Miniatures: Royalist Whiteshirts

At long last I have eventually got around to painting some miniatures for England Prevails with a section of Royalist Whiteshirts aka Armed Police. The miniatures are from Urban Beat's 28mm range (which has been repackaged since I bought them with additional figures) which I must say are really well sculpted and easy to paint...

The first four are police armed with MP5's. One figure, now in a character pack was bareheaded and bald and I didn't like him so after attempting to sculpt a Green Stuff beanie I painted on a balaclava using Liquid Green Stuff (clearly to avoid identification and reprisals against his family by NUM hit squads).

The second four are CO19 Counter-Terrorist Police, not a lot of difference aside from the weapons and baseball caps instead of peaked caps but they mix well enough.

Why Whiteshirts? Well that is what the miners called the police in the NUM strike, an obvious play on the fascist blackshirts and as these will be fighting Republican trade union militias and Popular Front forces it seemed apt...

Blogs: Maintain The Quarantine

The trouble with teenage sons (well one of the problems...) is that they don't always like what you like. To be honest I'm quite lucky, my son demonstrates a fine taste in music (by and large) and likes wargaming (even if the PS3 is a preferred way of fighting modern battles these days).

A common love is zombies (bear with me...) and Santa did bring Saul a pile of Wargames Factory zombies for Christmas. Gluing the buggers together I got to thinking about games. Thoughts went to using Apocalypse-Z, the zombie supplement for Battlefield Evolution and this got me to my Eureka! moment when I realised that the non-zombie elements of the zombie project could not only be British (whilst I like The Walking Dead I am bored of zombies in America) but that they could be the same miniatures I want to use for England Prevails! Trade Union Militia could double as armed survivors, troops and cops do double duty, simple really... The same would apply for scenery and some vehicles.

I have been browsing a number of really interesting zombie wargames blogs (all of which contain some great stuff on buildings and vehicles that are very useful for modern wargames) and concluded that I should blog this project in a similar manner.

Consequently I have set up Undead Kingdom which I'll recall the detail of the father and son zombie project (I haven't posted anything yet but will soon). If you don't like the undead don't worry, this is the the only mention zombies will receive here and anything used in both projects will be posted on both blogs...

News: Republican Army Repulses M25 Attack

24th January 1989: the Hampshire Regiment supported by elements of the 3rd Republican Tank Regiment repulsed a heavy Royalist probe on their positions near Epping.

Royalist forces including the 1st Royal Tank Regiment, Royal Welch Fusiliers and Duke of Wellington’s Regiment launched a dawn attack on the Republican defence line in an attempt to follow up on their earlier successful attacks.

Fierce fighting around Barber's Wood and Theydon Mount saw heavy casualties on both sides, the Royalist attack being finally beaten off with the timely assistance of Republican Air Force Harriers operating out of Stapleford Aerodrome, despite it being targeted by Royalist artillery.

News: Republican Army Digs In Along M25

21st January 1989: The Republican Army swiftly moved reinforcements from west of London to the M25 Defence Line in a last ditch attempt to stem the Royalist advance. Units from the Gloucestershire Regiment along with the Light Infantry took up defensive positions on the line alongside Militia Units and ad hoc Composite army units comprising of troops who had fled the Royalist advance. To the north the Royalist Army continued to sweep up any remaining pockets of Republican resistance before consolidating  in preparation for the final stages of Operation Teal to capture London.

News: American Volunteer Group Authorised

20th January 1989: In his inaugural address, George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States, authorised the raising of an American Volunteer Group to serve in the United Kingdom if required. Both Bush and his predecessor Ronald Reagan were increasing concerned at the civil war in Britain and the potential threats of both French involvement in England and Soviet intervention in Northern Ireland. Whilst unwilling to have the United States become embroiled directly in a conflict that potentially could expand globally, the sanctioning of a volunteer force organised by the United States government was regarded as a proportionate response to the threat and risks posed.

News: Rebels Flee As Royalists Capture Chelmsford

 

19th January 1989: Republican troops fell back on the M25 defence line as Royalist troops captured Chelmsford and Billericay in 48 hours of fierce fighting. The Blues and Royals led sweeping advances into rebel held territory as Republican Territorial Army and Trade Union Militia units were swept aside.

News: Haughey Concerned At Ulster Violence

18th January 1989: RTE News reports on escalating violence in Northern Ireland with bitter fighting between Royalists, Republicans and Nationalists occurring in Londonderry. Taoiseach Charles Haughey expressed his concerns in the Dáil that the violence in both Ulster and England could spread into the Republic and stated that the Óglaigh na hÉireann, with the help of their Soviet advisors, would ensure that the nation was protected "whatever means necessary" to ensure this did not happen.

Painting: British AFV's

First off apologies for the lack of updates of late, no plan survives contact with the enemy, especially when that enemy is real life, however I hope to get back on track with 2ECW soon. In the meantime I thought that this post for painting British armour, off the excellent Cold War Hot Hot Hot blog, worth passing on if you missed it.

Terrain: High Rise Ruins

Looking for some inspiration for my Whirarwistan project I came across this excellent (and cheap) tutorial on constructing bombed out high rise buildings on Doctor Merkury's Lab. Whilst these have been made with the Lebanon in mind they would be perfect for any bombed out cityscape like Liverpool in the 2ECW (and they could be used for other 28mm games such as WWII and 40K). Inspiring stuff, all the Modern Wargaming labelled posts are worth looking at...

News: Bitter Fighting As Royalists Advance

17th January 1989: Republican resistance grew stronger as the Royalists continued to advance in Operation Teal. After a day of bitter hand to hand fighting the Gurkhas captured Stansted Airport from elements of the Republican Parachute Regiment and The King's Regiment began advancing along the A1060 London Road after clearing Bishop's Stortford of enemy troops. To the east Royalist armour captured Maldon before swinging back along the A12 cutting Republican forces in Chelmsford off from reinforcements.

News: Royalists Launch Offensive On London

16th January 1989: Royalist forces commenced Operation Teal, the offensive to capture the capital and smash the Republican movement. Following an intensive artillery barrage and air strikes on key targets, Royalist armour and troops commenced a two pronged pincer attack with one thrust attacking towards Bishop's Stortford and the other towards Chelmsford. Despite fierce Republican resistance the Royalists had invested Stansted and captured Witham by the end of the first day of the offensive.

News: "England's Darkest Hour"

15th January 1989: BBC News reported the visit to the frontline north of London by Prime Minister Cranwell who addressed Republican troops giving his famous "England's Darkest Hour" speech.

The speech criticised "the forces of the Monarcho-Capitalist oppressors who would snuff out the light of democracy in England, a light that has shone as a beacon for the world for a thousand years" and promised that "our struggle will echo through history and we will emerge victorious from England's darkest hour with the torch of democracy shining brighter".

With the final Royalist offensive on London expected within days, the Republicans rushed militia and para-military units to the frontline to bolster the Republican army and territorial units.

News: Soviet Advisors Land In Dublin

12th January 1989: 500 Soviet advisors and numbers of tanks and APC's were landed at Dublin Harbour as part of the Shannon Agreement signed between the Republic of Ireland and the Soviet Union in December 1988. The Soviet forces arrived to beef up the Arm na hÉireann following increasing concerns in the Republic that the civil war in Britain be used by extremist elements in Ulster to further their agendas and would inevitably spread into the South as political control from England disintegrated.

News: Royalist Offensive Captures Colchester

10th January 1989: Sky News reported the capture of Colchester as the Royalist offensive swung east after capturing Cambridge.

The Household Cavalry Regiment supported by the Green Howards and Royal Welch Fusiliers smashed through the Republican defensive line held by elements of the Worcestershire & Sherwood Foresters Regiment and Territorial London Regiment, troops from the latter defecting to the Royalist side during the battle.

Republican reinforcements were moved swiftly to Chelmsford to protect the capital from a swift enemy thrust down the A12 axis and troops in Saffron Walden withdrawn to Bishop's Stortford to prevent them being outflanked.

Rules: Force On Force

First off apologies for the lack of updates on the blog. This year, as you may have seen on my Bleaseworld blog, I've been trying to focus my wargaming activities into specific topics each month. Whilst this has been quite productive from an Ancients, WWII and RCW point of view, there was never an intention to forget to keep England Prevails ticking over.

However the good news is that the Royal Wedding and Amazon's 43% off the rrp offer on Force on Force has seen the juices starting to flow again. Largely this is down to Force on Force which has rekindled my interest in moderns and not only kickstart this project but also embark on a parallel late 1980's Cold War clash between the US and USSR in far off Whirarwistan.

If you haven't checked out Force on Force I highly recommend you do so. It is a very flexible system allowing you to fight different types of battle between regulars or with regulars against irregulars in a very small areas (two foot square table recommended for 15 and 20mm). Perfect for either the streets of Liverpool or some mud brick hovel in Whirarwistan.

Also, as part of my theme focus months, May is "moderns month" in Bleaseworld and I plan to not only paint up some troops for Whirarwistan, but also some of the 28mm's I bought for the planned FIBUA games in the 2ECW.

Scenario: Bridges Over The River Mersey

Background: following the capture of Manchester, Royalist forces have launched a two-pronged offensive on Liverpool. The southern prong pushes along the M56 axis overrunning Republican positions at Stretton and Preston Brook with ease before swinging north into Runcorn to capture the strategically vital Runcorn-Widnes rail and road bridges across the Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal.

Their capture will allow the Royalists to push into south Merseyside and threaten the port-city of Liverpool. It is imperative for the Republican cause that the Royalists do not capture either bridge intact so they launch air strikes at the two bridges.

Rules: this scenario has been written with AirWar: C21 in mind.

Republican Forces: 4 x SEPECAT Jaguar GR.1B (player to assign bomb load), 4 x Hawk T.1A escort.

Royalist Forces: 3 x Harrier GR.5 (appear on even number roll on d6, roll once per turn until appear), 2 x Tornado F.3 ADV (appear on a 5 or 6 on d6, roll once per turn until appear), 3 x Blowpipe SAM AAA.

Victory conditions: the Republican Air Force must cause at least 50% damage to both bridges for a narrow victory, destroying them is a major victory.

Terrain: as per the map. Royalist AAA can only be deployed south of the bridges. Aircraft from either side can enter from whatever direction they wish.

Notes: both bridges are classified as large steel/concrete bridges with 15 damage points each.

News: Royalist North West Offensive Thwarted

5th January 1989: The Republican leadership received welcome news when it was reported that the Royalist offensive to seize Liverpool had faltered.

Although some Royalist forces were able to invest the city they became bogged down in fierce street battles as the Republican leadership of the city issued a call to arms to all citizens to resist the royalist troops.

Liverpool mayor Derek Hatton pledged to turn Liverpool "into a new Stalingrad" as militia units including army cadets and trade union chapters fought alongside Republican army units from the Lancashire Regiment against the Royalists.

News: Cambridge Falls To Royalists

3rd January 1989: TV channel Sky News gave the first reports that Cambridge had fallen to Royalist forces following a concerted offensive over the new year period.

Royalist forces spearheaded by The King's Regiment and the 7th Duke of Edinburgh's Gurkha Rifles forced back the Republican Anglian Regiment in a series of attacks over a three day period. The Republicans swiftly deployed elements of the 3rd Tank Regiment and the Parachute Regiment to Saffron Walden to help prop up the retreating Anglians as the capital came under threat of Royalist attack for the first time in the war.

News: Charles Crowned King

1st January 1989: In a small scale ceremony in Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa, Prince Charles was crowned King of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis; Head of the Commonwealth, and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Upon his coronation, Charles Windsor adopted the regal name of George VII to avoid the association with Stuart kings named Charles, the first having been executed following a civil war, the second living for many years in exile.

Blogs: Un-Tied Kingdom, The War in 2011

If you enjoy this blog and Winter of '79, you'll be pleased to see another modern British civil war blog project, the Un-tied Kingdom, the War in 2011. Right up to date, the divergence point is the recent election and the Labour Party leading a revolt against the minority Tory government. Hopefully you'll follow Brian's efforts as well as Mark's at '79 and mine here.

Miniatures: 1/56th British Army AFV's

As the missus watches Poirot (or Pie-rot as I like to call him!) on ITV this Christmas night I decided to read through the Battlegames PDF bundle I bought a week or so back. I'd only got into the first few when reading about Mike Siggins' visit to an old toy soldier fair and his quest to buy 54mm Coldstream Guards he mentioned a company called Scarlet and Gold who make 30mm toy soldiers and also that they produce vehicles...

Whilst my 28mm plans are FIBUA based and I probably won't want a Chieftain or Challenger in 1/56th, I can find a use for APC's and light tanks like the Scimitar. A useful looking 20 vehicle range, it includes Warriors (one above), Humvees, Land Rovers and a 105mm towed by a Pinzgauer light truck.

Another 1/56th source is Sloppy Jalopy who do a small range of Cold War era vehicles including a very useful FV432, Humber Pig and a wonderful Saxon APC (above). Once the credit card bill is reduced post Christmas I will be investing in some vehicles from both companies for some 2ECW action.