Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Long Li takes the field.

Today was Canada Day, 148 years since Confederation.
 So did I do something patriotic? or did I paint toy soldiers representing a fictional army? 

Right.

 An Oerberg Garrison Gunner aims Long Li (Lee)
 Not everyone is aware that shortly before Faraway began to take an interest in Oerberg a prospector struck the richest vein of gold in Atlantican history. Initial evidence suggested that it was even bigger than the Featherstone Mountain find  that sparked the 1st Origawn War (see header photo and Blastoff Ridge page).

The gold is what has allowed Oerberg to arm and organize to resist foreign intervention but gold isn't diamonds so instead of buying the latest artillery from France and Germany they've had to rely on old equipment and cheap copies from Hong Kong. Long Li is one of these,  a somewhat smaller heavy gun inspired by the famed Creusot Long Tom but assembled in Hong Kong largely using parts obtained from famed international arms dealer, Louis Marx.

The only regular, trained and uniformed troops in Oerberg are the Mounted Police and Fortress Garrisons. After various trials of grey, tan and brown uniforms the latter was selected. The tender called for a warm yellowish brown colour obtained from local vegetable dyes but despite periodic inspections during manufacture, once delivered, the uniforms turned out to be the slightly darker, drab shade seen in the photo. There was talk of replacing the uniforms but it was decided that it would be wasteful and that the colour was sufficiently pleasing to the eye and certainly less conspicuous in the field than the red coats worn by the Queen's troops. The collar and trouser stripes indicate the arm of service. Yellow for mounted police,  red for artillery, light blue for infantry.

16 comments:

  1. Great gun and figures,not to mention background tale. I especially like the bit re the international arms dealer :)
    Alan

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    1. He's been the supplier for a good many carpet and backyard battles over the years.

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  2. Yes, both the troops and the artillery have my approval (not that it is needed). A fine choice indeed.


    -- Jeff

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  3. Lovely! I hope they've test fired that thing to make sure it works...

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    1. Test fired? They're still trying to make sense of the manual!

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  4. Ross Mac,

    The joy of what you are doing is that you can use your imagination to use up all those bits and pieces one acquires over the years. This gun is going to make a difference to the forces of Ooerberg ... and at not a huge cost to the county's exchequer/your pocket.

    All the best,

    Bob

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    1. Indeed. I think it came in a bag of Dollar Store Cowboys & Indians that I bought for the wagon about 15 years ago. Never quite knew what to use it for till now.

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  5. A very fine use of Canada Day. I spent part of mine filling boxes of toy soldiers with packing peanuts. Not very productive.
    That gun will cause the Queen's troops some difficulties. It looks terrific and the crew look very capable.

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    1. I should say by the way that I just read the Blastoff Ridge page and enjoyed it - a brisk action indeed.

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    2. Well the packing time will seem productive if the move is not destructive.

      The Blastoff game was of course a re fight of the intro game from Charge! fought in 2008 against good friend Les using said rules. It was good fun.

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  6. Dear Ross,

    First - a belated Happy Canada day! Even though it took until 1982 to send the Governor general back to London, it has always been with pride and affection that we south of the border consider the Canadian nation. We had a few blips in the relationship over the years but what family doesn't?

    More important than belated greetings is my compliment to you for a great job in getting your field artillery painted and crewed. They really look sharp and you can almost hear them singing "Oh, Oerberg."

    Just as a a non gaming aside, your country has done a superior job in organizing and running the FIFA Women's World Cup. I was looking forward to a US/Canada final but the English got in the way.

    And now.... on to July 4th!

    All the best,

    Jerry

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    1. Thanks Jerry. The English do have a habit of getting in the way don't they, even after all these years. An early Happy Independence day to you sir.

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  7. Superb gun and gunners Ross. I am especially taken with the fellow on the carriage - a nod to the well-known photo?

    Regards again,

    Greg

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    1. You have it. I'm just lucky that one of the zinnbrigade gunners was in a suitable pose.

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  8. Superb gun and figure grouping, Ross. Bravo !

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