It's 39 degrees here in Sydney today [It got to 42 at my place - Millsy]. I did have a whole lot of other lead figures painted, but unfortunately they melted. Nevertheless, I did manage to finish off my first figures for yet another new project. So here's a French Wilderness force from Northstar Miniatures, ready for our planned forays into Muskets and Tomahawks at the gaming club this year.
The force is led by a Compagnie de la Marine officer, and includes ten of his men.
Supporting them are six Coureur des Bois, trappers sporting impressive hipster beards.
The force is completed by six Hurons.
The French Indian Wars is a new period for me, and I'm not entirely confident about various things I've painted such as the Compagnie de la Marine uniforms, Huron skin colour and their war paint. Any feedback is appreciated!
I went for an Autumn feel with the bases, thanks particularly to some leaves Paul O'G gave me about two years ago. I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be today than strolling in a nice cool New England forest in Autumn. That's 23 figures, so 115 points please Millsy!
Impressive work Alan, all the more because you're obviously not convinced about how accurate you've been with skin tones and uniform colours. They *look* right to my relatively untutored eye and just as importantly the colour choices and tones work well together. I'm especially impressed Huron face paint and skin tones and since you asked so nicely, 115 points it shall be! Cheers, Millsy
Love the colour tones.. Think you have them spot on
ReplyDeleteThey look good mate, they will make worthy opponents I'm sure!
ReplyDeleteVery nice bunch.should make for fun games in the woods. cheers
ReplyDeleteI took all my references for colours from the Last of the Mohicans film. So I am no expert at all.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent collection very fitting for such good rules.
Sadly it was the 1920 film starring Wallace Beery (as Magua) that Clint used as a reference, which meant he had to paint his figures in greyscale ;)
DeleteGreat painting, the skintones are really nice, a good force to spend the indian summer in canada.
ReplyDeleteVery nice work Dux :)
ReplyDeleteVery nice work Alan. Makes me want to break out the tomahawk and dance around the fire. But then, a lot of things do. :)
ReplyDeleteI've seen the photos.
DeleteSounds like a good plan for our next games night really...
DeleteUniforms look right to me and very well painted.
ReplyDeleteVery nice work.
ReplyDeleteAlan
ReplyDeleteI'll send you some -13C vibes to help cool you down. These are wonderful figures and you've done a fine job on them. If I can add some Canadian content to the review, I'd say that your skin tones are good. The blue of the Companies Franches is typically deeper than what you've represented but a officer working with the tribes for a period might well find his waistcoat fading. i can dig out some useful links if you like.
Cheers Peter
Thanks Peter - I'd appreciate the links as these certainly won't be the last figures in the project! I was unsure about the blue, and saw some conflicting interpretations online.
DeleteGreat looking force!
ReplyDeleteChristopher
Very nice! great to see the hipsters making an appearance, where would the company be without them?
ReplyDeleteVery nice Alan!
ReplyDeleteThese are really cool, it's a good period to play
ReplyDeleteReally cool entry - but if I keep hearing about the summer down under, I'm going to need a LOT more booze...
ReplyDeleteI'm no expert but I do like what I see
ReplyDeleteian
Excellent work with paints and beautifully decorated base.
ReplyDeleteFabulous work!
ReplyDeleteGreat work, that looks terrific!
ReplyDeleteThese are just brilliant. I love that you've made them all individuals. These would be a pleasure to game with/against.
ReplyDeleteThese are just brilliant. I love that you've made them all individuals. These would be a pleasure to game with/against.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're getting Phoenix in the Summer temperatures. Nice work on these figures. I don't know about authenticity but they do look "right". The basing is great.
ReplyDeleteMighty fine work and my favorite period!
ReplyDeleteThe Voyeurs and traders wore a wide variety of gear and often a fair amount of accouterments traded from my ancestors. The Marines wore blues of various amounts and shades often with additions and substitutions from native allies.
My ancestors love bright colors, and we did not have much by way of metals except for what was traded for. A lot of the arm bands and jewelry were bone, wood, leather and beadwork. The leggings were leather(animal hide) from deer, bear, wolf. You can alter the colors with local dyes, and tanning methods which ranged throughout the brown spectrum from blueish and greenish browns to warm reddish brown ones.
Lots of briar and brambles you needed the gaiters to protect you from and bear fat was used to help water proof them from all the wetlands my ancestors would hunt and travel through. ;)
Really fine work though, I like these A LOT! ;)
Thank you David. I want to paint more Huron and other First Nations from the North East. Do you have any guidance about war paint? I am keen to do as much tribute to your ancestors as possible, with deep respect.
ReplyDeleteI'm just happy seeing more of my ancestors sprouting up! ;)
ReplyDeleteRed, white, and black are the easiest to make and the most common. Stippled lines, bold lines, divisions of the face. Red for blood including covering the hands to elbows, white for bones, and black for death. I'm still uncertain if the band's on the face were for darkening the shimmer spots or cool factor, but it was all meant to scare the other guy.
More than three colors was showboating. Important leaders would wear a lot. Some also tattooed with wood ash. Not as expansive as the Maori, but intricate stippled designs.
The women ran most of the tribes, the men ran only war and hunting. Most eastern tribes had a clan animal totem being bear, wolf, crow, etc. The turtle is the most powerful. Animal spits are very important.
The sterotype is Mohawks for Eastern tribes, but each one was different. Most had a modified top knot type Mohawk held with a roach and a spray of feathers like a turkey. Very common with the Huron/Ottawa which were allies and closely related. I'm Potawatomi of the Algonquin Nation and my tribe wore turbans as did the Sauk(Fox) tribe. We also allied with the French and only fought for the British in the war of 1812. You can pick a warrior's tribe by his hair style more than any other indicator except for war club style.
But I digress, black, white and red are really common with blue and yellow being available but in limited amounts due to being harder to make.
White/ pale buckskin(hide) was common too but reserved for "Sunday-going-to-meeting". I hope that helps, I'm still digging into books and picking stuff up myself. Only 120ish speakers of Potawatomi left and artifacts and history is very patchy. I do plan on doing a coffee table uniform book of the French and Indian War when I retire. I still have a way to go though! ;)
I'll buy it when you do! Thanks again.
DeleteVery nice! I look forwards to seeing these in a few battle reports.
ReplyDeleteTop work my friend - though I think you've let yourself down with the shield work this time :-)
ReplyDelete