DMNamiot said:
Hi Guys
Since I have seen Andy was a Royal Marine, I will stick with the Faulklands War. ANd maybe he'll do something about Belfast or Londonderry.
Dave
The Falklands would be interesting given the diversity of land and sea forces deployed but next year is the 25th anniversary so perhaps not until then. An interesting series, with a recurring historical theme throughout the centuries, that of an unpopular regime embarking upon a 'patriotic' war to shore up its support and meeting its end as a consequence (although many would argue that the 1978 soccer World Cup began the process, as public gatherings and a diminishing sense of fear began to take hold ...).
On the Northern Ireland I'm not sure how practical it would be: over 30 years of conflict, and very little that could be grouped around a common theme (eg the early British deployments were still in the sort of uniforms that had seen service in Cyprus and Aden). I know that Mountford Miniatures did a nice sries of RUC and UDR figures, but they were not in combat poses, and they were very awkward to paint. No-one has produced IRA, INLA, IPLO figures but I'd imagine them to be a little tasteless for many. And what then of various Loyalist supremacist groups? They'd have to be represented too. Why not then victims of the conflict? The problem with asymmetrical guerilla type terrorism is that there aren't active combatant set pieces for the security forces. Most security force fatalities would have been blast victims, rather than bullet fatalities, notwithstanding those grotesque 'sniper at work' road signs in South Armagh. Almost all civilian deaths at the hands of security forces would have been through small arms fire, but given that there isn't much enthusiasm for these generally (if the WS30 sales records are to believed) it may present a few problems - many potential collectors of any historical series would want to honour the fallen, and its difficult to do so if the person didn't necessarily want to be involved, wrong place /wrong time, a trigger happy private at a check point, a paint brush that looks like a gun etc. It'd be an interesting subject to take on but one that would give rise to all sorts of claims of insensitivity etc.
Leaving aside the combat side and attempting a parade ground theme, I couldn't imagine people flocking to get their Orange Order marchers. (They're not exactly the most inclusive bunch of chaps - they take an oath to "strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome, and scrupulously avoid countenancing (by his presence or otherwise) any act of ceremony of Popish worship", which tends to put a dampner on any ecumenical parties. However, from my 'friends in the North' if I may borrow that phrase, I gather that there is a decontamination period after which a Catholic can be eligible for membership of the loyal orders).
The interesting British director Ken Loach is completing a film on the 1916-1921 conflict in Ireland, it's called 'The wind that shakes the barley', but I doubt that Andy will be tying anything in to this - I dont think that Ken Loach is quite on the same playing field as Clint Eastwood. (Loach's 'Bread and Roses' is probably his best known work in the USA, but he also had a very good Spanish Civil War yarn 'Land and Freedom', and an excellent adaptation of the gritty Barry Hines novel 'A Kestrel for a Knave', which was released as 'Kes').
I'd say it'll be something on Scottish history, as the whole Northern Ireland theme could sink into a mish-mash of 1970s and 1980s without clearly representing anything specifically.
