Wednesday 30 November 2011

A Little Taster.

Here is a map, from some site on the web (possibly Wikipedia) showing the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, or the basis for my alternate 19th century Britain. As I said last time, I'm currently working on the political and military 'what is what' for the various kingdoms, and trying to find reasons for various disagreements. These will mainly be over the various successions as they become available, or complaints about trade and border disputes. I'm not going to go into great historical detail, or worry much about what is happening in the rest of the world, though the various French Republican Wars and the wars between the French and Spanish areas of America (ACW in disguise) will bear upon us, as well as the various attempts at German and Italian unification, as many in our little Islands favour a similar structure, so further grounds for military argument.

The full text may take some time, but I will let snippets fall as they become available.


In the meantime, here is a photo, with apologies for not being as sharp as I'd like it to be, of Grand Duchess Gloriana, ruler of East Anglia, newly repainted (see the post of Nov 16th for the original) in her parade uniform. The only alterations to the model are a base and new plume.

Uniforms for her army are decided, the infantry are in various shades of grey, with a couple of greens. I'm having difficulty tracking down the appropriate style of flat topped cap (which no manufacturer, at least of parts, that I've contacted seems to make. I've had various alternatives but they all need work) I'm hoping that my trip to the Toy Soldier show on saturday will help. If not. I'll have to go the long way of conversion, mould making and casting my own heads.

Cavalry, only four units, are a mixture of lancer, hussar, and dragoon uniforms. Artillery currently stands at one Langley field gun and Horse Artillery crew, with a limber and team waiting to be made up.

I shall try to get some more photos of the finished units out by next time.

4 comments:

  1. So promising!

    Then, some Imagi-Nation builders start with the 18th C., then extend the (military) history of their brainchild to later periods; others start with a more recent (troubled) era, then move back to the 18th C....


    Between the Lace Wars and your chosen time (and even the beginning of WWI, for parade dress), historical precedents show that, while the *cut* of the uniforms followed the general fashion, their *colors patterns* remained remarkably unchanged. For the infantry of Great Britain, breeches changed from colored to white, then were replaced with trousers, of a rather light gray then of a darker hue. Only a major political change could break this continuity, as with the blue coat substituted to the white one by the French Revolution: but once set, the only change in the color pattern of the infantry uniforms was, again, the adoption of trousers, light grey then garance.
    Thus, once you choose the uniforms of the Heptarchy for your period, implicitly you already have a good idea of the corresponding uniforms back to the GNW and WSS. The flags are even more constant.

    Cheers!
    Jean-Louis

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  2. Terrific figure and a map with great potential. Keep up the good work!
    best wishes
    Alan

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  3. Would Scotland be a 19th century Pictish Kingdom ruled by a Queen....
    Loads of potential for kilted chaps I think.

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