I have begun working on the renovation, rebasing, and varnishing of a new Belle Époque army … the army of the Commonwealth of Britannia. (This was originally going to be called Albion but I changed it to avoid any possible confusion with Stalbania.)
The flag of the Commonwealth of Britannia.
This is my fictional equivalent of Great Britain, and the troops wear red or dark blue jackets, dark blue/Oxford blue trousers or tartan kilts, and white pith helmets. So far I have renovated and varnished the figures for the artillery, cavalry, machine gun, and supply units as well as two mounted generals. I will then base them before moving on to the infantry.
The Britannic army will be a relatively small one. At present it only has a single cavalry unit, three artillery units, two machine gun units, four supply units, and seven infantry units … one of which will designated as Marines.
BOB,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear you are getting on with your new army - hope to see some photos down the track of the finished Britanic Army. Cheers. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteI will certainly feature this addition to my Belle Époque collection on my blog … when it is finished.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, red coats and white helmets in the machine-gun age - that's a recipe for disaster! Unless the government of Britannia assumes its army will only be fighting natives who have no modern weapons...
ReplyDeleteI've just finished a book about the First Schleswig War in 1848, Denmark versus Prussia and other German states. The Danish infantry began the war in bell-top shakos and red coats, looking almost Napoleonic in style, but quickly adopted a new uniform with dark blue tunic and a sky-blue topped forage cap (like those worn in the ACW). And this was long before machine guns... Best wishes, Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteI’ve seen coloured drawings in some early twentieth century illustrated papers and magazines that show British troops in action wearing red tunics … and that’s my excuse for sticking with the colour scheme. (It’s also doubtful that they’ll be facing a foe that is armed with very good weaponry.)
I’ve seen both styles of Danish uniforms in a museum in Copenhagen, and the latter is almost a copy of a Union ACW one.
All the best,
Bob
All sounds good to me Bob and I much prefer Britannic/Britannia to Albion, the latter which to me speaks more of King Arthur etc.
ReplyDeleteSteve J,
DeleteThanks for the endorsement of the name change. It made sense to me and I don’t know why I didn’t choose it in the first place.
All the best,
Bob
I'm looking e to seeing them! I'm also very glad you are able to resume your normal hobby activities.
ReplyDeleteMark Cordone,
DeleteI’m glad that you enjoyed seeing my Belle Époque armies. Starting work on the army of Britannia was a goal I set myself some time ago, and it marks one more step on my road to recovery.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteThat will be one to see for sure - methinks you will pondering the naval side as well….
All the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteSome time ago I did build some model ships for this project, but I think that I will need revisit them, either to renovate or replace them.
All the best,
Bob
I would be very keen to see them!
DeleteAll the best,
DC
David Crook,
DeleteHopefully you won’t have to wait too long!
All the best,
Bob
Bob-
ReplyDeleteMarines! I never thought of adding marines to my army of Ruberia (which is my Chromatic Wars equivalent to Great Britain). I do have sepoys, though. And Highlanders. I have no real problem with marching red coats at machine guns. Red is a colour that, unlike white or yellow or even orange, fades quickly with distance into the background. I suspect the change to darker colours was more to assuage feelings of vulnerability - a morale thing - rather than a real reduction in visibility. Mind you, I could be wrong about that.
I'm looking forward to seeing your 'belle Epoque' break out into a shooting war!
Cheers,
Ion
Archduke Piccolo (Ion),
DeleteIt seemed to make sense to give the Commonwealth of Britannia some Marines, and I’m thinking of adding a unit of sailors so that I can field a Naval Brigade. As to the wearing of red tunics … well the Royal Marine Light Infantry were known as the ‘Red Marines’ whilst the Royal Marine Artillery were the ‘Blue Marines’. In fact, there used to be a barracks in Woolwich that was called the Red Barracks because it housed the Woolwich Division of the RMLI.
I’m hoping that I’ll be able to fight some wargames before Christmas, but I need to get to our storage unit in order to collect some of my terrain.
All the best,
Bob
Good to read that you're working on your Belle Epoque Armies again Bob
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteIt’s great to be back working on this project again!
All the best,
Bob