From GregB - A Heavy Cavalry Hero for Glorantha (30 points)

General de Bonnemains - 28mm figure from Eagles of Empire.

Greetings all! Work has been pretty busy for the past couple of weeks - which is nice, it funds new hobby purchases! But it also slows down the painting pace...that said, I was still determined to come up with some kind of submission this week, and I thought visiting another Challenge Quadrant planet might help. I started on Istvaan V, and looking at my collection and set of projects, an opportunity presented itself to visit the neighbouring world of Glorantha. The theme for this planet calls for "heroes", and with this in mind, I present General de Bonnemains, who led the 2nd Reserve Cavalry Division during the battle of  Froschwiller on August 6, 1870. This is a 28mm metal figure from "Eagles of Empire".

The Battle of Froschwiller was a major engagement that occurred early in the Franco-Prussian War. The Prussian coalition was advancing across the border, and Marshal MacMahon, commander of the Army of Alsace, was preparing for a defensive battle, having found an ideal position along the Sauer river. Orders to concentrate had been issued - the 1st Corps was already in place, and he was waiting for 5th and 7th Corps to join them. The Prussian side had similar notions, their III Army also planning to gather its strength before commencing a grand battle. Two armies faced each other warily across the Sauer valley, near the towns of Froschwiller and Worth. 

The plan was to wait until ready. But plans often don't work - and for the French in 1870 they, like, never worked. On August 6th, the pickets on both sides started to engage. Escalation followed. Artillery was committed. Troops were sent forward to deal with that. Maybe best to secure a town, you know, just to be sure? Can't allow that, right? 

Before long, the elements of the Prussian III Army were getting stuck in. The Bavarians led the way on the right flank, and the Prussians committed to follow their allies. Through the day, the French fought valiantly - 1st Corps containing some of the very top units in the French Army. MacMahon waited for help to arrive, but it never showed. As his lines buckled, he needed to buy time...and he bought that time with the lives of the reserve cavalry. General de Bonnemains led the charge, four regiments of Cuirassiers, the cream of the Second Empire's heavy cavalry. The odds were long, but the safety and glory of France were at stake. 

A very dramatic pose by the sculptor, perfect for the subject.

It was not to be...the rock-paper-scissors era of infantry lines and squares holding against the heavy cavalry were gone. The French Cuirassiers went forward, and were shot to pieces by the Prussians, armed with breech-loading rifles, backed by steel-breech-loading artillery, these glorious French cavalrymen never had a hope. In particularly tragic sequence, 700 Cuirassiers were caught in the village of Morsbronn and massacred in a matter of minutes.

The sacrifice of the heavy cavalry bought time for Marshal MacMahon to pull his shattered forces from the battlefield and fall back - many of these troops would meet their ultimate fate at Sedan some weeks later.

A white horse, perfect to lead a glorious charge!

I have not been able to track down whether General de Bonnemains survived this battle or whether he was one of the casualties of the fighting that day - apologies for the sloppy research! But I had purchased this character figure from "Eagles of Empire" - purveyors of beautiful 28mm metal figures for the period, and a quite interesting set of skirmish-type rules for the setting. He had been sitting, primed, for months, since he had arrived in the summer...a perfect target for an Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge submission! I thought he would make a fine submission for "Glorantha".

The "Eagles of Empire" sculpts are tall, lean and lovely - with one challenge in this case. The sword was bent during shipping, and I could not, no matter what I tried, get it sorted. It is tragic for this figure to defend the honour of France with a bent sword...but hey, things went really bad in 1870 for them, right?

So, for points, we have a mounted 28mm figure, and a planet bonus - should net 30 points. Thanks for reading, and I hope to have more to share next week!

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What a fabulous figure for Glorantha, Greg. There is something terribly tragic, yet somehow romantic about the French series catastrophes of the Franco-Prussian War. They tried so valiantly, but they experienced such incredible hubris during those campaigns that is makes your eyes water, especially when one realizes that the FPW largely paved the way to the rise of Prussian/German militarism and creates an inexorable path to the First World War. In this light, the bent sword is somehow perfect for this figure. Well done dude.

- Curt

From GregB: Bavarian Content For Nick (85 Points)

Watch out! Here come the Bavarians! 28mm figures from "Eagles of Empire".

Challengers and regular blog visitors will surely have noted my interest in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. I enjoy it so much, I paint figures in different scales. In one of my recent 10mm submissions of FPW work, Nick - our friendly Friday Minion - noted the "obvious lack of Bavarians" in my recent FPW painting output. I duly promised I would redress that oversight before this edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge was finished. Well, the end of AHPC XI is looming, and with this in mind I present these 28mm Bavarian infantry. The castings - and flag - are all from the excellent "Eagles of Empire" figure range.

"Eagles of Empire" have some beautiful sculpts, just lovely.

Nice mix of poses.

A look at some of the kit the soldiers carried.

There are so many cool uniforms in the Franco-Prussian War. While those of the French often steal the show, the uniforms of the Bavarian army from the period are very cool, with their unique "cornflower blue" and Napoleonic-throwback helmets. Trying to get this share of blue done properly - or, I should say, in a shade that I subjectively believe to be done "properly" - was a struggle, and you don't need to look too closely to see there is variation here and there as I experimented. Some were too bright, and some were too dark. I used many colour references for inspiration, including photos of these figures that Nick himself has painted for the Eagles of Empire web site. While that is a standard I cannot match, I am still really pleased with them, and even with the variations, in a group, I think they look pretty good overall, ready to take on the French!

I must also credit "Eagles of Empire" for beautiful sculpts. They are taller and thinner, but oh man, are they nice! So much animation and character, with nice proportions. I just love painting their stuff.

NCO encouraging the lads!

The Bavarian army made a major contribution to the fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, both in the early battles in and around Alsace, and in the later fighting against the dogged resistance of the French Republican regime. 

Another view of the base with the NCO. These three-figure bases are 40mm rounds.

These figures are based for skirmish gaming with the "Eagles of Empire" rules. I am generally wary of group basing in 28mm when crewed weapons are not involved (one of many odd hobby hangups which afflict my brain), but I thought I would finally try the specific basing suggested in EoE rules. That is what you see here - a command base (with the officer, flag and musician) and two "squads", each of seven models. Each "squad" contains one base with three figures, and two bases with two figures each.  

These guys are on 30mm bases.

I just love these sculpts - who wouldn't follow that standard bearer forward???

The drummer looks a little blurry (sorry), but again, great character in the sculpt - he looks like he is playing the hell out of that drum! Charge!!

I should note the EoE rules are agnostic when it comes to basing - this approach is recommended, but hardly mandatory, and the rules themselves are fairly light and fun, so just about any basing approach will legitimately work. That said, now that I have tried it, I really like the look, and will probably be doing several more units in this way.

My kitchen is stormed by Bavarian infantry - I had better secure the beer!

So, for scoring purposes, we have 17 figures in 28mm size - should be good for 85 points. I hope you enjoy them Nick! Thanks for reading everyone - go enjoy some good Bavarian food, beer and contemplate that complex shade of "cornflower" blue...

From GregB - 28mm Prussian Infantry and French Cavalry from 1870 (112 points)

Troops for the Franco-Prussian war continue to mass in my kitchen...

As the end of this latest edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge approaches, I thought it would be a good idea to get back to the project that drove my first several submissions - the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71.  There are another group of Prussian infantry and a group of French cavalry.  All of the castings are from the excellent "Eagles of Empire".

Lots of character and animation in these sculpts

As always the ubiquitous coats are wrapped around the bodies of the Prussian troops

The infantry are intended to round out my initial Prussian infantry force. "Rounding out" is one of the primary mind tricks that leads to an enormous unpainted lead pile in my basement, but can also prove useful.  I had four Prussian infantry groups, three of seven models and one of just four models, and I had it in my head that I wanted all of the units to be eight models strong.  So this batch did the trick!

Dreyse "needle" rifles at the ready for the assault on France

Up next, some cavalry, the first cavalry I have painted for this period.  These are French Hussars - six mounted rankers and an officer (on the rectangular base to stand out a bit).

Officer ready to lead a valiant (and probably fatal) charge in defence of the Second Empire

Tremendous animation in the cavalry sculpts - the officer looks like he is going to charge right off the base!

I found it challenging to get clear references on the uniforms the French Hussars wore in this period.  References are never perfect, and an added challenge is that the French light cavalry seemed to be in the middle of a change to their uniform pattern when war came in 1870.  Those sorts of processes never were smooth in peace time, never mind war, so I don't really know which unit was wearing what, but I ***think*** this might be the look of the 2nd Hussars, although I might have goofed on several elements (including the colour of the pompom etc).  Oh well. 

For the Emperor! And later...the Republic!

Incredible animation in these sculpts

While the "Death Ride" of the Prussian Cavalry at the battle of Mars-La Tour is infamous in the minds of cavalry fans, the Franco-Prussian War was in fact a graveyard for cavalrymen.  With bolt-action rifles and breech-loading artillery, massed battle cavalry mostly ended up with terrible losses.  So the fate of these fellows on the table is likely to be grim...

In 1870 these units looked glorious, but in the thick of battle, the time of cavalry was coming to an end...

As before, the Eagles of Empire sculpts stand out, with a tall, lean character.  This style of sculpting was not my favourite, but over the months of working on these figures I have really come to enjoy them a lot. They are real beauties, and Soren and the group at Eagles of Empire are just fantastic to deal with - I recommend them highly!  The cavalry in particular also have a tremendous energy and animation to them, like at any moment they will come alive and charge.

Hussars - flashy boys of the light cavalry arm

One additional note to share with you all - a big "thank you" to Challenger JohnM.  Back in early January I submitted a group of French infantry from the period which included a command base and a regimental standard - but the standard was lacking an eagle.

A new eagle for my 1870 French forces!

JohnM was kind enough to mail me a few spare eagles! I fixed one to the previously finished command stand.  Last week these troops saw their first-ever action on the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts gaming tables, and the Second Empire French troops had a regimental eagle to defend proudly!  Thank you so much John!!

Action from the gaming table last week - French infantry defend their country against a Prussian assault, the presence of their eagle stiffening their resolve!

With a total of seven mounted 28mm figures and another eight 28mm foot figures, that should be good for another 110 points - which will take me past my 1,000 point target from back in December! Phew. Let's see what more I might be able to manage before we finish for another season...

A big "thank you" also goes to our Thursday minion, JamieM! Thank you for shepherding us along and for your encouragement and entertaining commentary.  Much appreciated, look forward to seeing you back in the Painting Challenge trenches again next year!

What challenge is complete without pickelhaubes and handlebar moustaches?  Certainly no challenge I'd like to be involved in and that's for sure!  These chaps are the mutts nuts, that second picture with with the two shouting blokes is the best as you can just see them striding across the battlefield, yelling away.

I do like the horsemen, as with Ken's submission earlier it sounds like these were some dark days for cavalry with the weapons and technology having overtaken them.... But they'll look smashing on the battlefield until their somewhat inevitable demise I'm sure!

Thanks for your consistent submissions and eclectic range of troops, conflicts and scales Greg - never knowing what you're going to see is one of the joys of minioning!  I make it 112 points, with one of the extra points added for the sheer volume of quality moustaches and the other for the existence of the Pickelhaubes...... That's right, it's my last day minioning, so I can award extra points for such things if I want to ;)

From GregB: Vive L'Empereur (The Second One)! (60 points)

French Imperial infantry ready to defend their country against Prussian invaders...while their senior commanders prepare to fail them utterly...

Well, no marks for originality with this next submission - why it's yet more infantry for the Franco-Prussian War! My last submission was a pile of Prussians, and here now is the completed force of French infantry to take them on. These are 28mm castings from "Eagles of Empire".  There are 31 of them in the pictures, but as with my previous submission, there is a bit of propaganda at work in the photography - a number of figures in this group shot that were painted previously or prior to the Challenge. Only 12 of the castings will count for scoring purposes this week. I just liked the group photo, so piled the whole lot in together!

Bugler figure serving as an NCO on a square base

These are based for skirmish games, with NCOs on square bases and more senior officers on hex bases.  As with the Prussians, there is a senior command base that adds a standard bearer to a senior officer that will be used to represent a higher status officer on the table. I was not able to find a proper eagle to affix to the standard unfortunately, but I still like how the fellow turned out.

NCO directs the deadly fire of his unit's Chassepot rifles

While the sculpting style of these castings is definitely a little different, something I have remarked on in previous posts, I do give full marks for the sculptor capturing the feel of the period.  Where the Prussian sculpts feature many figures charging forward, the French are in a variety of firing poses, working the deadly effect of their Chassepot rifles, holding some manner of hopeless position. I think the sculptor clearly had a good feel for the dynamics of the period.

Great selection of firing and loading sculpts

A lot of detail on the kit...different pans, canteens, tent-poles and other supplies for the march

And as before, I just LOVE the uniforms of the Imperial French infantry. Those kepis, baggy red pants and epaulettes are just SO cool. Can't wait to get these fellows on the table!

Senior command stand with a flag - from the 70th Regiment

The flag on the command base is also from "Eagles of Empire" - they offer flags for two of the French infantry regiments in the War.  This is fine for skirmish purposes, but for my larger plans involving games of "Black Powder", the lack of available flags from providers of nice flags like Flag Dude, GMB or Maverick Models is frustrating - Warflags has some for free, but you have to print those yourself, and the quality is just not the same...

An eagle would be nice for the top of the standard...oh well...

The battle honours of the 70th Regiment

Anyway, this submission will provide another 60 points for the pile, and represent the conclusion of my initial mad rush of this edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. I wanted to get enough 28mm figures painted to do a decent-sized skirmish game of some sort for the Franco-Prussian War, and between these chaps and the Prussian regulars and Jagers, I think we will be able to have a game very soon! Time to take a little bit of a break from this period and switch gears to another subject...see you next week!

 Artist: Audiomachine

Album: Magnus

These folks are from the US, and they make a wide range of symphonic and electronic scores.  I first heard their music as part of the crowd-pumping montage for Winnipeg Jets games, and the effect is excellent.  Great background for painting little soldiers and wargaming!



Ka-pow!  And the veritable avalanche of beautiful miniatures from the age of uniforms being bright and fun continues from the prolific brush den of GregB.  The colours are fantastically realised with the highlighting really making them pop (that blue is ace) and the little details on their packs are spot on.  The command stand is my favourite, especially as I've long  suspected this is what it looks like at Curt's house when he's getting ready to rally the troops for each AHPC.... That officer is a brilliant sculpt and you've really brought him to life, bellowing orders at his hommes.  I feel your pain on the flags as that one does look very nice indeed.

As a dutiful minion, I thought I'd go take a look at some details on this conflict so I could sound right knowledgeable when commenting...... And I backed slowly away from my PC given the amount of info on there!  What I did gather was things didn't seem to go too well for your boys here, so hopefully they'll fare a little better on the tabletop than in real life.  Anyway, 60 points irrespective of how well or badly the war went for them to add to your ever growing total.

From GregB - Bismarcks Boys - 28mm Prussian Infantry (71 points)

Prussians charge to battle for their King!

 I'm continuing along with my established theme for this fourth submission to the Challenge - more 28mm infantry for the Franco-Prussian War. Hopefully you are not bored yet!  In these photos you see the bulk of my Prussian infantry that I will be using for skirmish gaming in the setting - they are all 28mm castings from "Eagles of Empire".  There are 29 figures in total here, but some have already been submitted (see if you can spot "Mr. Glowing" among the mass) and others were painted before the Challenge started - so only 14 of these will count for scoring purposes today.

Nice, aggressive posture on many of the castings

These castings show that distinctive casting style of the Eagles of Empire figures - the castings are tall (essentially 30mm) and thin, with more sort-of "true scale" Dreyse rifles and spikes on the helmets.  This already caused one casting to lose his pickelhaube during shipping, but as I am keen to have as many Prussians jump in on the table as possible, I painted him up anyway, figuring some manner of franc-tireur shot the spike off his helmet in a skirmish behind the lines...

The Prussians sporting their distinctive pickelhaubes and rolled coats

This is meant to represent four full squads of seven troops each, as well as a couple of senior officers - the equivalent of two boxes of figures from Eagles of Empire - but I'm two figures short to represent the full group of four squads. This is because the Prussian boxes come with two different types of musician, and I had no use for the drummers...so I'll need to scare up two extra figures to balance this all out.  When combined with the Jagers, it is still a substantial force for a skirmish, ready to enforce the will of the King and bring the pesky French to heel on the battlefield!

I quite like the once NCO, on the right, beautiful animation in the pose

Rear view, showing the kit the Prussian infantry hauled with them

The NCOs are on square bases, the senior officers are on hex-shaped bases, and there is one very-senior officer (would be something like a status level three or four leader for Lardy-style-games) based together with a standard bearer on a hex base.  I have tried to use different colours of flowers to help with unit identification, but as I have worked through this I have seen I need to be careful a bit as the overall effect can be a bit too bright.  France is a beautiful, beautiful place (and the "Imperial phase" of the War of 1870 did take place in the summer) but it is not Lothlorien and too many bright flowering bushes has a bit of a detrimental effect to the overall game.  I may go back later and scale it back a bit more still.

An assortment of close-ups - the arm of the officer was a challenge, as the part was mis-cast - his shoulder must have been wounded at Sadowa or something...

The Prussian flag is from GMB.  Finding flags for this period is a challenge - GMB is the only source I have found for Prussians, and nobody is making any for the French as far as I can tell, with a small exception that you will see in my next posting!

Senior command base - flag from GMB

Ready to conquer in the name of the King!

So that will be 14 different 28mm castings, good for another 70 points if my math works (always a big "if").  Up next - vive la France!!

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Of course, I can't forget to toss in some "Challenge Tunes", can I?

Artist: God is an Astronaut

Album: All is Violent, All is Bright

I lack the cultural depth to say much about this group beyond the ambient tones help keep my mind calm and paint like crazy.  I also first heard this group while visiting Curt in Regina, so I also associate painting with music from the group and my good friends down the Trans-Canada Highway!

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You are lighting this stuff on fire, Greg. Awesome work! 

Such wonderful, clean painting. I've always admired your use of colours and I really like your take on Prussian Blue. Again, the pickelhaubes are terrific, they look both wonderfully ridiculous and menacing all at the same time (a piece of headgear seemingly designed to be shot at, it would seem). The larger officer stand with the Big Moustache and the flag bearer is brilliant (love the white gloves). 

If you want to tone-down the 'We're fighting in a flower nursery' look, try cutting the flower tufts in half or, better yet, in quarters. Then tuck these smaller sprigs in between your taller grass tufts to give your base a more natural, meadow aspect. 

These lovers of all things Wagner will give you 71 points, with one extra for the banner.

Great work, Dude!

From GregB - More Franco-Prussian War Troops (50 points)

28mm Franco-Prussian war castings from "Eagles of Empire"

More fun painting from the lake! Similar to my opening submission, these are "28mm" castings (really closer to 30mm) from Eagles of Empire.  There are six French infantrymen and four Prussian infantrymen, all from the Franco-Prussian War, or the War of 1870.  These will be used for skirmish gaming for the Franco-Prussian War.

French Imperial infantry ready to engage the Prussians - bugler is on the left

The French bugler is mounted on a square base, to help him stand apart as an NCO/leader/character or some sort when the time comes for a game.

As before, I absolutely love the French uniforms from this period! Red pantalons FTW!

Always love how the French infantry are carrying a full load of cooking kit on their backs :)

The Prussian uniform in this era is not quite so dramatic, although those silly spiked helmets do stand out a fair bit! One thing about the Prussians is that they wear their longer rain coats tied around their bodies, and that tends to obscure a lot of the detail on the figure, but it does make things a little easier in terms of painting!

Spiked helmets for the glory of Prussia!

One of the Prussian figures has an eerie finish to it - that's because I thought I would try a paint-on matte finish product.  As you can see from the gross, glowing finish, it's not even close to matte, and will be the last f*cking time I try that sh*t product again.  I can't spray out the lake, so I thought a paint-on product would work...no luck...I'll try and save that casting when I go home after Christmas.

 

The rolled coats obscure a lot of the detail on the Prussian infantry, but it was a pretty common way they wore their uniforms in the 1870

French infantry painted in the Challenge so far...

There are 10 different 28mm castings in this submission, which should be good for another 50 points. A pretty good start to this edition of the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge!  And I'm already looking forward to a Franco-Prussian War skirmish game with the gaming group early in the new year!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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Stonking nice work, Greg! The French are fabulous in their pantalons rouges but it's nice to see your efforts spreading out to the Prussians. Your brushwork on their helmet detail is excellent - wow. While on the whole the Eagles of Empire stuff is lovely, I do find some of their heads to be a bit narrow - sort of like bread loafs with kepis. I guess they are the antithesis of Dixon heads! 

Too bad about the brush-on matte varnish, but hey, not a total loss. At least its not like me mistaking black primer for finishing spray for an entire Dark Age unit (I'm still mentally scared from that). Frederick will endure his shine on life until you get back to Winnipeg. :) 

Merry Christmas Greg!