Lionia versus Borduria

                                                                   Bordurian tankettes.

American adventuress with Lionian supply truck.

Bordurian ship on the way to Lionia.

Lionians on patrol and King Michael and Prince Michael with priests pose in front of the armoured cars. Foreign Redian and Amerigan volunteers crew them.

Lionian angel icon.

Lionian flag.

Bordurian soldier waving the Bordurian flag over a captured mosque. This mosque was previously occupied by Lionian troops. Although many Muslims remained loyal to the emperor others quickly sided with the invading Bordurians and joined their Askari units. They fought particularly well, perhaps because capture meant either execution or the rapid amputation (without anaesthetic) of an arm and leg!

A low flying Bordurian sea plane straffs a Lionian machine gun position.

Lionian tribesmen ambush a Bordurian tankette. They managed to immobilize it by pushing large lengths of metal into its tracks. The vehicles were set afire, much to the discomfort of the Bordurians.

Lionian tribesmen and mercenaries, supported by armoured cars and watched by King Michael from his car prepare to meet the Bordurian invaders.

Bordurian and Redian Black Shorts advance. Members of the Redian fascist party, the Black Shorts, have offered their services to the Bordurians, (The activities of the Black Shirts in Redia have taken their country close to civil war).

Askaris clash with lionian warriors.

Bordurian tank and downed Bordurian plane.

The Bordurian general in a column of bordurian elite troops.

Lionian anti aircraft gun which also was used successfully against bordurian vehicles.

A Lionian priest encourages an attack on a tankette.

Lionian regulars defend the palace.

Syldavian 'volunteers', in this case engineers, have rigged explosive devices that cause a rock fall in a pass. The Bordurian force is crippled.

The Bordurian general meets his grizzly fate and the Bordurians flee back to their colony.

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE GAME

The idea for three countries of Borduria and Syldavia came from Herge's Tintin books and interpreted by Paul Wright in his blog and the Funny Little Wars site. The time period is 1920s. The inspiration for Lionia comes from the real country of Abyssinia and its resistance to two Italian invasions, one in the late 19th century and one in the 20th century. The Abyssinians won the 19th century war and initially succeeded against Mussolini's invasion in the 1930s. Ultimately air power and mustard gas defeated the Abyssinians.

In the game the Bordurians were represented by WW2 German and Italian figures. Some 8th Army figures were used with new heads for the Black Shorts, loosely based on Mosley's Black Shirts and the fictional concept of the British Civil War.

The Lionians were a mixture of converted Arabs from Timpo Action Pack and AIP Sudan figures. The regular Lionians are made from Airfix Japanese and the priests were made from Russian metal priests. Many were just used straight from my Sudan figures, unconverted. Some exotic units included white hunters, white mercenaries and handlers with attack lions! AIP Egyptians were used as askaris. The armoured cars were converted from cheap plastic cars. The tankettes were converted from Lone Star personnel carriers - again, an idea from Paul Wright. The bigger tankette with the squarish profile was made by Paul.

The game was played between, Ryan as the Bordurians and Mat as the Lionians. The scenario had the Lionians concealed and with a mixture of medieval and modern technology. Mat managed to block the roads once vehicles began to be destroyed. Lionian ambushes reduced Bordurian numbers to a dangerous level, causing their eventual retreat.