The much overdue FIRST post of 2022 (the better late than never post) update!

I have tried on several occasions to post this pilgrim's progress since the start of the year but something always seems to get in the way, the latest being a prolonged serious illness and then the bloody Wuhan Flu in the house! At least the required quarantine has been fruitful as I've just managed to finish a mate's impressive Empress 88 gun and crew done up as Condor Legion (so Luftwaffe Flakartillerie). The gun is just base-coated in Tamiya's German Grey with a black wash on the wheels etc, The brown Luftwaffe Flakartillerie uniform is correct for the Legion in Spain where the anti-aircraft guns like the 88 came under Luftwaffe control. The Unteroffizier is wearing a standard issue Luftwaffe Feldmutze and I given him a knock-off white 'Fliegerblusse' that Luftwaffe officers and NCOs liked the wear (with appropriate red tabs etc, for the artillery arm). the usual Legion uniform was brown - even the helmets but a coat of Feldgrau and they're all early war Germans again. Wonderful model but very fiddly to put together (as only the best ones can be!)

 

As you can see, as well as the detachable wheels the set comes with a host of ammo boxes and shells and can be set up on wheels (the 88 could still be fired that way) or on its large cruxiform stand in any position. But my best achievement (I think) so far this year has been the final completion of my Imperial Indian force. Thanks to the generosity of another friend I obtained a horde of unwanted figures including the wonderful Artisan and Copplestone NWF Indians, both Sikh and Muslim troops to add to those I already have and the units of Woodbines plus the beautiful Empress Indian Mountain gun set.

Muslim Rajput unit including HMG

Two Sikh units with HMGs (the third figure on the Sikh crew is my conversion using a Woodbine head)

 

Indian officers including one in the middle from the Artisan NWF range

The magnificent Empress Indian Mountain Gun

The collection also now includes two units of the famous Hodson's Horse - just missing one mounted officer! - and one unit of Frontier Rifles (which can double as dismounted Indian cavalry). Also prominent are three units of Ghurkas - two Woodbine (with HMG) and one Artisan (excellent figures) - plus four Woodbine units of two each of Muslim and Sikhs each with an additional Hotchkis HMG. 

A few more shots of the Mountain Gun (with mule ammo carrier!) and my Hodson's Horse officer.

Prior to my Indian army units I was finishing my WWI French army (as seen in my last post) with a colonial unit after acquiring a box of the Atlantic plastic figures which come loaded with options - and Senegalese heads! They required quite a bit of scalpel work to properly fit arms etc, and avoid odd poses but the advantage is a wide variety of figures in quite animated poses, and being plastic ideal for the odd conversion such as my bugler! Generally matching the CoC list for a late war French infantry platoon (very VB heavy!) that could also do for early WWII - European or Middle East/Levant theatre. They paint up well and I'm not unhappy with the final result.

There have been plenty of others too with some recent Perry's FPW Jaeger but more on them in a future post when I get more done - plus I'm holding out for their promised FPW French infantry release which should be any time now (hint, hint Alan and Michael! ;-)

Jumped the gun a bit publishing this as I completely forgot all the Vichy French units - and armour - that I'd also finished. The French armour includes some very interesting pieces from Mad Bob Miniatures in the UK such as the Panhard 165/175 Armoured Car and a couple of Panhard 179 APCs (amongst the world's first armoured troop carriers). The latter had two crew (one who acted as a gunner if it carried a Chauchat or Hotchkiss LMG) carrying 6-8 men and will form a mobile recce unit for my Vichy French. 

My Vichy French mobile recce unit

The rugged and reliable Panhard 165/175 Armoured Car

Next cab off the rank so to speak is the Renault R35 light tank from Rubicon which is a highly detailed plastic kit - I couldn't believe how small it is! Nonetheless it was well armoured and considered one of the best light tanks in the world at the time - the Allies in the Levant had nothing to counter it! The tank comes with both the long and short barrel 37mm gun turret. There were over 90 of these in the Vichy Arme L'Orient most operated by the famous Chasseurs D' Afrique regiments. 

Renault R35 (short 37 gun turret version) 

Long barrel 37mm version

Rear view of the long barrel version with two Perry Vichy French infantry to give an idea of just how small they were!

Apart from the AVs I also completed several units of figures to complete my Vichy force in the Levant and Syria including one of the more exotic cavalry the French had (several thousands of them in fact, both as mounted and mobile infantry mounted in trucks!) - this lot done up as French Moroccan Spahis - but could also easily be Circassians etc. and which I have as both mounted and dismounted.  The figures are Askari Miniatures from the US who have one of the largest ranges of various colonial types, FFL and so on available.  The quality mightn't be up there with the Perry's etc, but you can't quibble with the variety - many unique - very reasonable prices and for me anyway, the great service (and for those of you who have suffered at the hands of the US Postal Service you know how important that can be!)

In addition to the above were more of the pile of lead given me by my very generous mate Peter. They were the first of those figures I painted and are a full unit of French Foreign Legion in Vichy service so in all-French kit. I substituted a French SMG from the Atlantic WWI French set for the bearded FFL NCO figure - all the figures are Artizan with one unique one-eyed, one-armed Pulp French officer. A great character figure whose name escapes me but based on a real-life French war hero.

With the addition of the FFL my Vichy force is about complete save for a truck or two, which I'm still trying to source. So quite an extensive update but then again its been a loooong time between posts so I have some making up to do. Hopefully the next will not be so long in the making and will include some of the FPW figures I've been doing for a skirmish style game. Ou revoir for now and may the dice gods be with you!

Doc. 

Update: the FINAL final post for the year!

Its been a considerable break since the last post what with all that Covid lockdown crap (hopefully) behind us, I've saved up the bits and bobs of Doc's 'Art of War' activities for one final post for the shitty year that was 2021. Where I left off was my Empress Model T Ford scout vehicle (done to represent the ANZAC ALH unit in Palestine circa 1918) with another to be done to match but alas I've only gotten as far as building and base-coating as other (commission) work has intervened. 

Finally getting a break from that I took the plunge and developed a late war (WWI) French platoon with supports for a series of games intended for Cancon next year - provided it isn't cancelled again with the next Covid outbreak! - and including some French armour. My wargaming friend Duncan has 3D printed a St. Chamond and a Schnieder which he has generously provided me for the painting of his own Trenchworx version of the model. The camo schemes used by by the French seem to vary widely so I've settled on one of the more common also used on their artillery (similar to that used by the Germans too) examples of which I have seen at the Musee de Armee in Paris and in the War Memorial here in Canberra.

The Trenchworx model of the St. Chamond

Duncan's 3D printed version - a bit cruder but quite serviceable
with a dab of paint (and mud!)

The Schnieder (also a 3D print) tankette/armoured MG carrier
The MGs were usually Hotchkiss M1914s rather than
the Vickers or Maxim-looking MGs I've created.

Useful comparison of the Trenchworx model next to
based Artisan(?) late war French

In between the various commish jobs I took the time to base and give a proper rendering to an old resin model (15 -25mm?) of a small destroyed church which I got from my wargaming partner in crime Doug and had been fought over on the tabletop for over thirty years (so time it got a spruce-up)! A great little model, its even got space to accommodate an observer or sniper in the wrecked belfry and perfect for our WWI gaming endeavors!

A now suitably singed church occupied by the cunningly disguised
Men In Black (AKA early war Belgian Carabiniers) - can
you spot the lookout in the wrecked belfry?

Just enough room to accommodate an HMG too!

Just prior to this I had finished a commission job for Doug for supports for his late war Germans - two field guns and two HMGs. The models are the superb Empress but the bad news was I had to build them first! Both the guns and HMGs were a nightmare for failing eyesight and superglue soaked fat fingers! The basing is my own machined and cut MDF on magnetic sheet as in the middle of a @#*$lockdown I couldn't find any suitable commercially made bases the right size - AND he still had the temerity to whinge about the 'grassy bits' in the flocking - sheesh! there's no pleasing some people!  But seriously a splash of brown wash will get rid of the green bits.

Again beautiful Empress models but the rubber hoses for the water cooling is my addition.
 The guns were so fiddly to make one or two more bits wouldn't matter - a rash decision I came to regret! 

Note the camo pattern on the gunner's helmet - gaudy but accurate!

The guns are also Empress and beautifully made but
second only to the HMGs in degree of difficulty to assemble!

I decided to make the guns in their standard feldgrun colour as I couldn't find a source
that agreed on the splinter camouflage pattern used for the gun-shields and ran out of time.

Before this I was finishing off Doug's lovely Calpe Saxons. They really are just about perfect Napoleonic figures which is a big call considering other high-quality metal ranges such as Perrys. A better quality control in the spin casting process perhaps as there is next to no flash or even mold lines on the figures which are also highly detailed. If I didn't have more than enough Napoleonics to paint I'd be very tempted to get them myself. Note they're still on the painting sticks which is because the client (Doug!) prefers to do his own basing, which is fine by me - its still $5 a figure ($10 for mounted). All figures are base-coated and (matt) varnished. I've stuck to this over the years and its still paid for my otherwise (probably) un-affordable hobby - well, mostly 😉 (just don't tell the Memsahib!)

Another significant commission was for my good friend Peter and his Game of Thrones collection which featured in a previous post. He'd given me a range of fantasy figures and I kind of surprised him with my interpretation of R'llor(?) flaming swords and the Red Fire God priest types associated with them. In fact he liked them so much he gave me more to do. Not my cup of tea gaming-wise (I might play a game as a challenge but wouldn't collect them) but as I've stated previously, the figures themselves are superbly sculpted with great detail and some with well animated poses, so good to paint.

A few more Robin Hood-forest bandit types - love the voluminous green hooded capes!

The Red Priest this time accompanied with two female acolytes.

A few more flaming sword s to match in with those done previously.

I'm sure there'll be more to come - the potential range of figures is huge and I know Peter - not being a man of half measures - has purchased to complete game series including hundreds of figures. I'll look forward to painting the next lot! 

There is a lot more other stuff of my own in the works or awaiting my attention over the Christmas 'break' - I'll just have to get them into some semblance of order - like my late war French (now over half done!)

A late war (1917-18) French infantry platoon (Western Front) of
two sections with supports and armour.

There is also another commission job - an 88 and crew (early WWII German) intended for action in France or even the Kondor Legion (SCW) - so don't worry Doug I haven't forgotten! The build for that one promises to be a nightmare too!  Then there are literally boxes of my own stuff, most of it here:

From the bottom (L-R) my ALH Ford Scout [sigh] - one day my friend, one day...
next to it my FPW Bavarian Kuirassier and next to them Doug's 88 and my mounted Bashi Bazouks,
somewhere there's even a regt of half painted early war (WWI) French Hussars to fix up! The
next box includes my long-neglected Napoleonic French with a regt. of Legere and and another Rhine Confederation
regt., wagon train and yet more Revolutionary French...

This little lot doesn't include my other WWII stuff such as the Vichy French which need a few more bits to complete and my other Napoleonic Russians etc, etc, OR my planned Perry's FPW collection (next year) I'm sure you all get it - a lead addiction such as mine never has an end to it really 😁

A few more games planned over the next two months but I probably won't be posting anything more at least for this year. I do hope next year is a better one for all of you who have a passion for wargaming miniatures and share in our wargaming artistry - for that's what it is - and have a damn sight better year than the last two!

God speed and a Merry Christmas to all - Doc signing off for '21

UPDATE

Definite last post! I seem to have been a bit premature with my last 'last post' as I was in the process of fixing up and finishing my late war (WWI) French infantry force for our annual wargaming convention next year (Cancon) - somewhat disappointing as I had created complete German, Belgian & British (BEF) forces for early war (1914-15) - but nobody else had them! 

We are using Steve Langan's great rules "Setting The East Ablaze" (2nd Ed.) as it covers the period including the last years of the war (1917-18) with a straight forward but dynamic rules set. We are using Chain of Command (CoC) army lists devised by our rules guru Andrew to accurately represent forces at a platoon level which, with supports appears to be the most equitable way to game it. For the French that I chose (after a lot of um-ing and ah-ing) the standard platoon consists of a HQ (1 x Lieutenant) with two 22-man sections each headed by a sergeant and consisting of two squads: one Voltigeur/Grenadier consisting of 3 bombers & 5 rifles led by a Corporal; one 12-man Support Squad with an LMG team (usually a Chauchat) of a gunner, loader and two riflemen and a second BV (unique French rifle grenade) team of 4 rifle grenadiers and four BV loaders. For platoon supports I have a 75mm Field Gun, medium trench mortar, a Hotchkiss HMG (MMG?) and another rather unique French small anti-tank gun (didn't know they even had them!). The lumbering St. Chamond tank completes the force. En avante mes amis!

Grenadier/Voltigeur squad

NCO with 1st LMG team

The unique BV squad - the BV rifles are my clumsy conversion!

NCO leading his bombers

The Chauchat LMG team

An extra officer (General de Brigade!) with the converted 1st Lieutenant - now with sidearm!

Doc's late war French army.

The famous '75'

Hotchkiss HMG

Anti-tank gun (actually just a really small field gun)

A rather unique French trench mortar with finned rocket-like bombs.
The lead figure is my converted rifleman