SCW Naval: Republican Destroyers

I've been a Hispanophile for as long as I can remember. One part of this is an avid interest in Spanish history and the Civil War in particular. I also love ships so it was inevitable I'd put together some naval forces for both sides and the Non-Interventionist navies.

At the start of the war Spain possessed a small but fairly modern fleet. The division between Loyalist and Rebel ships was fairly even in terms of major units. The Loyalists were able to secure and retain the greater part of the destroyers. The Rebels ending up with a handful of modernish destroyers and some junk ones their Italian allies sold to them.

The most numerous ships in the Loyalist fleet were the Churruca class. There were 14 of these built in two groups of seven each. They were very similar to the RN's Scott class.

Churruca Class 1
Sánchez Barcaiztegui, José Luis Díez, Almirante Ferrándiz, Lepanto, Churruca, Alcalá Galiano and Almirante Valdés (all in the Republican Navy )

Armament: 5-4x 4.7" guns, 1-2x 3"AA, 4 machine guns, 6 torpedo tubes 21'' (2 triple mounts)

Speed: 36 knots

Churruca Class 2
Ships: Almirante Antequera, Almirante Miranda, Gravina, Escaño, Ulloa, Jorge Juan, Císcar (all in Republican Navy )

Armament: 4x 4.7" guns, 2x 3"AA, 4 machine guns, 6 torpedo tubes 21'' (2 triple mounts)

Speed: 36 knots

Churruca Class destroyers were excellent ships, fast and well armed, their only weakness being a lack of modern AA armament. All ships in the Churruca class were built at Cartagena between 1926 - 1937.

Churruca & Sanchez Barcaztegui 1

Churruca & Sanchez Barcaztegui 2

Churruca & Sanchez Barcaztegui 3

Alsedo Class
Ships: Alsedo, Juan Lazaga, Velasco

Armament: 3x 4'', 2x 47mm AA, 4 machine guns, 4 torpedo tubes 17.7'' (2 double mounts)

Speed: 34 knots

They were good destroyers, but smaller and older than the Churruca Class. They entered service between September 1924 and August 1925.Alsedo & Juan Lazaga stayed loyal while Velasco joined the rebels. They were very similar to the RN's Nimrod class.

Alsedo & Juan Lazaga 1

Alsedo & Juan Lazaga 2

Alsedo & Juan Lazaga 3

Saludos!

2nd Infantry Battalion: Los Voluntarios de Guadeloupdeloupe

A fine body of men, I'm sure you'll agree? Veterans of Vim Fuego, Nuevos Pantalones & Cuerda Antigua the 2nd Infantry Battalion is made up of brave and willing workers and military colonists. They are a tough proposition on the battlefield so let Tarbooshia and the FSA pirates beware! Ready to do and die to protect El Presidente, El Presidente's bank accounts, El Presidente's wife and Eternal Anahuaco. In that order. Anahuaco salutes them!

Los Voluntarios de Guadeloupdeloupe

Unstoppable!

Discipline is the key to Victory!

I painted this lot up about a year ago; well before I'd ever heard of FLW or even considered garden wargames as the way ahead. 54mm figures from: Airfix, AiP & Steve Weston. Flag from TVAG.

TTFN! 

Wow!

I only started this blog on 18th August 2012 and today we reached 1000 views! That's incredible and I just want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has had a look, commented or joined the site.

All the best!

PS Hello to new blog follower Jason Crowe. Welcome aboard!

Anahuaco: ¡El Pueblo En Armas!

Having a Guards battalion is all very well but they can't always win without support. And supported they are by the People of Anahuaco who form the bulk of the army. Here we have the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 1st Infantry Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division of The People's Army of Anahuaco.

To ensure the loyalty and steadfastness of the People's Battalions El Presidente has authorised the creation of  a Corp of Comissars. They will be responsible for education, welfare, occasional issue of uniforms, assisting in training and shooting slackers. Laziness and stupidity will not be tolerated in The People's Army.

El Comisario kneels for a better aim whilst El Capitán vogues

Heroic!

I'll be actively recruiting for this unit but for now it is made up of 54mm AiP, Crescent & Steve Weston Figures. Flag by TVAG.

All the best!

¡Viva Anahuaco!

It's been Tarbooshia this and Tarbooshia that for a few weeks now. Time to redress the balance!

Eternal Anahuaco is nothing like this fictional place known as 'Mexico'. Neither does its army bear any resemblance to that of the cartoon character 'Pancho Villa'. El Presidente Death Squad takes the spreading of lies and disinformation most seriously.

The slanders and calumny poured on our leader His Most High And Mighty Excellency, El Presidente For Life Don Llardo de Baluna del Lobby y Correedor by the yellowish press of Wilhelm Rednose Hurtz are not to be believed. Or read by loyal Anahuacans. Literacy in Eternal Anahuaco is running at an all time high of 12% and not the 11% claimed by the filthy Tarbooshian propaganda machine and its tawdry FSA backers.

Defending Eternal Anahuaco is our brave army. Many of them voluntary conscripts and all the better for that. First onto the field and always last off it is our courageous Guard unit:  
                        

       The Redoubtable Guards of 

The Outstanding Power of Eternal Anahuaco 

¡Adelante!

Steady!

At Your Target In Front!

Steely Eyed Sons Of Anahuaco!

These toys have a good deal more shading than is really needed for FLW troops but I did paint them some time ago. That's my excuse anyway. 54mm Figures from AiP & Crescent., flag from TVAG.

As always comments welcome.

Talking of welcomes.......hello to StuG whose superb vehicle modelling skills have to be seen to be believed.

All the best!

SpeakEasy?

I'm posting this tune because it's swinging; the lead vocalist is hot; the band has a great name and there are dancers doing East Coast Swing Jive. Hit the dancefloor!

Put A Lid On It

Tarbooshian Cavalry

First unit of 54mm cavalry for the growing forces of HSH The Grand Tarboosh and FLW.

I'm not a big fan of cavalry, though I can see their uses, give me infantry and artillery any day. That said I enjoyed painting these chaps but moving the arm of the flag guy and the officer's head was a nightmare: rock hard plastic. I was going to chop one of the archers to have him firing to his front. Then I thought how much I value my hands and fingers. Then I decided to quit while I was ahead.

The box art (Italerai) said the toy soldiers within were 11th Century Saracens. Not any more they're not:

On their way to the TVAG flag shop

With flag touched by the hand of HSH The GT

TTFN!

Their Reach Is Long

Here we have some 54mm Tarbooshian artillerymen with one of the guns supplied by Armworth-Whitstrong's. The gun has been refurbished since this photo was taken. What is needed now are some tractor units, horse or steam-powered, to move the guns about in FLW games. The gun probably rates only a three man crew so one chap will be getting posted soon. The toy soldier firing the gun appears to be using a wand but I promise you it's a lanyard. Mind you, if it was a wand...........

..........BANGISSIAMUS!

1st Artillery Battery

All the best!

Tarbooshian Infantry

I finished these chaps a few days ago and then thought I'd be clever and put them on Yahoo's Funny Little Wars site. And forgot to put them on here. No matter, they're here now! Taking my 54mm inspiration from AiP's Egyptians, Kellog's plastic guardsmen and my flag from TVAG - Army Khaki. I think they look quite toy soldierly but I couldn't stop myself from giving them a sturdy base each. I'm really getting onboard with gloss varnish too. That sounds quite bad: I'm not a solvent abuser. I always clean the nozzle post use.

1st Battalion The Tarboosh's Own

Facing The Anahuacan Wreckers With A Song And A Bayonet

The Band

All the best!

Busy day

I started my second year of Spanish language class this morning. Our class tutor was her usual scatterbrained self but she did point us in the direction of a useful book. A visual bilingual dictionary which at £6.39 from Amazon is a real bargain.

This evening is Swing-Jive class. We usually do two classes each evening. A beginners followed by an intermediates. Tonight's intermediate will take us further into the mysteries of
Front To Back/Reverse/Tandem* Charleston. Here's a video to give you some idea what I'm on about: Tandem Charleston

*Take your pick

Hasta la entrada de blog proxima!

All Ashore Who's Going Ashore!

Following on from Friday's Naval Brigade artillery post here's the rest of the contingent from HSH Ships 'Kebablik' & 'Shawarma'. A pair of frigates in His Serene Highness's service which we may see something of  later. Much later.

Anyways here's the lusty lads. Funny Little Wars (Army Khaki) flag courtesy of TVAG:

Hello to Captain LOL who runs some spiffing blogs, well worth a look.

Heave Ho, Me Artys!

Latest addition to His Serene Highness The Sublime Tarboosh's forces: 54mm Naval Brigade Artillery for Funny Little Wars.

On shore duty until further notice from HSHS 'Kebablik' these brave naval types want nothing more than to get stuck into the Anahuacan bandits!

Naval Brigade Leads The Way!

Daily Kismet Reporter Gets Close To The Action.

Efficient & Skilful. 

Tarbooshia Salutes Our Brave Naval Lads!

All the best!

Herman the German Day 12 of 10

Finally got around to baking up old Herman today. The two day delay hasn't done him any harm: very bubbly in fact. I decided to go with apples and wild brambles as the fruit component. Turned out rather well too!

Herman - fresh from the oven.

Welcome to new blog follower Paul. His own blog Plastic Warriors is well worth a peruse. Chock full of interesting stuff and top modelling.

All the best!

HotT Army Showcase #2: The Chartists

Fraternity, Liberty and Humanity Forever!

The Chartists? THE CHARTISTS? Yes that's right, The Chartists. But they never raised an army did they? No they didn't but they came pretty close to doing so on a number of occasions. I was looking for a new project, something unordinary,  and my gaze settled on the men of The Six Points.

The game system was to be Hordes of the Things and I knew that I wanted to be able to select troop types rather than going for a settled 24points job. Next there was the issue of the figures. I seemed to have been painting forever and wanted a break. I studied photographic images of Chartist rallies and leaders and then the idea came to me. Why not save the images and print them off in sepia tones and then mount them on  thick board? So I did. Then there was the problem of the bases. The muse was still with me and I thought that street plans of towns from the 1830s-1850 or so would be just the job. The bases also have labels with unit name and troop type.

The stronghold came next. the choice was obvious: The National Land Company & Rosedene of Blessed Memory!

So, who was to lead the army? Several Chartists had claim but one stood out head and shoulders above the rest: Feargus O'Connor one of the founders and driving forces of Chartism.

Fergus O'Connor - A Hero General

As I said several Chartists had claim but there can be only one General but every general needs a staff. With that in mind this man stood out as: George Julian Harney.

George Julian Harney - A Hero

Chartism always had a religious element in its ideology and social programmes. So, a cleric then! Ideal for diverting the reactionary magic of the forces of repression. And who better than: Ernest Jones?

Ernest Jones - A Cleric

Chartist propaganda was effective and widespread by means of newspapers, posters and handbills. Putting up posters and handing out leaflets was dangerous work and had to be done stealthily. The master of this, until his arrest and transportation was: William Cuffay. He was a hero but we've already got two of them so Lurker seems right.

William Cuffay - A Lurker

I mentioned The Six Points earlier. These points were the raison d'etre for The Chartists and they pursued these aims fervently and without diversion. So, a god then. 

The Six Points - A God

How did The Chartists spread their information and creed so effectively? Why by the power of the press! But here I had a dilemma because The Chartist's main newspaper, The Northern Star, suggested two different troop types. so I did both: Artillery & Flyer

The Northern Star - Artillery 

(A broadside from a broadsheet)

The Northern Star - A Flyer

(Pun fully intended)

The army needed some firepower besides the artillery. Shooters were the obvious answer based on the real life 'Wat Tyler Brigade' & 'The Finsbury Division' this: The Newport Rising and this: The London Orange Tree Plot.

Wat Tyler Brigade & The Finsbury Division - The Shooters

Finally we come to the great mass of the army: The Chartists themselves. Since, on the whole, they were organised mobs Hordes seemed the best option. I chose six cities where Chartism was very strong and also as an echo of The Six Points. They were:

1. The Hordes of Liverpool

2. The Hordes of Birmingham

3. The Hordes of Manchester

4. The Hordes of Bradford

5. The Hordes of Newport

6. The Hordes of Kennington

The Chartists - Hordes

The Army of The Chartists 

(A lot more than 24 points!)

Finally, as mentioned above, The Stronghold of Rosedene:

On An C19th Map Of Warwickshire

I hope you like this army. It's a bit different from the usual figure-based ones but I had a lot of fun putting it together.

All the best!

Dance Workshop etc

Today I am going to a Swing-Jive dance workshop. There's also a vintage market (nothing for blokes - guaranteed!) and a social dance this evening. A busy, but v enjoyable, day for me then!

This is what we'll be doing but I'm neither as good as this nor do I own a sailor suit. Which is probably for the best.

TTFN!

The Buildings of Vim Fuego

Good morning all,

After a night's sleep my internal editor decided that The Defence of Vim Fuego had a load of unecessary building pictures. So, in the hope anyone will be interested, I split the post in two: first part the troops, second the buildings.

Each building was designed to be wargame friendly: large doorways, plenty of windows, flat, removable or shallow incline roofs,

I scratch-built all the buildings from balsa, foam-core, wooden rods, coffee stirrers, adhesive floor tiles, tequila bottle cap & kebab skewers. The walls are plastered with a mix of sand/PVA glue which dries rock hard and then painted.

The timetables are real old-time Mexican ones I found on-line and scaled down.

I got the church bell from a haberdashery stall in Birmingham's Rag Market.

The tiling on the church and station is corrugated card, top layer removed, cut into strips; soaked in mostly PVA with a drop of water and then placed onto the plain roof piece. Once in place put another one on and so-on until you've covered the roof. Allow to dry, trim and then paint. Remember to start from the the lowest roof edge and work upwards!

Vim Fuego Station, track-side

V F Station, side view inc Ticket/Telegraph Office

V F Station, Main Entrance

La Cantina, rear elevation

La Cantina, Front & Roof 

Peasant Dwellings 1

Peasant Dwellings 2

Church of St. Wonky

Bell Tower

Church Interior

All the best!