From SylvainR: Tray 1 - French 1939-1940 - Artillery and transport (106 points)

 Good day Challengers, it's good to be with you all again this year.

I suspect I must be the most predictable painter of the lot. This year again, I'm working on WW2 6mm armies. For those who don't already know, a friend of mine, Robert R. who collected armies for years retired from the hobby 2 years ago and generously gave me his collection.

Last summer, after I finally got my 3-month-delayed package from England containing the staff cars I ordered, I made a little diorama of him as "Colonel Robichaud", commander of the first French forces to fight the German Blitzkrieg near Sedan. The seasoned officer is seen here inspecting a famous "canon de 75" close to the front line on the last day of the Phoney War.

Anyway, over the summer, I spent some time re-basing the miniatures in the collection that were painted while putting aside for the Challenge what was not painted. Here is the first tray with a few units to complete my French 1939-1940 army, namely some artillery pieces and some transport elements.

First, let's take a closer look at the Renault AHS trucks. I needed transport for the third French company of the motorized infantry battalion (fusiliers portés). The French motorized companies have 3 platoons each as opposed to 4 platoons for the non-motorized companies. But then I realized that if I want to use the French army as proxies for other early WW2 armies, like the Greeks or the Poles, I need trucks for a 4th platoon. So that is why some trucks are coded in red or blue, while the majority are coded green.

A close-up on the trucks, showing how a paint job in 6mm scale could look great on the table but sloppy when looked at very close. The models are from GHQ.

Below, eight 105mm howitzers, Schneider modèle 1913, with four 155mm howitzers, GPF (Grande Puissance Filloux) modèle 1917. These were designed for WW1 and still could provide good service in ww2.

A closer look at the 105mm, with a camouflaged shield. The guns and servants are from Heroics&Ros.

And the 155mm with it's very long carriage. I almost had to use a bigger base to fit this gun. The guns and servants are from Heroics&Ros.

Finally, a bunch of staff cars for various duties, like transporting observers and officers. I did a camouflage on some of the vehicles, but the wash on these vehicles turned out to be a little too heavy. I decided not to repaint them, I will just pretend that these cars need to be washed. For the vehicles in the foreground, I sculpted the base as paved road instead of dirt road, for a change.

Close up on the support staff cars. Models from Heroics & Ros.

And a close up on the dedicated transports for the captains of the infantry companies. Models from Heroics & Ros.

Now for points:

48 artillerymen at 1/2 point each = 24 points.

12 artillery pieces at 1 point each = 12 points.

35 vehicles at 2 points each = 70 points

Total = 106 points.

This will also count towards the "Really Little Guys" duel.

Thanks for reading!

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Fabulous work, Sylvain!

I have the distinct pleasure of being able to game with Sylvain and enjoy his wonderful toy soldiers, so it's great to see him adding to his collection with these fine early war French. I especially like the Robichaud command stand with the General inspecting one of the famous 'Soixante-Quinze' (also a great cocktail). Also, fantastic basing and labelling, which is paramount with these little fellas. 

Well done, Sylvain. I look forward to our next game so we may see some of these on the tabletop.

- Curt