Painting Challenge Submission 15: A New Project - Quebec 1759

The 28th Foot - 28mm figures from Warlord Games.

Hey - just what every hobbyist loves, a new project! Apologies in advance for what might a longer post...you see, this was a sort of secret project, one I had hoped to work on, under wraps, until I could just sort of surprise everyone one day with a game...but that was not a practical plan. Besides, a couple of Conscripts have already seen some of these figures, so I might as well post them.

The 35th foot, ready to give a volley. 28mm figures from Front Rank.

I guess we can just start with the technical bits - here are the British 28th and and 35th Regiments of Foot. These are 28mm castings.  The 28th Regiment (with the yellow facings)  are metal figures from Warlord Games. The 35th Regiment (with orange facings) are metal figures from Front Rank - although both casualty figures are also Front Rank castings. All flags are from GMB. These figures are intended to provide tabletop representation of British infantry units which served in the Seven Years War. In one specific battle...

The Siege of Quebec 

An engraving showing Wolfe's army making their daring crossing of the St. Lawrence and assaulting Quebec.

My hometown, Winnipeg, is about 2,500 kilometres (give or take) from the beautiful City of Quebec, in the Canadian province of the same name. This distance physically, geographically and culturally between Winnipeg and Quebec City is significant. Yet a great deal about the life I have been fortunate to lead to this point here in Canada was shaped by the events which occurred outside Quebec City on September 13, 1759, during the Seven Years War. On this day a European-style field engagement took place between a British force led by British General James Wolfe and the French forces of General Louis-Joseph Montcalm.  This was the battle of the Plains of Abraham.

Officer on the left, keeping thing in order...

As battles of the era go, this one was small, and relatively short - a shattering volley of musketry from the British side settling matters and sending the French reeling. This was not Leuthen or Zorndorf or Minden. But its impact on history was significant, leading to the fall of "New France" and, for a time, British rule over a substantial portion of North America (until certain subsequent events). The Battle of the Plains of Abraham is an important moment in the history of the country known today as "Canada".

The uniforms of the British infantry musicians in that era were really something...

The British conquered "New France", and in subsequent negotiations, ended up keeping the territory...and, well, more than 2,000 years later, here I sit in Canada. Lots of history there, too much to cover in any one blog post :) 

Rear view showing the detail on the Front Rank sculpts. Very nice, very pleasing to paint!

But the lines of history are amazing to me...so much drawing back to this one battle, a brief and yet so significant engagement, a turning point in history.  So, so much, even today, all going back to that one moment outside of Quebec when the British infantry unleashed a devastating musket volley...

Rear detail on the Warlord sculpts - the grenadiers are fully loaded, but the regular troops are not carrying as much.

I studied it all from when I was very young.  I visited Quebec City in junior high, and was stunned by the battlefield park, the walls of Old Quebec, the old cannons...wow, it captured my imagination. Our teachers in school had their biases, and in their telling this battle was just one more hapless military moment for France - just like WW2 (France as a hopeless case in things military is a staple of popular culture and history in North America).

But of course nothing is so simple. I read the amazing book "Death or Victory" by Dan Snow.  It is a gripping read, and it is fascinating to put the battle that day into its proper context of a drawn out and dangerous summer campaign - one that was actually quite terrifying and vicious. Yes, the British won, but it was a close-run thing.  There is so much more to share - for example,  the defeat on the Plains of Abraham is well known, but the part where the French returned to Quebec the next year and defeated the British at the Battle of St. Foy, putting their victory in Quebec at risk, is not so well known... :)

But I'm already blabbing too long about this. That is all best left for other posts or comments from smarter people.

A little closer view of the command and colour party - that one ensign is carrying, like, a broadsword? In one hand? Bad @ss fellow, I'm sure. Odd sculpt. But overall, I really enjoy these Warlord figures.

Some years ago, it occurred to me that it might be fun to wargame this battle.  I know many gamers do the "French & Indian War", but I was very focused on this one battle: Plains of Abraham. That battle, that moment - that was what I was interested in.  This one, formed up, European-style battle that took place in North America in the Seven Years War.  Cool uniforms, history...man, it would be so neat!

Read this book!!

I started doing the research, faffing around with figures, which scale etc. This has been going on in the background for years.  I was always painting something else too, so hardly hobby paralysis - but this project was going in my mind for a long, long time...I don't know why, but I thought I could, somehow, paint all of the units and surprise everyone. But, like, come on...that was dumb. So here we go!

The 35th and 28th Foot were on the right of Wolfe's battle line that day in 1759.  The 35th seemed unique because they had orange facings, and even now when I see them I feel like having some ice cream for some reason.

Many thanks to Byron and his 3D printer for making the little dice trays that I placed on to the casualty markers.

The Front Rank figures are a lot of fun. I love the sculpts. The heft. They are just great and relaxing to paint.  But Front Rank sadly charge extortionate amounts for shipping and their "battalion packs" are a bit...unusual, at least for me (YMMV).  The main bump for me is the inclusion of two musicians in the 24-figure pack.  Again, it's all personal taste, but that is not what I would do with a 24-figure unit. Also...the uniforms of the British musicians are insane - certainly a challenge to paint, and doing two of them per unit isn't my ideal...although it's a chance to practice, I guess!

A casualty figure on a round base - with a little tray for dice useful to mark casualties for different game systems.

The Warlord sculpts are very, very nice.  Huge bonus - the Warlord musicians and grenadiers have the details on their hats and uniforms cast right into the figures...it's pretty amazing! Great stuff.  But Warlord sometimes is just...odd. In this case, the unit boxes come with 18 figures.  This is a strange number, when so many people out there use 12 or 24 figures for a unit.  You can buy extra musketeers of course, but it's very strange/irritating.  Seems like a GW-style move to me.

Gotta love the grenadiers! Man...those hats...great sculpts from Warlord.

I'm working my way "along the line" on this project - starting from the right, and painting each unit in turn for each side.  I have it relatively mapped out...will still take a while, I'm sure, though hopefully just general posting and sharing pictures will help it go faster.  I might change up my approach - the so-called "Louisbourg Grenadiers" would be up next for the British line, so I might change gears and start on the left of Montcalm's opposing line, or just skip to the British centre.  There are still things to figure out in terms of representing the Louisbourg Grenadiers on the table - would they have carried a standard? If so, which regiment, the senior one? Would their officers have mitres or tricornes? Things to ponder.

The line starts to take shape on the Plains of My Kitchen Island.

Anyway, my brushes have turned to other projects for now. But I hope to have more to share with this project as I go along .Thanks for reading, and I hope you are not asleep.

Painting Challenge Submission 14 - 1/56 Scale Hanomag APCs for Winter WW2

1/56 scale Hanomag APCs - models from Warlord Games "Bolt Action" range.

More output for my late WW2 winter Germans.  I have painted up a nice basic force of infantry, but they will need some vehicles to get around the gaming table.  These Hanomags should do the trick - they are 1/56 scale plastic kits from Warlord Games "Bolt Action" range (and I think Italeri is involved somehow too).

Seated plastic figures to be used showing some troops are embarked.

When I started this project, one hobby quirk I needed to make peace with is the use of 1/56 scale models in 28mm gaming.  I laugh at how consistently the gaming world insists that 1/56 scale is the "proper" scale for 28mm figures. So many manufacturers go to the length of adding "1/56" right after "28mm".  And yet, even the most cursory observation on any gaming table shows the link doesn't hold up.  A better scale would be 1/50 or 1/48...

The 28mm infantry look huge compared to the 1/56 APC...oh well.

And yet...while 1/50 and 1/48 options exist, they are either too much fuss (complex model kits with too many parts), too expensive (the rare Solidos - they are pricey now) or made of resin that is difficult to work with (check for "#flakegate" over at the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge).  1/56 scale is the least-bad option, and because so much of the hobby industry remains committed to this group hallucination, 1/56 scale offers the most options in terms of available vehicles to choose from. Thus I swallow the blue pill...1/56 scale is perfect for 28mm!

AA MG mounted on the backs of two of the APCs. 

The Hanomag is an iconic piece of German WW2 kit.  They built thousands of these things, but there were never enough to meet the enormous demands created by all-out war on two fronts. They would typically be found among one of the battalions of the Panzer and Panzer Grenadier divisions, and among "favoured" units.  These are 251/Ds, later models of the basic troop carrying half tracks, apparently easier for German indsutry to build.

Bring on the winter muck!

Don't look too closely...the license plates all have the same number. I wish Warlord would vary their decal sheets...

I suppose one can go too far when it comes to weathering vehicles, but when it comes to winter AFVs, as far as I'm concerned one cannot go far enough. Winter is beautiful, but the pristine white snow lasts for so long as you stand still and never move...winter conditions are somehow still muddy, dirty and - yes, it's true - somehow even DUSTY.  I know this, I have grown up with it. Here in Winnipeg we in peaceful times in a city with concrete roads, and yet in the winter my red truck turns grey about 72 hours after any snowfall, and a grey-brown about 15 minutes after any thaw.

Vehicle 412, ready to roll out.

Another view, showing the optional embarked infantry models.

These vehicles would be driving through mud, on dirt roads, then snow...seeing snow, dirt, and even rain (it happens in the winter, after all). Plus, it's a war!  The white-wash would have been applied in a hurry, at a depot or rear area, probably with one eye on escape as the Russians could arrive at any moment...I want my winter German AFVs to "look the part", and so I have mucked them up here.

Tried to put some muck and snow inside the halftracks.

Open-topped vehicles are always an extra challenge in large scales...after all, you can see inside them! I tried to muck up the inside a bit. I also painted a few of the seated infantry figures that came with the kits, so as to use as markers to show when an infantry unit is aboard the APC.  I see that Warlord sells winter MG-34 gunners for the Hanomags...wish I had thought to order some.  Oh well.

Out for a walk in the forest with my dogs - it was so nice to see the sun!

Some more WW2 items are still clearing the painting desk before other subjects pop up - stay tuned for more, and thanks for visiting!

Painting Challenge Submission 13 - Female WW2 Russian Scout in 28mm

Death to the fascist invaders! 28mm figure from Warlord Games' "Bolt Action" range.

In Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, I continue to plot my way along the "Challenge Island" map (for info on how and why the participants do that, see here).  I needed another balloon ride, and so I looked for another chance to paint a female figure.  The Soviet Army of WW2 offered a great opportunity to do so.

28mm Female Russian Infantry Scout

Dangerous work, close to the enemy - a female scout for my 28mm winter WW2 Russians.

As you have seen I have been working on a 28mm winter WW2 project.  Amid the many submissions involving various late WW2 Germans, a few have asked if and when their tabletop opposition might appear? Well, I'm hoping Dallas will get his 28mm winter US troops organized for some "Battle of The Bulge" games.  But in terms of painting opposition myself, well, I'm focused on the Eastern Front as always, so this is the first opponent - a 28mm Female Russian Infantry Scout.  This is a metal figure from Warlord Games' "Bolt Action" Range.

As always, great details on these metal sculpts from Warlord.

The "scout" set from Warlord's WW2 Russian figure range is not intended for winter, strictly speaking.  They are sculpted wearing the "ameoba" style body suits, which are often seen in browns and a (rather bright) green.  So I'm taking artistic license of a sort - I don't think it's a huge reach, as scouting would still need to be done during the winter fighting, so I just painted the suit white instead.  Warlord also tends to give you some options for alternate heads for the figures, and they include a female head among them - so I thought this would be a great figure to accompany a passage on Lady Sarah's Balloon.

No reason the scout suits couldn't be white, right?

The war in the east in WW2 was so tremendous and vast in scale.  I read about it, I try to study it...but it is hard to truly understand or picture, such a complete and total mobilization of an entire people across vast distances in an all-out effort to repel the Germans and their allies, and vanquish them totally.  Of course all the main countries in the conflict did the most they could to pit their entire national power into the effort - it was total war. But in the east, and Russia in particular...the scale, it was incredible, and the sacrifice it took - the numbers get so large, so fast, they sort of lose their impact.

Russian women - fighting at the front lines.

Women made tremendous contributions to the Allied war effort in many countries. But in the case of Russia, this contribution stood out to my mind.  Russian women - hundreds of thousands of them - served in what were thought of as traditional non combatant roles - nurses, medical support, industry.  But huge swathes of Russian territory came under occupation, and as the front lines found the Russian people, Russian women made important contributions to front-line fighting.  As pilots, snipers, partisans, machine gunners, all in the front line - decorated for bravery and courage under fire, and in untold cases, making the ultimate sacrifice along side so, so many of their fellow people.

Once again, some fine blanquette from Limoux to enjoy during the balloon trip.

Bad Squiddo Games have some fantastic sculpts of female Russian soldiers - just look here for some examples painted by the incredibly talented Dave V. I will look to add one of their sniper teams down the road. But the scouts will work for now, and I thought it would be great to have one of my first 28mm Russian painted as part of the small scouting squad, the first of what I hope will be a healthy-sized collection of 28mm Winter Russians to oppose all of the Germans I have been painting.  Scouting is dangerous work, but she is more than up to the task...we see here she has snuck into a position, and is tossing a grenade toward some unwary invaders...

This balloon trip involves a perilous destination...

This figure allowed me to take a balloon trip directly to the centre of "Challenge Island", where Curt will hit me with a hobby challenge to complete prior to March 21st. Stay tuned for more on that.  In the meantime, thanks for looking!

Painting Challenge Submission 12 - WW2 German 8cm Mortar and LMG Team

28mm WW2 Germans in winter kit - figures a mix of Warlord's "Bolt Action" range and Offensive Miniatures' "Elite" range.

The 28mm Winter WW2 project continues to move along. I continue to "round out" my initial German forces with some additional support in the form of an 8cm mortar team and an additional MG42 LMG team.  The mortar team are 28mm figures from Warlord's "Bolt Action" range - the mortar and crew are all metal, while the spotter is a plastic figure. The LMG team are 28mm metal figures from the "Elite" range produced by "Offensive Miniatures" (these are awesome figures, although the name of the business is unfortunate and not ideal for Google searches...)

8cm Mortar Team

Great weapon team from Warlord Games.

On-table mortars and artillery are a bit iffy when in comes to 28mm gaming, but the models are fun and the presence of an 8cm tube is at least somewhat plausible (as opposed to, say, a 12cm mortar).  This is yet another fine piece of sculpting from Warlord's range of metal "Bolt Action" figures.

The crew crowd around, ready to fire another round...

As always, Warlord's winter WW2 German figures have a lot of character.

Love the fellow at the back, pointing to his map - "Are we sure about these coordinates?"

It is often the case in different rules that a spotter of some sort is required in order for the mortar to fire indirectly on enemy targets. I had one figure that would probably do the trick already from the Platoon Command pack, but I wanted to give some of the Warlord 28mm plastic infantry a try, so I put this fellow together - he could act as a spotter/commander for the mortar team, or just a late war German NCO generally.

NCO/spotter - plastic 28mm figure from Warlord.

Not terrible, considering it's a plastic historical figure.

Useful as a commander for the mortar team, or just an NCO figure generally.

I have a generally dim view of plastic historical miniatures, but the plastic WW2 Germans in winter kit from Warlord are not too bad. The selection of poses available for LMG teams in the plastic box is terrible, but for regular infantry and officers, not too bad at all.  The weapon loads definitely skew to late war, which is fine for my project, but if you are looking for winter of 1941 or 1942 they might not be so good.  They paint up OK - not as nice as proper metal figures of course, but they are OK.

MG 42 Team

Snug in winter parkas, ready to bring the MG42 into action.

When I decided I wanted to dive into this project, I naturally had wasted invested much time in many online searches for different figures I might use.  I had seen these "Offensive" miniatures advertised many times, and thought I would give them a go - the sculpts look neat, with a lot of character.  The range is fairly complete - and there are no prone LMG teams, so, a win!

Lots of nice details on these sculpts.

Sadly, they took a long time to arrive in the post. The combination of Canada Post and the Canada Customs agency is a potent force for delay...toss in the Christmas holiday, and it was going to take a long time to arrive.  So by the time they did get here, I had already painted several units of figures from Warlord's Range, leaving these other ones on the back-burner for now.  Still, I am short on LMG teams, and I did want to at least try some of these new ones out, so I pulled this LMG team out of one of the squad packs.

I always enjoy an LMG gunner carrying belts and belts of ammo...

These are very nice sculpts - 28mm for sure, although not as large or heavy as Warlord's "Bolt Action" figures. I also found the faces lacked some of the definition and character you get on the Warlord sculpts.  But overall, these are still wonderful sculpts, and I highly, highly recommend them to folks looking for 28mm late-war Germans. 

Thanks for looking!

Painting Challenge Submission 11 - WW2 German Support Teams in Winter Kit

German WW2 infantry support elements in winter kit - 28mm figures from Warlord Games.

This submission for Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is for another location on the "Challenge Island" - Piper's Peak.  One condition to fulfill the theme requirements of this location are figures "taking a peak". This gave me the chance to add further to my winter WW2 project with a group of German platoon support elements - all 28mm metal figures from Warlord Games' "Bolt Action" range.

Sniper Team - Taking a "Peak"

"Have we escaped that absurd Sandhill?"

This pair is the core of the submission for this Challenge Island location. There are two snipers/marksmen - one "taking a peak" through a pair of binoculars, the other "taking a peak" down the sights of his rifle, drawing a bead on an unfortunate battlefield opponent...

Great sculpts from Warlord games.

Generally I dislike prone figures in 28mm, but given their battlefield roles, having these guys prone makes sense. They are great sculpts and castings once again from Warlord.

Panzerschreck Team

AT support for my German infantry.

Another important addition for any late-war German WW2 infantry force, the Panzerschreck will provide some important anti-tank capability.  While many of the infantry will be carrying one-shot Panzerfausts, this Panzerschreck has better range and capability, and this two-man team can focus on taking out enemy armour while their colleagues fire and maneuver on the battlefield.

Mind the back blast of exhaust...

I tried to get some cammo peeking out from underneath the reversible winter smock...

Whether moving through the forests of the Ardennes or the hills north-west of Budapest, my winter WW2 Germans will need the support on the tabletop.

Flamethrower Team

"Don't be hasty"...apparently the motto of this flamethrower team...

This little set is...odd. As you might have guessed, I have a low opinion of prone figures in any miniatures sized larger than 15mm...but sometimes, it makes sense (like the sniper team).  But a prone flamethrower team...I don't get it. Usually one sees flamethrower miniatures moving forward with dash and determination - after all, it was a very dangerous assignment.  But these fellows are...sitting on the ground. So, I tried to imagine some kinds of stories happening with this flamethrower team...

"If we wait here, the enemy will come to us!"

Maybe they know how few flamethrower crews survive action, and so they are taking it easy, and not rushing forward to precipitously? Or perhaps they have cooked up some kind of Wile. E. Coyote-level ambush plan using their flamethrower to hit the bottom of a vehicle or enemy patrol?  It's a different take on the usual action-oriented pose, that's for sure.

Another location visited...looks to be some sort of Tower in the distance...might have to check that out...

In the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge we are painting for "points" - it's a race against your own target, so you are Challenging yourself.  I set a goal of 1,000 points of painting, and these figures got me past the half-way mark toward my target.  Thanks for visiting, and stay tuned for more.