Project Blog: Black Powder French

Project Blog: Black Powder French

We've decided it's time to do something new, and we've given in to something we've always wanted to try which is Napoleonics. It's still early days, but I'm planning to give regular updates as we progress.

The first move has been by Luke, who bought the Black Powder starter set which has netted Luke 72 British Infantry and a cannon, and me 48 French Infantry and 12 Cavalry, as well as mounted and foot officers for us both, as well as a copy of the rulebook for Luke. Also joining us is Dave, with Prussians, and Pad joining me with the French.

First impressions of the French is that the models are very different to the modern citadel models that I'm used to, but do remind me of the older Empire Spearmen / Handgunner sprues, and are perfectly appropriate for building up blocks of uniformed troops as you would want for this sort of army. The Late French Line Infantry that come with the box set are perfectly usable models, but I've decided to pass them on to pad in order to use purely Warlord's other style of line infantry minus the greatcoats, as I think these are better looking. 72 models for £40 strikes me as very good value. I have painted up 2 before I made this decision, so they will be mixed in to the units somewhere.

I've also built the Chassuers a Chevel, and used one of the mounted officers in the unit, which may or may not be appropriate. I haven't had a good read of the rulebook yet, and also I've ordered a book about Napoleonic uniforms which should arrive in the next few days.

I'm planning to use the other mounted officer as my C in C, and will base him on a 40mm round base from a Bolt Action model with a small dog I picked up at a local hobby show and have been looking for a use for. I haven't added a head until I've looked through the uniform book but there are a few options.

So, apart from clearing my hobby area to accommodate the impending large units on smartly dressed Frenchmen, that's all I've got done so far. I'm planning to get as much stuck together as I can in time for me and Luke to have a go at the rules at Middlesbrough Gaming Club next week, and I'll give reviews of how this goes as we go on.

Au Revoir!

Armies of the Tyrants Part 4: Lizardmen

While I'm on a roll, here's another of mine.

This was my last Warhammer Fantasy army, which I did during over the winter in 2014/2015. A group of us collected new armies,  going up 500 points a month and playing progressively bigger games.

I went for people as a colour scheme, as it's a colour which I like and it went well on my Chaos Marines. I've shown them here on regiment bases in the 8th edition formations, as they should be.

Saurus Warriors. These are the solid unit in my army,  and if I expand the army up above 2000 points I'll be adding another unit. 

Skinks with Kroxigors. These guys are nowhere as good as they should be and I'm not really impressed. However I haven't got anything to replace them with yet. 

Saurus cavalry. These guys are the hammer unit, and are rock solid especially with the hero in the unit. The cold ones are pretty decent my as well

The Stegadon, the staple lizardmen monster. Worked the flesh up to a pale brown with layering and then the armour plates to red. The Skinks are purple to match the rest of the army. 

The fearsome Ripperdactyles, a unit I struggled to find a use for. Their best combats were often when they flew into the front of Irongut units. Proper placement of the bloat toad is crucial. 

The start of the show, the Slann mage priest. This is a good example of the benefits of Finecast, as this is a model which was way too heavy to be balanced on a flying stand when it was white metal, but as resin is pretty much ideal. The bad details are from the jungle basing kit. 

I usually played him as an ethereal, avoiding the need for a temple guard unit. 

The rest of my Skinks, serving as a skirmish unit, with the skink priest in the unit. This is a far better use for the little fellas than a ranked unit. 

I do miss playing with this army, we're going to have to get back to playing 8th edition fantasy at some point. I'd like to expand the army from 2000 points up to 2400 by adding another unit of Saurus Warriors and a Bastidon but it's not high on the list of priorities. 

Any questions? Comments below. 

Armies of the Tyrants Part 3

Here's something slightly different.

In order to show that it's not all about 40k, and because they are my most recent full painting project, here's a brief look at my second Bolt Action force,  early war French.

In 2014 me and Paddy decided to branch out and try something new, and Bolt Action was starting to make an impact in the area. My first force was late was Germans to go against late war British, but after establishing the dominance of the Panther and Stg44 assault rifle I fancied a bit of variety and Warlord were pushing the French - I think they had expended the range but I'm not certain. I picked up the army deal and that's still what I play with now.

The army was painted by spraying it leather brown then washing with black ink. The uniforms are Vallejo Russian Infantry Green, which may not be technically the correct colour but gives an effect I like. The helmets are Dark Angels Green, which will now have been replaced with a less memorable name.

It's not top quality painting, but as a project I'm proud of it.

1st infantry section. 8 men with rifles, 1 with lmg and 1 with pistol (the loader)

Senegalese tirailleurs. Fezes are cool. 

Second infantry section. Exactly the same as the first. 

Various HQ models.  Officer and assistant with smg, medic and forward observer with assistant. The forward observer will be dropped from the list if I ever get anything to replace him with. 

The officer however is one of my favourite models from the army. 

Infantry support squads, medium mortar and mmg.

Field artillery. I believe these are supposed to represent light howitzers, however I use them as medium anti tank guns without anyone ever objecting. This makes the army fully capable of taking on most late war forces. They will struggle against heavy tanks but so will most armies not packing a serious tank of their own

Talking about serious tanks... here's an R35 and a Shnieder P16 half track. Fun to paint, the scheme of dark green with shades of brown on top meant I got them both done in one session, but renowned more for enthusiasm in bake than actual effectiveness,  these are something else I'd like to replace in time. 

And here's a few shots of the army as a group 

I'm going to do more articles in time covering my 40k and fantasy armies. Right now I'm going back over my Chaos Space Marines to touch up and repair damage as well as sort out a few extra squads which have been added in time for a planned massive battle in December, so keep and eye out for that. 

Martin