VBCW Uniforms

[The Gray Ghost]

Are You painting Your non BUF forces in uniform color or in street clothes?

[commissarmoody]

I am panting mine in drag

[leadfool]

"In drag"

OOH
Vegas showgirl or housewife?

[commissarmoody]

Well I useally do the Housewife, but on holidays I will spice it up as a showgirl.....the mins not myself 

[Arlequín]

It would depend on the miniatures, but inevitably there are some military style accoutrements on the most civilian of figures.

Well I useally do the Housewife, but on holidays I will spice it up as a showgirl.....the mins not myself 

You just keep telling yourself that... anyway it's ok to be, erm, different, I mean some guys dress up like soldiers to play their games, so it's not so strange, right? ... probably. 

 

[commissarmoody]

Well my gaming group also dose Civil war and Roman reenacting. And talk like a pirate day is coming up in september...Any guess as to what ever one dress's up for on that day?

[Arlequín]

Let me guess...



Anyway, we're digressing as usual. 

VBCW forces of whatever faction are a mix of Regular/Territorial units in their pre-war uniforms and Militia units in various degrees of  civilian/military dress. While some folk seem to separate these into units of one type, there's no reason why you can't mix them within a unit. Anything goes really, but the 'culture' seems to be that irregular units of low quality are the 'in' thing to have in preference to more military types. 

[paul c]

I've always imagined that the forces loyal to the govt of Edward and Mosley would have access to the resources of the British empire, so would be equipped and dressed in fairly uniform manner, with late 1930s British weapons and kit.

The anti-crown forces vary from local defence force in civilian clothes and imporvised weapons to the better soviet equipped forces known in the source books as People's Assault Columns. Some people use figures designed for the Russian Cvil War, but I don't think that is quite right. Even pro-soviet British forces would still be dressed in British working men's clothes or would try to conform with what British culture in the period suggested a soldier should look like. But that's just my view.

[Arlequín]

While I think that would be largely true, you also have to take into account fashion and style. The BUF certainly went for a 'New Order' uniform, which had a few nods to German and Italian uniforms of the time, and certainly spivs and others aped American styles (i.e. the Zoot Suit) during the 40s. Closer to our time you can consider trendy lefties in their 'Nehru' jackets, 'Mao' caps and 'Che' berets. With that in mind you might get some people going for a look of what they imagine a 'revolutionary' to look like. On the other side of the coin, you'll get folk who like to dress in their working class Sunday Best to go to the war too, complete with clean underwear in case of an accident.

[leadfool]

Right,
Uniformity does not require a uniform. 

If all the troops in a unit are wearing a red arm band on their left arm, that is the unifrom.  Or the uniform may not look like a military uniform.  A bunch of coal miners may show up in their work cloths and be perfectly uniform, and perfectly dressed for say night combat.

A unit may not want to look like a military unifrorm.  If you want to blend into the crowd after a failed attack, how much better then to be able to throw away the armband. 

[Arlequín]

There would definitely be some unifying feature, be it an armband, badge or hat band, otherwise there'd be a lot of friendly-fire incidents. While men from the same village would know each other by sight, when you mix several contingents together, there would have to be some common and agreed 'sign' that separates you from the other side.   

[Black Cavalier]

I bet some inter-village cricket rivalry could definately lead to some "accidental" friendly fire incidents. 

[Arlequín]

It wouldn't need to be anything so recent. I was working in a village in the 80s and asked some old guy in the pub about the next village (the other side of a field) and the one line that I've never forgot was "Course they went with the Parliament against the King, so we've not had much to do with them since then." 

[paul c]

I imagine that the local football (soccer to those more used to playing baseball) team's colours would be reflected in scarfs etc  worn by men in civies. I've seen photos of the Norwich contingent on the 1932 Hunger March carrying a painted plywood canary; this being a symbol of both Norwich and the local football club.

[Smillie]

I've bulked up my force using regular infantry, painted in normal uniform colours on the basis, that either they robbed the local TA Store or they are a TA unit which has picked a side (or more likley had there side picked by there CO )