Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => VSF Adventures => In Her Majesty's Name => Topic started by: Maldred on 23 January 2014, 08:57:27 PM
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UPDATE : I worked on this over the weekend - my final version published at the end of this thread ... proofreading and costing checks welcome :)
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I'm looking for some European opponents for British troops posted to the Dark Continent and found these splendid figures by Wargames Foundry
(http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/files/cache/19a0aef5aed52995f6808aa625af30ad_f7350.jpg)
(http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/files/cache/42f7c87ccc92ec2e071fb2d0bdc639e8_f7346.jpg)
I can make up the bulk of the force by using existing templates for Prussian, British and French troopers plus loyal natives but I'm looking for inspiration for the leaders ... given that King Leopold II* won't be there himself does anyone know of any infamous Belgians I can use?
Your thoughts are invited ...
[*One wonders if Leopold was the last Belgian to be honest about his plans for world domination ....]
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as the old joke goes, there are only three famous Belgians
Jean Claude Van Damme, Hercule Poirot & Hertz Van Rental (who always sounded more Dutch to me)
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Henry Morton Stanley ("Doctor Livingstone, I presume?") was Leopold's Main Man in the Congo for a bit. He was pretty much responsible for setting up the Congo Free State.
Foundry do a couple of figures of him too, as it happens.
Bear in mind though, that those boys aren't "Belgian" until 1908 or so. Up until then they are the private army of an individual warlord. Nothing to do with the Belgian state.
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The bulk of the force should be African askari types. Often recruited from cannibal tribes, they should have a reasonable FV (possibly a the expense of SV). Give them the option of bayonet drill (but not marksmanship - save that for the Europeans).
Special options could include a witchdoctor (see the Shaman in the Hunting Party list or the Inyana in the Zulu list in HVF). If the withchdoctor is present you could also include a Demon (see Zulu list in HVF).
Also consider Congo leopardmen (see the Skinchanger in the Red Sect list in HVF - in his changed from treat as Lion/Tiger in the HVF bestiary). Westwind's 'cat by blows' pack in their Vampire Wars' range paint up nicely in this role.
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you have to build them as an evil force .
the bulk of your askaris can cause terror
some ( many ?) years ago , there were some articles about colonisation of africa and the "congo free state" ... try to find them .
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as the old joke goes, there are only three famous Belgians
Jean Claude Van Damme, Hercule Poirot & Hertz Van Rental (who always sounded more Dutch to me)
Tintin.
Probably the world's most famous Belgian.
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you have to build them as an evil force .
the bulk of your askaris can cause terror
some ( many ?) years ago , there were some articles about colonisation of africa and the "congo free state" ... try to find them .
I doubt I've found the originals but Wikipedia is a great source ...
I wonder if the Company should be elements of the Force Publique - a gendarmerie and military force instituted in 1885 with Askari-like African soldiers whose arms included the chicotte — a bull whip made of hippopotamus hide
Two notable figures appear to be:
Leon Rom, a Belgian soldier, known to keep severed heads of Africans in his flower bed
Edmund Musgrave Barttelot a "brutal and deranged" British Army officer (born in Sussex - so no surprise there)
I am so not going to include Tintin ..... Herge's Company covered that ground I think ....
But I wonder, did Poirot have a Moriarty? Or even a Mycroft?
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Tintin's probably a generation later than 1895 anyway. He's a young lad after the Russian Revolution, so probably only born about 1897. Poirot appear to be in his 40s perhaps in the 1920s. He's maybe born about 1880 or a little earlier? That would make hime very young when the action of IHMN takes place. Twenty or so, tops.
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De Wouters is my favorite Congo Belgian, tall guy always dressed in white that no one could kill despite sticking out like a sore thumb. I made a white steam powered walker just for him ;)
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as the old joke goes, there are only three famous Belgians
Jean Claude Van Damme, Hercule Poirot & Hertz Van Rental (who always sounded more Dutch to me)
Oh how quickly a callous world forgets.
Plastic Bertrand, there, I'vs said it. Belgium's greatest contribution to popular culture beyond chocolate and beer. Oooowooowoo Ça plane pour moi.....
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bVDfmn_TMkI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DbVDfmn_TMkI
Oh and an honourable mention to Jaques Brel of course.
Belgian Company? Inbev. Ok Belgo-Brazilian but look what they've done for American beer. ;)
Major Jean 'Django' Reinhardt' company commander and keen amateur banjo player.
Captain Poirot, Intelligence officer.
Sgt. Georges Simenon, company clerk and would be author of trashy romance novels.
Corporal Marc Dutroux, savage killer with a lust for blood.
Private Jules Maigret. Illegitimate son of the company clerk and hardened soak.
There's a start for you.
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And of course the Lady Stella Artois, for whom they would all die :D
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And of course the Lady Stella Artois, for whom they would all die :D
Doesn´t she have a cousin called Pommes Fritz?
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Thanks for your ideas, I'll put together an outline of the Force Publique soon and offer it for comment before assigning actual statistics.
Some of your ideas I can use for my Company and other should be used in a different Company - should someone volunteer to create it ...
Jean Claude Van Damme .... haven't I seen him as a Legionnaire?
Plastic Bertrand - born 1954 so a bit late for the Congo .... a pity as the name suits a mad scientist ....
Jaques Brel .... another singer .... so Belgian's export chocolate, beer and ballads?
I like all of these :
Major Jean 'Django' Reinhardt company commander and keen amateur banjo player.
Captain Poirot, Intelligence officer.
Sgt. Georges Simenon, company clerk and would be author of trashy romance novels.
Stella Artois & Pommes Fritz (although the latter may be a Prussian cousin?)
However I think they belong in a more heroic and honourable Belgian Company - the one that has been brewing overnight in my head is far less ... wholesome, so lou passejare you will have your evil force.
I will use Corporal Marc Dutroux "savage killer with a lust for blood" and Private Jules Maigret "Illegitimate son of the company clerk and hardened soak" although Jules will need to be promoted as he is European.
Of the historical personas ..
De Wouters certainly sounds like a good military commander, for that reason I feel he belongs with the heroic force, the officers of my Force Publique are poor leaders, cowards and deliberately squander lives ....
It's odd that Henry Morton Stanley's reputation is relatively untarnished given his role in forming the Free State and rumours of his cruelty would make him a good fit for my Force Publique unit but perhaps too high ranking and at least moderately competent so I'll leave him out.
Although I think one of Stanley's travelling companions, James Sligo Jameson, will make an appearance as a Black Sheep ....
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I wonder if the Company should be elements of the Force Publique - a gendarmerie and military force instituted in 1885 with Askari-like African soldiers whose arms included the chicotte — a bull whip made of hippopotamus hide
the "chicotte" is a weapon mainly used by european officers and NCO's , not by askaris . but the weapon can cause terror to native troops :o
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I'll be adding a guy named Pim de Rhoods to my Belgian force, I saw this little video just this morning.
Rat Infested Ghost Ship (http://screen.yahoo.com/broken-news-daily/rat-infested-ghost-ship-headed-224503964.html)
The presentation style is irksome but it raises a lot of interesting questions and gaming possibilities.
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So here are my thoughts so far .... I think I can safely say these guys aren't heroes ....
Your thoughts and suggestions, as always, appreciated.
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Nice list.
Personally, I would make the following changes to the list:
Change the Askari to military rifle & fighting knife, with option to replace knife with either machete(sword) OR bayonet (in which cas thet can buy bayonet fighting talent)
The Expendables would be recruited from tribes, so replace club with spear and shield
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i'm not a great fan of askaris with bayonet fighting talent .
from the account of officers , native troops were reluctant to use bayonet and less efficient . and were good quality assault troops with the machete . ( so , i will chose sword and rifle , or bayonet without the fighting talent , but it's my point of vue ) ;)
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Thanks for your thoughts ..
Change the Askari to military rifle & fighting knife, with option to replace knife with either machete(sword) OR bayonet (in which case they can buy bayonet fighting talent)
The Expendables would be recruited from tribes, so replace club with spear and shield
i'm not a great fan of askaris with bayonet fighting talent from the account of officers, native troops were reluctant to use bayonet and less efficient and were good quality assault troops with the machete.
For this company I decided to emphasise the bigotry, immorality and cowardice shown by the dregs of Europe .... to reflect this the natives are under trained and expendable to their leaders. sadly that means I can't use the rifle & bayonet equipped Askari figures produced by Wargames Foundry - perhaps if someone publishes stats for 'proper' Prussian trained Askari?
The Expendable Natives in this force are closer to being conscript labour rather than cannibal warriors, for the latter Spear & Shield make sense but for the former clubs are all that is available.
Similarly the witchdoctor & congo leopardmen would belong to a force that places a higher value on the skills of the natives, a company that is more heroic than mine :-)
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Tintin.
Probably the world's most famous Belgian.
Charlemagne?
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5 pages long so attached as a .pdf
In summary;
A typical Force Publique patrol consists of: 1 Captain, 1 Sergeant, 1 Supernumerary, 3 Askari & 8 Natives and is most often sent on a revenue collecting mission.
Force Publique Officers & NCOs Are the dregs drawn from Europe's military, mostly cowardly and bigoted with weak leadership skills.
The Supernumerary is either a Mercenary (a Cashiered officer or Dishonourably Discharged trooper) or a Remittance Man(an idiotic, insane, alcoholic or addicted scion of a European family paid to stay far away from respectable society).
Congolese Askari are tough but deliberately poorly equipped to deter rebellion.
The Natives are terrorised semi-civilian forced labour and considered completely expendable by their masters.
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nothing to add in terms oh IHMN
as to the fluff:
with the figures, I would rather use the belgian force publique with the straw hats and mainly individual poses; I also agree about skipping the bayonets. In the spirit of the novel, I'd even go more irregular, there are a lot of other Foundry miniatures for that, maybe some masqued africans too.
as to the names - doesn't the novel bristle with enough colourful characters with names that You don't need to reinvent with a pillaged belgian supermarket?
just my 5 cents worth...
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I would rather use the belgian force publique with the straw hats and mainly individual poses; I also agree about skipping the bayonets. In the spirit of the novel, I'd even go more irregular, there are a lot of other Foundry miniatures for that, maybe some masqued africans too.
The only Foundry figures I can find with straw hats are also equipped with rifle & bayonet ... I do like the look of these though, scruffy but tough looking.
(http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/files/cache/04a934af45b292bc8a7fe547947ef3cd_f7267.jpg)
as to the names - doesn't the novel bristle with enough colourful characters with names that You don't need to reinvent with a pillaged belgian supermarket?
That assumes I'm not a literary dilettante relying on Wikipedia and lead adventures contributors for my research :D anyway I like my Maigret he's the nearest thing to a heroic persona in the whole bunch ....
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The only Foundry figures I can find with straw hats are also equipped with rifle & bayonet ... I do like the look of these though, scruffy but tough looking.
these are not bad either, but still somehow uniformed - You can also cut off the bayonets...
That assumes I'm not a literary dilettante relying on Wikipedia and lead adventures contributors for my research :D
that's just lazyness :D
but You could watch the movie...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3BVtQ5lilE
or listen to the audiobook while You paint the steamboat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wExK37zBmX8
there will be a steamboat I hope?
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The Rifle Armed Azande pack might be useful for you too, and they were certainly in the area. They have a 'somewhat uniformed' look.
http://www.wargamesfoundry.com/our-ranges/darkest-africa/azande
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there will be a steamboat I hope?
With my painting skills this is as good as it will get ...
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c9/Steamboat_Willie.jpg/330px-Steamboat_Willie.jpg)
Although I will look for a resin model at Salute ....
The Rifle Armed Azande pack might be useful for you too, and they were certainly in the area. They have a 'somewhat uniformed' look.
The trouble is that I like most all the Foundry figures, bearers, women & children, British, even Dastardly Belgians!
Now who does native huts that don't cost a fortune?