"Rating Russian Army in 1880's" Topic

The new TMWWBK rules have got me thinking about matching my Russian Central Asia Army against British and Indian troops somewhere along the Afghan border. But I disagree with the sample army list that TMWWBK gives for the Russians which seems to perpetuate the idea of largely under trained and unenthusiastic masses only held together by the threat of punishment. From my reading, the Russians in Central Asia showed a fair amount of initiative and dash, similar to the French Army of Africa during the same period. In Sword and the Flame terms, I think they should be rated at least as good as Egyptians (who also get short shrift in TMWWBK)

I have to agree – especially the Russian Army of Central Asia. While the Russian Army in Europe may have been under trained and officered by aristocratic dolts the Russian Army in Asia was a colonial army on the edge of a rapidly expanding frontier facing some very tough tribesmen; I would rate them at least as good as the Egyptians if not a tad better

One thing that many people forget or overlook is that the British in TSATF are superb melee troops -- winning ties. Now if there's one thing the Russians excel at, it's use of the bayonet. Maybe shoot a little inferior to British, but get the same melee benefit -- or, as it would work out, negating the British benefit.

TSATF? Wrong mess, old chap, suggest you toodle along the lines to one of the more louche establishments.

Very tempted by a Russian colonial force for the 1870-90's for MWWBK, for the same reasons that Nick suggests. Looking at Outpost Miniatures, Eureka and Askari Miniatures; are there any others?

For MWWBK I'm thinking Russian regulars should be fierce but poor shots, to encourage them to get stuck into melee, and probably 'unenthusiastic' (read as 'poorly drilled') to make them less responsive to anything other than simple orders.

You might even want to give them 'Attack' rather than 'Fire' as a free action, to further encourage historical tactics and training.

If you don't mind setting your games a little later in the timeline, you could field the IMHO excellent Russians from the Tsuba Miniatures Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) range sculpted by Paul Hicks, now available from Empress. The "Great Game" rivalry didn't end until the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907, and the Tsuba Russians would work well for the 1890s until then, since the Russian Army fought the war in uniforms dating from the 1880s. Tsuba does a nice job covering infantry and even some artillery, with some casualty and character packs. Unfortunately there's no Russian cavalry yet, but there is Japanese cavalry, so it may be in the pipeline. Until then it could be provided by Boxer Rebellion Russian cavalry and/or "Back of Beyond" Cossacks from other companies.

Here's a sample pic:

Yeah, but the white tunics with red trousers are much cooler ! <lol> Been thinking about the Russkies, also. Let's see…that's project # 237 :0