Independence Day Parade in Freedonia

(My wife and daughter are away for the weekend at the Great Canadian Steampunk Exposition and I'm left to my own devices as it were. It seemed like a good time to do some Imagi-nations hijinks.)

The Capitol City of Freedonia, Freedonia City (how original!) was all a-stir with the preparations for the Independence Day parade in the central square, The Firefly Quad. Sadly, the Grand Elector of Saxe-Freedonia, Rufus I Glöwurmchen, was unable to attend. He was drunk, hung over, asleep, in jail, otherwise occupied with the vital affairs of state. ("Here; hand these out to the boys in lieu of pay.")

The Grand Elector is field service attire.

The Grand Elector in court dress

Be that as it may, the parade was attended by the Elector's mistress, Mrs. Teesdale. Now, "Mrs. Teesdale" is a title; no matter who is the Electoral main squeeze, she is titled "Mrs. Teesdale" by tradition. The present holder of the title is the pulchritudinous Mitzi Jo Reifenpanne, of the Levittown Reifenpannes. (It's pronounced "Rye-fin-pahny" and "Lev-eh-town" for the uninitiated.) She took her place at the reviewing area surrounded by the Electoral Foot Guards in hollow square and the Elector's Personal Guard ("The Best Money Can Buy") off to the side.

The Electoral Foot Guard keeping the riff-raff away from Mrs. Teesdale
Because of their competence, the Elector can rarely come near, being riff-raff himself
... of the Long Island Riff-Raffs

The Elector's Personal Guard, recruited from the finest gutters and swill shops in the land.

The Freedonian Secret Police appeared in full uniform.

Note how the armour helps them blend right in.

Once everyone was in place and the pizza was ordered, the parade began with the senior officers of the army leading the procession and then taking their places behind the Personal Guard.

In no particular order, Generals Flern, Heinzelmenchen, Lebo, Radetz, de Sastre, and Smith.

Subedar Major Singh (who eschews such frippery as horses), General Belesarius, the Most Reverend Archbishop Michael, Metropolitan of Freedonia (and candidate for Patriarch), and the redoubtable Colonel Mustard,

The Grenadier Corps followed,

Grenadier Battalion von Castle
For some reason, I'm attracted to the uniforms of the Swedes and the Russians in the Seven Years War
so that's what I based the uniforms on.

Grenadier Battalion Stinner
I named the units after old friends, fellow gamers, TV shows, and even my dog.

Grenadier Battalion Curratola

Grenadier Battalion Hohn
Their gaiters are red-brown like one of the SYW Russian units,
It was said they received that honour because they waded in blood during one battle.

Grenadier Battalion Pooka

Grenadier Battalion Schnitzel

Line infantry followed. The first battalions of each regiment paraded, leaving the second battalion on duty or in garrison, except when the second battalion paraded. You can figure out the rest.

1st Battalion, Regiment Luzerne
for the county of my birth.

1st Battalion, Regiment Gibbs
from a high school pseudonym,

1/Regiment Tom Servo
♫ "In the not too distant future, somewhere in time and space..." ♫

1/ Regiment Hoch und Deutschmeister
from my favourite Austrian regiment

1/ Regiment Nurn
Check your maps of Middle Earth.

1/ /Regiment Stahl

 

Zouave Regiment Gondor
a one battalion regiment with an obvious name.

The German Battalion
The figures are by Frying Pan & Blanket and are AWI Hessians
This is one of the first units I painted for our Imagi-nations campaign.

The Freedonian Freikorps
Based on the Prussian Freikorps uniforms - the Double Blues

The Black Company, tough mercenaries who never welch on a contract
- a favourite fantasy series of mine.

The Archbishop's Own regiment
Painted in honour of the Mad Padre, who actually commanded them in a game!

The Irish Legion
Yes, there's a sheep marching with them.

Infantry Regiment Suburbia
a one battalion outfit... with a spacious backyard and a patio.
Ample parking. Close to schools.

 

1st Battalion, the Electoral Marine Corps

The Combat Pioneer Battalion
A catch-all outfit who are marching in the other direction because they have to clean up!

The Slobovian Freikorps
I used Old Glory Napoleonic Turkish Nizam-i-Cedit figures.

The 1st Franistan Sepoys
WWII Sikh figures, I know. I just wanted something really different.

1/ Border Regiment Seiben
A little bit more irregular, but not light infantry
for all my Siebenburgische Sachsen friends

Then came the Light Infantry...

Pavkovic's Pandours
with some sort of dog-like thing as a mascot.
FP&B's cavalry come with dismounted figures, so I use them for light infantry.

The Saxe-Bariton Schutzen
Yet another bad musical joke.

The Electoral Jäger
with a wolfhound for a mascot

The Chasseurs de Poutine
A large unit with a bear as a mascot.

The cavalry followed:

Dragoon Regiment Scungili

Dragoon Regiment Shanton

Cuirassier Regiment von Sardaukar

A close-up of the Cuirassier command element.
I couldn't resist doing a helmeted and armoured unit.

The Adelfanhetrabantenkorp
Guard Cavalry with a name that just trips off the tongue.

Carabinier Regiment Pretzelvania
the newest unit painted

Hussar Regiment Hesse-Bruder
named for a department store in the town I grew up in.

Light Cavalry Regiment von Suppé
I'm really disappointed that nobody gets this joke.

Then the artillery...

A 4-pound gun of the Horse Artillery

An 8-pound gun for the standard batteries

a 12-pound gun of the heavy batteries

A huge 12-pounder I bought from a 20mm Napoleonic Austrian range

The Big Gun close up

The 5-inch howitzer

An experimental weapon shown for the first time at the parade.
The ambassadors from Frankenschwein, Rationalia, Worchestershiresauce, and Gallifrey were impressed.
They were heard to be discussing the weapon as they returned to their embassies
in their securely-locked  and barred circus carriages

"It'll never work!" I hear you say.
Ha! It'll look great in a park or centre square somewhere!

Finally the Militia...with brooms to tidy up.

 

Militia Battalion Groucho
The names are traditional.

Militia Battalion Harpo

Militia Battalion Chico

Militia Battalion Zeppo

Militia Battalion Gommo
(The one Marx brother who never took the stage.)

Militia Battalion Cheeto
(The least known Marx brother... seen in a rare photo below,)

1st Battalion, Pretzelvanian Militia
The recently annexed province, done through a plebiscite that had a plausible level of legality.

2nd Battalion, Pretzelvanian Militia
These citizen-soldiers keep their own proud, knotted-up identity with lots of salt.

The Freedonian Garda
At the end of the parade, they shout the traditional cry to end parades in Freedonia:
"You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!"
They also have a warrant for the arrest of the Grand Elector, but the less said on that, the better.

It's obvious I enjoy whimsy and colour in my gaming, I hope you enjoyed it, too.