From GregB: 28mm Franco-Prussian War - French Artillery & Prussian Command (62 Points)

28mm castings from Wargames Foundry's Franco-Prussian War range.

Greetings again to all participants in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge.  It is lovely to be back with you all, bending brushes, flinging paint, and sawing away at our respective piles (or, in my case, hoard) of unpainted stuff.  For my first entry to the Ninth Edition of the Challenge, I will pick up from a theme from my body of work in the last edition - namely the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 in 28mm.

It was just over a year ago that I plunged into this period and setting, tempted by the amazing uniforms, cast of characters and compelling setting I found reading about the period.  I have pursued this project at two different "levels" - a collection of individually-based 28mm figures for skirmish gaming, and a collection of 28mm figures based in groups to represent battalions/regiments with the goal of, at some point, playing a small battle using the "Black Powder" rules.  The items in this submission are part of the latter effort - two command bases for the Prussian forces, and an artillery piece for the Imperial French Army.  The figures are all from Wargames Foundry's excellent collection, which was sculpted by the Perrys.

French Artillery

French 12-pound artillery piece and crew from 1870 in 28mm. 

The Franco-Prussian war occurred at the very end of the "Black Powder" period.  Rifles and artillery were starting to achieve much longer effective ranges on the battlefield, such that having artillery on the table for a 28mm-scaled game is a bit of a stretch.

Nice animation on the gunner figure, ready with the lanyard. 

Or, at least it is for the Prussians, perhaps. Not so much for the French. This French 12-pound piece with four crew looks like a formidable weapon, but the French artillery, particularly in the opening "Imperial Phase" of the Franco-Prussian War, was ineffective-bordering-on-useless.  Time had passed these muzzle-loading pieces by. Toss in the dud fuses, lack of percussion-triggered shells etc. and you have yet another chapter to add to the "All The Sh*t That Went Wrong In 1870" book for the French.

Great sculpts from the Perrys...little things, like the one crewman with the rag wrapped around his head, an example of the great stuff you see in Perry castings. 

The uniforms of the French gunners bear a striking resemblance to the uniforms of the Union Army in the US civil war - the blue cloth, the kepis...thankfully the gaiters set them a touch apart, as does (I hope) the red piping on the pants and kepi.

"Vive l'Empereur!" (sadly, basically a flag with the word "bang" will be all that happens...if they are lucky....

This piece will represent a French battery on the gaming table, perhaps getting one or two shots away before the Prussian breech-loading guns blast it to vapour.

Prussian Command

Like the most "Black Powder" players, I usually represent commanders on round bases - the more figures on the base, the more senior level of command being represented. There are two bases, and two levels of command represented here in this entry.

"Over there sir!"

The mounted officer, based together with a foot officer, will represent a "Brigade" commander for the Prussians ("Brigade" in the general, Black-Powder-Rules sense, not necessarily an actual brigade).  It is fairly similar to another command base I painted in October - there is only one casting for the mounted Prussian officer in the Foundry collection, so I use different foot officers to give some variety.

"You know, from up here on my saddle, I really don't think that is such a big deal..."

I like the combination here - the infantry officer is pretty animated, gesturing with his sword (like, "The French are dug into the ridge straight ahead!"), while the senior commander is fairly indifferent to whatever information is being relayed ("Don't bother me with excuses. Forward!"). It strikes me as a nice encapsulation of the command attitude that sent a sizeable portion of the Prussian Army into the teeth of the French Chassepot rifles during the battle of St. Privat (which, of course, the French still found a way to lose, but anyway).

Prussian high command vignette from Wargames Foundry.

The larger round base with the three figures and the table will represent the "Army" commander for the Prussian side in my "Black Powder" game.  Again, I love the spirit conveyed by these castings - the senior officer has reviewed the latest dispatches brought in from the cavalry scouts (the fellow in green is a Hussar).  He is utterly perplexed - surely the French couldn't be doing...that? Better smoke my pipe and think it over while my ADC (the Uhlan rocking the long red coat) deals with this messenger.

"Latest dispatch from the front sir!"

Overall I continue to absolutely love this period.  The sculpts from Wargames Foundry - cast in proper metal, like all real, true and honourable wargaming figures should be - are an absolute joy to paint.  The high-command vignette in particular was a treat - I love the beard on that senior officer! It's so serious, it almost made me think it could have been the Prussian King himself - but there are no Iron Crosses or other frippery on the figure, so I expect he represents another one of the senior Prussian echelons instead of a royal persona.  The pose, chilling with his pipe, with the awesome table, covered in dispatches, a Prussian picklehaube and a sabre...just brilliant, great stuff from the Perrys.

"But where are those lattes we asked for? Are we in France, or not?"

So, for points, well...we have 8 foot models, one mounted model and one artillery piece, all in 28mm...I think that is 60 points? Do tables count for points? I will leave that for Curt. Anyway, hopefully enough for a decent opening entry.  I hope to fire in some more stuff before Christmas but...in case I don't, Merry Christmas to all Challenge participants!

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Great work Greg! I remember us visiting Les Invalides a few years ago and both of us staring slack-jawed at the Franco-Prussian War displays, especially the one for the Battle of Sedan. I should have known then you wouldn't be able to help yourself once you found some figures that struck your fancy.

Knowing how much you hate painting artillery I'm guessing you're getting this one out of the way early so you can get onto stuff that you actually like to work on. Nonetheless, the gun and crew looks terrific, if somewhat hapless. I particularly like the guy at the rear of the base. That is one dejected Poilu. He's probably saying something like, 'Oui, riiight, 'we're really going to plaster them this time. I'm not even going to cover my ears...''

The Prussians, as usual, look like they have their sh*t together and are ready to kick Gallic butt. But this is at the cost of being known as 'those guys'. This is like the 19th century version of a tier-one 40K power-gamer. Yeah sure, they win all the time, but everyone, no really, EVERYONE, absolutely hates them. ;P

As to scoring. The artillery and command figures are easy: 60 points. That table must be equal to at least a 28mm tank, right?! Geez, look at all the German stuff on it! In game terms it must be the equivalent to a French brigade at least. Okay, lets go with 2 points. 

Great work Dude, now bring it on!