Captain and commander Alfred Hale

this post and the figure/ character featured within it are dedicated to Alfred Hale the late husband of Anne O'Leary. I quote her in saying "my departed husband who was a sailor and a deep sea welder. He was killed while working on a rig in an explosion over 25 years ago. He was a good man and I miss him still." Anne when you told me this story I knew that I must name this figure after him as you asked me. I hope that it honors the memory of your departed husband and that perhaps he wherever he is now feels that this respects his memory.

Captain and commander Alfred Hale is a man to whom all others is the symbol of bravery and honour. In Battle on land and sea he wears plate armour that both makes him a target to his foes and a striking symbol of leadership to his comrades!
born on 27th of June 1705 to a middle class family from the beginning he showed himself to be greater than most of his classmates in school. Strong and brave he soon was selected by his peers for a leading role in his school. in April 1721 he was recruited into the military after a fight in one of San Fran's many bars. Yet although he had not been trained for very long he soon showed a great knowledge for military and naval matters. in the great pirate raid of 1725 he showed perhaps the greatest courage and discipline when the commander of the company was in was slain and all the NCO's refused to lead the unit. Alfred took control of the remnants of the force which now only numbered some 13 men. It was in that moment he first wore that iconic suit of plate steel, taking it from a mannequin in the great house where they were cornered. There in that place they fought for 3 hours cut off from help facing waves of foes who surly outnumbered them 20 to 1.
Help came in the form of some marines who came up from the river, their ship had been taken now and they sought refuge in the large house where Hale was fighting for his life his force now reduced to only 6 brave men. However as soon as the marines shot, bayoneted and slashed their way through the building Hale took command of them and lead them out of the building and charged them down the streets of La Ley's old district and with the retaking of marines ship his legend was made!

For him the rewards and honours came thick and fast He was promoted to the rank of commander which meant he could lead a half century of soldiers (50 men and 10 officers) and granted the honour of also being a naval captain which was un-heard of for a man from the army. Though perhaps he was not rewarded enough for his actions there was one thing that he was given that other men could only dream of: A purpose built boat, HMS Anne!
He wrote in 1728:
"To my loving wife to whom I owe a great deal

Do you remember my dear that day 3 years ago, it seems like an age now. However after that nasty incident I had recently it came back to the forefront of my mind. Remember the carpenters at the shipwright were shocked when I asked for our dear Anne. They thought I would ask for a large frigate or something, they do not understand that I am no simple leader, I do not like others to wait in a cabin or upon a hill watching the action from afar. I am a man of action, and my dear although you probably tire greatly when you hear me say it I must say once more, I always will be there in the thick of the fray where musket balls fly and bayonets flash and the smoke and the blood is mixed into one great cloud that covers the land hiding the horrendous sight of men killing men from any onlooker. Well my dear I shall gladly be back home soon, how's the maid I heard she was up to no good? 

to my dearest and most loving wife
Alfred"

The incident he refers to in his letter is none other that the Battle of  Petrablanca which took place on the 30th and 31st of March 1728. The Anne and the Gato were sailing down a small river near El Pollo when they came under fire from a battery on the bank! The Gato was sunk and Anne was damaged on her starboard side. Anne's gunners fought bravely but it was clear that they needed to take her out of range or out of sight of the guns and march over land to destroy it! The next morning Hale lead his 2 infantry men and some of his sailors along the road they met up with many scared villagers who spoke of a raiding bandit party that had come from the south. Hale brought many of the villagers and local farmers to a near by supply post where they came under attack. mounting the rood of the building the morning sun reflected of his steel helmet. Lord Alfonso Caballero wrote "the man was mad, mad I say for all the bullets I heard were surly aimed at him and yet he stood firm guiding the fire from the top of the building upon the enemies best shots." Alfred has hit several times that day but many shots did not penetrate his armour saving his life for sure. The battle was won when reservists marched up from El Pollo alerted to what was going on the previous days by the survivors from the sunk el Gato. The bandits fled rather than face the century coming up from the town. The bandits were well armed for a bunch of rouges and it was discovered by Alfred Hale himself that they were from south on La Fortuna in the remnants of what was once the nation of Oroblanco.

Alfred Hale on Anne's port side as she turned to fire on the battery.

the Anne sailing through fog

the defence of the supply house the next day

Without fear Hale mounted the top of the building to direct the fire of the infantry

Alfred Hale was in 1730 Granted a knighthood by the representative of the multiple monarchs of Oronegro, for his gallantry in battle and his help in restoring order to the nation of Oronegro. he currently resides in a respectable dwelling outside of San Fran where he is head of the police force. His boat the HMS Anne is usually in port at Rio Pescado north or San Fran. However as all in Oronegro begin to realise that our nation is once more about to go through a time of war the question arises "what role will Sir Alfred Hale play in the coming conflict?" perhaps we shall know soon enough for in this year 1735 after a break down with the respectable Lord McDonald of New Dunedin and his Allies in Nouveau Paris Oronegro is once more at war with her neighbours.

Oronegrean supply system and building

Oronegro is not a nation to be messed with. her military far exceeds the expectations again and again. Oronegro takes many influences for Ancient Rome in her military, the Oronegrean legion the century the centurions and the Ala for the cavalry. Another influence is the soldier-builders. in Europe all roads lead to Rome and these roads were well made and as straight as an arrow! of coarse if the ancients can do it why not a nation who does not have to worry about the extreme distances involved in the roman empire?

of coarse when there are roads there's the need to provide places to rest. One cannot ride the distance between La Ley and Santiargo del oronegro! so there needs to be places to stop, rest and perhaps most importantly stock up on supplies of food and drink! so in Oronegro when the Military builds roads it also builds fortified buildings every 25km the average daily walking/marching distance or a weary traveller or fully laden army, however even though these buildings are reasonably large, the biggest being forts in their own right and the smallest the size of a large house, they are often too far apart for comfort and when walking 25km a day is a big ask especially when its hot and you only want to go at a leisurely pace. The solution was provided by Oronegro's generous souls and those who knew how to make a but of money. Small buildings popped up along main roads everywhere. if you built it and offered to keep it stocked full of food the government payed you for it, even though in fact criminals would be forced to pull carts to the houses for you.

this is a small commercial/ non-military supply house

its roof which is accessed via the ladder and easily removed platform is designed to protect anyone sheltering up there

a nice stone path leads to the road making it a welcoming sight and an easily accessible one to a tired and/or hungry traveller.

the building is not of great size but is still strong enough that if bandits or raiders, including pirates if its along a coastal road attack it people inside can defend themselves

the windows are purely defensive as well as offering light, they can be boarded up a bit allowing people inside to shoot out at any attacker from any direction from the safety of the building

although cramped and small there is enough room for supplies of water, wine, food like bread, cheese, fire wood under the desk in the cupboards and even some hammocks, rope, canvas and pegs so a person set up a tent outside or a hammock inside.

These commercial buildings were never permanently guarded unlike the military/national ones but relied upon the honesty of the users. they were a welcome and useful part of a travelling man or woman's daily life.

Oronegrean national anthem

The national anthem of Oronegro as written in 1648 that was used up to the present day despite the granting of Independence in the 19th century to the land of Oronegro. May all who read these words find a suitable tune to go with them as so far our national records have lost in their information vault the official instrumental piece that accompanies the written text.

the following is the National anthem of Oronegro. I apologise if the image is a little fuzzy and if the spanish is not perfect but its the best I could do in one day... I could have taken longer however when I do these things... like all my stories they are on the whole spontaneous and not totally well made.

the spanish is not perfect not the image

sorry I accidentally posted this before... I was trying to hit save but hit publish... I also apologize for all these extra lines I have written that detract from the sense of realism that I like to maintain with my stories and other posts on this blog

Colonisation and expansion part3

In this the final part of the Colonisation and expansion tale of early Oronegro we focus on the final acts of Oronegro before the year 1730... a time of consolidation but also great threat, old friends become foes and old foes rear their heads once more. It was a time where Oronegro once more decided to show herself the equal of any great power and also shock the world with her bold and sometimes brutal actions. the 17th century may have been a relative time of peace for Oronegro but the 18th could see war and death on a scale that may surprise those who do not expect much from such a small place.

below is a map printed in 1758 of the west of Oronegro as it was in those days... although the lands actually extended far to the east almost to the boarders of Oronegro in the year 2000. however this was the heart of the nation and its life blood. there is no scale see caption for details.

as with most maps of Oronegro there is no scale because Oronegro is a very large place and it would threaten many in this earth to see how big it really is, HOWEVER if you take the width of the Oronegro's river mouth at La Tierra del diablo to be around 0.5 km you will have a reasonable scale.

1690 was a tense year in Oronegro with the Nine Year's War or the War of the Grand Alliance being fought in Europe and all the different Colonies around the world, it seemed certain Oronegro would have to side itself with one of the combatants or face possible invasion from any or all of the nations involved.
But taking sides was against one of Oronegro's founding principals: To be neutral to all sides so long as both sides could claim to be the homeland of many Oronegreans. This mean Oronegro could not take sides as France could claim to be the homeland distant or otherwise of almost 26% of Oronegreans, and on the other side Britain claimed 24% and Spain 37% with many of the other European combatants claiming around 42% of the population. This was a problem However Oronegro had one trick up its sleeve. For deep in One of Germany's parallel lands was that small state where long ago in the 16th century Lord Wolf the rightful ruled with his Oronegrean wife. Eliza daughter of Juan Carlos founder of Oronegro and the first of the many powerful Mayors of Oronegro.
By now the little German state was a small insignificant principality pushed about by its neighbours, Yet it was a state and one which Mayor Samuel Jose the former general now declared Oronegro's whole and secure Ally.
It was strange first of all as a mayor you needed to be part of the family of Juan Carlos, Samuel barely qualified and as such was not seen as a legitimate leader... also it was the democratically elected Prime Ministers Job to run the state and deal with foreign affairs.
However Mayor Samuel was although only just a distant relation to Juan Carlos and as such could qualify for Mayor, also despite being democratic Oronegro was practically a constitutional monarchy and as Mayor Samuel could make these decisions, though there was no rule that anyone had to do them.
The Principalities current crown Prince was Michael von Oronegro. the Title Von Oronegro had been retained  ever since Eliza had been at the families head. Michael had little care for his families history the war in the Germany of this world made the principality the target of many of its neighbours in their smallish parallel world. They were for some reason allied to France seeing a chance perhaps to extend their power beyond the valley that made up the land into the rest of Germany beyond the tunnel of trees to the north and the cave below the mountain waterfall to the south. Prince Michael and the Principality looked doomed. Then came the news from across aurora covered sea! HELP WAS COMING!!! a Whole legion of Oronegro's finniest and many thousands more of the Reservist was coming to his aid.
To Britain, Spain and the other members of the Grand Alliance this was Oronegro's show of allegiance to them. To France and her allies Oronegro was just helping a small friend with little connection the war. This was due to some skillful words and clever actions made by Oronegrean diplomats and the Military.
in march 1691 the army Landed in Northern Germany and began its long march to the tunnel of Trees, it passed many lands inspiring awe as it passed. None hindered it all watched it. River boats were accompanying them up the rivers to where the river from the hidden valley emerged. it took them several weeks to get there but when they passed under the massive wide tunnel made by the branches of trees larger than any the soldiers had ever seen they entered a place that could not physically fit on any map of this world, Just like Oronegro.

the siege of Kaltburg the principalities capital in 1690-1691

The vanguard emerged from the tunnel as ink from a pen writing the tale of a war that even the great powers would never had predicted! crested helmets wear the first to appear signifying that these men were of el ejército primero. However this blue mass of infantry was followed by cavalry, cuirassiers, dragoons and a mixture of other horsemen, behind them was the centuries of grenadiers and fanned out around them were the cazadores. Suddenly behind the blue came the red after the cannons and artillery came the red-coats and tricorns of the thousands of reservists members of the el ejército segundo. Like a river flowing in the opposite to the one on their left they marched into the valley, although they passed through hostile territory at the tunnels mouth, none came to oppose them, they reached Sattel a small town known for its horses. Here under the midday sun many men from the great farming plane broke from the marching column and leaped onto their new, somewhat startled mounts. There was only a token of resistance a few shot from the window of the town hall, which was answered with a laugh from the soldiers surrounding the building, this brought the ashamed defenders and councilors out with their heads hung and their pride gone. 
The Army camped there that night hoping to draw out some foes. With no loss of life they had taken and now secured a position, in which an estimated 9300 Oronegreans now slept. sentries watched through the night as a few of their comrades went back and forth between town and the woods bringing lumber for constructing defences in the narrow streets. every entrance to the town was blocked with a barricade, this included the back doors of all the houses on the outskirts, every house facing the fields around the town and those looking out over the river that ran through it had their windows turned into gun slits boarded up to allow  defenders to shoot out unseen.
The next morning on the 21st of June 1691 saw an army of Grasdamm close in on the small town, whose population had more than doubled the previous day. they walked up to the houses not noticing anything out of the ordinary until the first shots rang out, to late they noticed the strange shutters with vertical and horizontal slits. the first ranks fell back to regroup but now the second and third wave charged the houses from where the fire came. they found the doors almost impossible to break down and by the town they were in the defenders were gone. those who ran through the streets had to fight for every meter, every house hid soldiers each corner hid a barricade, each time they broke down a door defenders ran along rooftops and through hidden passage ways to get to the next building.

fighting in the centre of Sattel, the funneled army of Baron Franke von Grasdamm. found it a cauldron of death

It all came to a head in the afternoon then the army of Baron Franke von Grasdamm entered the Plaza. the sound of gunfire was still prevalent in the smaller streets of Sattel but the roof runners and the passages that the small Grasdamm army found lead to that place. they entered not expecting much there was a small wall that blocked off one half of the square, however apart from that there was nothing there. Suddenly the doors around them exploded the cannons of the Oronegrean artillery were hidden on the ground floor of the towns large central buildings then from above came more gunfire and on the other side of the wall they could see soldiers emerging from the town hall.

by 5pm it was all over the Barons army was cut off as the defenders who had hidden in basements  and attics emerged blocking off the ways in and out of Sattel. the men of Grasdamm surrendered immediately and the Baron after he was found hiding in the bathroom of a baker negotiated peace with Oronegro. With Grasdamm out the way and the river free from foes up to the grassy dam of Grasdamm the river ships joined the army in the valley and after being raised up the river they sailed across the lake behind and began to support the crown prince. he had been besieged Kaltburg for a year now and was totally surprised by the appearance of Oronegrean boats and soldiers, he had expected monetary aid but not physical military support. By 1692 the war in the valley was over and the principality of Kaltburg was now dominant in that region. the Oronegrean army sailed home leaving some military advisers and specialists behind but also taking home many willing settlers and lots of loot.

This was the first of many actions Oronegro would be involved in all over the world as she showed off her somewhat oversizes military muscles. However their actions made some enemies closer to home many of the smaller European colonies along the coast from Oronegro declared war and invaded seeing what they thought of as Oronegrean aggression towards France. some even thought that Oronegro had showed Britain and Spain disrespect. By 1695 Oronegro was at war with 5 neighboring states; these were Oroblanco, Playalargo, Costaplata, New Dunedin and
nouveau Paris.
Oroblanco was the first to fall its capital La Fortuna was taken on the 21st April 1695 after a war only lasting 3 days. the small nation was attacked solely by a cavalry force, before its small infantry force could form up for a battle it wound all its undefended villages raided and empty. They surrendered on the third day as rumours of a large infantry force approaching and the devastation wrought by the cavalry was too much for the council of La Fortuna to take.
Playalargo was on the coastline  between La Ley and La Esperanza, it was based in the small port of Costa Buena. Playalargo had long lived in peace with Oronegro, allowing Oronegrean armies to pass through quite often so long as a large fee was payed, however now they declared Oronegro an enemy of Spain! They claimed although Oronegro had fought against some allies of France this had been done in their own interests and not as a show of allegiance to Spain, they also cited Oronegro's quick return home and lack of action on the main fronts as a sign of her contempt for the Spanish king. Playalargo fought for many years and it was 1697 before Costa buena was assaulted and held  by Oronegrean marines before the army of Mayor Samuel arrived to secure the claim.
Costa Plata was based on the Isla del fuego, the island ships first past after crossing the aurora, it was invaded in 1694 but total control was not established until 1697. the capital El puerto grande was taken without a fight in 1695 to the great surprise of its citizens. The famed silver reserves on the island brought more wealth to Oronegro and its new 68,000 settlers brought more man-power to the state.
New Dunedin which was mainly settled by Scots was based to the north of the La Esperanza river mouth and asked for peace in 1698 after marines attacked its capital in June of that year. Nouveau Paris also asked for terms but as it was further around the great Oronegrean bay it was not invaded and as such its power remained stronger. The final peace was established in 1700 as the final guerrillas emerged from the jungle and the last of the riots were quelled. Oronegro enjoyed a brief respite but its wars had not pleased any of its larger mother countries and they began in secret to arm some of Oronegro's most powerful foe's as well as those who it had just established peace with.

the signing of the peace treaty of Costabuena in 1698 that meant Nouveau Paris would end the 6 year war it had with Oronegro during which it had not been invaded and only briefly cut off form France.

The start of the 18th century was brought in with great fireworks in La Ley, La Esperanza and smaller celebrations all over Oronegro. Oronegro had proved itself a powerful nation and one that even the large superpowers had to take into account! the next 20 years past with little incident although there was war in Europe and else where this only helped Oronegro grow as refugees added to the already large population. It was a boom time in Oronegro as traders exploited their new found wealth and Pirates were kept at bay by the increasingly well trained Oronegrean navy. By 1720 there were 1,365,218 people in Oronegro according to the census of that year, with a possible margin or error of + or - 300 people. Oronegro became a powerhouse of innervation as well as strange devices appeared and usually disappeared in the streets of the capital. there was steam powered elevator type thing built in Oronegro's port in 1719 though it proved unreliable and noisy and so was removed. Canals were planned and roads improved, there was an influx of Muslim settlers also in 1713 which brought the camel to Oronegro in sufficient numbers to warrant a camel farm in the arid valley of el Minero.

Things seemed to be going well until 1725 when Oronegro was once again attacked by pirates like those 100 years before this time the raid was much more effective and La Ley was almost totally lost many soldiers, marines and civilians were lost and once more the saving factor came from La Esperanza... this was just the beginning Kaxad was rising the land of Oronegro was going to go once more through a time of terror and pain as its neighbors, old foes and pirates all decided to attack in succession and at some times in unison.

The time of Colonisation and expansion was over now it was the time of War and conquest!!!

uniforms of the Oronegrean first army

while our historian constructs the next and perhaps final installment of Colonisation and expansion we shall now take a brief moment to showcase the uniforms of the Oronegrean first army... it must be noted that the following only shows the Grenadiers and the line infantry and information relating to both. a following post will display the cazadores (hunters) commanders and the other important elements in a unit. We shall now explore the uniforms...

standard line infantry of the first army of Oronegro, the different coloured helmets determine his company

The Line infantry of el ejército primero (first army) are perhaps the most well trained of any in the world! They have the standard military training of any other line infantry along with skills that are especial for a main force of a small nation. These include advanced bush craft, marksmanship, how to make ammunition and gunpowder, first aid, standard biology, standard chemistry, standard physics, basic mathematics, basic ethics and philosophy, history and military history, carpentry, bricklaying, literacy, road laying, boat building, swimming, urban warfare, basic agriculture, farming skills, languages and many more... usually trained from childhood or even birth if the parents are both criminals these men and a few women are the backbone or the Oronegrean army at all times, though the reserves take over in serious conflicts. they have the shooting skills of a life long hunter and the skills that will let them be self sufficient in jungle and even arid environments. They are the masters of combat only second in shooting skill to Oronegrean cazadores.
They can fight in normal shoulder to shoulder battle order, in skirmishing order or even in no set order. they can fight in large conventional battles or in hit and run warfare and if the situation requires it by them selves or in small groups. as such when they fight overseas they are held in high regard and have been known to be loaned by the Oronegrean government to support a foreign ally in his war. The reason for all this training and conditioning is because these soldiers have to fight as well as 20 soldiers from other nations, although that level of skill is rarely reached there are certainly many Oronegrean line infantry that would show up the best that any other nation could put up against them.
they wear the normal dark blue (may be slightly different from in illustrations) overcoats over a white shirt and white trousers. their helmets have coloured crests, this denotes which company (group of 20 men) they come from the standard colours (4 per century) are red, yellow, blue and black. However there is no strict rules to colour schemes and white, green and orange are known to be worn by some companies. it is also known to have several colours in a company this may occur when there are not enough supplies in an armoury of one colour or to many of another, or soldiers trading helmets or crests because they prefer a colour.
All in all the standard Oronegrean infantry man or woman of the first army is in some ways an elite force and yet the regulars of a strict disciplined and yet in some ways lenient army that teaches the most effective and useful military skills in the world.

The Grenadiers were even more well trained than the line infantry though their marksmanship skills were less than those of the cazadores. they were not the tallest men but the strongest, almost exclusively made up of men due to the physical requirements. they came from the families of soldiers themselves, also raised from birth to be ultimate fighting machines they had all the practical skills of line infantry and a few more. these included advanced chemistry which meant that in many situations they made their own lethal weapons including explosive rounds for their muskets, practical wargaming so that each individual grenadier could if the situation require make tactical decisions, practical knitting and sewing so that they could make their own over coat or other clothing so suit their situation, desert conditioning which included long marches in the arid valleys of southern Oronegro, jungle conditioning which included long marches in the jungle hills on the edges of the great farming plain, and even advanced agricultural skills which meant that a grenadier unit could set up a camp and then grow their own food in hostile or remote territory where supplies might not reach them for months.
Because of the physical and mental requirements for the grenadiers the size of grenadier units is small compared to even Oronegrean units. instead of the 20 men to a company of the line infantry there are 8 to a company in grenadier units. The ratio of officers and NCO's to soldiers ridiculous however as grenadiers will usually fight individually or in larger groups of 2 companies, which means there are 16 soldiers it does not matter to much.
Oronegrean grenadiers are a special bunch that can be used as much as an implement of terror upon a foe as they can to eliminate them.

This post has been dedicated to the normal and yet extraordinary men and the few women who make up el ejército primero or first army of the Oronegrean military, the grenadiers and line infantry of what could be considered the finest and yet one of the smallest fighting forces in the 18th century world or parallel world.

LINE DRAWINGS ARE REMADE FROM HAT LINE DRAWINGS, I TAKE ONLY LIMITED CREDIT...