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!

The Defence of Vim Fuego

The title is a bit misleading, it wasn't a game. Just me setting up the vital rail junction of Vim Fuego, its buildings and its garrison and getting some shots.

The town of Vim Fuego consists of one street of noisome peasant dwellings. A church with a bell tower - Our Lady of Holy Misery. La Cantina Borracho that also doubles as the town hall. And the all important railway and its station.

The town is garrisoned by units of FLW's Army Lime Green del Norte de Anahuaco under the command of  Mí General Don Bongo de Baluna. The garrison comprises:

4 units of Army Lime Green infantry - 54mm

1 unit of Army Line Green Cavalry - 54mm

2 guns of Army Line Green Artillery - 54mm

1 Hospital Wagon of El Servicio Sanitario - 54mm

Don Bongo's mission is to defend the town, secure the railway & telegraph at all costs from Tarbooshian attacks.

A Panoramic View of the town and its garrison 

Don Bongo leads the defence!

The Left Flank: Artillery dug in in the trees; 

3rd Infantry Regiment in the trenches; 

6th Infantry appearing from behind the church.

The Centre Right.

The Centre Left.

Las Verdaduras advancing to glory.

Los Cacadores de Anahuaco in position at the front.

 

The Left Flank.
Ably defended by ALGdelNdeA Artillery

La Cantina El Borracho. 

HQ of our Glorious General Don Bongo.

Las Verdaduras to the front!

A sniper & artillery spotter placed in the tower by Don Bongo.

Don Bongo is a military genius!

The Redoubtable Guards of The Outstanding Power of Eternal Anahuaco

or

The Reserve

El Servicio Sanitario Wagon.

The toy soldiers are a mix of 1/32 54mm AiP Boers, AiP Zulu War British, Crescent Mexicans & SteveWeston Mexicans, Airfix Cowboys and converted Army Men. Flags from TVAG. Guns are Crescent 18pdrs. The limber and hospital wagon I picked up at Birmingham's Toy Soldier Show last year.

All the best!

Book Review: 'War Correspondents'

I recently acquired a copy of this book. I got it from a remaindered bookshop for £3

It is a hardback, with dust-jacket and it's large. Very large, so much so with four legs it would make a fine side-table. I'm not going to do that, it's far too good for that. The book is 593 pages of photographic journalism dating from the Crimean War to the Libya Civil War of 2011. The colossal scale of the book allows it to cover all of the conflicts in between: major and minor. Images from the Russo-Japanese War are fascinating and include some pictures taken during combat by Italian journo Lorenzo D'Adda. The collection of images from the Spanish Civil War are also of a high standard including one of an International Brigader leaping into a shell hole as an ME109 passes overhead. Wherever possible the photographs are credited which is itself interesting since war photographers are generally unknown or unremembered.

The book is a fascinating collection of action shots, group photographs and posed pictures. Its great breadth means that it can only give a sketch of any given war but what a sketch it gives! I rate it highly as a wargaming and information resource. But be warned, the photography does not flinch. There are numbers of pictures of the victims of atrocities as well as the battle dead and the maimed.

Here's a sample of the photographs in the book:

Front Cover

Russo-Japanese War - Troops attacking

Captured British International Brigaders

Legionary of The Spanish Foreign Legion in Teruel

A Damaged U-Boat & A Spitfire on HMS Vindex

War Correspondents

Published by Scala

ISBN: 978-88-87090-74-1

All the best!

Herman the German: Day 4 of 10

Good afternoon, cake fans. Day 4 sees Herman get fed: 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of sifted plain flour and 1 cup of milk. I use brown sugar mainly because I like the colour.

Herman is sated......for now

The Big Guns

Those nice men at Armworth-Whitstrong's agreed to supply The Tarbooshian army with a state-of-the-art consignment of artillery. What was received left something to be desired. The guns have seen more than one war and look it too!

Tatty Arty

Tarbooshia's finest engineers set to work and found all were recoverable. Hard work followed to straighten wonky wheels, bent firing handles and unblock barrels. Range tests proved <TOP SECRET>

The Artillery Park: HURRAH for Tarbooshia!

I'd love to get my hands on a 4.7" Naval Gun but the prices are daunting for The Tarbooshian Treasury.

All the best!

Herman the German: Day 2 of 10

I'm making a German Friendship Cake. I say making in its broadest sense because the process involves giving him a daily stir to get airborne yeast into him. I know it sounds dodgy but the end results are worth it. The making gets more exciting on Day 4 but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Here's a picture of Herman earlier today:

Paul of Paul's Bods has asked me if there is a recipe. There certainly is! This site has the info: Herman the German Friendship Cake. It seems the cake originated from The Amish people of USA not from Germany as such. Every day's a learning opportunity! ;-)

All the best!

....Continuing the nautical theme

My latest project is 54mm - Funny Little Wars. It started off as simply a desire to build two Mexican Revolution forces: Villa & Zapata, Los Federales, las maquinas locas, dynamite bombs, dodgy aircraft, yankee imperialism and tequila. What's not to like?

That's how it all started, and then I saw this: Garden Campaigns and this: Freedonia the Brave! and everything changed. Which is not unusual tbh, my mind does that flicking thing, you know the one.......So now the Mexicans have become Anahuacans but they needed someone to fight. Logic called for a foe from North or South America so I went for an analogue of The Ottomans and called it Tarbooshia (not Fezia, oh no!). Told you I was odd.

Here's a shot of the Tarbooshian Naval Brigade work in progress:

Brave Tarbooshian Sailors at the tailor's

They started life as 54mm WW2 Soviet Naval Infantry (Pegasus) but will now see service with Europa's most modern and forward thinking army as they combat the Anahuacan menace.

The same figures a little later:

First fitting complete

Ready, Willing & Able to do the bidding of  His Serene Highness The Grand Tarboosh

PS Yes it is a GW workstation, a toaster and some meds ;-)

All the best!

Nautical but Nice

I've spent an enjoyable hour adding gadgets, lists and whatnots to the blog this afternoon. What fun! (As Henry Blofeld might say). Observant readers will note that my 'Favourite Films' list has an abundance of naval movies. This is no accident: I've adored ships since I was a little boy and is probably because I grew up in a ship building town and even worked at Cammell Lairds for six months. Before joining the RAF.

That reminds me, must add 'The Battle of Britain' to the list!

All the best!