Pocket Panzers

This week, I put the finishing touches on some more French compagnies franches de la marine, this time from Brigade Games, and finished up another Huron leader, also from Brigade Games. I wanted to add some variation to my French marine forces and include more troops that were in their issued uniform, not just frontiersman attire like most of the Conquest/Warlord Games figures are. These are from two packs of Brigade Games' French marines . I think these have been my favorite Brigade figures to paint so far. The Brigade rangers I did were well sculpted, but there was something about these figures that made getting good detail and shading almost effortless. Most are in the blue uniform coats, but there are a couple in the capote coats that give them more of a woodsman look. Here I've chosen to go with earthy colors, though I have read it was not uncommon to make these coats out of their issued uniforms. I painted up two officers or sergeants from the command pack because I...

I've wanted to add some unarmed civilians and other characters to add some flavor to our Sharp Practice games in the French and Indian War, and decided the best way to start would be with these Jesuit missionaries from Warlord Games. They'll also do nicely as a Holy Man support option for SP games, either for the Frenchmen or the so-called "praying indians" they've worked so hard to convert. I think these figures are fun and add a nice touch. They're not hard to paint up, although getting a good black with depth and shadows can be a little difficult. That being said, there's not a whole lot else to paint once you get that down. I added a little variation by changing the colors of their books. Hopefully this party of Huron will find their message - or at least their offer of a hot meal - convincing, otherwise these padres may end up as martyrs. I have a bigger batch of figures that's just about done, but I wasn't going to have time to finish them to...

  This week, my regular opponent Jesse and I were joined by two friends that we haven't gotten to game with in months, so we took a break from the French and Indian War campaign using Sharp Practice to return to Chain of Command, which is my favorite, at least, WWII ruleset. Some people in our group feel differently. We really enjoy games set during the Battle of France in 1940, but don't get to do them very often because only one person in our group has enough French built and painted to play. In this game, Jesse and I will be taking command of a mixed German tank force and a German Kradschützen motorcycle recon platoon, respectively, in a game of Big CoC. Our opponents will have a French tank platoon and a platoon of Chasseur light infantry. The scenario is Hasty Defense from the France 1940 book. The Germans are tasked with moving a unit off the enemy table edge while keeping two thirds of the table clear of enemy forces. The French must repel them and stop a breakthrough. T...

Well, June's gone along so fast that now it's the middle of July. After the big move in May, work has picked up and the summer heat has arrived, making it difficult to get the motivation the paint and ensuring that my paints dry out almost instantly, even on my wet palette. That, combined with the recent distraction of getting back into Vietnam War collecting and reenacting, has made progress very slow. Gaming, however, has continued, and before long I'll start posting the narrative battle reports from our FIW campaign here. We're still in the thick of it, so I can't say too much. With that said, this week's completed project is this batch of rangers from Brigade Games, gifted to me by my opponent in the campaign and painted for his use. I've always liked the look and lore around the rangers, even if their exploits are probably greatly exaggerated. I believe this is three figures from the command pack and then one whole pack of rangers . Like the colonists ...

After putting together two cabins and some fences for wargames set in colonial North America, it seemed only right to paint up some settlers, in this case colonists who have armed themselves to defend their livelihood from marauding French and natives. These models are Brigade Games' frontier family , and like the other Brigade models I have, they're quite nice. Definitely on the slimmer side, but detailed. My biggest gripe with Brigade figures is that the weapons are thin and bendy and the faces are all oddly similar. The set includes two figures who fit the bill for a father and mother. I personally think the man is clearly modelled off of Mel Gibson's character in the Patriot. Then two sons, both springing to action to defend the farm. If the dad is Gibson, I suppose that makes green trousers there Heath Ledger. Finally, there is a younger son and daughter carrying muskets and powder. I think the set has some nice variety, fitting a specific niche between unarmed settler...