tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96260363375039752024-03-13T11:09:05.087+01:00Monsewer Crapaud's Self-indulgent Wargaming ThingyDoes exactly what it says on the tin! A bit of frippery where I can publish my wargames musings and if anyone finds it amusing then all to the good.Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-40776242379636588442014-05-01T23:20:00.000+02:002014-05-01T23:20:25.006+02:00Risorgimento or Garibaldi in Sicily 1860I studied the Italian Unification at school and it was fascinating; This lead to following Garibaldi's career and especially his amazing campaign in Sicily with the "Mille" (Thousand), or Redshirts , taking the island in the face of 20-30,000 Neapolitan troops.
In 1860, Garibaldi lead a small force to overthrow the Bourbons who ruled The Kingdom of The Two Sicilies (Naples and Sicily), one of Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-90904145243124186162014-05-01T00:04:00.000+02:002014-05-01T00:04:33.681+02:00More Ironclads: Russo-Turkish War 1877In 1877 Russia invaded the Ottoman Empire to "liberate" what would become Bulgaria. This war ended in a Russian victory after famous incidents such as the siege of Plevna and the battle of the Shipka Pass. Incidentally I am trying to finish off a couple of hundred 54mm figures for the last battle!
The war at sea was largely unknown, mostly because there wasn't one. At the end of the Crimean War Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-81977383503171234942014-04-29T23:38:00.000+02:002014-04-29T23:38:19.693+02:00Ironclads: Lissa 1866Naval gaming has always held an interest for me and that especially covers the Ironclad period of about 1860 up to the Dreadnaughts. Steam first played a part in the Crimean War and the French invented an armoured floating battery that heralded an era with fully armoured ships starting with the "Gloire" and the Royal Navy's answer, "HMS Warrior", now preserved at Portsmouth docks and well worth aMonsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-62091984104273928752014-04-29T22:34:00.002+02:002014-04-29T22:34:35.808+02:00Abyssinia 1935-1936
I now have some Italian troops to face down the Emperor's hordes; In this case a unit of Eritrean Askaris.
The Italian colony of Eritrea was the main base in East Africa and from where Mussolini's main offensive came. Whilst the majority of the Italian forces came from Italy itself, a large portion and indeed the best, in my opinion, were the native colonial infantry known as Askaris. They woreMonsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-4903760330984838112014-04-29T21:47:00.001+02:002014-04-29T21:47:13.421+02:00My Annual Blog entry!!!!!Yet again I've had no time or home computer access to put anything up for a good while but I have been busy, honest! I have managed to get a bunch of painting finished and have played a host of games, mostly helping with people's Very British Civil War campaigns and I'll put up some of my units in a minute.
Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-57695147497575191702012-10-19T20:10:00.003+02:002014-04-29T21:47:35.725+02:00Abyssinia 1935-1936
Time, I think, for a few more photos.
The Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) is a fascinating campaign. The Abyssinians were essentially a Nineteenth Century tribal army that Emperor Haile Selassie was trying to modernise with machine guns, Regulars, a few aircraft and even Hitler was intending to send 37mm Pak ATGs. About half the Italian forces were Fascist militia, the Blackshirts, Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-69756730584583188212012-09-30T20:04:00.000+02:002012-09-30T20:05:17.204+02:00Dutch Grenadiers and Kurassiers 1831
Here are some photos of my first Dutch units for the Ten days campaign in 1831.
Dutch Grenadier Afdeeling
Raised in 1829, this two battalion "Afdeeling" guarded the royal palaces, and was present in Bruxelles at the start of the uprising and went on campaign in 1831.
Here
is one battalion. The pre-war four company organisation was dropped in
favour of six, with two "Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-28923364172000784352012-09-30T18:53:00.000+02:002012-09-30T18:53:22.213+02:00Belgian War of Independence 1830-32
Standard of the Dutch Grenadiers
My wargaming has always looked at the more obscure, rather than mainstream, and you can't get much more obscure than the Belgian Independence campaigns from 1830 to 1832.
In 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars, the countries we now know as Belgium and the Netherlands were united under a Dutch king, Wilhelm I. The Dutch-Belgian army formed Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-62997228866578601812012-09-30T16:12:00.001+02:002012-09-30T16:12:27.264+02:00Gladiators
Well, as a taster here are some 54mm Gladiators I painted recently. The cruder castings are by Irregular but I can't remember where the others came from. The rules are based on "Rudis" from the '90s.
Thracian
Thracian again
Secutores
Secutores again
Samnis or Samnite
Myrmillones
Retiarius
Another Retiarius
Lightly armed Thracian
contra retiarii
Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-82904698186224697432012-09-30T15:56:00.000+02:002012-09-30T15:56:39.225+02:00Apologies/Mes excusesI can't believe that it is nearly 2 1/2 years since I posted, but the outside world has a way of interfering with "real life".
This meant I have been shifting back and forth from France to the UK due to work and that looks like continuing for a bit longer; none of this has been helped by trying to DIY/bricolage the whole of our house at the same time!
Still, and bizarrely, my wargaming has Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-48733544305442467072010-05-13T20:38:00.005+02:002010-05-13T21:29:23.737+02:00A Pain in the Bolkans 4Dateline: GenevaBy our Correspondent at the League of Nations.Amidst unprecedented scenes of chaos and mayhem in the chamber today, two national delegations resorted to physical violence and had to be removed from the League Building.Count Duckula, the Ainomor representative, had just risen to speak in the debate on the Scandanavian Pig Smuggling dispute when the gentleman from the Brobdingnag Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-6868358280993608092010-04-15T20:42:00.005+02:002010-04-15T21:05:13.833+02:00A Pain in the Bolkans 3Dateline: BoughreBy our Special Reporter.No sooner was King Mikhailus making threats against the Brobdingnag Union on the wireless earlier this month, before the Royal War Ministry announced a series of major military exercises in the southern county of Borta, just adjacent to the Union border.A Ministry press release stated that " The Royal Army and Air Corps are determined to defend the Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-50533788937877402072010-04-15T20:28:00.000+02:002010-04-15T20:29:56.641+02:00Interbellum: War in the Bolkans?Interbellum: War in the Bolkans?Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9626036337503975.post-33060235453188716462010-04-11T14:30:00.001+02:002010-04-15T20:26:54.844+02:00A Pain in the BolkansImagine a world almost like ours,but not quite.... That is the premise for the Interbellum imagi-nations blog. Creating a wargaming world set in the 1920s-1940s where you aren't tied to the orthodox, no complaints that you've painted your Guard Marine Grenadiers with five buttons on their sleeves instead of two! Well here is mine.....The Rhue River WarWith the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire Monsewer Crapaudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08690662782614094740noreply@blogger.com1