Saturday 1 April 2023

SCW Falangist Militia

 The Blueshirts (Spanish: Camisas Azules) were the Falangist paramilitary militia in Spain. The name refers to the blue uniform worn by members of the militia. The colour blue was chosen for the uniforms in 1934 by the FE de las JONS because it was, according to José Antonio Primo de Rivera, "clear, whole, and proletarian," and is the colour typically worn by workers, as the Falange sought to gain support among the Spanish working class. In Francoist Spain the Blueshirts were officially reorganized and officially renamed the Falange Militia of the FET y de las JONS in 1940.


Flag of the Spanish Falange

The Falange Española was originally a Spanish fascist political party founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera, son of the former Spanish leader Miguel Primo de Rivera. The Falange was created with the financial assistance of Alfonsist monarchist funding. Upon being formed, the Falange was officially anti-clerical and anti-monarchist. As a landowner and aristocrat, Primo de Rivera assured the upper classes that Spanish fascism would not get out of their control like its equivalents in Germany and Italy. In 1934, the Falange merged with the pro-Nazi Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional-Sindicalista of Ramiro Ledesma Ramos, to form the Falange Española de las JONS.

Initially, the Falange was short of funds and was a small student-based movement that preached of a utopian violent nationalist revolution. The Falange committed acts of violence prior to the war, including becoming involved in street brawls with their political opponents that helped to create a state of lawlessness that the right-wing press blamed on the republic to support a military uprising. Falangist terror squads sought to create an atmosphere of disorder in order to justify the imposition of an authoritarian regime. With the onset of middle-class disillusionment with the CEDA's legalism, support for the Falange expanded rapidly. By September 1936, the total Falangist volunteers numbered at 35,000, accounting for 55 percent of all civilian forces of the Nationalists.

Falange Española de las JONS was one of the original supporters of the military coup d'état against the republic, the other being the Carlists. After the death of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, Manuel Hedilla sought to take control of the Falange, but this was usurped by Franco who sought to take control of the movement as part of his move to take control of the Nationalist faction. In 1937, Franco announced a decree of unification of the Nationalist political movements, particularly the Falange and the Carlists, into a single movement, nominally still the Falange, under his leadership, with the name Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS. Both the Falangists and Carlists were initially furious at the decision, the Falangists in particular saw their ideological role as being usurped by the Catholic Church and their revolution being indefinitely postponed - which it was!

To add this faction to my SCW collection, I used the second batch of Spanish Foreign Legion figures by Panzer Garage, and I think they work very well indeed - see what you think:


The officer isn't quite right probably, but as an irregular militia, I am sure they had some interesting combinations of uniform, so I am happy enough with him!


LMG crew





The whole "bandara" so far - this may be all I end up doing.

And finally, it had to happen I guess - yes, three years after New Zealand went into a one month, nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of the Covid 19 virus, I caught it at work - bugger!


I got sick on the Saturday and as a result, pulled out of the big Sunday AWI game at Barry's, which irritated me a bit, but as I tested positive for the first time on the Monday, I am glad I didn't go along and risk infecting any of the other guys.

As with many people. my experience of Covid was different from a lot of others. Initially, I was very low on energy and did a lot of sleeping on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday I was still pretty lethargic and did not a lot of anything. I did not really have any issues with headaches, sore throat or sneezing though - I just felt like I had drunk 4-6 beers...... all the time! 

On Mon, Tues and Weds night, I had trouble getting more than 2-3 hours of sleep, but I was able to function ok during the day and did about 6 hours working from home Tues-Fri. Thurs night I slept fine and since then, I really have not had any symptoms at all, although on Friday, I did another test and the two lines came up in about twenty seconds, almost as soon as the test liquid had spread along the whole kit.

On Friday evening, I missed a game at Julians, so I am not very happy with Covid, given the paucity of games I have had in the last couple of months! I am even thinking of doing a mini solo game in the garage to get my fix!

I have done ZERO hobby stuff for ten days - the Falangists were painted a couple of weeks ago - but I could not even build up the motivation to post them on the blog until today!

Hopefully April will be a better month and I can get back into the routine of posting every three days or so.

34 comments:

  1. Tough luck on going down with COVID. Sounds like it has been a relatively mild case of the bug. Hopefully you will be back on your feet in no time.

    Fine looking Fascist recruits. If you are too sick to paint then you are, indeed, sick. Get well, my friend.

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    1. Thanks Jon, I am pretty much recovered now, I think - the last 5-6 days I have just lacked motivation to anything much at all!

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  2. Very sad to hear that Keith and I am glad you are on the mend. Covid certainly has a wide range of impacts on people who get it. Luckily I have escaped so far but your story shows you still need to take precautions as best you can.

    For the Falangists, great looking figures, and they are not the first or last lot of revolutionaries who will be betrayed by their leaders.

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    1. I thought I was one of the last few who had avoided the C19, Ben! As to the Falangists, I thought it was interesting that they were originally anti Church and Monarchy - a bit like the original NSDAP was actually quite "socialist" in outlook. As you say, that was another bunch of revolutionaries who were betrayed by their leaders!

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  3. Nice work on the Falangists and I hear your pain with Covid. I missed 2 weeks of gaming when I got it for the first time last month

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    1. Another one late to the Covid party eh Scotty? Hope you have recovered fully, unlike Norm below :(

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  4. A very eye-catching flag. Hope your Covid recovery continues swiftly and definitely go for for that solo game.

    12 months on, after Covid, I still have no taste / smell!

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    1. Thanks Norm - Fascists always seem to have the best iconography and uniforms! Sorry to read about your post Covid blues - I have not lost my sense of small or taste, but I am aware those can be some of the symptoms. I think I have had a pretty mild version, thankfully.

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  5. Hope you continue to improve matey, your symptoms and experience are very similar to the ones I had last year. Interested to discover the falangists initial anti monarchy and anti church stance - who knew? Well apart from you I suppose. Lol. As Norm said, nice flag, did you make it yourself?

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    1. Cheers JBM (or should I call you Mark, now Mr. Freitag has revealed you to the world (well the thirty or forty people who regularly read his excellent blog, anyway!) The flag is probably just the same image I put at the start of the post, but scaled down using "Paint" then used to print off a few different sized colour copies at work, to make sure I had at least one the right size for the 20mm troops!
      As to the Falangists, I think it was relatively common in the twenties and thirties (and probably still today) that right wing mass movements had similar roots and ideologies to their counterparts on the left - its a matter of which "elites" the masses are uniting against - rapacious exploiting capitalists if you are a left-wing movement, or a liberal, effete ruling class if you are right-wing one!

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    2. Yeah I’ve been outed haven’t I?! I’ve no problem with « Mark » since I suspect both MI5 and the CIA have worked out who I am by now, despite the tinfoil hat I wear 24/7. Lol.

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    3. Hahaha....no doubt all these ramblings are swept up and analysed/ stored in same data warehouse at Ft Meade.....and people are worried about TikTok and the Chinese 😝

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  6. Well I must admit that, despite leaning towards the Republicans for SCW games, I do think the Falange have one of the best flags of the conflict. Nice work on the figures and I like the way the blue shirt provides a nice contrast to all that khaki.

    A real bugger on the covid front Keith. It seems to affect people in so many different ways. I was absolutely KO'd for 3 days and felt incredibly cold and tired (bit had the best sleeps!) and then just off colour for another few days. It took me about 2 weeks to feel fully OK. My wife was just for a day and our son you wouldn't know he'd had it!

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    1. Thanks Steve, the various flags are one of the bonuses of this conflict, for sure! I feel lucky to have had a pretty easy go of it with the Covid.

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  7. Firstly nice figures Keith as you know I ended up doing the RCW a so although I like the look of SCW I don’t think I’ll get round to it. As for covid it affects everybody differently as you say. I’m glad I had had the various jabs before I got it. Hope you shake it off soon.

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    1. You have more self control than me, Matt....I have RCW in 28mm as well as the SCW in 20mm! I am currently trying t figure out wha new project to start.....the madness never ends!
      As for Covd, I think I am pretty much recovered now, hopefully.

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  8. Great info Keith, I'm very interested in this period, but don't really know a lot about it, so this was really helpful. The figures do look the biz btw.
    Covid's horrible the 4 times I've had it was different each time. Hope your'e back to normal soon and playing games again.

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    1. Cheers Ray....yes, I think I am pretty much back to normal.....well, as normal as I ever was!

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  9. Take it easy and get well soon.
    I found the background an interesting read.
    Love the fact the there is a model wearing a wrist watch.

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    1. Thanks Richard. I am not sure about the significance of the wrist watches....but about 75% of the figures seem to have one....well spotted!

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  10. Very nice figures there and a good read too. Good luck with the Covid hope you're better soon.

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    1. Thanks on both counts, OB, and thanks for the visit and comments!

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  11. Nice work on the Falangists Keith, and bad luck with the COVID. I had dodged it so long in spite of being in close proximity to many who had it that I was starting to think I was immune, so it was a bit of a shock when I got it. Still, a week's recovery for you isn't too bad. It is the lost hobby time that is the most frustrating.

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    1. I was thinking the same way, Lawrence! Even now, neither of our adult kids ( who live with us) have had it, although I did manage to share with my wife, so she has had it twice now! I tried to do a small solo game last night but after about two turns, had to give up...the Chain Reaction 3 rules were too complicated for what I was trying to achieve!

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  12. Spiffy looking militia, Keith. Love their colorful uniforms.

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  13. Thanks for the rundown on the Falangists. Always pulled me why the Spanish volunteers on the Eastern Front were called Division Azul.
    Bad luck on Covid. Hope there aren't any lingering long-term effects.

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    1. Thank Chris....I do recall the Spaniards also being called The Blue Division, obviously that's the color of Fascism in Spain!

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  14. Great looking Falangists, rubbish news about covid, glad it wasn't too bad, interestingly the Irish fascist party Fine Gael had blue shirts, youth wing, fascist salute, largely swept under the carpet now though!
    Best Iain

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    1. I didn't know that about Eire Iain...I thought their neutrality during WWII was just a function of their rabid anti British sentiment, embodied by de Valera!

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  15. Bummer about getting sick while there were lots of fun games on the calendar (isn’t that the usual way?). Glad you’re feeling better now though. 😀

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    1. Cheers Stew...yes, the timing wasn't great!

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  16. Nice looking Falangists Keith…
    The Spanish Civil war is surprisingly colourful for a 20th Century war…
    Which makes it very tempting indeed 😁.
    Bad luck with the Covid…but good to hear your getting over it…

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Thanks Aly - yes, it's an interesting war in many ways - in some, quite anachronistic, in others, a testing ground for new weapons and techniques. I think my Covid probably ended up being less inconvenient than your cough!

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