Home brewed Flags - Spanish backlog (4)

Now some light cavalry - this will be enough for the moment, I think. Certainly that's all I need to get the painted units finished off. There will certainly be more later on.

If you wish to make use of these cavalry flags, click on the image, save the larger version, and if you print at 13mm high (including the fringes) that's about 1/72 scale.

Cazadores de Olivencia (L) & Husares de Maria Luisa (R)

Husares Espanoles (L) & Cazadores "Voluntarios de Espana" (R)

Home brewed flags - Spanish backlog (3)

Yet more of the same - I was beginning to think this is all getting a bit boring for anyone who doesn't actually care about my Spanish army, but then it occurred to me that this is probably as good a free download of Spanish Napoleonic flags as you're likely to find (with all due humility), so I've decided to carry on for a bit. Somewhere, someone may find them useful one day...

I only have the first battalion of the Guardias Wallones in my army, and the flag appears here, but I am slightly crestfallen to read that the flag for the 2nd battalion was rather more interesting, having a blue ground. Not to worry. The Cataluña regiment were light infantry, by the way.

Instructions are the same as before - save large version, and print at 23mm high for 1/72 - trim off the green border.

Regto de la Reina - coronela

Regto do la Reina - sencilla

1st Bn Guardias Walones

1.Voluntarios de Cataluna

That's enough infantry flags to give me something to work with for now. Next up are some cavalry flags - they are fun, but there's hardly any source images, so this is real head-crushing stuff. Watch this space...

Home brewed Flags - Spanish backlog (2)

And here's some more. Irlanda and Murcia only have one battalion present with my army (OOB loosely based on Ucles), which saves me doing a couple of sencillas! The technique here is (probably obviously) copying and pasting and dropping bits in - the skills are those of desktop publishing rather than graphic art - most of the Spanish flags are pretty much the same.

Since I was asked, the flagpoles were covered in crimson velvet, the cravats were red and the spearhead and the fringes on the cravats were in the regimental button colour.

Regto de Africa - coronela

Regto de Africa - sencilla

Regto de Irlanda - coronela

Regto de Murcia - coronela

As before, the big version of these images should be saved and printed to be 23mm high for 1/72 scale. The green border is not part of the flag, and should be cut away.

Home-brewed Flags - Spanish backlog

My 1809 Spanish army has now progressed far enough for the lack of flags to have become an embarrassing bottleneck, so I am obliged to crack on a bit with them. These have been produced, as ever, using my ancient version of PaintShop Pro, and they are intended for my own use, but (as ever) if anyone wants to use them, please feel free - they are non-copyright. The resolution is not brilliant, so they are not recommended for 54mm - if you wish to print them out, click on the image below, save the larger version and print each one at 23mm high for 1/72 scale (I'll leave you to do the arithmetic for other scales!).

The green border is not part of the flag - it is simply to enable me to cut a white flag out of a white sheet of paper. The 1st battalion of the regiment would carry the coronela - the colonel's colour - and the 2nd battalion the sencilla (or ordenanza).

There will be more of these (there had better be!) - what I might describe as an intermittent rush. The queue includes long-overdue flags for the otherwise complete regiments of Africa, Reina, Irlanda, Guardias Walonas, Murcia and a bunch of others - and then there's the cavalry...

Regto de Burgos - coronela

Regto de Burgos - sencilla

Regto de La Corona - coronela

Regto de La Corona - sencilla

Hooptedoodle #174 - Charing Cross - any clues?

There's one

A chance, once again, to display my ignorance. I was interested to know what Charing Cross actually means, where the name comes from.

So I did a bit of reading, and I'm probably more confused now. The official version of the background to the Charing Cross in London is that it takes its name from one of the Eleanor Crosses erected by Edward I in memory of his wife - the one in the old parish of Charing, in fact, the most southerly of the twelve crosses, which were placed in a very approximate line at sites between London and Lincoln. The name Charing is thought to be derived from the Old English "cierring", referring to a nearby bend in the River Thames.

There's another one

Fair enough - it's a place in London, that was once called Charing (or something similar), and was noted for Old Ed One putting a cross there. Ah - but there are also Charing Cross areas in Glasgow and in Birkenhead, none of which ever had an Eleanor Cross anywhere near them.

So I got to thinking, maybe a Charing Cross is a more general thing - some kind of cross (obviously), serving some community purpose, or commemorating something more general than Eleanor. That didn't get very far. One interesting fact is that there seems to have been an important Charing Cross Hotel at both the Glasgow and Birkenhead locations - you don't suppose they were just named after the place in London? Might they have been railway hotels? Hmmm.

And another

Anyway, I shall do some more casual research, but it occurred to me that the real explanation might be something that everyone knows except me. Please - anyone know anything about this? Obviously it is of little real import, but it will niggle at me if I don't find out, so I'd be grateful for the shedding of a little light.

1809 Spaniards - More Generals

Right - back to more appropriate subject matter. I've had very little time for wargame-related activities lately, but I had a stroke of luck. I supplied some spare Napoleonic figures to a rather mysterious chap named Goya, and he offered to do some soldier-painting for me by way of repayment. He has very kindly produced these splendid Spanish generals for me (I am confident I got rather the better of that deal) - they really are most welcome - the expansion of the 1809 army proceeds, but - as we all know - you just can't get the staff these days. Generals tend to be a catch-up item once the combat units are approaching critical mass.

Here you see a division commander - complete with his ayudante - and a brigadier. Fine fellows, and I'm very pleased with them. The castings are OOP NapoleoN 20mm - which only briefly saw the light of day before they passed into history. I'm trying to make my Spanish generals suitable for either of my two Spanish armies (1809 and 1812) - it is tempting to paint one or two up in the white uniform of a colonel of infantry (like the paintings of Castaños at Bailen), but that would be a no-no for 1812, so I'm holding back on that.

I am now prepared for all the predictable comments about the supposed incompetence of the Spanish army - do your worst; they are still a smashing little army!

Waco - again...

Still trying to get my head around breaking news of the biker shoot-out in Texas. Someone will be making a note of the casualty figures. All we need now is for some hero to start reminding us how the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution allows (as a divine right) something which was originally intended to let the militia carry muskets.

Waco - how aptly named

I realise Texans are very keen on their guns. I just wonder, are there any grown-ups at home?