HM GOVERNMENT SPIES (LONDON)

Absolutely nobody has asked how it can be that Comrade Colonel Professor Winters, leader of the Presteigne Soviet and hard line Herefordshire Communist generalissimo, can somehow have wandered about Central London, at the height of the VBCW, without being apprehended by His Majesty's Government.

Long term readers of this blog will recall that, having followed him from Paddington Station to the CPGB Headquarters at Covent Garden, and then from Covent Garden to the Temple, we last heard of Winters trembling at the gate of the Soviet Embassy at 13, Kensington Gardens, desperate to avoid repatriation and liquidation by Stalin following Winters' defeat at the "Disaster at Dinmore". [note 1]

Embankment by Temple, 1930s. An intelligence agent keeps watch ?

One explanation might be that HMG knew exactly where Winters was at all times, simply trailing him around London to discover more information. These contemporary photographs suggest this was the case.

Temple Cloisters. This intelligence agent waits for Winters
exit from the Chambers of D.N.Pritt KC. A London smog predominates.

Notes:

(1). Commissar Moody, of the Presteigne Bureau Disinformitzya, has vigorously denied any "trembling" on the part of Comrade Colonel Professor Winters. Instead, it is said that Winters "maintained a manly Soviet bearing at all times".

(2).  For the "Disaster at Dinmore", see HERE. To track Winters' peregrinations about London, check out the "Communist" blog label to the right; for more on Spies and Intelligence Men in the VBCW, check out the "Spies" blog label to the right, or simply head to THIS POST

SPIES AND INTELLIGENCE MEN (8) - POLICE

It wouldn't be the Hereford VBCW without the presence of the local police, and who better to provide an "Intelligence Section" for the Autumn Big Game 2023 than Inspector Robert ("Bobby") Bookem and his attendant constables: 

Inspector Bookem and the Little Herefordshire Constabulary.

Inspector Bookem is a limited edition figure (either Wargames Foundry or Partizan), while all the constables are OOP Citadel figures - see their "Types of the VBCW" blogpost entry HERE. A useful "Intelligence Section" for any supposedly law-abiding faction within Little Herefordshire....

SPIES AND INTELLIGENCE MEN (7) - AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION

The Automobile Association have hardly been seen in Herefordshire since the Second Battle of Shobdon (Spring Big Game 2019), when Commander Camshaft's motorised column of AA trucks and armoured cars was comprehensively blown up beneath him by a variety of Local Defence Volunteers:

Commander Camshaft and the "Little Hereford AA Patrol".
The five "Intelligence Agents" are all repainted Heroclix figures, while
Camshaft, as the "Intelligence Leader", is a Wargames Foundry figure.

Nevertheless, it appears that Commander Camshaft has now re-surfaced in Little Hereford, albeit in somewhat reduced circumstances, leading an "Intelligence Section" usable by any Autumn Big Game 2023 player irrespective of faction........

The original Heroclix figure. Slightly large, but helpfully uniformed and jolly useful.

SPIES AND INTELLIGENCE MEN (6) - "MAD BOMMERZ"

A Very Irish "Intelligence Section" for the Autumn Big Game 2023 - here is Eamonn O'Toole O'Toole of the O'Toole's, known as "The O'Toole" to his friends and "Mad Multi-Toole" to a variety of counter-intelligence bureaus in Herefordshire (and beyond):

Eamonn O'Toole (etc.) and his "Mad Bommerz" Intelligence Section

"The O'Toole" (with stylish bowler in Fenian green) is a Eureka figure, while the "Mad Bommerz" (covered in grenades, with large shell and bundled dynamite on every base) are OOP Faust Studios figures. Determined generally to create the occasional "Fenian Outrage" in war-torn Herefordshire, O'Toole's men can on this occasion be used as an "Intelligence Section" by any player bringing along an "Irish Legion" to Little Hereford (hello, John....)

SPIES and INTELLIGENCE MEN (5) - MONKS

While the Nuns of St. Mary Magdalene may aim to "dominate the battlespace" at the Autumn Big Game 2023 ("Big Trouble in Little Hereford"), their male counterparts make an appearance in a rather more subtle and unobtrusive manner - as a monkish "Intelligence Section" available to one of the players:

Obeying the general rule of "Intelligence Sections", here we have five monks "in monopose"
together with a separately posed "Leader" (or "Priest"). Although "monks" may be most
useful to Anglican inclined factions, these black robed chaps could equally be used
for those who are BUF inclined, or simply be declared "schismatic and rogue"
 and therefore useable by all.

The five monks "in monopose" are plastic figures from Eagle Gryphon Games, a US boardgame company. Eagle-Gryphon sell the miniatures used for their boardgames separately, and some time ago were selling "A Big Bag of Monks" from their Age of Empires III boardgame at spectacularly cheap prices - so cheap that the cost of shipping from the US to the UK was greater than the cost of the figures themselves (and that was before the spectacular postal price rises of late). See HERE. Needless to say, the Eagle Gryphon monks are spot on for 28mm scale (in fact, rather 'bulky" 28mm).

Eagle Gryphon Games plastic miniatures for "Age of Empires III"

The "Leader" of this monkish "Intelligence Section" is again plastic and comes from an equally unlikely source : the Pegasus 1/72 set of "California Mission Indians":

An excellent number of monks from the Pegasus "California Mission Indians" set.
Photo from the ever useful Plastic Soldier Review website

Although the Pegasus monks are supposed to be 1/72 scale (and the figures in this set recorded by PSR as "23mm" in height), they are in fact rather larger - almost 30mm ! It may be that the PSR height was a reference to the smaller California Indians in the same set - and given the poses of the monk figures, there is no problem "adjusting their height" (whether with a sharp knife or built up groundwork). Not as cheap as the Eagle Games monks, but still a spectacular saving on the cost of nine metal 28mm figures..

The black robed monks of Little Hereford - who will use them as their
"Spies and Intelligence Men" at the Autumn Big Game 2023 ?

SPIES AND INTELLIGENCE MEN (4) - COMMUNISTS

The "games of espionage" within Little Hereford would not be complete without an undercover NKVD "Intelligence Section" -

An undercover NKVD section, dedicated to the cause of International Communism.

This "Intelligence Section" breaks the previous rule (see HERE and HERE) of "5 mono-pose Agents and 1 unique Leader", instead painting the figures in a unit "get-up" but having a very obvious Leader. While a brief look suggests that the "Intelligence Agents" consist of only two poses, this is a result of the NKVD's obvious reliance on "false beards" and "camouflage capes". All of the "Intelligence Agents" are, in fact, subtly different.

The Leader (28mm Empress ?) carries a SMG and waves "The Big Red Book of Bill", being the collected thoughts upon Marxism of Comrade Colonel Professor "Bill" Winter, the Leader of the Presteigne Communist Front. His heavily bearded companions (RAFM/Grenadier ?) are variants of the same pose, one carrying a suitcase and pistol, the other being empty handed. As to the rear rank....

...they each model the 1938 Communist "camouflage cape", two carrying sinister syringes and one being "at ease" (again RAFM/Grenadier/Ral Partha figures?). All of these "Intelligence Agents" are "old but good sculpts" collected over time and now "truffled from the spare figures box". Just goes to prove that most 28mm figures can be used in the VBCW somehow.....

SPIES AND INTELLIGENCE MEN (3) - BUF BOFFINS

An alternative "Intelligence Section" for the BUF Player at the Autumn Big Game 2023 ("Big Trouble in Little Hereford") - the BUF 'Boffins'. We can't know what top secret scientific research projects they're presently engaged upon (valuable mineral extraction ? alternative power sources ? "vengeance weapons" ?), but for the day of the "Big Game" only, they'll turn their genius minds to the gathering of intelligence and subversion of Little Hereford's farm owners:

This "Intelligence Section" is again made up principally of plastic "Heroclix" figures - all five of the "Intelligence Agents" arrived prepainted and were simply rebased and "refreshed" with some washes and detail work. The "Intelligence Leader" is a Bob Murch/Pulp Figures figure. Bob's figures tend towards the larger/more bulky side of 28mm, but (although not noticeable on the tabletop) the Leader is still a little shorter than the 30mm Heroclix figures.

Note: Hereford1938 has a proud history of "odd" technological advances. One instantly thinks, for example, of the Anglican Rocket Batteries and the Malvern Skunkworks "Quadricycle of Doom" as they appeared at the Battle of Bredwardine Bridge, or the Bluecoat School's 6th Form Physics Department's "Sonic Dischargers" at the Battle of Brimfield. There's even a HISTORICAL BASIS for all this scientific flummery.....

Add Edit : And here is the donor figure for the BUF Boffins/Intelligence Agents - the "Weapons Scientist" from the "Deadpool" Heroclix range:

In a non- BUF "Boffin Section", the Heroclix "Bolivar Trask" figure could serve as a compatible but differently posed "leader":

SPIES AND INTELLIGENCE MEN (2) - BUF

A first look at the BUF Field Security Police Detachment stationed in Little Hereford - dark suits, black leather coats and intimidating fedoras. Perfect to serve as the Autumn Big Game 2023 "Intelligence Section" for any BUF or HMG player, five of the section have exactly the same pose ("the Intelligence Agents") while the sixth is clearly the merciless commander ("the Intelligence Leader") - see the Scenario HERE

The Intelligence Leader is a Jim Bowen/Monolith Designs figure (sadly now OOP), while the Intelligence Agents are plastic "Heroclix" figures, rebased and with their paintwork "refreshed".

The Heroclix "donor figure" for BUF Intelligence Agents. Already pre-painted, but easy to
touch up with some detail work.

Another plastic "Heroclix" figure that could have served as the "Intelligence Leader",
but for the availability of the OOP Monolith Designs figure.

Using "Heroclix" figures is rather tricky, for they vary considerably in 'scale', and the more recent releases have been too large to be useable at all. The "Maggia Goon" figures used for the BUF Intelligence Section are all around the "bulky 30mm" range, while the Monolith Design OOP "Intelligence Leader" comes in the "small 40mm" range. "Scale fanatics" should therefore avoid such heresy, but many others argue that BUF "Goons" should be big and bulky bullies.....

SPIES AND INTELLIGENCE MEN (1) - CITADEL "GUMSHOES" and MORE

"Vienna 1930, Madrid 1940, East Berlin 1950, Little Hereford at any time during the VBCW - these places are all known to have been hotbeds of espionage and counter-intelligence." (Autumn 2023 Big Game Briefing HERE)

Every player in the Autumn 2023 Big Game ("Big Trouble in Little Hereford") will have a section of six Intelligence Agents for use in addition to their normal "WTDW" Platoon. Players have been invited to bring along their own "Intelligence Section" if they wish, although the Umpires will provide if such is not possible. So what 28mm figures would be useful to represent a 1930s "Intelligence Agent"? James Bond didn't make an appearance until 1953, remember (on the first publication of "Casino Royale", with the first film, "Dr. No" appearing in 1962), so perhaps we're looking more for a Bogart or a Cagney.....

Citadel LE3 "Gumshoes", modelled on Humphrey Bogart and Jimmy Cagney.
Sculpted by Bob Naismith, painted by Jim Bowen. Source HERE
These were advertised in the Citadel July 1986 Flyer - difficult to think of these nice
clean sculpts as being nearly 40 years old !

 

A different colour scheme for the same figures, with a touch of Cthulhu added to the bases.
Painter "Curis", sources HERE and HERE

The trenchcoat can truly be considered Very British, with the trilby not far behind, and the  "Bogart" combination seems to represent a type of tired and worldly wise "Intelligence Agent" who might have been found "playing the great game" in Little Hereford during the VBCW. 

An Intelligence Agent emerges from the shadows in Little Hereford.
A contemporary VBCW illustration.

This being Citadel, of course, and this being the 1980s, the company produced "new figures" by doing a bit of clever converting (see HERE for such treatment to the Citadel "Vicar" figure), so there are variants of the LE 3 "Bogart" figure:

CC1 Gothic Horror "Detective" Source HERE. Change of head
position, remodelled right arm.

The same figure appeared as the character "Marlow Hammett" in the 
GW Boxed Game, "Curse of the Mummy's Tomb"

Off with his head ! A third variant of the original LE3 figure, retaining the remodelled
right arm but going for a complete head swap - the Citadel CC1 "Private Eye".

All of these figures pop up on Ebay from time to time, and are well worth getting hold of for the VBCW (if you can find one not listed at a silly price.....)