Franco-Prussian War - 28mm French Artillery

28mm French 4-pounder guns & crew for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Metal models and miniatures from Perry.

After a nice long run of "Star Wars Legion", my brushes depart suddenly to return to a more familiar historical setting - the Franco-Prussian War. These are 28mm metal guns and figures from Perry Miniatures' new line for the Franco-Prussian War. These are 4-pounder rifled muzzle-loading artillery pieces, the mainstay of the French artillery during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

"Fire on those Prussians!"

It was great to see that artillery pieces and crews have been among the early releases for the Perry's new 28mm Franco-Prussian War figure range. Proper guns and crews from 1870 are otherwise lacking - even in the relatively complete Wargames Foundry range (also sculpted by the Perrys) does not have proper 4-pound rifled guns for the French side. So when these appeared as new releases from Perry Miniatures earlier this fall, I ordered a pair of guns right away. 

Spoked wheels are always terrible to work with - and these were particularly awful. Check out the tags that needed trimming...

Painting artillery is always a drag - the spoked wheels are generally a nightmare to work with, and these were no exception. While I won't pretend these guns were fun to build and paint, they are nonetheless a very welcome addition to my 28mm collection.

I do like the sculpt of the fellow pulling the lanyard...nice and dramatic....

While the guns were a pain in the ass, the French crew were fun to paint up - in general, the French uniforms for this period are just lovely, and I really like working on them.    

Ready for action on the table top, at some unknown time in the future...

The French artillery performed badly during the Franco-Prussian War, but even with whatever negative modifiers and other issues they might be saddled with, a French player will still want to at least try to use their guns on the advancing Prussians. These two pieces, together with the previously painted mitrailleuse can combine to represent the artillery complement of a French infantry division on the tabletop. I also still have the 12-pounder reserve gun, so the French artillery for my 28mm Franco-Prussian War is now in pretty good shape! 

That's all for now - regular "Star Wars Legion" service will resume shortly, I expect. 

Star Wars Legion Rebel Troopers and Pathfinders - Hoth Style!

Rebel Troopers

So after having painted two units of Rebel Veterans for my Hoth Rebel Alliance crew, I wanted to introduce some variety with some other models. The great thing about the Rebels is that they're somewhat rag-tag, so some differences in uniform and kit are certainly OK. I've tried to minimize any jarring effects by painting these models in a "Hoth palette" (lots of Corax White, Rakarth Flesh, Zandri Dust, Steel Legion Drab, and XV-88) - the reader can be the judge of how well this worked.

Here's the squad leader with a Rebel rifleman.

Gatling blaster trooper and a dude with a grenade launcher (?) of some kind.

Some diversity introduced into the bunch with a Duros trooper.

Backpacks are similar to those included with the Rebel Veterans, that's good.

Rebel Pathfinders

The other unit I just finished was the Rebel Pathfinders, a very thoughtful birthday present from Conscript Dave (thanks Dave!) I enjoyed painting these guys as well, but there are a couple things to note on this box - most notably that there are only six figures in the unit, rather than the standard seven. You do get a variety of weapons here too - a long sniper rifle as well as a heavy blaster (wielded by the alien Bistan, at right) and another strange blaster in the hands of the alien Pao, at far left. These two guys are from Rogue One, of course. 

These are my favourite models from the set - especially the leader, who looks very Hoth-like with his winter hat and goggles.

The leader also sports an interesting set of body armour which I painted in Mournfang and Skrag Brown. The crouching sniper also is so equipped.

Here's the sniper with Pao and Bistan. I like Bistan and his heavy blaster - he's dressed in some sort of spacesuit which I could have researched, I guess, if I weren't so lazy. Anyway it got painted in Steel Legion Drab mostly. Not a huge fan of Pao as the pose is a bit meh, but another heavy weapon of some kind I suppose.

Well there you go - I reckon the Rebels are all set now with 30-some models ready to fight it out on Hoth. Just waiting for one last squad of snowtroopers from a 3D printing operation (and a special surprise addition) to finish off Blizzard Force, then we'll be ready for a game!

SW Legion: Father And Son

The most complicated father-son relationship to be found in a galaxy far, far away...figures from Fantasy Flight Games.

More Star Wars Legion? Of course more Star Wars Legion! Here we have the final two figures from the Fantasy' Flight's "Legion" Core Set - Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. These are plastic 28mm size figures from Fantasy Flight Games. 

Are you choking on something?

I love the pose on Vader...one can instantly imagine the direct "motivation" being provided on the scene...

These characters are pop culture icons - not much I can say about them, other than it's great to have them available for any "Star Wars Legion" games that might happen out here in Northern Ontario.  

Luke, striking a defiant pose...

Trusty blaster on his hip as well, in case the light sabre is not the right tool for the job...but really, when would that be?

The sculpts of these iconic figures are excellent, but they are let down by the crappy bendy plastic that FFG opted to use in the manufacture of the figures. BOTH of the light sabres were quite droopy, and no amount of hot water or other tricks would straighten them out. I did my best to sort things out, but at a certain point, I figured "f*ck it" and just painted them up the best I could. But to be clear, bendy plastic is just the sh*ts when it comes to wargaming miniatures.

Galactic Empire figures from the Star Wars Legion core set.

One other thing you will notice immediately is that there is no OSL-type effect on the Luke and Vader figures. I simply cannot wrap my head around that process, and the odds that I would have managed it even close to properly on these two figures are zero. You can search elsewhere on this blog for figures by Dave and Dallas to see how cool OSL can be when done right...maybe I will try it one day. But for now, plain old colours to represent the light sabres!

Rebel Alliance figures from the Star Wars Legion core set. 

With Vader and Luke finished, I have now managed to complete all of the figures from the Core Set! That is a decent-sized small force for each side of the conflict, already bolstered by Rebel and Imperial Specialists! This will bring a halt to the Star Wars Legion painting run for now, as I move back to some other projects, but I'm sure it won't be too long until more Star Wars figures are under my brush - especially with Curt's next "Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge" on the horizon. Thanks for reading!

Star Wars Legion: Imperial Scout Bikes

Imperial Scout Troopers on speeder bikes - here comes fun!

November has arrived, and so has MORE painting for "Star Wars Legion"! Here we have two Imperial Scout Troopers on 74-Z speeder bikes. These are 28mm plastic models from Fantasy Flight Games, and came as part of the Imperial forces in the "Star Wars Legion" core box.

Gun that engine, before the rebel scum escape!

Service in the army of the Galactic Empire has a lot of downsides, but it always seemed to be that the poor Scout Troopers seemed to have a particularly difficult time of things. Sure, riding around on those speeder bikes looks like fun, but things always seem to conclude with some manner of terrible mishap - if some Ewok didn't already steal your ride!

I really like the pose on this figure - plus it is easy to imagine him racing straight into something while not paying attention! Such is the fate of Imperial Scout Troopers!

The Scout Troopers do provide some pretty hilarious moments, too - with the discussions between the two Scouts that kicked off the finale of season one for "The Mandalorian" being a particular high point of hilarity and enjoyment!

Racing to battle!

I had been procrastinating on finishing these models...mounted figures of any sort are always a bit of a pain, and these speeder bike models were particularly tricky. You'll see that one fellow doesn't quite line up exactly with the front of his notched base...that is because I failed to realize the tiny plastic stem actually has a specific alignment to fit into the bottom of the bike, and this realization came only AFTER the super glue took hold. I didn't want to risk breaking the model, so I left well enough alone...

One other challenge, of course, getting the white colour right...I have used an acrylic extender to try and squeeze more life out of my "White Scar" paint, and this did not quite work out - the extender make the paint lumpy, and thus you can see in the photos that the white armour on these fellows has a not-very-smooth texture...I can hear Duncan Rhodes right now in a video, extolling the virtues of "two thin coats"...anyway....

Off to their next maneuver!

Zipping around at high speed on the gaming table will be fun - I certainly enjoyed that aspect of things during my first game of "Star Wars Legion". We knew the Scout Troopers would meet some manner of terrible end, their bikes crashing into something and blowing up - and we were not disappointed! But it is all good fun. These two will surely do their bit to restore order to the galaxy as they maneuver in support of the Imperial Forces on the gaming table in the future. 

Have to share a big "thank you" to Dallas - I really didn't have an idea of the Scout Trooper uniform beyond a very general notion of "white, you know, with black too". Dallas shared some great pictures, which made the painting process much easier.

That's all for now - but more "Legion" painting work should be along any day now...thanks for reading!

Star Wars Legion: Imperial Specialists

Imperial Specialists for Fantasy Flight Games' "Star Wars Legion".

The "Star Wars Legion" buildup continues! This update isn't as cool as Dallas' most recent posting, but progress is still progress...here we have some Imperial Specialists - the counterpoint to the Rebel Specialists I finished a couple of weeks ago. These are 28mm plastic figures from Fantasy Flight Games/Atomic Mass Games/Insert name of whatever a**hole PE fund controls the license.

The contents of the "Specialists" boxes are consistent - up first we have an officer from the Galactic Empire. That pistol she is carrying might have been used to guard a prisoner, fire on a Rebel terrorist, or perhaps to help focus the thinking of an Imperial trooper. She is also reporting something into the ubiquitous "communicators" we see throughout "Star Wars".

Imperial officer, ready to report into her communicator.

She has either just shot, or is just about to shoot, some unfortunate person or thing...

This is a very nice figure - a no-nonsense Imperial Officer, an excellent sculpt in my opinion.

Then we have the communications specialist. Looks like a bit of a hapless job...but then, so many jobs in the armed forces of the Galactic Empire would appear to come with a lot of downsides...again, a nice sculpt. I put some varnish on his helmet...wanted to give this guy the appearance of a rear-area support figure, which would call for more polish in terms of the uniform.

Imperial Communications Specialist.

View of the comms gear on his back.

Then we come to the droids. There is the "medical" droid which...looks like it is not coming to heal you, so much as to harvest one or more organs for recycling. Seems to project just the right "bed side manner" for the Galactic Empire. 

"Medical" droid on the left, and astromech droid on the right.

And what is it with the Galactic Empire? Even the cute astromech droids can look sinister when in service of The Empire - not as scary, perhaps, as the "medical" droid, but still...

As with the Rebel Specialists, these figures all bring specific roles and abilities to the "Star Wars Legion" game, but I am more keen just to have them as general characters, accent pieces or objectives for a Star Wars skirmish game of some kind. That's all for now - Happy Halloween everyone, and stay tuned for more. Thanks for reading!

Star Wars Legion Massive Imperial Update (including AT-ST!)

Hey all, just popping in with a pretty big update for my Star Wars Legion "Hoth" project. Basically I've finished all of the Imperial models I have on hand so just wanted to post on that. My little component of "Blizzard Force" is pictured above.

Part of the update is just Snowtroopers - two more sections are complete, making three sections for the Snowtrooper platoon! (I have another seven-trooper section on the way - those are custom 3D prints that I'm really looking forward to painting). These ones are done in the standard style - cloth bits Rakarth Flesh washed with Agrax Earthshade, then re-highlighted with Rakarth Flesh, and white bits Corax White highlighted with White Scar. So easy and simple. 

And while I'd posted the Imperial officer and comms trooper before, I finished the medical droid and astromech to complete the support section. 

Here's the medical droid and astromech.

Another addition to the support section comes from the "Cassian Andor and K-2SO" box, in the form of this KX-series security droid.

Rather than fit the arms from the rogue droid K-2SO's appearance in Rogue One, I set the droid up "unarmed" as I assume that's how it would normally appear.

Lastly, I finished the Legion AT-ST. What a superb model this is. So easy to assemble (it comes already partially assembled from the "factory") and super-detailed - it's just awesome.

I equipped the model with the optional light blasters on the LH side of the crew capsule and the concussion grenade launcher on the RH side. 

Painting was pretty straightforward - basecoat of Mechanicus Standard Grey, highlighted with Administratum Grey and Dawnstone. I did some streaking with Nuln Oil in a different sort of technique - I loaded a large brush with Nuln Oil and dried most of it off, then brushed it downwards to simulate some kind of water streaking. I also applied Nuln Oil to joints and on the legs before lightening it all up a bit with some drybrushing.

Then I went over with the sponge chipping to create some wear and a bit of blaster damage. 

So that's Blizzard Force nearly done, except for some custom 3D-printed goodies that are on the way. I think I have enough models painted now to have a game, so I'll try to put something together on that front in the next couple weeks!

Star Wars Legion: Rebel AT-RT

Rebel AT-RT prepares to move out!

"Star Wars Legion" miniatures continue to cross the painting desk...here is the Rebel AT-RT walker from the Core Set. It is a plastic model from Fantasy Flight Games. There are three different weapon options for the machine - I went with the laser cannon option.

The pilot seems awfully exposed up there...

In "Star Wars Legion", the heavy weapon options for the Rebellion forces are kind of limited. This can be a problem, particularly if your opponents roll out with something like at AT-ST, and start blasting your forces to pieces. That is why I selected the laser cannon as the weapon for AT-RT - I think it was the closest thing to "anti-tank" weapon the rebels could choose (I might be wrong - I have only played the game once, after all). Nonetheless, the rebellion will need all the help it can get if it comes up against scary heavy stuff on the Imperial side of things, even if that heavy weapon needs to be mounted on a sort-of outdated and relatively light combat platform like the AT-RT.

I do like how the pilot still has his own blaster as well - just in case he needs to make a hasty exit, I expect...

I was pretty heavy with the weathering on this thing, reasoning that the chassis would look a bit old, and a little beat up, even as it continued to work in support for the Rebel cause. The pilot is painted to match the colours of the other rebel infantry I painted from the Core Set.

Ready to provide the Rebellion with some heavy fire support...

In our first game of "Legion", I played on the Imperial side, and we used our AT-ST to blast one of these things to pieces over the course of the first two turns, and then went on to have a lot of fun chewing up Rebel squads (not that it prevented them from sabotaging one of our reactors - terrorists!) - but a lesson from that game is that one AT-RT may not be enough, so I might add a second one to my Rebel collection, just to give them a bit of a chance in the event they come up against the AT-STs on the other side.

That's all for now - thanks for reading, and stay tuned for (even) more Legion content, coming soon!