The Year of the Butterfly. 6: Rethinking

The butterfly flaps its wings…

My wargaming butterfly has taken flight again, and inspired me to revisit an old plan in a new way.

I have long planned to campaign on the island of Belgica.

For those who have never heard of it, Belgica was an island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Europe. Fiercely independent and never incorporated into the European Union, “Belgicexit” was never an issue. Strangely it never became a holiday destination for millions of British tourists, possibly because in its isolation from reality the brewing of beer was never discovered.

But Belgica has been waging a civil war between the Walloniens and the Vlaamsers for six centuries until the disastrous nuclear accident in January 2021 in which the island was incinerated and sank beneath the waves like a latter-day Atlantis.

Henceforth (Butterfly willing – all hail the butterfly) my battles, although still taking place in randomised years and akin to real world history, will be unconstrained by reality and gradually piece together a history of the island. (Well, that’s my dream!)

Thus, the 1951 conflict referred to in my previous posts will in fact be taking place between the forces of Wallonie and Vlaams, somewhere along the border.

But first to the painting table to prepare the armies from very old Airfix soldiers. I remember buying my first box when they cost 1s3d (converted today as about 6p (UK) or 8.5c (US) or 7c (EU)) for a box of 48 figures. They cost me substantially more six years ago on eBay as nostalgic purchases.