"Army of God"

[Pol]

I'm fairly new to BOB,and I'm a interested in putting together an 'Army of God' force.

I would be grateful if members could point me to relevant links/threads,regarding composition of units/uniform etc.

I know of the life of Indian revolutionary Manabendra Nath Roy in this period & I'm looking to develop an 'Army of God' force for an 'invasion of British India' scenario.

Also,recommendations for 28mm figure suppliers & general advice would be very welcome.

Many thanks. Pol.

[Johnno]

The Army of God are essentially Russian regular troops and Muslim fanatics...

I would use the following:

For Russian forces
Copplestone Castings - Back of Beyond
Brigade Games- RCW

For Muslim "fanatics"
Empress Miniatures-Jazz Age Imperialism
Old Glory - Historical Colonial Pathans
Wargames Foundry - The Northwest Frontier
Artizan Designs - First World War Arab Irregulars
Gripping Beast - WW1 Arabs in Ottoman Service

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Pol]

Many thanks Johno.

I knew someone on here would be able to give me a few pointers.

Much appreciated. Pol. 

[Johnno]

No problemo.

I've thought about doing that army once I get a few others out of the way.

I'd probably go with a mix of Artizan/Gripping Beast for some Muslim uniformed troops (regular/elite).

Afghans/Pathans/Basmachis for the "untrained" militias. I realize that these may not depict actual Muslim clothing or attire but I'm ok with it.

There is a recent (ish) thread below that IIRC has uniform guides of the Bukharans...
Might be a good place to start for your needs.

Composition might also depend on the game rules you intend to use.

[Pol]

I'm aiming to use the revised 'Setting the East Ablaze' rules.

Yes, it's a very interesting army to build. Lenin thought highly of Roy & initially supplied him with huge quantities of arms,advisors etc for the possible invasion of India via the North West Frontier area.

The 'Army of Liberation' (called the 'Army of God') would have had an eclectic mix of Russians,Persian & Indian revolutionaries, Indian army deserters, Afghanis & Islamic jihadists.

Although Lenin changed his mind & abandoned the project,it gives gamers in BOB some great scenarios to experiment with.

[Ignatieff]

Excellent idea. Would love to see it in action.

Majority of Muslim troops would be C4 M2 under the rules. Highly motivated but not well trained   I'd be tempted to add one unit of Roy and his followers. They'd probably be C3 M3. Better trained but more aware of their physical frailties (that's what too much education does for you!). Reds would be thebusual mixture, though you could spice it up by having various elite units.

[Pol]

Yes, Roy will most certainly be there.

I've just finished reading his memoirs & I'm mulling over a variety of ideas. I'm trying to identify what make of 'dismantled aeroplanes' he was given by the Bolsheviks,that were on the two trainloads of military equipment from Moscow to Tashkent, November 1920.

[Leigh Metford]

... Lenin changed his mind and abandoned the project...' As I suspected: he was a wargamer... no doubt distracted by the new 'shiny'.

[Pol]

Absolutely Leigh! 

[Ignatieff]

Yes, Roy will most certainly be there.

I've just finished reading his memoirs & I'm mulling over a variety of ideas. I'm trying to identify what make of 'dismantled aeroplanes' he was given by the Bolsheviks,that were on the two trainloads of military equipment from Moscow to Tashkent, November 1920.

Reds were still using lots of captured surplus stuff at that time. A Fokker DVII would be a good candidate

[Pol]

A good call.