Machnowist Black Army (and also some Headdresses in RCW )

[argsilverson]

and then - Officers dressed like pimps or Opera singers, waggons full of loot
with an ideology (if it worked?)

and I need to search for some colourful officers

I would suggest one figure for some officer: the priest from command pack I of brigade games storm in the east range.
http://www.brigadegames.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?
Of course you must remove the cross. It is very richly dressed with a long coat. I think he might be some sort of Makhno officer.
As for variety in the peasants mob, I also would like to recommend the bulgarian irregulars by Tiger miniatures.

[Mysterioso]

Is it fair to say that for a Black RCW army shoulder boards would need to be filed off of White figures?  I suspect the answer is "yes" but then again the Blacks seemed to use such a mishmash of gear that maybe they were not as concerned about the shoulder boards as were the Reds.

[Mark Plant]

Shoulderboards have to go. It wasn't the Soviets who were against them as much as all revolutionaries.

[Mysterioso]

Thanks! I suspected as much.

[former user]

I think the Brigade priest looks just fine

yes, the Machnovists were not into religion, but I don't care
a colourful army is more important

I even thought of using some workers from Musketeer III BCW range
and there is also a proletarian looking priest contained

of course no tin hats or bourgeois city hats
with the new anarchist figures now it is even better

has anyone seen the other Machno someone made or is it the same one??

[Mysterioso]

former user:  The other Makhno is OK. It is like a sculpt from the late 1970s, early 1980s.  IMO, the Brigade Games figure far surpasses it in quality.  Plus BG also produced Schuss.  I have my fingers crossed that the BG ones will do well and that maybe the suggested mounted versions of Makhno and Schuss will come out too.

[Mysterioso]

Was looking at the Old Glory First World War Russians and saw their overcoats have what look like shoulder boards too.  Are they the detested by revolutionaries shoulder boards or a part of the overcoat, like built up shoulders?  If those figures were bought for use as Blacks, would those details need filing off as well ?  Sorry for all these questions on uniform details.  I am a pulp player transitioning over to historical play.   Answers are very much appreciated.  Maybe a sticky on converting First World War & White figures to Red or Black would be good? 

[former user]

no problem
yep, shoulderboards discarded for reds and Machnovists

however, they were reintroduced by reds some time later, forgot when
not sure how old gory match with others...

maybe someone can be more detailed?

[area23]

Just rediscovered this entertaining and inpiring text I found on the net somewhere in 2002. The source I have forgotten, but I remember written by an Ukrainian or Russian:

[...] Makhno had the unreserved support of the
devout peasants. The latter took their places alongside the anarchist
army's permanent backbone, which consisted of "declasse elements",
i.e. adventurers, sailors, criminals, ideological anarchists - all
those who refused to recognize discipline or military hierarchies.
The latter were constantly drunk, fundamentally unpredictable and
dressed in Freakish get-ups which often combined women's stockings,
pantaloons and bras with sailor striped vests, sailor's caps,
guerilla-style cartridge belts, long hair dressed in the "Parisian"
style, large quantities of parasites, etc. Covered with expensive
carpets, the tachankas would be loaded with: one or two machine guns,
barrels containing wine and home-brewed spirit, assorted plunder, 3 -
5 soldiers, and even music (played by a gramophone). The soldier's
endless drinking sprees, in which they tried to involve everyone
around them, culminated in a state of trance and were distinctly
reminiscent of archaic rituals or modern raves - a resemblance which
was underlined by the rhythm of machine guns firing unceasingly into
the air and shots from whatever other weapons were at hand
(fireworks). The army's special reconnaissance divisions included
several hundred women.
The appearance of the tachanka as a war machine was predicted by the
emergence of "behavior" and "constructions" a la tachanka in
contemporary art: the Russian futurists and Dada; later: the group of
writers known as OBERIUTY (Obschestvo Realnogo Iskusstva or "The
Society of Real Art"); the surrealists; etc. This makes it possible
to detect in 20th-century art yet another mainstream - leading from
the archaic Bakhtinian carnival "resistance" to Art Brut, absurdist
happenings, spontaneity and automatism, qualities which reflect and
translate the essence of the world for initiates and idiots alike. It
is also possible to see a reference to the Kantian aesthetic of the
sublime abstract."

[huevans]

Makhno had the unreserved support of the
devout peasants. The latter took their places alongside the anarchist
army's permanent backbone, which consisted of "declasse elements",
i.e. adventurers, sailors, criminals, ideological anarchists - all
those who refused to recognize discipline or military hierarchies.
The latter were constantly drunk, fundamentally unpredictable and
dressed in Freakish get-ups which often combined women's stockings,
pantaloons and bras with sailor striped vests, sailor's caps,
guerilla-style cartridge belts, long hair dressed in the "Parisian"
style, large quantities of parasites, etc. Covered with expensive
carpets, the tachankas would be loaded with: one or two machine guns,
barrels containing wine and home-brewed spirit, assorted plunder, 3 -
5 soldiers, and even music (played by a gramophone). The soldier's
endless drinking sprees, in which they tried to involve everyone
around them, culminated in a state of trance and were distinctly
reminiscent of archaic rituals or modern raves - a resemblance which
was underlined by the rhythm of machine guns firing unceasingly into
the air and shots from whatever other weapons were at hand
(fireworks). The army's special reconnaissance divisions included
several hundred women.
The appearance of the tachanka as a war machine was predicted by the
emergence of "behavior" and "constructions" a la tachanka in
contemporary art: the Russian futurists and Dada; later: the group of
writers known as OBERIUTY (Obschestvo Realnogo Iskusstva or "The
Society of Real Art"); the surrealists; etc. This makes it possible
to detect in 20th-century art yet another mainstream - leading from
the archaic Bakhtinian carnival "resistance" to Art Brut, absurdist
happenings, spontaneity and automatism, qualities which reflect and
translate the essence of the world for initiates and idiots alike. It
is also possible to see a reference to the Kantian aesthetic of the
sublime abstract."

Lol. Sounds like San Francisco in the mid 1970's!

[Mysterioso]

http://igwargminis.com/photo2_1.html

They were mentioned in this topic on TMP:

http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=168632

The poster there indicated there were a bit smaller than Copplestone but they are good for mixing in with Brigade Games and Copplestone.

I quite like the first one in Great Coats with Beards though the other one shown looks good too.

http://www.oldgloryminiatures.com/products.asp?cat=313

[former user]

yes, I couldn't see the pictures in the online catalogue, thanks

this must be the winter gear