Society of Duffers", type troops I decided to get on with Painting my 20mm SCW figures. Well I did just that within a few days of writing the rules and whilst I doubt if there is anything new here it might be worth looking at if You too are faced with the usual wargamers lead mountain. So now feeling rather smug I'll tell you how I did it . . . Painting, we all do it and it doesn't seem to get any faster, but at the same time the height of the mountain of shiny metal soldiers just goes higher and higher. Fed up with this I decided I wanted to paint up this latest project quickly and with it being in a different scale from all my other armies meant that I could experiment safe in the knowledge that they were not going to look out of place next to any others figures. So the objective with these figures was not only to get them painted quickly but to find a new and faster painting method. Basically the painting is done on top of a white undercoat, using blocks of solid colour - no washing or highlights. Then, the whole figure was lightly dry brushed with either white or a very pale buff colour. My aim here was to use the figure sculptors efforts to my advantage and to show much of the detail without actually having to paint it in any distinct fashion. That was it, except for the varnishing for which I used a Polyurethane based wood stain. This as varnish and shading and wash in one go and provided the shading on the figures. Did it work? Well yes and no, it certainly is quick and shades the figures very well - But there is a tendency to darken the figures too much, especially flesh tones and I had to go back over a few Spanish countenances who were just too dark. Also all the figures come out with a distinct brown tinge, which isn't too bad with modern figures but might not look too good on Romans or Napoleonics for example. To set the figures off I then gave them a posh base of Silver sand painted dark brown then drybrushed with a buff shade and added some static grass flock. Silver sand can be obtained from builders mechants very cheaply, but only comes by the sack load, alternatively "Chinchilla" sand from the petshop is available in more useful quantities and is exactly the same stuff. However this basing was a little self defeating as it added to the overall time but I feel it was worth the effort. Francisco Perez Lopez, Sheffield Triples and a bag of lead. The Background to "Cabos y Soldados" Many years ago I acquired a book entitled "A Guerrilla Diary of the Spanish Civil War" by Francisco Perez Lopez, it is a autobiographical account of the authors experiences during the civil war, firstly as a member of the International Brigades and later describing his exploits as a guerrilla fighter after escaping from Franco's gaols. It is quite simply one of the finest and easy to read books I have ever read and best of all its full of ideas for small scale wargames. This, combined with the idea of doing a small skirmish set up provided the inspiration for the rules enclosed in this issue. The most obvious thing about Francisco's battles as a guerrilla is that many o them represent little more than murderously effective surprise attacks on second line, garrison, police or lines of communication troops of the enemy. The wargames reader must also remember that Francisco's prime objective was to escape to the French border and therefore contact with Francoist troops was to be avoided if possible. Francisco reiterates time and again that he considers his most effective piece of equipment to be his binoculars us ed to avoid ambushes and to scout out suitably vulnerable targets. With this in mind I wanted to create effectivel a small campaign game involving a series of linked scenarios where the notion of equal sides and balance is missing. After all real conflict is not like this and therefore this game is a basically a solo affair although it can be played two handed with both players on the same side or in a more conventional fashion. Despite this, the enclosed scenario represents one of the few examples of an "equal" sides battle in the book and is therefore provided as a more traditional game set up. Lopez's book is worth tracking down, it is probably in the local County Library or it seems to turn up in second hand bookshops fairly often, it isn't expensive and it is worth a read. One of the other major attractions of this sort of game is that it allows us to deploy and use the troop types typical in history but so often ignored by the wargamer who panders after British paratroopers, Waffen SS, Old Guard or whatever. In this game we have Guerrillas, Police, armed civilians and Militiamen as well as the occasional bunch of "real" soldiers. I decided to use 20mm figures for a change. Due to the small size of the project and of the skirmish level as I had planned it, the whole thing used less than sixty figures and will be able to use my 15mm Peninsular SCW terrain which is near enough for a 20mm game. Choice of figures for this game is very good. My forces being a mixture of Bandera miniatures and Irregular miniatures, they mix in very well and between them have a very comprehensive selection but best of all do not come pre-packaged so you can buy just the number you need. One of the other added benefits of using these two firms is that they represent two of the friendliest stands at the shows and I left the Triples show back in March with my new bag of toys, having enjoyed ratching around their stands. Rolf Hedges who runs Bandera Miniatures knows his stuff about the Spanish Civil War and is also responsible for the excellent "Abanderado" the SCW newsletter. Scenario: Francisco in the Forest This encounter occurs in Lopez's book where he is leading his large band of guerillas, who at the time include some newly liberated prisoners. Lopez has a party of mounted enemy seven strong to his front, between himself and the forest which is the Guerillas goal as their intended escape route. The guerillas must fight their way through the enemy to do this. To their rear, another group of mounted troops is closing on them as well, lets say 5+ ld6 strong. All Nationalists are armed with Carbines except one NCO per group who has an SMG and an officer per group with pistol. Their experience is randomly selected as per the rules but as these are Guardia Civil (para-militaries) they should be on the lower side. The table should be bare except for a few groups of rocks and scrub for two thirds of the table and one third represents the forest. It would be best played along the length of the table. A table of four by three should be adequate for this game. The Nationalists set up in the open 6 inches from theedge of the forest and mounted, the Guerillas on the opposite table edge. The second Nationalist group turn up any move after the third on a roll of 5 or 6 and are placed on foot behind the Guerillas. The mounted Civiles will dismount to fight and should be penalised if shooting mounted. If they make it into the forest the Guerillas can be pursued by any remaining Civiles. The Guerilla band Francisco. Leader Exp. 3. SMG, Pistol and dagger. Vicente. Leader Exp. 2 SMG, Pistol and dagger. Enrique. Leader Exp. 2 SMG, Pistol and dagger. Antonio. Leader Exp. 1 SMG, Pistol and dagger. Mier. Exp 2 Pistol and knife. Mendoza Exp 1 Pistol (only two rounds) Planero Exp 3 Pistol (only three rounds) Luis the Basque Exp 3 Pistol (only three rounds) Manuel Exp 1 Pistol (only three rounds) Jose Exp 1 Pistol (only three rounds) Sanchez Exp 2 Pistol (only two rounds) Luis Exp 2 Rifle and bayonet. Pedro Exp 1 Rifle and bayonet. Quadrila Exp 1 Rifle. Antonio (the Mulatto) Exp 1 Rifle. Mechol Exp 2 but initially unarmed. Sources: A Guerrilla Diary of the Spanish Civil War Francisco Perez Lopez, published by Andre Deutsch 1972. Abanderado Spanish Civil War newsletter, published quarterly at £ 5.00 per year from: Rolf Hedges, 32 Linnet Mews, Balham, London. SW12 8JE. Cabos and Soldados Spanish Civil War Skirmish Rules Back to The Gauntlet No. 16 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1999 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com