The Spanish Civil War is a project I’m always adding to and this time it’s more Nationalists. I’ve finished more of the Moroccan forces Franco brought over to the mainland from Africa. The Moroccans are fierce Berber tribesmen that were incorporated …
I am blessed enough to have a mix of 28mm Force of Arms and Empress (Anglian when I bought them, thanks Nigel!) that have slowly been getting painted.I’ve been using Bueno’s book as a guide and looking at Mosquito Ridge for a scenario to use them again…
For the 5th match of the Lead Painters’ League the organizers have asked for a submission depicting a unit from a ‘historical civil war.’ As I have quite a mess of Spanish Civil War castings waiting in the wings this seemed a fairly easy fit.These figu…
Between 1936 and 1939, over 1,500 Canadians defied their government and volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War. As it was in the midst of the Great Depression many of these men left behind punishing lives in relief camps, mines, and urban flopho…
Back to a bit of colour and the Spanish Civil War. Here are a few new recruits for my existing units of Republican Militia and Guardia Civiles.These are 28mm Empress Miniatures castings.The three city militiamen below are in the distinctive blue …
This odd looking vehicle is a Talleres Mina De RioTinto armoured truck which was built and operated by Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War.The war in Spain saw a bewildering number of improvised armoured vehicles, mostly creat…
A few more figures to add to the SCW collection. Here are two mortar teams, armed with 50mm ‘Valero’ light mortars. The Valero mortar (designed by infantry Captain Vicente Valero de Bernabé y Casañez) weighted in at about 7 kilos and had a …
Though a member of the Non-Intervention Committee, fascist Italy was in fact a very active participant in the Spanish Civil War, ultimately contributing over 60,000 troops to Franco’s cause. In addition to significant numbers of men, aircraft and …
Here is another small group of SCW figures to nudge me along in the Challenge. This batch consists of a Republican officer, an NCO and few militia.I quite like the fervent pose of this infantry captain. He has that, ‘Comrades, man the barricades!’ look…
I have a batch of SCW figures ready to post but I thought I’d parcel them out over the next few days to make it look like I’ve actually been industrious. These two Republican LMG teams are armed with Soviet made Degtyaryov ’DP…
I first saw ‘Operation Squad’ when it was being demonstrated at the Warlord Games’ booth at SALUTE a few years ago. The rules looked quite interesting as it seemed it did not require a large playing surface, nor a lot of figures to have a good game – i…
Here are four Republican ‘Dinamiteros’ seen in various poses depicting their high-risk work. I know, I know, what the hell is a ‘Dinamiteros’? Good question – I had no idea what they were until I started reading more about the Spanish Civil War. …
As I apparently have the attention span of a sugar-addled 4-year old, I decided to do some more models for my Spanish Civil War collection. This time up are a dozen Carlist infantrymen who fought alongside Franco’s Nationalists.Illustrations kindl…
Having just finished Antony Beevor’s excellent ‘The Battle for Spain’ and while still working through the very characterful ‘A World Aflame’ rules from Osprey, I thought I’d paint up some more SCW figures to add to the collection.In reflecting on Beevo…
I was organizing my ‘lead reserve’ the other day and ran across these lonely Spanish Civil War figures that I had acquired years back, all primed and ready to go. It was interesting as I had just been thinking about Guillermo del Toro’s terrifying…
Having just finished the Falcon and the Gladiator, one theme that kept coming up was the large number of veterans from the Spanish Civil War that flew in North Africa. This sent me looking up more information about the SCW and the beginnings of a SCW s…
José de Castillo Part 1: A Brief History of Spain 1492 – 1933Part 2: Los Años Negros 1933 – 1936Anyone reading ABC, one of Spain’s leading newspapers, on the morning of 18th July 1936, would have sensed little was out of the ordinary. The f…
Part 1: A Brief History of Spain 1492 – 1933The 1933 election was far different to the election of 1931. The first election of the Republic had come at a time when most political parties were not expecting it. The sheer coincidence that the Republican …
The Spanish Civil War didn’t just happen overnight, but was the result of centuries of tensions that eventually resulted in the pressure cooker of early 20th century Spanish politics. While immediate causes could be said to have led to civil war, the s…
Although I’ve gone for a total renovation of the blogs, the content will pretty much stay the same. I’m far less of a butterfly than I sometimes believe, although I’m often swamped mentally by the stuff I am interested in. Those of you who have been fo…
I’ve decided to dedicate this blog to general wargaming and adventure gaming. This blog has seen some changes while I’ve procrastinated over my plans, for which I apologise. Much of the content will remain the same, but the real world periods will be s…
Gathering forces that I will need for the Spanish Civil War, Battle of Brunete games for Historicon this year, and here are a few pics of this project in progress.First are the Moroccan Regulares who served as shock troops side by side with the Spanish…
I took a stroll through my hard drive and found some of my old pics. Here is a batch of my Spanish Civil War images of mixed manufacturers, Force of Arms and Empress Miniatures mostly.Some in game action with the Republic’s T26s, the “Tigers of the Pen…
Coming to Historicon 2011, the ¡Atacad! group brings the Battle of Brunete!The Republic’s Counterattack meant to relieve the raging battles against the north and cut the Nationalist’s supply lines.We will be running a series of games using the ¡Prime…