Tag: war

I’m Getting into Napoleonic Wargaming

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

I’ve decided to get into the wargaming scene with the Napoleonic wargaming. I’m excited as I’ve bought a big starter set – French/Napoleonic army starter set. I also bought a travel pack which I glued and painted today although I need to paint the soldiers still, but they are tiny.

Since the era is fascinating and I am doing a lot of reading on it at the moment, it seemed fitting to try a new hobby. I’ve tried train modelling before which I found really fun and am still a big fan of it. This however is completely new to me. I have to paint a lot, so it is more of a slow paced, fragile project than with Hornby models for example.

Check out the travel set below.

The yellow fields was a base layer. They have now been painted brown. The board and buildings, trees and road were painted too, otherwise they’d be rather dull looking.

The above set is basically the French vs British forces. Blue is France, red is Britain. This would certainly make travelling a lot more fun, whether on a train or plane it is great. You can use it anywhere since the box it came with has a handle. But you might as well stick it in your own small box. It also came with a small rulebook and 2 sets of dice for each side. This is the small set bought on a whim – but will provide valuable practice to prepare me for the ultimate gaming set…

The mega starter set.

Bonaparte’s French Army Starter Set. For around £95. I think for a starter set this is pretty good. There is over 100+ models in here to assemble and paint which will keep any aspiring or seasoned hobbyist busy. From a price standpoint it is pricey, but I believe that wargaming is generally more expensive than most hobbies. I have yet to buy the proper paint or brushes and used acrylic paint for the travel set.

I hope to post another highly interesting post on the Napoleonic Wars again soon. I am doing the reading right now, which is quite detailed so that I can come on here and explain it in simple to understand terms.

Have a wonderful day full of love, take care.

How The Napoleonic Wars Started: The French Revolution

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

Welcome to episode 1 of the Napoleonic Wars History, which I hope you will enjoy reading. In this episode we will look at how the massive Napoleonic empire began, its origins and why it started.

  1. Introduction
  2. How it Started
  3. Concluding Remarks
  4. Further Reading

Introduction

The Napoleonic Wars were a set of conflicts between Napoleonic France and the alliances of other European powers. The wars spanned from 1800 to 1815 during which Napoleon was a feared leader of France and a time in which people admired him greatly, just as much as they hated him.

Prior to the Napoleonic wars however, France saw The French Revolution span from 1792 to 1799 and can in a sense be included into the Napoleonic wars, making it one long war.

How it Started

The French Revolution prior to the Napoleonic Wars was undoubtedly a key reason for the continuing wars within Europe. The French Revolution was a social resistance beginning in 1787 continuing to 1799. The people sought to change the relationship between the rulers and those they governed, to change the political power structure.

It was during the time of the bourgeoisie (merchants, manufacturers, professionals) who had gained financial power yet were excluded from political power. However, those socially lower than them had very few rights if any and were poor. There was a clear class divide. The monarchy was soon viewed as no longer divinely ordained, so when the kin wanted to increase the taxes on the poor including new classes, revolution was the inevitable outcome.

The French uprooted the monarchy and the feudal system in place. This was caused by the disgust at the aristocracy mentioned above and the policies of the King – King Louise XVI. The King was guillotined as was his wife. The beginning of democracy or liberty, which shapes society today and the idea of which persevered through the Napoleonic wars. The will of the people succeeded.

A time of huge inflation not unlike today. Bread prices skyrocketed and was likely the main food source for many households. Couple this with soaring taxes.

On the 18 May 1803 Britain declared war on France and so the wars began following the revolution. The Bourbons were overthrown by Napoleon but would later resume power after his downfall.

As you can see huge dissatisfaction in the French Revolution outcomes resulted in Napoleon taking the lead of the French people seeking to conquer Europe. The wars were initiated by other monarchies to help ‘win’ the crown back for the Bourbons. Napoleon on the other hand did not want this monarchy, nor did the people.

They wanted democracy which would not exist for many years. They wanted liberty but the ruling elite used war to defeat them. Does this sound familiar? If they had have lost power, the world may look very different today and it is possible Britain might not even have a monarchy.

At the height of Napoleons French Empire he had successfully conquered most of Europe. Without the Napoleonic wars the Napoleonic code would not have come about. Without the French Revolution there would be no current democracy.

Despite being 200+ years ago, the ideas are still standing strong. Today we see the unbalance between the ruling elite, the monarchy and the rest of us – the poor. No matter what, we will not see a power struggle like this again unless it is a world war and given the technology and weapons today would be catastrophic. They are afraid to become normal people and have to remain in control in their reptilian like ordered organisations. Think about what they have and haven’t done. Then look at what Napoleon did.

Concluding Remarks

The beginning of a huge European and even worldwide Empire, the Napoleonic wars were interesting, and are hugely moving when you take the time to learn about them. This series will continue to explore this period. Next, we will look at the inital war after Napoleon took power. We will even look at some of the huge navel battles, involving hundreds of ships, hundreds of feet wide and high. Until then thank you for reading.

Further Reading

https://www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution

https://www.britannica.com/event/Napoleonic-Wars

Nazis v USSR

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison 
Soviet forces march across the deadly lands of eastern Europe
onward towards the motherland, Nazi Germany lays dormant
The SS is on the frontline, pushing past Poland
toward their nemesis faces
Clash, we see bombers descend over Paris
Bang, the tankers are crossing the lines of Berline
Stalin spies through his men
... as Nazis chant for their little mad man
"Heil Hitler"
Could Lenin see the times past
Churchill, Roosevelt, Hirohito, and Charles de Gaulle 
united, departed, never forgotten
closing in, let it begin
forever they will die in sin

Bound for the stars

Posted on by T. Maxwell-Harrison

One day, in the future, a future that many cannot see or comprehend, human kind sits unknowingly on the brink of extinction. One of us seeks to depart the earth, find a home, and save the human race.

The leaders stand tall on their pedestals, chanting their agenda into microphones for brainwashed nations to hear through their televisions.

Life goes on… we vote, we work, and we pay. We pay each and everyday. Without a clue, the calender is counting down, we have little time left.

Do you have your chips? Do you have your passes? Have you managed to upload aunt Sally to the server yet?

Comes crashing through space time, comes to our view, we feel the world quake.

All attention to the skies

all attention on the robotic minds

all attention on the end of time…

One by one, sheep slowly drift into the ships,

those who can see

can feel

the fear

the rage

of the ones left behind

of the ones who would not be subject to tormentors of time

The day has come

when the whole world would no longer stand as one

or be seen to be lying behind the lies

subdued by existential denial…

… Now they depart for the stars

loads of them are beating hearts

thinking minds

minds eye

can see a golden room

as the rock draws near

human kind no longer has any fear

obliterated from the record

no record of the damage

no memory of the events…

…

stuck in space,

wondering why

they had to tell so many lies

why the passes

and why all those little planets made of gases

environmental overload, oh no,

toxic food waste, oh no

just bad luck, oh no

let’s be all we can be

among the stars

behind the wall

of the tyrannical disguise

It draws to the end

and we can see

through smoke and fire

that angels are real

that alien men

were the first

to save us

that we were ticking

through time

like stagnant bots

becoming nothing but desire and desperation

in the voices of thousands of lost souls

yet we left the better half back to rot

in the core of the earth

from nothing but greed

but came light

sound madeth the world

sound made the stars

we still cannot figure out

who we are…

… we arrive. We have lost and found hope, through years of travel, of pain. There is a blue horizon, and lakes and trees, we can already smell the freshly grown daises. Behold our future.