Ideas for imagi-nation names

For some time I have been thinking about giving some 'proper' names to my FUNNY LITTLE WARS/PORTABLE WARGAME armies. At present they are known as ARMY KHAKI, ARMY BLACK, and ARMY KEPI ROUGE, but I am now of the opinion that they need imagi-nation names ... and what follows are my current working titles:

• ARMY KHAKI will become the army of the Sultanate of Khakistan, an eastern sultanate that has recently modernised its army, but which currently lacks the resources to truly match some of the other imagi-nations.
• ARMY BLACK will become the army of the Kingdom of Schwarzerberg (literally, Black Mountain), a Germanic kingdom with a growing economy that draws its strength from its burgeoning agricultural and industrial sectors.
• ARMY KEPI ROUGE will become the army of the Republic of Burgundy, a French-style republic ruled over by a President ... who is usually from a military background. The country has been the leading nation on the continent for many years, but a gradual drop in the birth rate and continued economic problems have eroded the nation's pre-eminent position.

The historical period these imagi-nations will exist in is vaguely ten years either side of 1900, in other words, during La Belle Époque* (the Beautiful Epoch). This was a period characterised by general economic prosperity, colonial expansion (so there may well be room for some small colonial armies to be added to the collection!), and technological and scientific innovation. Amongst the latter were the development of the motor vehicle, the telephone, early aircraft, and medical advances in the fields of germ theory of disease, bacteriology, and X-ray photography.

It was also a period of change for the various armed forces of the world. The era saw the widespread introduction of magazine rifles with smokeless powder cartridges, the growing use of effective systems to reduce the recoil of artillery pieces, the issuing of heavy, long-range artillery that could accompany armies in the field, the development of more effective high explosives and propellent powders, and the development of automatic machine guns.

Troops from the eight nations that took part in the China Relief Expedition in 1900. The variety of uniforms being worn shows one reason why wargaming during La Belle Époque is so attractive.

---

* Some years ago, Sue and I were on a cruise that included a visit to the area around Nice and Cannes. We went on a guided coach and walking tour of the area, and during the initial stages of our tour the guide kept referring to something that sounded like 'belly pork'. It was not until one of the other people on the tour asked her what she was talking about that it became clear that she was saying Belle Époque and not talking about a cut of pig meat!