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'A gaping silken dragon,/Puffed by the wind, suffices us for God./We, not the City, are the Empire's soul:/A rotten tree lives only in its rind.'

Saturday, 8 December 2012

Fidelistas...

... why do aficionados of the Cuban regime insist on calling Castro 'Fidel'? I suppose there is the other one - Raul - but I suspect it is somehow supposed to give the impression that he is really just the chap next door. It's all a bit like Ezra Pound calling Mussolini 'Ben', as in 'Ben e Clara'. Actually, Fidel has always struck me as being pretty similar to Musso, even down to the photographs of him, bare chested, taking in the harvest. Though Musso was, of course, much more successful on the international stage, at least until 1940. Enough of all that...

On the toy soldier front, I've decided that I'm going to make a real effort to get my BoP onto the table in the early months of next year. So, I'm going for utilitarian painting on the little fellows. Here are the first Fidelistas:

Number 1, some 'Revolutionary Military Police':


Number 2, some militiamen (MNR):


Number 3, Cuban army:


I've got a few bits and pieces of Minitanks on the way for these fellows, but I need to order more infantry of one sort and another.

On the background reading front, this arrived this morning:


Looks like a dam' interesting read. 

7 comments:

  1. Looking good - are those plastics?

    What rules do you intend using?

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  2. Coming along nicely,yes ,what rules are you going to use?

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  3. They all look the part, well done! As above, what rules?

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  4. I suggest simple ones... "Roll a 100-sided dice, on a 1, JFK wholeheartedly supports the invasion; on anything else the Fidelistas win"

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    1. Thanks chaps! Yes, well, putting on one side 'The Worker's' historically accurate approach to the business, I've been thinking about the rules question m'self. A week or two ago I happened to find some MG and mortar templates I'd made nearly 20 years ago for Gavin & Bernard Lyall's 'Operation Warboard' rules. The late Gavin Lyall's rule set came in a nice little paperback (I have a copy of the 1976 Pan edition) and the whole shebang is quite complex. But less complex games can be played and I think I might have a go with these. Incidentally, the Vintage Wargaming blog has more about Lyall.

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  5. Good job! The conversions look great and the painting is very good. I like the detailing on the helmets of the Police unit.

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    1. Cheers, Ben - very generous of you. I've two more boxes of IMEX on the way, and I'm just going to stick with this type of very basic painting - easier on the old eyes, the palsied hands, and the temper!

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