From GregB - 10mm French Artillery for 1870 (33 points)

Some 10mm French artillery and crew for the Franco-Prussian war of 1870.

Since I have my 10mm figures out, 10mm painting is on my mind and I'm kind of in a 10mm painting "streak", I thought I would bring my brushes along to an ongoing project - the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 in 10mm. This posting includes various artillery units to bulk up the French side of my collection. There are two 12-pounders, three 4-pounders and one Mitrailleuse, plus crews. All of these castings are from Pendraken, with one  exception: of one of the 4-pound guns and crew, which came from Magister Millitum.

A couple of 4-pounders in the front.

I love this period, but I generally have a lot of trouble finding to motivation to paint artillery from any "Black Powder" setting...it's the f***ing spoked wheels, a pain in the @ss to paint in any scale. A lot of my projects slow to a crawl when it comes to artillery. So as I contemplated moving along on my 10mm FPW, I figured the best thing to do would be to get another batch of guns and crews out of the way first, so everything else can be more fun.

Mitrailleuse in the foreground...at this scale, it looks almost identical to a 4-pounder, so the gun shield helps it stand out a bit.

These guns were rifled muzzle loading artillery pieces, and their poor performance overall contributed to the very poor showing of the French during the war in 1870. It wasn't just the guns themselves, but the doctrine and training around them - and dud fuses didn't help either! Where the Prussian artillery (with their breech-loading guns) was often decisive, the French guns generally underperformed, contributing (together with many, many other factors) to the rapid defeat of the Imperial Army in the summer of 1870.

The 12-pounders...big guns from the Corps-level artillery reserve, meant to provide support on the battlefield where the action is hottest/most critical.

These miniatures can be used for different rules, but generally each gun and crew will represent one battery on the table. The 12-pounders and two of the 4-pounders will be from the Corps-level artillery reserve, while one 4-pounder and the Mitrailleuse will be attached to a specific division. Two of the 4-pounders are actually horse artillery, but by this period the distinction between the horse crews and general artillery crews is fading, and the differences in the uniforms of the gunners do not stand out in 10mm - I just used three crew instead of four crew for the horse batteries - and at some point when I paint limbers for the guns the distinction will be clearer.

In terms of points, I have six guns, and 21 crew, all in 10mm, so that should account for about 33 points or so. Thanks for reading - stay sane - or at least try to! 

Artillery, the Queen of the Battlefield. Great guns and crews, Greg.

Tamsin