EricMc- Senegalese Triailleurs and Curtgeld (150 Points)

Its hard to believe its over.  This Challenge has been a blast.   Thank you all for your support and encouragement!  A special thanks to Curt for playing ring master to this circus.   Dave thanks so much for wrangling me on a weekly (or some what weekly) basis. 

On to this weeks entry.  Fitting as a last entry is the last of the Senegalese Triailleurs.  I was able to add two more squads and a supporting heavy Machine gun.   All the figures are from Gripping Beast.

In addtion to the Senegalese I was able to finish my Curtgeld in the form of none other than Rudi Schweinsteiger "The Black Count" star of the game we are running at Cold Wars this week.  All credit for the name goes to Sydney Roundwood.  His amazing site has been a huge inspiration for me as we took the plunge in to World War I.  Here is a link to his amazing site.  Roundwood's World

In our games,using the cards that Sidney designed, Rudi Schweinsteiger became a huge favorite.  I felt it was only fitting to give him his staring role. 

In hindsight,  I would be more thoughtful in my planning for the Challenge.   I would have like to participate in the bonus themes but taking on the terrain board project precluded any such fun. In other words I needed control my spastic nature and stay focused!

Thanks again this has been a great experience for me. 

Eric, you've done a terrific job on this, your second installment of your Senegalese troops. I agree, Sidney's blog is great inspiration, but I think you've taken his muse and made the period your own with the work we've seen during the Challenge.

Rudi Schweinsteiger is brilliant! (Though I think we could use a couple more shots of him) Thank you so much! I have a suspicion he could be a great Pulp Adventure character as well (a scenario is percolating already...).

It was a pleasure having you with us this Challenge, Eric. I hope you join the wild ride the next time we set sail. Thanks again.

 

EricMc- Senegalese Tirailleurs (95 points)

Sorry for the long delay between posts.  We have been working on terrain boards for the Cold Wars Game.

I was able to squeeze in a few Senegalese Triailleurs.  The figures are from Gripping Beast.  Really nice castings.  They come with a standard body but are provided with separate heads that include Senegalese, Regular Poilu and Foreign  Legion.  I really like the concept.

In the front right and in the back left you can see a special figure they make with a trooper wielding a coup coup knife. Sorry for the photography, I really have to talk to that guy.

19-28mm figures

There were some requests for pictures of all the French together.   Here are a couple with the new terrain boards.

 
 

More real beauties to add to your growing hordes Eric. These make a pleasant change of colour. But oh my the full shots - now they look the business

EricMc -French Casualties and Chauchat Gunners (35 Points)

The majority of my offering this week are French casualty figures.  I chose to give the casualty figures the basic paint job rather than add a wound.  I felt a little uncomfortable modeling wounds, I want to keep the game as light and fun as possible in what will be a pretty bleak setting.

I realized that I had left the French under-supported so I added four Chauchat gunners.  

My full offering for the week.  Its a bit diminished from previous weeks.  As I mentioned last week my son and I are working on a game for the upcoming conventions Cold Wars so most of my time was spent working on terrain boards.

Here's an early look at the new "great time sink"

 

A further helping today of Horizon Blue - although a mite grimmer this time..you really must give us a shot of everything so far.

EricMc- Back From the Brink---The last of the French (130 points)

I am sorry I dropped the ball last with the last post. I had a mishap with Fallout 4.  After a family intervention, I am 4 days clean and back to my normal obsessions.

After kicking the Fallout habit,  I am finishing the last of the living french.   I have a few casualty figures left to paint but after that I am on to the Senegalese .

This week I finished off 2 more units of Chasseur for the Bois des Caures game which is coming soon (April I think)

In addition to the Chasseur I finished off 2-37mm trench guns and crew.

Unfortunately, my production is going to start slowing down.  My son convinced me that we need to run a game together at Cold Wars. I cant say no to that invitation.  So in addition to painting we well be building terrain boards for skirmish game set between the trenches at Verdun.  My hope it this will hook him, like his introduction to Fallout hooked me!

26-28mm Figures 

You really do have these nailed Eric.. They look a fearsome bunch alright...Now just remember step away from the digital hobbies! Lets hope gaming with these really hook in your son to the joys of Analogue..

From Eric Mc- WW1 French Chasseur (150 points)

After three weeks of German Gray its nice to paint some blue.   My offering this week is three 10 man units of French Chasseur.  I am planning on running a small game based on the fighting at Verdun around Bois de Caures.   The excellent gaming blog Scrivsland has several after action reports that have provided inspiration.   

All of the figures are from Old Glory.  While they are a little rough with some blocky looks and odd castings, once I got started they painted quickly. 

30-28mm figures   150points.

Aaah more "Horizon Bleu" loveliness for the brave defenders of la France!- I really like the guys in masks - suitably menacing. I have often found that with Old Glory figures that look are a bit oddly sculpted and cast , they frequently have real  life once painted. 

From EricMc - 28mm WWI Germans, Part II (130 Points)

Sorry for the second entry being back to back with the first.   I was able to finish this group of Germans pretty quickly.  I promise only one more boring group of Germans then on to something more fun.  

I did experiment a bit with the basing. I think I like the basing color of the groups in the first post better.

 The flammenwerfer teams were fun to paint. I think I like the Great War Miniature version better where the weapon is held low. The Old Glory over the shoulder version may be accurate but you would have to be crazy to use it that way. 

Thanks for looking.
26 28mm figures at 5pts each is 130 points 

These infantry look great Eric!  To be honest, I perhaps like the basing on these fellows a bit more. I find the larger chunks of grey rocks/debris more visually interesting than the smaller talus, but that's just me. :) Nice work!

From EricMc - 28mm WWI Germans---Finally on the board! (100 Points)

Like most things, I am running a little behind.  Here is my first entry for the Painting Challenge. This is to adding to my WWI collection.   These are 1916-18 German Stosstruppen.  There is a mix of riflemen with a few trench raider types scattered in. 

The figures are a mix of Old Glory and Great War Miniatures.  I am a long time Old Glory fan but this is not the strongest range they make.  Great War make some beautiful figures. They are a bit taller and much more well fed than the Old Glory.  

  

I love the Gas Mask look.  One of my favorite figures is the guy in a gas mask carrying the Spandau. Its a little Hollywood in my opinion but its so fun.

  

I am still struggling with what the basing should look like.  I would love it to be dark and muddy but that really dulls down the already dull figures.   Its a work in progress and I would love any suggestions you have. 

 

20 total 28mm figures = 100points.   I think.  More to come very shortly!

 

Fantastic stuff Eric! I love seeing some WWI stuff in the Challenge. I really like your trench raiders. Which manufacturer makes the figure of the MG08/15 gunner? I need one of those. In regards to your basing, frankly I think its very good - evocative without overpowering the figure (and I can attest to the hex base for the officers - I use it as well - it makes them easy to spot on the tabletop).  

Well done Eric and welcome to the Challenge!