Character Series nº 1 - Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

(Part II)

When you look at the life of WC there is no disguising the fact that, from his early years, he planned to use a military career to promote his future prospects in politics.

There was nothing new to that option. Many before him had done that, although only a few where as sucessful, after him.

Therefore, WC wanted to become noted in a way that could prove useful in a future political career. The thing is he chose to do that in the place where it hurt the most: the place where the bullets meet the meat.

Nowadays, I think the most hazardous place where a politician exposes his "meat" is when he appears on TV for a debate with a political opponent.

(The Cuban Insurrection)

WC seemed to have a strange curiosity regarding what his reactions would be under fire.

By the end of the year 1895 he had scheduled his annual leave from the 4th Hussars (where at the time he held the rank of Lieutenant). Going through all the necessary motions, he obtained permission to go to Cuba to "visit" the little war they had going on over there. He also secured an employment as a special correspondent for the Daily Graphic, a London newspaper, in exchange for some articles from the war zone in Cuba, that in practice resulted in the beginning of his career as a journalist.

And what about the prospect of being shot over there?

WC's answer: that "was only a sporting element in a splendid game". Do not forget this guy was only 21 years of age, at this time.

And there he went, with his friend Reginald Barnes (a Lt also from the 4th Hussars), arriving in Havana, Cuba, on the morning of 20 November 1895, after a brief visit to the good old USA.

There were Cuban rebels fighting for the independence of the island, using typical guerrilla warfare tactics. The rebels controlled the countryside and were largely supported by the peasant population. The Spanish army (Spain controlled Cuba since 1492) and the loyalist Cuban militia controlled the cities and towns.

Bearing the proper credentials, WC presented himself to the Spanish C-in-C (Marshal Martinez de Campos) asking if he would be so kind as to point him to where the fighting was. And he (the Marshal) obliged him.

By the 24 of November WC and his friend were already marching with a column of Spanish regulars, looking for trouble. He found them on the 30 November (strangely, on his birthday...) when he experienced, for the first time, the emotion of being shot at (nobody had the proper respect for a war correspondent at that time). In the following days he got increasing exposure to the fine tune of whistling bullets, and had the good luck of not being hit by one of them. He was not actually fighting, but was always in the presence of the General officer in charge of the military operations, whose staff suffered several casualties.

This exposure to danger was a somewhat sobering experience to WC. He later admited being rash in risking his life merely in search of adventure, but nevertheless proved himself physically courageous and cool under fire (not many aristocrats could, or can, say the same). He also got his first medal: the (in Spanish) Cruz de la Orden del Merito Militar, con distintivo rojo, de Primera Clase (a Spanish decoration given to officers). It would not be his last.

His articles about the Cuban Insurrection and his Spanish decoration were noted and brought him some public attention.

And he liked it...

(The Frontier War)

Shortly after his return to England, WC received the news that the 4th Hussars was to make a tour of duty in India. He tried to use his family connections to avoid going along to that boring place - they did not have a war over there, at the time. Instead, he tried (without sucess) to go along with Sir Horatio Kitchener to the Sudan Campaign, scheduled for that time (1896).

Therefore, WC had not other option but to go to India, where he set his foot on 2 October 1896.

I will let you know about his adventures over there in my next post.

PC

P.S.

Pop-up windows: as you have surely noticed, we are having a problem with pop-ups over here. We did not ask for them; we do not want them; we complained about them - to no avail, until now. Therefore, we can only arrive at two conclusions: 1) Somebody wants to make a huge profit on advertising, through the thousands of visits we have here everyday; 2) Somebody, besides being a nuisance, in clearly devoid of intelligence...

There is only one this we can ask of all the thousands of daily visitors out there: STOP VISITING THIS WEB SPACE!

This way we'll show'em a thing or two...

Evento de Torres Vedras - Dias 7, 8 e 9 de Maio

Como tenho a certeza que havia muita gente a passar por um tremendo estado de ansiedade, sem saber qual a nova data para o evento previamente anunciado, aqui fica a informação necessária.

O programa do evento pode ser consultado em:
http://www.cm-tvedras.pt/outros/agenda/detalhes/?id=1512

Quem quiser esperar por outra oportunidade para visualizar uma fortificação do tempo das Invasões Francesas/Guerra Peninsular devidamente guarnecida com tropas, só tem de esperar pelo Tricentenário.

Nota: as peças de artilharia que se podem visualizar na foto acima colocada não têm correspondência com peças de artilharia utilizadas no princípio do século XIX.

Esperemos que não chova...
PC

Character Series nº 1 - Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill

(Part I)

I suppose some of you may think that almost everything there is to know about Winston Churchill has already been written.

Well, I have to agree with you.

You will not find in this, otherwise totally innovative, Character Series previously unknown material regarding the personalities subject to appreciation.

My purpose is to make a personal appreciation of the life and actions of the Characters described here, in the perspective of their involvement or participation in one or more military actions, and how or why they influenced or where influenced by them. The opinions you will read here can, no doubt, be subjective or even biased - but if you want a shot at objectivity pure and simple, you should look it up elsewhere, maybe Wikipedia. After all, this is the Brigada Tripeira Blog and everybody knows we are a bunch of bigoted guys from Porto, in Portugal.

Almost anybody with even the slightest interest in History associates WC (as he is affectionately known to us) with World War II. His best known speech in the time of Britain Finest Hour still makes my blood run faster (check it out in: http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=6llT2ZYg-4E).

But, do you wonder why these words, in particular, sound real and inspirational ?

In my opinion this is because WC was a guy that "talked the talk" but that also "walked the walk" (freely quoted from the Full Metal Jacket film, 1987), and this particular mark of his personality appeared much sooner than the 1940's, as you will notice later on.

Let me try to explain this, using information from the excellent book by Douglas S. Russell, "Winston Churchill Soldier - The Military Life of a Gentleman at War".

(Background)

WC was born on 30 November 1874 in what we could define as a "golden cradle". One of his ancestors was the famous Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), about whom WC wrote a biography (Marlborough, His Life and Times). On the other hand, his grandfather, John, was the seventh Duke of Marlborough, who by the way was one of only 27 Dukes and as such ranked just below the Royal Family in order of official precedence.

However, an aristocratic birth was not (and still is not...) a confirmed ticket to greatness. We can see that looking at WC's daddy, Lord Randolph Churchill, who apart from politics had no profession (politicians do not need to know how to do anything - they just manage somebody else's money...), lived a high society life and was constantly in debt.

Our Character seemed to want more than that for himself, as his early actions showed.

Nevertheless, this was a guy born within the ruling elite of the greatest Empire the world had, or has, ever seen - a fact that may be difficult to accept to some, but true. At a given point in the 19th century, Britain ruled over one-fifth of the earth's land mass and over one-quarter of its populations - impressive, by any standard.

And the path WC chose to rise above the clouds passed through the military institution and war was the trampoline of his choice, since his academical performance was average, to put it mildly.

In my next post (the posts in this Series will be placed on a weekly basis) I'll show you how tough this guy was.

PC

The Mongols are coming!

As promised, here is my report about my new wargames army: The Mongols (1221 AD). All the figures are based according to the Arcane Warfare Excel rules set, developed by our good friend Jerboa. All the following mentions and figures identification are also according to those rules.

Here we have the comand stands, that are collectively called Co, with one General (Gn) and up to two Field-Comanders (Fo). In these rules, the purpose of the comand bases is to allow the interface between the player and his units, in order to mantain the army coesion and the orders transmission framework. They do not fight, but can lose comand potential under certain circumstances.
The heavies! Here are my heavy horse archers (HaH). This is the only rule set I know where you can use the horse archer according to it's historic role.

The medium cavalry (HaM). These are also horse archers, allowed by the army list, with considerable less armour and less fire power but with more manouvrability. In these rules, troops either medium and heavy are considered close-order troops, and the troops weight is distinguishable by the number of figures is each base: 2 figures: light; 3 figures: medium; 4 figures: heavy.

The backbone of the army: the light horse archers (HaL), of mongol origin. A swarm of horse archers can make any enemy army very nervous...

Ismalic heavy cavalry (CvM), fighting as more or less willing Mongol allies.

More Mongols allies - this time Kwarezmian light horse archers (HaL)

The Mongol camp. I got these from João yesterday. They are scratch built.

Here is the camp I used in my first games and that I made by myself (also scratch built). I suppose you can see some (not many...) differences in terms of art-work with the above. Right until now I'm not sure if they the are supposed to be yurts/gers or upside down yogurts...

More scratch built art-work by João - the artillery (WE).

I could not find figures for this purpose and João had the imagination and the skill to produce these fine pair of trebuchets.

Who painted this army, you rightfully ask? You should ask, since those that know me, know that I could never have done it. The culprit is none other than our good friend João Pedro Peixoto, from Coimbra.
There is a story in this.
I ordered these excellent figures from the Museum Miniatures range and had them delivered directly to João, in Coimbra. I also asked Jerboa to send him the necessary bases for the figures.
Well, João painted this army (with 90 plus horsemen...) in more or less 2 weeks, since I needed it to participate in the first round of the 2010 Arcane League, that took place in Lisbon on March 21st.
But there is more!
I could not manage to go to Coimbra in order to get the army in time and I was going to Lisbon that day by train. Therefore, João offered to meet me in the Coimbra train station (the train makes a stop there for a few minutes) and give me the army - with a safety box included!
By the way, the train arrived in Coimbra at about 7.45 in the morning, on a Sunday...
Without being psychic, I can almost see all of you (all the 3 of you - yes, LPP, I'm including you now...) wondering: that must have been expensive...
It was expensive for João, since he did this for free.
Is this an outstanding guy, or what ? I'm sure that when they made João they surely lost the mould and have been looking for it ever since, since a guy like this just is not real !
There is a drawback to this: when I placed this army in the same place as my other wargames armies, I felt an irresistible urge to throw them all out the window...

João: now the whole world (all the 4 of us...) knows what a great guy you are. I think this worldwide publicity for you is deserving of a new army. I've got my eyes on a few hoplites from Xyston... just kidding...

I'm using this post to make another anouncement to the world: I'm going to start a brand new series of military history posts.
I'm calling them "The Character Series" - not very imaginative, I know, but what could you expect on a friday morning ?
My purpose is to deliver a string of knowledge pearls for your benefit, about the subject that fascinates me: the effects of war on the actions and reactions of men and women that came in contact with it, throughout History.

For instance, I still do not understand what Robert E. Lee meant, when he said "It is well that war is so terrible - lest we should grow too fond of it".
PC

Cancelamento do Evento de Torres Vedras!

Caros leitores (não coloquei "e leitoras" porque duvido que as meninas/senhoras que se interessem por estas coisas...), recebi hoje informação da parte da Câmara Municipal de Torres Vedras no sentido do cancelamento do evento previsto para os próximos dias 17 e 18, conforme aqui previamente anunciado.

A justificação dada foi de que há indicações da Protecção Civil no sentido de que para esses dias está prevista a ocorrência de condições atmosféricas adversas (ventos ciclónicos) à semelhança do que já se verificou recentemente na zona do Oeste.

Ainda bem que há duzentos anos atrás aquela malta não tinha o beneficio de poder aceder a previsões meteorológicas, pois se calhar nem chegavam a contruir as Linhas...

Prevê-se que este evento seja adiado para o mês de Maio. Como tenho a certeza que há dezenas de milhares (ok, vou ser optimista e ficar pelas dezenas...) de interessados, por esse Portugal fora, em participar neste magnífico evento, darei notícias acerca da nova data, quando as tiver.

PC

Forte de S. Vicente (Ermida), Torres Vedras

Para os amadores da História de Portugal (e todos sabemos que somos muitos...), fica aqui a notícia de que nos próximos dias 17 e 18 de Abril, elementos da Associação Napoleónica Portuguesa (ANP) e do Grupo de Recriação Histórica do Município de Almeida (GRHMA) irão formar um acampamento histórico-militar no Forte de S. Vicente, em Torres Vedras, com vista a reconstituir a vivência e o dia-a-dia de uma guarnição do século XIX de um dos Fortes daquela que foi porventura a maior obra de engenharia militar jamais feita em Portugal Continental: as chamadas Linhas de Torres.

Peço a vossa licença para não me alongar acerca da justificação, enquadramento histórico e características das Linhas de Torres (aliás, para isso é que existe a Wikipédia, certo?), para centrar a minha atenção no Forte de S. Vicente.

Trata-se de um dos maiores e mais importante redutos daquele complexo defensivo, que na sua dimensão original se estendeu por cerca de 80 Km e protegeu centenas de milhares dos nossos antepassados, que no respectivo interior (do complexo defensivo) procuraram refúgio contra o avanço das tropas francesas, a partir de meados do ano de 1810 e no decurso da 3ª Invasão Francesa, comandada pelo General André Massena, Duque de Rivoli, Príncipe de Essling, Marechal do Império e detentor de outros títulos que atestavam tanto uma elevada competência, a nível militar, como a total falta de escrúpulos do respectivo detentor - que apesar de tudo não o livraram de levar um enxerto de porrada frente ao Wellington...

Este espaço tem vindo a ser objecto de um interessante projecto de recuperação da iniciativa da Câmara Municipal de Torres Vedras, integrado nas comemorações do Bicentenário das Linhas de Torres Vedras. Aliás, a participação da ANP e do GRHMA neste evento faz-se sob a égide precisamente desta Câmara Municipal.

O Forte de S. Vicente é composto por 3 redutos, que originalmente comunicavam entre si por pontes levadiças (por óbvios motivos...) colocadas sobre os fossos que os separavam e deve o seu nome à Ermida erguida a S. Vicente, que se encontra implantada no local. O espaço físico em questão seria supostamente suficiente para albergar uma guarnição de cerca de 4 mil homens - mas como só lá para o ano de 3010 é que vamos ter essa malta toda a participar em recriações históricas em Portugal, uma guarnição de cerca de 30 homens (e mulheres) terá de ser suficiente.

Irão ser montadas tendas militares (de época) e irá recriar-se, na medida do possível, um ambiente de guarnição, com rondas e sentinelas, exercícios de ordem unida e, claro, tiros de mosquete e de canhão q.b.

O espaço em questão estará aberto a visitas por parte do público em geral.

O programa do evento pode ser consultado em:

http://www.cm-tvedras.pt/outros/agenda/detalhes/?id=1297

PC

Genghis - The Peacemaker!

(Part IV)

I can almost imagine all of you (all the two of you...) wondering how anyone can place the words "Genghis" and "Peace" in the same sentence. What seems a contradiction really is not.

Let me try to explain this thought, by analysing the third criteria mentioned in my first post.

As H.H. Howorth said best, Genghis was a conqueror and a general whose consumate ability made him overthrow every barrier that must intervene between the cheif of a small barbarous tribe of an obscure race, that at a given point threatened Europe and conquered the throne of Asia.

The single thing that most separates Genghis from the rest of the so-called "Great Capitains" was his enduring legacy. He organized the empire that he conquered so that it survived and greatly thrived long after he was gone. He was an innovator in social and political economy; his laws and his administrative rules were accepted and long lasting; justice, tolerance and discipline, virtues that (supposedly...) make up the modern ideal of a State, were taught and practised at his court.

And remember this most important thing: Genghis was born and educated in the desert, without the benefit of a "classical education".

What has this - you rightfully ask - anything to do with peacemaking ?

Well, before attacking a country, Genghis usually sent the following message to its ruler: "If you don't submit, who kowns what will happen, God only knows". In case of submission, hostages and one-tenth of the produce of the land had to be given to the Mongols. Mongol governors had to be accepted, who (by the way) had the habit of reducing the surrendered country to the condition of the conquered.

To those that did not surrender, there was only one alternative: general slaughter!

Before an invasion, Genghis gathered all the relevant political and social information, through a well organized intelligence sistem. Bribery, intrigue and every other suitable alternatives were then employed to acheive divisions among his enemies. Once in a foreign country, the Mongols proceeded to ravage and waste the land all around the bigger towns and then placed these under siege, that sometimes lasted for years. The captured population was used in siege-work and then forced to take part in any assault (arrow fodder). Once conquered by force, the inhabitants of the town were killed.

The Mongols had the habit of promising (by solemn oaths) the besieged a safe exit in case of surrender; those that believed their promises usually regreted it...

They had also the habit of returning a few days latter to the place of a previous massacre just to make sure if someone had escaped and finished off any that did. These words say it all: "The Mongols gloried in the slaughter of men; blood to them was split freely as water; they had no honor or chivalry and a ruse to them was more creditable than a open fight" (Vicent).

This is the reason why I say that Genghis was a peacemaker: after he was finished with his enemies, everything was peaceful - peaceful and quiet even - since his enemies were all dead.

There were no rebelions, no need for extensive police work, no need to make threatening proclamations in the main square. I can only imagine his usual answer to problems: kill'em all! Some estimate at about 18 million the number of human beings that perished in China and Xi-Xia alone, from 1211 to 1223.

One of the consequences of this policy was that travellers and merchants could cross the expanse of the Mongol empire without fear of robbers, thieves or murderers - no one dared to start such risky businesses, under the Mongols.

On the other hand, we ear that Genghis counselled his sons to tolerate all creeds, telling them that it mattered little to the Divinity how they honored him. He exempted from taxes the ministers of all religions, the poor, doctors and other wise men. The princes of the blood adressed the Khan by his name and in his orders, laws, etc., his name was unaccompanied by any honorary titles.

Having trouble making up your mind regarding Genghis ? Well, don't.

Stick to the facts and the facts are that Genghis Khan towers head and shoulders above all the rest - just be thankful you did not have the bad luck of living in his time...

Well, this post ends my little adventure into the life of Genghis.

I hope you enjoyed reading it - since I sure enjoyed writing it.

I'll come back to this subject with a post about my brand new wargames army - Mongol, or course!

PC

LIGA ARCANE 2010

No dia 21 de Março, domingo, realizou-se em Lisboa, a 1 ronda da Liga Arcane 2010, com a participação de dois elementos da BT (com três inscritos), e que decorreu dentro de um bom espírito de camaradagem, boa companhia, excelente ambiente de fair play e convívio.

Defrontaram-se os seguintes exércitos,

1.3.12 Late Republican Roman
1.3.23 Numidian
(3) 1.3.28 Classical Roman
2.2.03 Han China
1.2.18 Post-Vedic and Early Mauryan Indians
1.5.09 Mongol Golden Horde
(2)1.3.10 Later Carthaginian

De salientar, na arte de pintura - a Horda Mongol, (pintada pelo JP, de Coimbra) e do exército Indiano, que sem sombra de dúvidas, deslumbraram os presentes, não só pela sua diferença, em relação aos exércitos habitualmente utilizados em torneios, mas também pela sua cor e presença.

Uma coisa são as palavras outra coisa são as imagens, para aqueles que não puderam comparecer aqui ficam algumas fotos das mesas de jogo e dos exércitos formados para o desenrolar da Batalha:

Por último, deixo aqui o agradecimento da BT, à organização do evento, particularmente ao Jerboa, e a todos os outros participantes de Lisboa, pelos bons momentos que nos proporcionaram e por toda a ajuda prestada para que pudessemos estar presentes.

Até à próxima ronda.
JMM

Fortaleza de Almeida (Portas de Santo António)

O único sobrevivente da guarnição de uma bateria de artilharia portuguesa inspecciona os danos causados por uma carga de cavalaria francesa.

Nos passados dias 13 e 14 de Março realizou-se a edição de 2010 da Escola do Soldado, que reuniu em Almeida a maioria dos cidadãos portugueses que se dedicam à recriação histórica da Guerra Peninsular/Invasões Francesas.

Mesmo sem corridas e flexões, foram dois dias que exigiram dos participantes algum esforço com vista a aperfeiçoar procedimentos e regras de segurança, preparar e programar eventos futuros e reparar equipamento.

Para quem não sabe, todas as pessoas que se dedicam a esta actividade, quer no âmbito da Associação Napoleónica Portuguesa (ANP), quer no âmbito do Grupo de Recriação Histórica do Municipio de Almeida (GRHMA) fazem-no com espírito amador. A participação destes grupos em eventos a nível nacional e internacional depende da ponderação da relevância dos mesmos para a História nacional e dos objectivos e credibilidade das respectivas organizações - e nunca de quaisquer contrapartidas financeiras.

Este foram os princípios que há seis anos atrás estiveram na génese da criação da ANP e que agora ainda hoje se mantêm.

Batalhão de Caçadores nº 6, Companhia de Atiradores, em parada

O Batalhão de Caçadores nº 6 (BC 6) foi a primeira unidade militar portuguesa objecto de recriação histórica em Portugal e teve a sua estreia no ano de 2004, precisamente em Almeida.

Depois de muito trabalho e pesquisa, foi possível angariar o tecido próprio para confecção do uniforme (tecido castanho grosso, chamado serrobeco) e obter todos os demais equipamentos (muitos deles importados do estrangeiro) necessários à recriação fiel desta unidade militar.

O BC 6 teve a sua origem no Porto, no ano de 1808, em cuja região recrutou os respectivos efectivos. Conjuntamente com o Regimento de Infantaria nº 6 e nº 18, ambos igualmente recrutados na área do Porto, formou uma Brigada (unidade composta por dois ou mais regimentos) que combateu conjuntamente durante praticamente toda a Guerra Peninsular, sendo a única Brigada do Exército Português integralmente composta por elementos recrutados na mesma região.

Conforme é possível visualizar na imagem, o uniforme castanho é um elemento característico das unidades de caçadores. O sinal distintivo do BC 6 em relação às demais unidades de caçadores eram os canhões (das mangas) e as golas de cor amarela.

A companhia de atiradores constituía a unidade de elite, dentro de qualquer batalhão de caçadores - que por si só já eram considerados tropas excepcionalmente resistentes e qualificadas. Os elementos distintivos da companhia de atiradores (em relação às demais companhias de caçadores) eram os seguintes: penacho (fica por cima da barretina) e franjado (nos ombros) negros (as demais companhias utilizavam a cor verde); utilizavam a carabina Baker (em contraposição ao mosquete Brown Bess, utilizado pelas demais companhias) e utilizavam correame/talabartes específicos adequados à carabina.

A carabina Baker era das armas mais excepcionais das utilizadas na Guerra Peninsular. Com alma estriada (os mosquetes possuíam todos alma lisa), possuía um alcance e eficácia acima da média. Em contraposição, possuía uma cadência de tiro inferior, devido à dificuldade que as estrias causavam à introdução da munição.

Regimento de Infantaria nº 23 em defesa das Portas de Almeida!

Posteriormente ao BC 6, começaram a formar-se unidades de infantaria de linha, sendo actualmente as que contêm mais efectivos o Regimento de Infantaria nº 11 (RI 11) e o Regimento de Infantaria nº 23 (RI 23).
A infantaria de linha portuguesa da época das invasões francesas utilizava um uniforme (casaca) azul, na tonalidade que chamamos "azul prussiano" e que é um pouco mais clara que o azul marinho.

Conforme a região militar de proveniência, a infantaria poderia usar forro de cor vermelha (região militar centro), amarela (região militar norte) ou branca (região militar sul). O que demais permitia distinguir os 24 regimentos de infantaria existentes no Exército Português da época eram as cores das golas e dos canhões, que eram diferentes para cada regimento.

Por exemplo, o RI 11 utilizava forro de cor vermelha, golas de cor azul prussiano e canhões de cor azul claro. O RI 23 utilizava igualmente forro de cor vermelha (eram ambos da região militar centro), e golas e canhões de cor azul claro.

Em termos regulamentares, estava previsto que as calças dos soldados fossem de cor azul, como a casaca. Todavia, verificou-se que no Verão eram extremamente desconfortáveis, razão pela qual passou a aceitar-se a utilização de calças em tecido branco. Por essa razão e como se pode constatar na imagem, é perfeitamente possível a coexistência de calças de cor azul e branca na mesma unidade.

O RI 11 e RI 23 eram considerados o 1º e 2º regimentos de Almeida, por ser a zona geográfica do respectivo recrutamento.

Regimento de Artilharia nº 4 em fogo de apoio nocturno!

(peça de artilharia de 3 libras, modelo 1773, D. José I)

Existiram 4 Regimentos de Artilharia no Exército português da época a que temos vindo a fazer referência e escusado será que o Regimento de Artilharia nº 4 (RA 4) era o mais forte deles todos ! (os respectivos elementos eram recrutados a norte...).

Os regimentos de artilharia utilizavam um uniforme em tudo semelhante ao da infantaria.

Todavia, todos os regimentos de artilharia utilizavam forro de cor vermelha e apenas se distinguiam entre si mediante a variação das cores negra e azul nas golas e no canhão. Por exemplo, o RA 4 possuía gola de cor azul e canhão das mangas de cor negra.
Como toda a gente sabe, na infantaria ingressam homens e ingressam rapazes. Todavia, para ingressar na artilharia, os rapazes ainda vão ter de esperar...

PC

1/144 Pics II

Mais umas fotos de modelos à escala 1/144. Material da WGS e Resina. Figuras da WGS, e outros.

Pz.Kpfw III Ausf M

Bergepanther

Dodge Truck - Jeep

Luchs - SdKfz 250/7 with German Paras

Wargame Scenario

Mais fotos em breve - More pics soon

Abraço JF

Genghis - The Conqueror!

(Part III)

Once again, I feel utterly motivated to continue my profound and well researched dissertation about Genghis Khan, since the messages just don't stop arriving to our comment box.

It feels so good to be appreciated...

Speaking about self-appreciation, let me tell you about what Genghis once said regarding the greatest happiness in life.

His (modest) opinion was as follows: "The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses, to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters".

Close to 1000 years afterwards, I see these as the words of a guy with what I call "The Hunger".

Have you ever felt hungry, and I don't mean just hungry for food ?

Hunger gives a new sense of perspective to some things.

The difference between a hungry guy and a guy with "The Hunger" is this (at least in my more or less vivid imagination): A hungry guy can say "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!". A guy with "The Hunger" would say: "I'm going to eat that horse! I'm going to eat it raw if I have to, and I'll kick the ass of anyone who stands between me and that horse!"

In my opinion, Genghis was a guy with "The Hunger".

Let's now learn something more about him through his own words:

In time of peace Genghis counselled his soldiers to be quiet as calves, but in war to rush on his enemies like hungry falcons fall on their prey.

"There does not live a braver man than Yissutai (one of his generals). No march can fatigue him, he feels neither thirst nor hunger and he thinks his soldiers ought to be like himself. This is why he is not fit to command. It is necessary that a general should be sensible to either hunger or thirst, for he ought to be able to feel the sufferings of his army. His marches should be moderate, and he ought to feed both his men and his horses".

"I give the command of troops to those who join courage and skill. To those who are active and alert I confide the care of the baggage. To the dullards I confide a pole and make them tend the cattle. It is thus I have won my victories and my sons will continued to be victorious if they follow my example".

And one of the instruments of those victories was the Mongol warrior.

The Mongol warrior was implicitly obedient - what seems a little odd at first since the Mongol army was composed of nomads who constantly led the lives of danger, but that was one of the secrets of their sucess, enforced by Genghis.

The coward and the (unauthorized...) plunderer were equally put to death. A sentry found asleep at his post was executed without question.

Each warrior had to pay his chief a certain number of horses, cattle, pieces of felt, among other things. When he was absent at war, his wife had to pay his contributions. In retribution for his services, the Mongol warrior received a percentage of booty, devided according to fixed principles. The end result: a warrior had to win battles or else he and his family would starve - it was as simple as that, and that was a powerful psychological combination.

In Marco Polo's words, when going on distant expeditions the Mongols took no gear with them except two leathern bottles for milk, a little earthen (others say iron) pot to cook their meat in and a little tent to shelter them from the rain. And in cases of great urgency they would ride ten days on end (each warrior had several horses with him on campaign) without lighting a fire or taking a meal. On such occasions they would sustain themselves with the blood of their horses, opening a vein and letting the blood jet into their mouth, drinking till they had enough, and stauching it.

Pretty tough, huh ?

Each warrior carried a bow, arrows and an axe; a file to sharpen the points of his arrows; a sieve, an awl, needles and thread. The picked troops could also carry slightly curved sabres and had their heads and body covered by leathern armour covered with pieces of iron.

All Mongol males between the ages of 16 and 60 were liable for military service.

It is thought that the Mongol army, at least under Genghis, never exceeded the number of 150.000, whereas, for instance, the Chin empire could and did muster four times that number of troops.

The bow was the Mongol main offensive weapon. It was a composite reflex bow, made from yak horn, sinew and wood or bamboo. They also used the much vaunted Mongol horse, that could be watered once a day and feed for the most part on grass. Some say that those horses could travel 600 miles in nine days - no mean feat, considering they had to carry an armed guy on their back.

Genghis is the one that united and gave a sense of purpose to the Mongols, and converted them into a formidable fighting force, seldom defeated in battle. According to D'Ohsson, the Mongols in their original homes were among the most wretched of mankind. They were so poor that only their chiefs had iron stirrups.

With this to start with, Genghis (and his followers) conquered all the nations and empires mentioned in my previous post, and more.

In recorded history, Genghis it the one that during his lifetime conquered the biggest expanse of territory.

Caesar had the benefit and the resources of an already huge empire behind him.

Alexander had the benefit of a formidable fighting machine, created by his father.

Napoleon...well, Napoleon is simply out of his league when compared to Genghis.

Therefore, no doubts must subsist that Genghis must be considered top notch, regarding the second criteria mentioned in my initial post.

I'll get back to you on this.

PC

Os Tótós do Kung-Fu!

Há uns dias atrás apareceram na Academia de Kung-Fu dois candidatos para "experimentar" uma aula, com vista a poderem decidir se se iriam ou não inscrever como alunos.

Como é habitual, no inicio de cada aula temos um período de aquecimento, sem o qual qualquer exercício físico converte-se num risco para a saúde.

Passados cerca de 10 minutos de exercícios (de aquecimento) os dois pobres infelizes começaram a mudar de cor (passaram de brancos a pálidos) e não conseguiam segurar-se em pé. Depois disso, pediram autorização para ir à casa de banho.

E nunca mais voltaram...

Antes destes, apareceu por lá um outro individuo que também queria experimentar as aulas da Academia e que até chegou a frequentar 3 ou 4 aulas, pois pelos vistos já tinha alguma preparação física.

Todavia, estava sempre a perguntar: "quando é que começo a aprender a fazer rotativos ?" e "quando é que começo a aprender a dar saltos ?".

Escusado será dizer que, à semelhança dos primeiros, mas por outras razões, nunca mais lá voltou a pôr os pés.

Na minha modesta opinião, as artes marciais são o desporto, além de milenar, mais completo que existe e existem tantas variantes e alternativas que se podem adequar a quase todos os temperamentos.

O Kung-Fu (ou Wushu), mesmo para quem o pratica em termos mais ou menos aligeirados, pode servir como exercício mental, físico e filosófico. Permite desenvolver uma força mental positiva e exige paciência e trabalho, algumas vezes duro.

E da respectiva prática é quase sempre possível extrair benefícios e aplicações para as mais variadas situações a nível pessoal e profissional, designadamente na vertente da gestão de agitações, exigências e pressões.

Além disso e porventura mais importante, deste desporto resultam beneficios excelentes para a saúde, ao nível do aparelho respiratório e circulatório, do desenvolvimento da resistência e da massa muscular, da flexibilidade, etc.

Equivoca-se seriamente quem procura nas artes marciais (pelo menos naquelas que são praticadas com seriedade e consciência) um meio para exibição de violência ou de aquisição de conhecimentos para exercícios violentos.

Não têm nada a ver com isso.

De igual modo, quem é avesso ao exercício da paciência, empenho e esforço não se vai dar bem com este desporto, pois nunca vai conseguir, por exemplo, controlar o medo ou a dor.

Dito isto, penso que já se conseguem imaginar as razões pelas quais nos dois casos acima descritos os respectivos candidatos acabaram por mudar de ideias em relação à opção de praticarem Kung-Fu...

PC

Os meus Franceses

O torneio "The One Day Campaign: 39-41", realizado em Lisboa, utilizando as regras Ambush Blitz, por força dos cenários escolhidos e predefinidos implicava que cada jogador deveria participar com 1 exército do Eixo e outro dos Aliados (com livre escolha), desse modo, evitavam-se as situações de haverem exércitos dos mesmos países a jogar entre si (alemães com alemães e ingleses com Ingleses), assim como, alargava-se o leque de exércitos a participar no referido torneio (evitando aqueles do costume: Alemães e Ingleses).
A minha escolha recaiu sobre o Exército Francês, para representar o lado Aliado, assim nasceram os meus Franceses, que aqui apresento.

French infantry da Minifigs, Citroen, da Pro-hobby

B1 Bis e Somua da WGS, H35 e Ft-31 da Pro-hobby, AMR 33 e Panhard 175, da Pithead

GHQ - Scracht

French support Inf e Inf regular da Minifigs

Importa salientar que o cenário do torneio exigia duas Companhias (Coys), aqui, por questões de espaço, apresento apenas 9 bases (as duas companhias eram formadas por 18 bases).

A bibliografia que adquiri e utilizei para desenvolver o meu exército Francês foi a seguinte:
Les Blindés Français-Mai-Juin 1940, de Ronald Mcnair, das Edições Heimdal; Osprey: Campaign 3 – France 1940; MAA 318 - The French Army 1939-45; Trackstory: 01-05, com os perfis do B1 Bis, Somua, Panhard 178, Renault R35 e R40; Histoire et collections: Revistas n.ºs 74, 79, 80 e 81 Histoire de Guerre –Blindes et matériel, Armes Militaria-Hors Series, n.ºs 21 – La Bataille de Abbeville, n.º31 – De la Somme a la Seine, n.º34 – Juin 1940 – Paris Ville Ouverte, n.º40 – La bataille des Ardennes.

Se tiverem conhecimento doutra bibliografia que possa ajudar ou seja interessante sobre o assunto, agradeço que me digam e enviem a vossa informação.
JMM