The rest of the Syldavian Königliche Gendarmerie

Here are the remaining five members of my Königliche Gendarmerie. They are in two pictures, so you'll need to scroll down.

Above are a Feldwebel (sergeant), a senior NCO, in his distinctive red uniform trousers with a Gendarm, that is the basic rank in the Gendarmerie, equivalent to a Soldat (private) in Infantry regiments. Below are three more members of the Gendarmerie, two Gendarms and a junior NCO, a Gefreiter (corporal) on the right. In the Gendarmerie, junior NCOs are only distinguished from rankers by a brass button on each of their shoulder tabs (not visible in the photo).

So, these are the last of my figures for my Syldavian and Bordurian companies for  In Her Majesty's Name . 

I need a new project now.

Some Syldavian troops of the Königliche Gendarmerie

I mentioned in an earlier post that the plainclothes Syldavian secret police, the Vohunska, often call upon support from the Königliche Gendarmerie. Here is an officer and two gendarmes from that fine service.

The Syldavian Königliche Gendarmerie was created in 1855 as part of the reorganisation of the existing regional militia battalions, to serve as both a Police force and a military reserve. In 1871, a separate National Reserve was created, leaving the Gendarmerie as a specialist national Police Force and Border Service. The Gendarmerie is part of the Syldavian army, and uses army ranks, except that the lowest rank is Gendarm instead of Soldat. Senior NCOs hold the rank of Wachtmeister.

The Gendarmerie wears the blue/grey army uniform, first introduced in 1822 (to replace the previous light grey uniforms worn since the end of the 17th century) as modified in 1849 when the kepi replaced the shako. Senior NCOs and officers wear red trousers and officers wear the 1867 pattern officers's kepi with a black leather peak. Other ranks wear grey gaiters with the trousers. Leather is brown for all ranks. The top part of the kepi is in the Gendarmerie's pale blue arm of service colour, as is the crown of the officer's kepi. 

Uniforms are cut in a French pattern and there is a white French-pattern "salacot" helmet, which is often worn on parade or by gendarmes guarding official buildings. In these situations, white gaiters are also worn. Where using a rifle is inappropriate, all ranks wear sidearms and will also be equipped with batons (swords for officers).

These figures are from North Star and are actually Artizan Designs French Foreign Legion ones. Obviously I will be using these figures in games of  In Her Majesty's Name and also in other pulp and Cthulhu Mythos games. 

I think that these will be worthy opponents of the Bordurians I have already painted. I will post the rest of them in future posts.

The final plainclothes Syldavian agents

Well, here are the two final plainclothes members of my Syldavian secret policemen. As previously, they are from the North Star Steampunk range. 

The eagle-eyed amongst you will note that they are duplicate poses to two of the others. I don't see this as any kind of a problem, because they have been painted in different colours. I think that the chap on the left looks a bit like Neville Chamberlain. I expect that he takes a much firmer line with miscreants and ne'er-do-wells though.

I can see these figures in all manner of settings. Blasting away fruitlessly at Shoggoths in Cthulhu-based games is a distinct possibility, as are supporting roles on Pulp games too.

So, now I have to paint up some uniformed members of the Königliche Gendarmerie. That should be fun. When they are done, that will mean that my Syldavian company for  In Her Majesty's Name is complete.

More Syldavian Secret police

Following on from my previous post, here are three more members of the Syldavian Security and Intelligence Service, the Vohunska.

You will note that the left-hand figure is the same pose as in the previous post. It isn't really an issue and, in any case I have painted him differently.

The middle figure is a second character, an assistant to Inspektor Eugen Jaegermann. He is Detektiv Samuel Tylenburger. Unlike his blunt and plain-speaking boss, Detektiv Tylenburger likes to think of himself as a man of the future and, as a graduate of the Institut der Wissenschaft in Klow takes a scientific approach to his work. A younger man, the Detektiv comes from the coastal city of Douma, where his family has roots going back to the early 18th century. His father, a leading merchant is currently the Bürgermeister of Douma and has been a member of the city council, the Stadtverwaltung for around 20 years.

Like the first three, these are also from the North Star Steampunk range and will serve as other things than just Syldavian agents. I will use them as Scotland Yard detectives and anywhere else where I need some chaps in plainclothes. I will use them for games of  In Her Majesty's Name and pulp and Cthulhu Mythos games.

The first of the Syldavian Secret Police

In a previous post, I talked about the Syldavian Security and Intelligence Service, officially the Varnosti Policija but popularly called the Vohunska i.e. "the Spies". Here is the start of my company of Vohunska agents and their uniformed assistants in the Königliche Gendarmerie.

Represented here is a senior agent of the Vohunska, Inspektor Eugen Jaegermann flanked by two of his agents. The Inspektor is a feared figure amongst the Syldavian Underworld, both with normal criminals who remember him from his days as a detective in the Königliche Gendarmerie and also with subversives in anarchist and other political groups. He is hated by the Bordurian Informat, who have put a price on his head because of his work exposing and eliminating clandestine operatives and saboteurs in Bordurian emigré communities. Jaegermann comes from the city of Travunje, south of the capital, Klow and joined the Gendarmerie after his mandatory period of conscription in the Syldavian Army. He is known for his blunt manner and his ability to get results where others have failed.

Vohunska agents work in plainclothes and officially they are part of the Syldavian Ministry of Justice, unlike the Gendarmerie who are part of the Army. They have a wide-ranging brief, which encompasses internal security and intelligence-gathering, as well as operating as intelligence agents in other countries. They may also, under certain circumstances work with the Gendarmerie's Bureau of Investigations, the Untersuchungsbüro. 

In many operations, the Vohunska will call upon support from the uniformed Gendarmerie when extra manpower is required.

These figures are from the North Star Steampunk range and will serve as other things than just Syldavian agents. I will use them as Scotland Yard detectives and anywhere else where I need some chaps in plainclothes. I will use them for games of  In Her Majesty's Name and pulp and Cthulhu Mythos games.

n.b. Eugen Jaegermann is a sort of Germanised version of Gene Hunt from the TV series "Life On Mars"

The Bordurian menace grows ...........

Here are some more figures for my late-19th century Bordurians.

Once again, these are Copplestone "Back of Beyond" Bolsheviks, this time representing two rank and file members of the Second Directorate's Security Police, the Sekuritat.

Members of the Sekuritat such as these can often be seen on the streets of Bordurian cities, particularly guarding important state buildings but also patrolling the main streets. They have far greater authority than those local militiamen and women who comprise the Watch patrols in towns and cities across the country, and they operate the Customs posts and entry points around the borders of the country. They have a large barracks and prison complex, housed in the former Orthodox monastery on the island of Zodastrum in Lake Poliszchov, where political prisoners are held, many never emerging again once incarcerated behind the grim walls of the prison.

These two will join my Bordurian active service unit for In Her Majesty's Name but will also be useful as Bolsheviks for Pulp games.

An Inventive Genius and his equally Inventive Sister

Obviously, in a steampunk world, the science is always going to be weird, and even the good guys embrace the weird. See below for details;

Here we have the Inventive Genius and his equally Inventive Sister, staunch opponents of those who seek to pervert science for their own ends and regular allies of the Mysterious Government Agency (MGA).

On the left is Professor Henry Hardy, physicist, chemist and engineer and his sister Amelia, a mathematical prodigy and student of the Occult.

As you can see, they are both equipped with Hardy Portable Arc Generators and Hardy Arc guns, considered by those in the know to be the finest weapons of their type available.

Professor Hardy works closely with the MGA and Scotland Yard, and has designed weapons for both organisations. Miss Amelia Hardy is less well-known but has links to certain secretive bodies who investigate inexplicable phenomena, arcane lore and other unusual areas of interest to the authorities. As a team, they are invaluable to the British government, and are close associates of a certain Consulting Detective, who finds their services crucial to some of his more puzzling investigations.

These figures are both from Ironclad Miniatures, although the female one isn't on their website, as far as I can see. I bought her at the 2020 Crusade show in Penarth back in January, when the world was normal.

Two more Steampunk characters

After all those villains, it is time to turn again to the Forces of Laura Norder.

These are once again from the excellent Ironclad Miniatures range. On the website they are called MIB Agents "L" and "H". I am simply describing them as Mysterious Government Agents, which can clearly be an umbrella which might cover a multiplicity of roles.

They could be plainclothes officers from Scotland Yard, members of the Secret Service or even agents from some even more secret government agency, perhaps one concerned with occult or otherwise inexplicable phenomena. Seeing as we are operating within a steampunk world here, I would think that combating the threat from Weird Science and Evil Inventors would also be part of their brief. Clearly they might wish to engage a Consulting Detective from time to time.

Identifying and neutralising political subversion or exposing foreign agents might also be part of their duties, whether that might involve internal threats or external agencies from unfriendly nations.

These are clearly two very experienced operators.

More Victorian Steampunk

I painted these yesterday and spray varnished them earlier this morning when the doggies got me up to let them out into the garden.

These two are a Dastardly Villain and his Cold-Hearted Villainess companion. I have decided that their weapons are Arc Pistols, a type of weapon used in the In Her Majesty's Name rules, but they could quite easily be something else. Anyway, whatever they are, they aren't standard handguns. As with my earlier figures, these also have minimal bases. The Dastardly Villain, like the Consulting Detective is also armed with a swordstick. I am sure that the Cold-Hearted Villainess has some other weapons secreted about her person too.

I have decided that the Dastardly Villain's name is Colonel Sir Jasper Benbow and his companion is Mme Mathilde du Méchantcoeur.

Sir Jasper is a former officer in the British Army who has sold his services to numerous rulers and governments across Europe and beyond, but the rank of Colonel is purely invented. In reality, he was cashiered from the army, when a mere Lieutenant, after being caught embezzling his regimental funds to pay his gambling debts. It is often claimed that his knighthood is similarly fictitious, but it seems that he acquired the honour from a small central European principality for dubious services rendered. It is said that Sir Jasper will do anything for money, so long as the sum meets his approval.

Mme du Méchantcoeur's origins are unknown, although it is believed that she emerged from the slums of Belleville to become a major player in the Parisian demi-monde, making many enemies, but also with many Friends in High Places. It is rumoured that she once worked for the French government, but other rumours also claim that the French secret police would happily see her dead. Perhaps all these rumours are true? Who can tell in the looking-glass world of shadowy agents, criminal masterminds and secret organisations?

Once again, these are from Ironclad Miniatures Victorian Sci Fi and Steampunk range.

More Isolation Painting - the start of my Steampunk Victorians

Last year I started buying some figures to use for the In Her Majesty's Name rules from the Ministry of Gentlemanly Warfare. I have so far concentrated on the excellent range of figures produced by Ironclad Miniatures. I've bought quite a few to date, and I am now in the process of painting them.

Here are my first results. They may look quite familiar.

They are, on the left, The Consulting Detective and, on the right his Medical Amanuensis. These will obviously be valiant defenders of the Queen and her Empire against all manner of dastardly and evil opponents. Both are equipped with pistols and the Detective also carries a swordstick. The Amanuensis carries his medical bag, which is no doubt packed with all manner of interesting potions and lotions.

I have decided that I want the basing on these figures to be pretty minimal, so that they fit into urban settings predominantly, so all I have done is mould a layer of Miliput to cover the whole base and disguise the puddle bases on the actual figures.

I hope that people like them.

Next up, a couple of villainous types.