Painting Challenge Submission 17 - 28mm Bavarians for FPW

Watch out! Here come the Bavarians! 28mm figures from "Eagles of Empire".

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 is one of my favourite settings for gaming, and when I enjoy a project in this hobby, I tend to paint figures for it in multiple scales. So while I have been cranking out a fair of amount of 10mm Franco Prussian War work during this edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, I also have some 28mm figures to add. 

One of the Challenge participants, MartinN (a world-class painter and super-nice guy) is a big fan of Bavarians - which makes sense, given that he is a Bavarian himself. In one of my recent 10mm FPW submissions, he lamented the "obvious lack of Bavarians" in my recent FPW painting output. I duly promised I would redress that oversight before this edition of the AHPC was finished - and thus we have this group of figures and flag - are all from the excellent "Eagles of Empire" figure range.

"Eagles of Empire" have some beautiful sculpts, just lovely.

Nice mix of poses.

A look at some of the kit the soldiers carried.

There are so many cool uniforms in the Franco-Prussian War. While those of the French often steal the show, the uniforms of the Bavarian army from the period are very cool, with their unique "cornflower blue" and Napoleonic-throwback helmets. Trying to get this share of blue done properly - or, I should say, in a shade that I subjectively believe to be done "properly" - was a struggle, and you don't need to look too closely to see there is variation here and there as I experimented. Some were too bright, and some were too dark. Fiddling around is not ideal, but I am still really pleased with them, and even with the variations, in a group, I think they look pretty good overall, ready to take on the French!

I must also credit "Eagles of Empire" for beautiful sculpts. They are taller and thinner, but oh man, are they nice! So much animation and character, with nice proportions. I just love painting their stuff.

NCO encouraging the lads!

The Bavarian army made a major contribution to the fighting in the Franco-Prussian War, both in the early battles in and around Alsace, and in the later fighting against the dogged resistance of the French Republican regime. 

Another view of the base with the NCO. These three-figure bases are 40mm rounds.

These figures are based for skirmish gaming with the "Eagles of Empire" rules. I am generally wary of group basing in 28mm when crewed weapons are not involved (one of many odd hobby hangups which afflict my brain), but I thought I would finally try the specific basing suggested in EoE rules. That is what you see here - a command base (with the officer, flag and musician) and two "squads", each of seven models. Each "squad" contains one base with three figures, and two bases with two figures each.  

These guys are on 30mm bases.

I just love these sculpts - who wouldn't follow that standard bearer forward???

The drummer looks a little blurry (sorry), but again, great character in the sculpt - he looks like he is playing the hell out of that drum! Charge!!

I should note the EoE rules are agnostic when it comes to basing - this approach is recommended, but hardly mandatory, and the rules themselves are fairly light and fun, so just about any basing approach will legitimately work. That said, now that I have tried it, I really like the look, and will probably be doing several more units in this way.

My kitchen is stormed by Bavarian infantry - I had better secure the beer!

Of course, one can never have just ONE unit of infantry like this, so don't be surprised if more appear at some point in the future. Thanks for reading everyone, and be sure to enjoy all of the "beat-the-deadline" submissions this week from the various Conscripts participating in the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge! Stay safe and stay sane folks!