Johnny Turk & the ANZACs

For quite some time I’ve been wanting to get into some Great War gaming in 28mm using TSATF. As such I have a small force of German Schutztruppe for Africa that can double as pre-WW1 Colonial forces or the German East or West African forces in WW1 (such as von Lettow-Vorbeck’s). A chance purchase on EBay of some Middle East/African theatre WW1 British in Sun Helmets (for use as opponents to the above) led to me acquiring a large force of Turks & ANZACs suitable for Gallipoli & Palestine – so as a result I have now kick-started by 28mm WW1 forces enmasse!

The figures came from the author of a TSATF Great War variant (Andrew Champion) and are available on the Side Shows of the Great War Yahoo Group – Australian visitors may recognise them from a large Gallipoli game staged at CANCON in 2007 by Andrew.

These, combined with the TSATF variant at the above group have got me very inspired to do some Great War gaming, and I’m looking forward to finally getting into the period. Gallipoli, obviously, is a particular interest for us antipodeans, as New Zealand & Australia enjoy a special relationship with Turkey as a result of that campaign.

I’ll be looking to probably add a unit of Kiwis (i.e. New Zealand ANZACs in Lemon Squeezers) for Gallipoli to round things out, and perhaps a unit of Lawrence’s Arab Irregulars for Palestine as well; while some of my colonial units will be usable for the African theatre (in conjunction with the British & Germans I have); and then ultimately long term I’ll look to add my ultimate WW1 favourite, the Rumanian/Bulgarian Balkan theatre, once I have Gallipoli/Palestine and East Africa sorted.

Anyway, I couldn’t resist an excuse to get some initial photos up! The figures in the photos below are a mix of Brigade Games, Renegade, Copplestone, Battle Honors, and a few other chaps… I’m hoping to get the first Gallipoli game in in just the next week or so – so look out for some photos of that!