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. 

Fantasy response to the Covid blues and some Spahi!

 We've not even made it to the end of a week of a snap lockdown when another two weeks have been announced. Great. 

On the plus side it does give me an opportunity to catch up on some of the things I've actually enjoyed since the last posting back in June(!) The first of these is a bit of an unusual commission for a mate with a horde of Game of Throne figures. Not sure of the make - I think think they might have come with a set of rules or game based on GoT. No matter - they are very nice sculpts and good quality HD plastic 30mm 'heroic' scale figures. The first lot I did were House Bolton Blackguard with a Dread Tower officer, champion and an appropriately gruesome 'Flayed Man' House Bolton banner. 

Happy with the result I then got stuck into the other R'Lhor militia types with their mysterious red 'Lord of Light' fire god priests from Mereen. This was a bit more of a challenge, particularly the priests with the figures reflecting their manifestation of fire etc. And all in red too! For the militia types I though more Robin Hood and his merry men hiding in the woods would look appropriate. 

 I have to say this came as a surprise to my mate Peter who had the R'Lhor(?) flaming sword, woodsmen types and priests (the male I'm told was just a Mereen noble figure - but he looks more the part as a priest!) and left it to me to come up with something.  The R'Lhor flaming heart symbol on the bannerman pretty much decided the choice. I'm also told the bloke with the eye-patch is NOT their frequently resurrected knight leader just some random - well not anymore with his remaining 'good eye' fixed on the curvaceous Red Priestess! Great balls of fire! (as someone once said). Enough of this frivolity!

While we're on a fantasy jag I finally decided to sell my Lord of the Rings armies collected (and painted) nearly twenty (!) years ago! 

Originally collected for my youngest (now in his twenties!) who showed no interest at all in them, they have at least gone to a good home and better yet, have seen plenty of action on a weekend with a mate's teen son and his friends. Hundreds of LotR figures with trolls and Rohim etc etc. Great stuff! 

'Bam Bam' the Troll

There are of course plenty of terrifying Uruk Hai and Warg riders as well as the usual orcs. All the figures are those sculpted by Alan and Michael Perry for the LotR franchise after Peter Jackson's films. 

Dismounted Witch King - so where's me bleedin' Nazgul then!?!

 Naturally my 'real' work has continued apace and I'm getting ever closer to complete sets of protagonist units for the WWII 1941 Syria and Lebanon campaign. The latest included my completion of some US Askari figures - mounted North African Spahi. While the horses aren't the greatest sculpts the figures themselves are quite OK. More importantly they fill a niche - having every type of colonial type figure imaginable AND very reasonably priced. I have to also give a shout out to their service as the figures arrived in Australia from Colorado USA in about three weeks - a record for the usually expensive and glacially slow US Postal Service! So - well done and thanks Askari!

Coming both mounted and dismounted, led by French officers (all FFL figures) I've done them in their 'campaign' dress rather than the traditional rather bright colours. They could also be Circassians as the French had some 5,000(!) of these 'native' colonial cavalry both mounted and in trucks. Ironically the Circassians were one of the very few (and not even all of them) defecting to the Allied side. They work well I think and a perfect opposition to my British Yeomanry. The next unit I want is the Vichy version of the FFL - so all in kepi/Adrian helmet and no Brit kit! - and a Rubicon Renault R35 light tank. But having just ordered an ANZAC Model T Ford scout from Empress I may have to wait until my finances recover and/or another painting commission rolls in!