AHPC#1: French Platoon Command

After a two year hiatus I'm back partaking in the Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. And as I've to write up blog posts for my submissions there anyway, I thought I might just as well share them on here. I have several projects I want to work on during this years Challenge, ranging from some Fantasy Orcs and Undead over 3rd Century Romans to French and Germans for 1940. Also I'm sure I'll mix in some odds and ends as I go along.

So to start things off in my usual style -meaning slow- here's my first entry for this year. A set of Senior Leaders for my fledgling early war French force for Chain of Command. All figures are 3D prints from the excellent Colonel Muller Miniatures over on www.Wargaming3D.com

First is the Big Wig, the Commandant de Peloton, probably a Sous-Lieutenant. To distinguish him from his (even) more junior 2iC he got a big hex base and a second figure added, symbolizing his personal aide/ runner.

Second is the first of two Sergent-Chefs who will be classed as inferior Senior Leaders in CoC terms. This one is armed with a German made Erma sub-machine gun, large quantities of which came into French possession after the collapse of the Spanish Republic and subsequent internment of soldiers fleeing Franco's revenge in France.

And lastly the second of those two Sergent-Chefs, a rather fatherly figure by the looks of it. This time armed with an obsolete Lebel Model 1886 rifle, he probably already carried during the previous war given de Croix de Guerre he's wearing on his left breast. The Lebel was being phased out at the time of the outbreak of war. But given that its successor, the MAS-36, was not in sufficient supply to equip all units, it was still in widespread use. Especially in reserve formations.

So with that, I'm done for today. All that's left for me to do is wishing all of you a Merry Christmas.

Early War French Colour Guide

I've been away from Blogger for more or less two and a half years now. Admittedly sometimes I've felt the urge to share some of my work again, but than reason always asserted itself again. I simply can't see me putting the effort in to really make it worthwile for anyone. I always loathed having to spend hours taking halfway passable pictures only to then spend even more time editing them afterwards so they wouldn't be too dark, too light or whatever. Something I failed in more often than not anyway. That time I feel is  better spent painting… or reading. With other, more transient, social media a quick snapshot with your phone is usually enough. And that's the appeal for me. Combined with the fact that Blogger has become more or less unusable with an iPad… but that's a rant for another time.

Anyway, the one thing I feel I still want to continue doing are my painting guides. I'm still amazed that, while I didn't share anything on here for quite a while, those painting guides still seem to attract quite a number of people. So if you happen to be about to start a French Army for the Early War period, todays guide might be something for you.

Figures by Colonel Muller over on Wargaming3D