For Thursday From PeterD - 28mm SYW French (60points)

No posts last week, but two in for this week.  Wife's away looking after her mum following surgery so production will be up for the next couple of weeks I hope.

Curt says he enjoys gamer bios, so here goes.  It all stated in a 5000 watt radio station... (two brownie points if you get the reference).  I started gaming as a teenage about 1975,  with Airfix Waterloo kits badly painted in Humbrols.  I paint almost exclusively historical stuff, but will play Fantasy of SciFi when someone else puts on a game.  A big part of the attraction is the research aspect of the hobby - I like ferreting out info on uniforms, OOBs and tactics from bygone ages.  Even if I was attracted to non-historical figures, picking up a "Codex" over history books would be a deal killer for me.

I grew up in Halifax NS and was a long time gaming partner of RossM of Battle Game of the Month who is likely known to many Challenge participants.  I relocated out west to Regina about 20 years ago and for a long time was a solo gamer due to lack of opponents.     Back in 2011 I followed Ross' lead and ventured into the Blogosphere with the Single Handed Admiral, a reference to the fact that I was going solo, planned to due naval gaming and that Nelson had only one hand.  Blogging got me in touch with gamers around the world, and then a year later with gamers 2kms from my doorstep as Sylvain reached out via Curt's blog having noted my email address.  The naval projects turned out to be a dead end and have been put on hold, but I've enjoyed working on Italian Wars and Seven Years Wars projects over the last few challenges.

Over the years it been a bumpy ride but I'm mostly in a good place now and enjoying my time at the painting table and on the Challenge.  I've adopted the simple philosophy voiced below.

Grenadiers in front of the structures from my first post.

OK off with the blather and on with the painting.  I've got 8 French Infantry from the Grenadiers de France from the SYW.  Figures are 28mm Front Rank and are very nice. This is the initial set of 8 from a planned battalion of 24 so I'll natter on more about the unit on later posts.

I also have a French command stand of two figures, general and trumpeter.  The general is  Casting Room figure on a Front Rank horse.  The rider had me perplexed as to his provenance for a while but then I worked out that I an extra dragoon officer (with no horse) in my Casting Room order.  Luckily, SYW uniforms are more flexible than for later periods and panting him in a blue coat laced with gold did the trick.  His trumpeter is a Front Rank figure as is his horse.  I painted him as coming from one of the myriad of cavalry regiments using the King's livery,

For the tally man, these are 8 28mm figures on foot plus two cavalry nets me 60 points on the scoreboard and on the Black Powder Challenge.
    
                                                                      

I really like your grenadiers and your command unit looks splendid with particularly nice basing. They also look great in front of your brand new black powder terrain!
60 more points to your total, lovely work!

All the best Iain