Just before the weather got to the point where paint was drying on the brush, the last of the Kyoushuneko prints roll off the paint table production line finishing off - Chinese month for June.
Welcome to "Dust, Tears & Dice", a blog dedicated to the hobby of miniature wargaming. If you fancy gaming periods off the beaten track then this is the place for you. I am a regular member of The Wyvern Wargamers, formerly The Evesham Wargames Club drawing gamers from Worcester, Redditch, Kidderminster, Cheltenham and Stratford. All players welcome.
Friday, June 26, 2026
The last of the Kyoushuneko Chinese (for now).
Monday, June 15, 2026
Chinese 88th Infantry Division (2)
It's June and back to the Sino-Japanese conflict.
Opted for the apple green colour for this unit, I had seen it on some 'dress' units but they do like rather different to the other units completed.
The 88th Division was part of the “German-trained” elite units formed in the 1930s, and as such it represented the closest China came to a standardised, modern infantry organisation at the start of the war. While still subject to shortages and battlefield attrition, its structure was more consistent and better equipped than typical Nationalist units.
The backbone of section firepower, was centred on a ZB‑26 light machine gun, the most widely used automatic weapon in Chinese service during this period, together with several riflemen. Although for very early war units I might strip the LMG team and replace with additional riflemen.
Monday, April 13, 2026
Chinese heavy weapons.... 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Last batch of Chinese for a while..... as the itch to paint something different takes hold....
Again a mix of uniforms for the AT Teams to support the completed infantry sections.
Sunday, April 05, 2026
Chinese 88th Division - 1937
You can't beat an Easter weekend an opportunity to bag a day or two of painting.
With the Chinese Army made up of a number of Warlord factions, some troops are better than others. One of the most famous was the Chinese 88th Division deployed at the battle of Shanghai.
One of Chiang Kai‑shek’s German-trained divisions, they make for an interesting addition to the Chinese forces.
During the 1930s, China cooperated closely with Nazi Germany for military modernisation. The 88th Division was reorganized, trained, and partially equipped following German Army (Wehrmacht) doctrine, including, Modern infantry tactics & Improved discipline and drill.
Saturday, March 28, 2026
Yet more Chinese.....
The Chinese steamroller continues, with the first taster batch completed in January the pace is really picking up, first game in April if I can crack a couple more sections over Easter.
Coming off the paint table 2 additional sections of Chinese.
Sunday, March 15, 2026
2nd Sino-Japanese War - Chinese Infantry Part 2
After last weeks support weapons time to get to grips with more infantry, as mentioned in previous posts I wanted to break up the Chinese formations with different uniform colours and styles.
These section is issued with British helmets and comes in a khaki tunic.
Lovely designs from Kyoushuneko Miniatures on my of the close ups on the web they look a little cartoon like but painted up they compare really nicely with Warlord, Perry's and Battlehonours.
Thursday, March 05, 2026
Who wore it best - Chinese Infantry - Sino Japanese War 1937.
With the last of the Arab cavalry complete now for something that little more modern.
With the testers completed in January in the bluish grey, I thought I would mix it up a little with some Khaki for those troops in the south of the country, I have some lighter tunics planned for the third phase to really given that unstructured feel for the uniform types for the Chinese troops.
Heavy Machine Gun Teams, will they be enough to stop the Japanese onslaught?
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Sino-Japanese War 1937 - 1945 - Chinese Infantry WW2
Something a little different for 2026 and the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War Project.
Lots more to come but I thought I would start with a small section in a bluish-grey uniform, this was common in northern China with Khaki dominating in the South. The Nationalists appeared to have a patch work of uniforms due to the lack of centralised manufacturing so the plan will be to paint up a number of sections each in a different uniform shade. This will tie in with the mix of kit ranging from British, French, Russian & even German kit in the early years of the war.
These are all 3D prints from Kyoushuneko Miniatures and my first large collection of prints instead of metals or plastics, they have a reasonable range of sculpts but with a choice of 4 different heads in some of the packs and with a snip or too on the others you get quite a range to put on the table.
































