The Battle for Passo de Montanha.

 

The Republican army has taken control of the village of Passo de Montanha which is situated in the important border crossing of the Burrito Mountains and awaits reinforcements to consolidate its hold on the position. Their force is divided into a heavy machine gun on the left, half of the infantry unit in the village and the other half with the light machine gun in an emplacement on the right.

They have been joined by an artillery unit, laboriously moved up onto the commanding heights of the Morro das Lhamas, on which the Major of the Regimento de Renome da Revolucao has set up his HQ.

Hoping to reclaim this strategic site the Neuvo Rico Army have sent a force from the Torta Cubana Regiment to attack the position before the Republican forces can be reinforced. 

The Nuevo Rico Commander has taken over the Casa da Nobreza as his HQ and deployed a battery of artillery close to hand to bombard the enemy positions.

Here we see the table set out for the forthcoming game. The Nuevo Rico force nearest the camera and the Republica del los Cocos force holding the pass and village. Battle report to follow shortly I hope . 

 

Game markers for 'Nacho Wars' .

At the present time I'm going to use 'A Gentleman's War' for my South American Imaginations . I needed some method of marking if a unit had acted , I use Victorian pennies for my 54mm figures but I thought I needed something more in keeping with the South American vibe . South American coins seemed quite expensive then I thought - stamps ! - got a whole envelope full for 99p from eBay ! . I've glued them to some MDF bases blue/green for Nuevo Rico and red/purple for the Republic.

Next I needed a marker for when a unit was disordered , with my 54mm I use postage stamps ! - so I had to think again . Then I remembered the old Neuvo Rican proverb - "Tao desorganizado quanto uma lhama '"  (as disorganised as a llama) , I got these from Foundry , so when a unit becomes disorganised due to terrain or morale it gets one of these put beside it to remind me . I think I'm about ready to play a game now , so hope to post this soon .

 

 

Tidy , tidy , tidy !

So my painting station has become so chaotic I've have had a total clear off and replaced everything back in it's proper place - note my paint brushes are now placed in a block of wood that once held scissors - crappy ones nearest me then the workaday ones and finally my good sable ones. I am rather pleased with myself (pat on shoulder) - how long it remains like this is another matter .

 

Setting the scene - in colour .

Got some of the 2D-ish terrain painted , I went for a stylised approach in keeping with the Toy Soldier look . . Here a Republican patrol moves through the street of Vila Pequena .

An area of Pampas grass with some Nuevo Rico infantry - think I need to make some more of these .

Neuevo Rician Artillery deployed next to a wooded area - I need some more of these as well although the Nacho province is only sparsely wooded ,.I hope to get the figures and terrain onto the table soon for a game .

 

Setting the (2D-ish) scene .

When I start a new project I do like to add scenery that suitable and sets spirit of the place , to this end I have been making up various bits of 2D-ish terrain for the 'toy soldier' look I tend to go for . I've been looking on eBay amongst the various MDF shapes and found the above , I've cut some in two and glued them to give stability and fixed them to suitable bases . The two members of the Republic de los Cocos are to give a sense of scale . I hope to get some of these painted up soon ready for the tabletop.

 

Nacho Wars - War Machines .

Nuevo Rico has imported several German AV7 tanks ( designated O Levieta 'The Leviethen') - they are less than impressed by their performance . They are underpowered and prone to breakdowns , here the General Staff are being shown around it by a German Military Advisor .

The Republic de los Cocos has three 'Armadillo' armoured cars called 'O punho da republica' - The Fist of the Republic ! here seen with General Pabellion Criollo 'Pai da Republica' - The Father of the Republic .

The model is a MDF / card model from Warbases , I've given it a high gloss finish to try and look like one of those tin plate toys I had as a child .

The armoured car is again from Warbases - a bit fiddly to put together again with a high gloss .Hopefully they will be appearing on the tabletop soon .

 

A ramble to Shap Abbey .

So we took the opportunity of the fine weather and my wife's absence from work to have a walk from Shap across the fields to the hidden Abbey . Here we have the author and dog (who got bored posing and wandered off) with the Gogglesby Stone - a prehistoric standing stone - one of the few still standing that once was part of a prehistoric avenue - very impressive - if you like that sort of thing . (which I do - Mrs K less)

We past the little Chapel at Keld , sadly we couldn't look in it as you have to get the key from the house opposite - and they were out shopping ! .Think it's 16th century made from bits of the Abbey when it was dissolved by Henry VIII .

First view of the Abbey hidden in a valley , I haven't been here for years and we only got lost once ! 

It has a very impressive tower !

It is protected by English Heritage , built in 1199 it housed an Order of Premonstratensian Monks it survived the initial dissolution in 1536 but finally closed in 1540 and was subsequently robbed of stone.

Mrs K and hound .

Looking up through the tower .

We came across Mr and Mrs Walker inspecting the site .

Mr Walker like a bit of 12th century masonry (Mrs Walker less so)

The last resting place of one of the Abbots (?) (who must have been of slight build )

The site of the Guardrobes (loos) - I assume they drew their drinking water upstream  from here - well I hope they did ! . We managed to get back to the car before it rained , a grand day out !

 

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