The wonderful thing about our North Star 1672 range is that the figures will do for many different nations armies in the period 1665-1680. This is
because it is a time just before uniforms, and the figures are all dressed in the fashions common amongst soldiers throughout Western Europe.
because it is a time just before uniforms, and the figures are all dressed in the fashions common amongst soldiers throughout Western Europe.
This of course includes Britain.
The years covered by our range is called the Restoration Period in
Britain as it was the time the monarchy, represented by Charles II,
was restored after the English Civil War.
It was also the genesis of the British Army. Britain, tired of soldiers
and war, had disbanded much of it’s forces after the Civil War and
Oliver Cromwell’s reign. With the return of Charles II to England in
1660, the units still under arms swore allegiance to the King and
became the senior units of the British Army.
Some of the infantry regiments:
Coldstream Guards
Grenadier Guards
Scots Guards
1st Regiment (Royal Scots)
2nd Regiment (The Queen’s)
3rd Regiment (The Buffs)
st
The years covered by our range is called the Restoration Period in
Britain as it was the time the monarchy, represented by Charles II,
was restored after the English Civil War.
It was also the genesis of the British Army. Britain, tired of soldiers
and war, had disbanded much of it’s forces after the Civil War and
Oliver Cromwell’s reign. With the return of Charles II to England in
1660, the units still under arms swore allegiance to the King and
became the senior units of the British Army.
Some of the infantry regiments:
Coldstream Guards
Grenadier Guards
Scots Guards
1st Regiment (Royal Scots)
2nd Regiment (The Queen’s)
3rd Regiment (The Buffs)
st
Colour.
known tale, the king had ordered every man who went to work
in the South African mines to steal a diamond or a nugget of
gold and bring it home with him as tribute. The treasure was
locked away in two steel safes purchased from the white men.
In 1893, when he realised that defeat was imminent,
Lobengula ordered the safes to be taken from Bulawayo by ox
cart and hidden in a secret cave in the hills. Apart from the
king himself, the only people who knew exactly where it was
were the men who had hidden it, and they were all killed on
Lobengula's orders by an "impi" stationed at the bottom of the
hill. Then, because these men still had at least a vague idea of
the location, they too were massacred on their return to the
capital. Many years later a white treasure-hunter located a
survivor, a very old "induna" who had somehow escaped the
slaughter, but, the story goes, he was by then too senile to
remember where he had been! Of course the whole tale is full
of holes. How easy was it to steal from the mines in the first
place, and how many Matabele would not have simply stayed
where they were with their loot? And could Lobengula really
afford to murder his own soldiers wholesale while he was
facing a life and death struggle for his country? In reality he
had once had a fair bit of cash, but had spent the bulk of it on
guns, some was lost when the whites burnt his kraal at
Bulawayo, and most of the rest was offered as a bribe to stop
the whites pursuing him after the Battle of Bembesi, and
promptly stolen by a couple of BSAC troopers. So by the time
he would have been thinking about hiding his safes they were
probably already empty. All the same, as wargamers we need
not let the facts spoil a good story, and the search for this
treasure would be an ideal scenario for a roleplaying or
skirmish game.
in the South African mines to steal a diamond or a nugget of
gold and bring it home with him as tribute. The treasure was
locked away in two steel safes purchased from the white men.
In 1893, when he realised that defeat was imminent,
Lobengula ordered the safes to be taken from Bulawayo by ox
cart and hidden in a secret cave in the hills. Apart from the
king himself, the only people who knew exactly where it was
were the men who had hidden it, and they were all killed on
Lobengula's orders by an "impi" stationed at the bottom of the
hill. Then, because these men still had at least a vague idea of
the location, they too were massacred on their return to the
capital. Many years later a white treasure-hunter located a
survivor, a very old "induna" who had somehow escaped the
slaughter, but, the story goes, he was by then too senile to
remember where he had been! Of course the whole tale is full
of holes. How easy was it to steal from the mines in the first
place, and how many Matabele would not have simply stayed
where they were with their loot? And could Lobengula really
afford to murder his own soldiers wholesale while he was
facing a life and death struggle for his country? In reality he
had once had a fair bit of cash, but had spent the bulk of it on
guns, some was lost when the whites burnt his kraal at
Bulawayo, and most of the rest was offered as a bribe to stop
the whites pursuing him after the Battle of Bembesi, and
promptly stolen by a couple of BSAC troopers. So by the time
he would have been thinking about hiding his safes they were
probably already empty. All the same, as wargamers we need
not let the facts spoil a good story, and the search for this
treasure would be an ideal scenario for a roleplaying or
skirmish game.
