CAR Militia link

[commissarmoody]

This is a link from Reuters, showing some of the anti-Muslim militia in CAR

http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?articleId=USRTR3KG81#a=1

[Wyrmalla]

*Steals ideas for Post Apocalyptic board

Is the wearing of wigs/dresses/paddling wings a new thing or just a development of old tribal customs? I remember the BBC putting out an article on it where the fighters looked like the guys from This is England in that one scene where they smash up those houses ...except somehow more ridiculous. =)

[petercooman123]

Its funny though, bright red t shirt and red and white scarf around the head, and then they tuck branches in there.

They would only be camouflaged if tree bark was bright red over there 

[juergen c. olk]

Its all about warding off evil spirits and ...yes turning bullets to water,,,still after all these years,they still believe in witchdoctors,christian or not.

[commissarmoody]

*Steals ideas for Post Apocalyptic board

Is the wearing of wigs/dresses/paddling wings a new thing or just a development of old tribal customs? I remember the BBC putting out an article on it where the fighters looked like the guys from This is England in that one scene where they smash up those houses ...except somehow more ridiculous. =)

I remember seeing pics from Serra Leon and they where wearing dresses and other such craziness. Even remember seeing pics od dudes wearing costume fairy wings and such. Never underestimate religion and superstation.

[juergen c. olk]

Mutineer Miniatures makes the figures in 20mm w/ the wings (the westside boys)

[Spectre Miniatures]

*Steals ideas for Post Apocalyptic board

Is the wearing of wigs/dresses/paddling wings a new thing or just a development of old tribal customs? I remember the BBC putting out an article on it where the fighters looked like the guys from This is England in that one scene where they smash up those houses ...except somehow more ridiculous. =)

Some great inspiration! I've been looking for more photos of the anti-Balaka

Believe it or not, it is considered a kind of 'camouflage'. The  logic being that if they dress as women or wear strange clothing, the bullets will be confused (seriously) as they will not see them as combatants.
I have photos mainly from Liberia and Sierra Leone of fighters in all kinds of woman's clothing and wigs. One has even fashioned a mop into a wig. I think we will be putting them onto our facebook page before long.
The Talismans around their necks are to turn the bullets to water.

There is a good documentary where they speak to some of the fighters here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoQAxQgevEA

[Arlequín]

I suppose if you wear enough amulets, at some points they actually do become somewhat bullet proof. 

While some beliefs and customs might seem ridiculous to us, if your opponent shares some of those beliefs they become a bit more meaningful. As modern as we think we are, there are still quite a few people who won't take the third light from a match, despite having not fought in the WWI trenches, or even being remotely aware of the reason why they don't. Plenty of soldiers carry lucky items such as; the 'bullet that should have killed them', or not quite so recently, they would not replace helmets which had been pierced by bullets, on the basis that you never see a helmet with two bullet holes in it.

Spear and bow-armed tribesmen were common in the Congo, home-made shotguns and even muzzle-loading rifles in the early phases of Angola's Liberation War, but I was amazed to see them in the CAR in 2014.

Nice find CM and thanks for sharing! 

[carlos marighela]

Its all about warding off evil spirits and ...yes turning bullets to water,,,still after all these years,they still believe in witchdoctors,christian or not.

Yes, silly sods, they're sooo backward. Quite unlike the sophisticated Europeans or North Americans, who cling to such things as 'miracles', holy water, transubstantiation, virgin births, magic underpants, the efficacy of homeopathic medicines, yoga, reiki massage, etc, etc, etc.

I was once blessed, involuntarily, by a transvestite devotee of candomblé, a syncretic Afro-Brazilian religion that draws upon a variety of West and Central African religions. He sprinkled popcorn over my head and wafted some smoke over me. As I have yet to be shot or diagnosed with a terminal disease, I think I can count the blessing as succesful.

On a more serious note, even quite rational people, do some odd things in the name of tradition. Despite the fact that I'm an avowed atheist, every New Year my wife and I always offer flowers to Iemanjá, the goddess of the sea just as we do on her day, Feb 2. It's simply a cultural tradition we observe. Arguably more rational than sitting down and tucking into an enormous turkey and consuming Brazilian french toast on Christmas Eve in stifling heat. At least, it doesn't come with heartburn. 

[commissarmoody]

Along the lines of superstition apparently there is an arrival in the BBC talking about how folks freaked out about D&D back in the day.
Also along the lines of using home made shotguns and muzzleloaders. I saw similar old bolt-action rifles, muzzleloaders straight out of Kipling still being used by farmers in Afghanistan. Even confiscated an old AK in a raid that had a bolt hammered out by a village blacksmith with a nail as a fireing pin.

[carlos marighela]

I dunno, D&D ers freaked me out too. Not for any perceived association with witchcraft or the supernatural, simply because most of them were total knob ends. Lokking back, with the benefit of hindsight I now see they would have been social pariahs with or without Gary Gygax as their muse. I suppose D&D actually had a useful social purpose, a bit like the school's computer club, it gave them somewhere to belong, that was largely out of the way of people with some semblance of social skills.

[commissarmoody]

As some one who has actually played my fair share of D&D, i kind of have to agree. 
They have weekly games every Wednesday at the local comic shop and game store, and they for the most part fit all the cringe worthy stereotypes.

[Arlequín]

Do you suppose that D&D players have a group they look down on? Maybe Tunnels and Trolls players? (I don't know, I'm grabbing blindly here for something further down the misfit scale than D&D)

 

[carlos marighela]

Do you suppose that D&D players have a group they look down on? Maybe Tunnels and Trolls players? (I don't know, I'm grabbing blindly here for something further down the misfit scale than D&D)

 

Probably other D&Ders who shampoo their hair and whose dietary range extends beyond crisps and Diet Coke or those that purchase books without gold embossed lettering on the cover. Not hardcore enough.

[carlos13th]

Do you suppose that D&D players have a group they look down on? Maybe Tunnels and Trolls players? (I don't know, I'm grabbing blindly here for something further down the misfit scale than D&D)

 

LARPers? Bronies?