From ChrisK - A Final Push with 1940 French (315 points)

Hello,

This is my last gasp, and I've been sitting on a couple of these in their finished state, so as to not overload poor dear, sweet, patient Barks...

...but then I couldn't get pics of them in time, so it's aaaaaall ended up being last minute anyway. Ugh. Sorry!

ANYWAY, please find below, for your perusal, the last AHPC submissions from my ongoing 28mm '1940 Battle of France' project for Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy magazine. I'll keep the blurb brief as I'm late, but thank you everyone for your kind comments, questions and encouragement over the last three months! 

Especially Barks.

Senegalese Tirailleurs = 80pts: 

60pts + 20pt 'Imperial' bonus for Coruscant, as they're troops of the French Empire(!).

These are Warlord's metal set of ten figures, with two additional from Wargames Atlantic, with their red headgear re-sculpted to match. They've got covers rolled-up over their headgear, leaving only the tops visible. 

Fire Support = 30pts:

(six troops @ 5pts/each)

Also from Warlord, a Hotchkiss MMG team and a medium mortar.

More yet from Warlord (of course)...

...Assorted specialist troops = 45pts:

(nine troops @ 5pts/each)

A sniper, an AT rifle and 3 miscellanous loaders/spotters

A medic dragging a casualty (this one's a 3D print), plus an observer/radio op and medic from Warlord. 

Three motorcycle/sidecar combinations = 60pts:

The middle one is a 3D print (from Eskice; the same as the medic, above) and the two flanking it are the beautiful sculpts from Crusader MIniatures.

AMC 35 = 20pts:

This one is a resin print of a cheap and cheerful (free and pretty ropey) STL file; origin unknown.

Two Laffly S35T heavy artillery tractors = 40pts:

These are great models from Mad Bob Miniatures, although I've added a plasticard French towing sign to the top of the cab:

Two comandeered civilian trucks = 40pts:

 

One plainly painted in olive, the other with a more creative crew. Both of these are repainted diecast Fordson truck toys. 

Aaaaaaaand that's it. C'est fini.

I've painted something like 75 troops and 16 vehicles for this challenge, and I'm really proud of myself...although I'm ashamed to say I've not painted a single female figure this time. Mea culpa.

Thank you to everyone, and I hope to see you all next year. 

- ChrisK,

for Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy.

From DaveD - Well nothing like going out with a bang! mighty fine!

From ChrisK: More Early-War French Vehicles (140pts)

Hullo, All,

I've been a little poorly recently, so I'll be light on the words in this entry, but I did at least manage to get some pics done in the lightbox! Thanks again, Barks, by the way, for your supportive advice.

To cut to the chase, I continue to plough through by pile of 1940 French, and today, I present to you a vertitable melange of efforts - I'll outline them here, and then a few more notes will follow with the pics:

• Panhard 178 Armoured Car;
• Laffly W15 Tank Hunter;
• Renault R40;
• a requisitioned civilian truck, and
• three Renault FT-17s.

Panhard 178: 

This is the Warlord Games model, and - since taking the photos - I have noticed and fixed the surpised look on the commander's face!

Laffly W15 Tank Hunter: 

Armed with the formidable 47mm anti-tank gun, this model is a resin print, courtesy of a friend of mine, from an STL designer who goes by 'Eskice'. 

This came with an accompanying 3D-printed crew, but they needed some... er... corrective surgery, so they're not yet done.

Renault R40: 

This is a combination of an old resin hull with FDM-printed tracks and turret, and I'm pleased to note that it was a wonderfully appropriate gift for my 40th birthday.

Requisitioned Fordson Truck:

This is a die-cast model (always my preference for soft-skin transports), and I used it to practise one of the wackier approaches to vehicular camo practised by the French. Reference pics of such vehicles are somewhat tricky to pin-down, but I did read a couple of times about local units applying their own patterns to suddenly-requisitioned transports, so it struck me that someone might well have wanted to get creative... 

...or maybe it was a little too much requisitioned Absinthe?

Renault FT-17s

Finally, and from the same source as the Laffly tank-hunter, my friend also printed me a trio of baby FT-17s, with both MG and AT turret variants. There's not a huge amount to say about these, other than that they are greener on the lower hull than they might appear in these pics, wherein the drybrushed brown seems to have been picked up far more. 

For seven vehicles at this scale, then, I would like to claim 140 points, please. I felt a little guilty about claiming the full-whack for the FTs, but then I figured they each have an extra turret and the time spent on that wretched truck might hopefully make up for it!

Thanks for swinging by; keep up the great work,

- ChrisK

 

This is a brilliant showcase of early-war Gallic variety- bravo! Of course you may claim each of these as a full 20 point vehicle. For me, the star of the show is the truck canvas. The Laffly is a delightfully odd truck as well.

Barks