Part Four of my merry band from Strängnäs

After I saw PanzerKaput's brilliant boy scouts I have to do some for me. They are a little bit different from english scouts, they have blue shirts! I will just make a small group of seven.
I will tell you more about their background when I have painted the Scoutmaster.

The third part of Strängnäs Defenders

I10, Royal Södermanland's Regiment. Strängnäs is home to I10, an infantry regiment under the command of Bygg Per Bjällermalm. Even through the regiment have had problems with desertion since the outbreak of the civil war most of the soldiers are left with the regiment. Mostly they are 18 to 22 year olds from Strängnäs and they do actually believe that they defend the towns from enemies, like Dalmasar, that want to loot it and take their girlfriends. They have only had four months of basic training.

At this point in time bicycle troops belonged to the cavalry. This one is the first of a full bicycle squad. I converted a Warlord games British by cutting of his head and gave him a Swedish instead.

Part of the militia comes from the Fria Automobilsällskapet (Free Automobil Society). They are a volunteer group for helping the military with cars and motorcycles in war. Kind of Landstormen (Home Guard) but bikers!

More of Strängnäs' defenders

Now when we have met the leaders of the military and militia forces in Strängnäs we will meet the troops. First the militia:




Strängnäs Militia (miniatures by Musketeer Miniatures)

Chief Designer Mjältbring (miniature by Musketeer Miniatures)

Strängnäs Militia. They were mostly recruited through the masonic lodge. Most of the members in the lodge did send their sons or servants instead of joining themself. The leader of the militia is Gunnar Bladmyr and his second in command is Olof Mjältbring, the chief designer at "Bladmyr Textilier". Mjältbring is very loyal to Gunnar Bladmyr, but not long ago they fought over the colour of the militia's uniform. Mjältbring thinks that black is threating and instead wanted a light blue uniform. Since Bladmyr is the boss he got it as he wanted it, but Mjältbring got the permission to make his uniform as he wanted it.

The stout defenders of Strängnäs

As I have told you about earlier our club is running a small campaign called A Moderate Swedish Conflict. It is about a civil war in Sweden during the early 30s.

Today I want to show you my gang: AfSS (Alliansen för Strängnäs Skydd), the proud defenders of Strängnäs, a middle sized town (middle size in a Swedish context, mind you) near the frontline.

M ayor Fjätterbom (miniature by Dan Binsack Memorial Fund)

The town's defense is led by Mayor Peter "Patte" Fjätterbom, who is also the Worshipful Master of the local masonic lodge. He has united three different factions in the town and believes that without him AfSS will fall apart and the communists will loot and destroy the city.

Since the outbreak of the civil war he has started to feel paranoid and have recruited a small bodyguard to protect him from would-be assassins. As most sees him as a dork that is more dangerous to himself than anyone else, he is in no danger of being assassinated.



Colonel Bjällermalm (miniature by Ådalen Miniatures)

The leaders of the AfSS factions:

Colonel Bygg Per Bjällermalm is the commander of I10, the local infantry regiment. When the civil war broke out he sided with the Whites and smashed a small uprising Eskilstuna, a town very close to Strängnäs. After this he was contacted by a family member (the family is from Dalarna, which is controlled by the Reds) and he started to doubt the righteousness of the Whites. This has led to the point that he has started to sympathize with the Reds and has started to share secret information with them. He tries his best not be put in a position where he openly must choose side.

Schoolmaster Fjätterbom (miniature by Ådalen Miniatures)

Schoolmaster Anders "Ankan" Fjätterbom is the commander of the Landstormen units (Home Guard) in Strängnäs. He is a younger brother of Mayor Peter Fjätterbom, which he idolizes. Before the war he was a teacher at Thomasgymnasiet, the local upper secondary school. He believes he is popular with both pupils and his privates, but because he threats his privates as if they were his pupils they despise him. Most of them are after all older than him and can’t stand his inept leadership. Anders popularity doesn’t improve by the fact that he has his ruler with him on the battlefield, so he can punish disobedient privates.

Senior Warden Bladmyr (miniature by Musketeer Miniatures)

Chairman Gunnar Bladmyr is the leader of the local militia, number two in the town's masonic lodge and the chairman of a local cloth factory. But that is not enough because he sees himself as the rightful leader of both the masonic lodge and the town itself. He has recently started to demand that people address him as "The Great Leader". He has, for his own expenses, let his factory make uniforms for his militia. The reason is that he believes it is very important that you look sharp when you defend your Country against the Communist Hordes. Since Colonel Bjällermalm has denied him military equipment and arms for his militia, he has instead bought it from his business partner in Manchester.