Chinese Red Spear Society

[Ignatieff]

Does anyone have any uniform, organisational and/or tactical details for these guys?  I've got both Osprey books, and the excellent book on Chinese bandits (whose actual name I cant recall at this second), but would like to know if anyone has anything else?

Thanks in advance

Steve

[coggon]

Curse you Ignatieff   I had always wondered what these were supposed to represent .  But your post compelled me to  look them up.  2 minutes reading wikipedia and  I am convinced that I must have some for my warlord army. 

[Ignatieff]

Curse you Ignatieff  I had always wondered what these were supposed to represent .  But your post compelled me to  look them up.  2 minutes reading wikipedia and  I am convinced that I must have some for my warlord army.  

Yeah, the Wikipedia page is intriguing, but I need more, much more..........

[coggon]

did you follow the linked articles at the bottom.  One of them seemed to offer a one-day subscription to some sort of scholarly archives. 

I've already learned enough ("secret society", "thought they were protected from bullets") to paint about 30 of them and send them charging into Der Baron's cavalry 

[Jim French]

Invulnerable to bullets.  Sounds like the Simbas in the 60s Congo.  Their claimed his power protected his followers.  But remember, the jumju dies with the man.

[FramFramson]

Sounds like they were very ad-hoc for the most part, with exact equipment and tactics depending very much on the local conditions and leadership.

A small band out in the middle of nowhere, led by a monk may have had no more than a few old guns or farm tools, a handful of red kerchiefs, and depended more heavily on crazy mysticism and countryside traditions. But a band out in say, the northeast harassing the Japanese might have crude uniforms with red caps or armbands, a mix of old local arms/warlord surplus/stolen Japanese rifles, and a nominally capable local as a leader.

Either way, they'd have some kind of red marker (not a star - too early for that), and would would heavily depend on their knowledge of the local area to have any kind of effectiveness.

I'd make a mix of figures (some with crude or worn uniforms and some with peasant wear) and a mix of weapons (it's up to you as to how many should actually have guns). You could maybe paint up a monk or two and a couple of better looking chaps, then rotate figures as "leader" and "lieutenants" depending on how crazy you want the band to be. If it's time for a Simba-esque charge - let a monk (or a horrible looking peasant) lead. If you need them to behave sensibly, maybe the fellow with a good rifle and something approximating a real uniform can be in charge. Either way, it's easy to change the character of a band when all the figures are individuals.

[cuprum]

Perhaps for those wishing to establish such a unit in his army would be useful information about Honghuzi (large groups of bandits in northern China).

http://siberia-miniatures.ru/forum/showthread.php?fid=10&tid=112

[WuZhuiQiu]

Not that they were used by a Red Spear Society per se, but spears with red tassels are on display in the Luding Bridge Museum, in Luding, China, along the route of the Long March.

[Ignatieff]

All great builds, many thanks indeed. 

Cuprum, those are great photos.  You throw such a valuable light on sources that we would never see in the west. Thank you.

Steve

[Von Stroheim]

I second that Cuprum - brilliant pics - loved the 'ersatz Mauser'.