The Is-Caerten's Bootbuck

Young Blodwyn is given instruction by a Yawdryl

Blod was sitting on his bunk, buffing his leather belts and humming a marching song. He dipped his rag, made from some worn underpants into his tin of wax and vigorously rubbed the wax into the equipment until it gleamed. Satisfied, he hung the belts up beside his tunic, where the buttons already shone brightly. 

A good rhyfler kept his buttons polished. Polished buttons meant clean and tidy gear. Polished buttons, each embossed with the "22" of the 22nd Fusilier Regiment, were a rhyfler's pride.

Rhyflers

Lots of shiny buttons

He reached down to pick up his boots which were next. Clean, shiny boots, boots that you could march in for eight hours, were also a rhyfler's pride.

"Heyup Bloddie, me ol' china!" Nobbie called form his bunk, where he was playing a hand of Trees and Pykpyks with Pod and Brych, and from the look of things, losing. "Kin you clean my kit, mate? 'elp a squaddie out, eh?"

Blod spread the boot wax and began bulling the toe of the boot with his bush. "Oh aye? An' what's innit for me then?"

"I'll pay. 'arf a crown an' all."

The others laughed. "You'd need to win back some of what you owe us first, Nobs!"

Just then Master-Yawdryl Paerwyn strode in. Everyone stopped lounging and tried to look suddenly busy, lest some previously unknown fatigue fall upon them. He stopped in front of Blod's bunk. Blod kept his snout down, polishing his boot, doing small circles with another piece of worn underpants to bring the mirror shine up. He could see the Master-Yawdryl's face faintly in the reflected surface.

Milwers pointing

Yawdryls with big SMGs and also pointing

"Rhyfler '076 Blodwyn" the Master-Yawdryl announced. 

Blod jumped to attention, boot in one hand, underpants in the other. "Yes Master-Yawdryl!"

"At ease, Blodwyn." Blod stood to Parade Rest.

"You're a good rhyfler, Blod."

"I do my best, Master-Yawdryl."

Master-Yawdryl Paerwyn prowled around Blod's bunk space, inspecting his kit, all clean and neatly hung, or folded and stored in the regulation manner. "Button's always polished. Kit always clean."

"Yes, Master-Yawdryl." Blod kept staring straight ahead. Everyone else in the barracks was trying very hard to look in other directions.

"You are now part of Headquarters Squad as the Commander's Bootbuck."

"Master-Yawdryl?"

"Six A.M. tomorrow, you will report to our new Is-Caerten. You" the Master-Yawdryl emphasized this with all five fingers aimed at his chest like a blade "...are now responsible that our new Is-Caerten is always well turned out; shiny buttons, polished boots, gleaming leather, cleaned, pressed, and..." Paerwyn sighed slightly "chipper. Bring him his tea, fetch his pipe, everything a pampered young scion of the First Families doesn't know how to do for himself. Leave his mind free for the responsibilities of command." And bothering me with new-fangled ideas, Paerwyn thought to himself.

Blod stood up straighter. "Yes, Master-Yawdryl! I'm honoured Master-Yawdryl!"

Paerwyn laughed. "We'll see if you still feel honoured after you've humped His Nibs' pack plus your own for a few days. For this honourable burden, you will be paid an extra two Crowns a week."

Blod caught Nobbie's eye and smirked slightly.

****************************************

A big batch of the First World War German flavoured Tollyn-Mearyn finished. This gives me two more Yawdryls, two pointing Milwers, and 13 more Rhyflers. So the 8th Company of the 22nd Fusiliers now has three good sized squads and a small Command Squad of Officer, Master-Yawdryl, Cook, Officer's Bootbuck (Batman in human English), and Squirrel Handler. 

They're still awaiting some Veteran and Female rhyflers and their squad light machine guns which still need to be printed. Once all four squads are filled out, I can put extras in the HQ Squad for defense and to act as runners, or extras for the trench mortar and field gun crews.

Again a few of the Rhyflers are looking pretty casual with shouldered arms and the other hand holding a pipe or cigar. I made the pipes from greenstuff and wire to give a sensible reason for the left hand to be in the position it was in, without faffing about cutting wrists and rotating hands.

Cigar and pipe

Teapot and pipes

I only had a right arm with a teapot and nothing to put in the left, so I gave him a pipe as well, to continue my casual vibe with this army, and the tea drinking for all of my Quar. I decided while writing this story that he's going to be the officer's batman or Bootbuck, (I tried 'Batquar' and it just didn't sound right), and become part of the HQ squad. After I had painted him, and started basing, I decided that he really needed to be laden down with gear, so I retrofitted the pack, bedroll, and Coftyran ration tube from spare plastic bits and then very carefully painted them.

I discovered that the Crusader backpacks looked very similar, so I used some of them to put more packs on the rhyflers. Crusader pack on left, 'official' Tollyn-Maeryn pack on the right. Bootbuck Blod in the middle has Crusader small pack, backpack and bedroll, plus Coftyran ration tube on top of pack.

By naming them the 22nd Fusiliers, I'm giving a nod to another distinguished Canadian Army regiment, the Van Doos, from the French Vingt-duex, because they were formed from French Canadian recruits in 1914 as the 22nd Canadian Expeditionary Force battalion. 

Faelvor armoured wagons. Painted a few months ago. Somehow I didn't get these on the blog.

The Tollyn-Maeryn, Quar Army number 7, now number 30 Rhyflers and NCOs, a small HQ of Is-Caerten, Master-Yawdryl, Cook, Squirrel Handler, and Bootbuck, 2 Faelvor armoured wagons, and 16 artillery crew to man a battery of big howitzers.

When you get Dr. Seuss to design your armoured fighting vehicles