Francis De Chevert

This model is from Front Rank and is Francis De Chevert. When not playing himself I also use him as standard brigade general figure for my French army.

Like all front rank figures the miniature was an absolute joy to paint and has wonderful detail in the model. A special note going to the horse which I believe is finest I've ever had the pleasure to paint. If the other current Front Rank horses are as good as this I'll need to buy some cavalry of which I'm normally not that keen on doing!

Thanks for viewing!:-)
Miniature Company-Front Rank

Le Royal - Artillerie

Now for some artillery to my FIW/SYW French army in form a 12 pounder Le Royal - Artillerie to give some heavy supporting punch to the army. The figures are from the superb front rank SYW range and were an absolute pleasure to paint and I highly recommend them.

I had an option between a red or blue carriage for the cannon and decided on blue carriage as I like contrast, but I may try a red one out sometime too.

Thanks for viewing!:-)
Miniature Range- Front Rank

Le Regiment de Royal- Roussillon

Up now is my 2nd FIW/SYW French regiment Le Regiment de Royal-Roussillon for my wargames project with Mike.

The figures are from Redoubt and the Flags are the lovely GMB designs. My opinion on the figures are mixed in that I like the troopers, but the command is not as good . The clean up on these was also pretty awful as I had to cut and file a lot which is my least favourite part of the hobby. I'm not sure why this is the case as Redoubts Indians and ACW I own (and like very much indeed) don't seem to have too much flash. That said, what I do like about these figures quite a bit is the posing which I think really looks the part.

Thanks for viewing!:-)
Miniature Company-Redoubt

20 Questions posed by Fran & Ray to ask yourself

Yep they snagged me like many others! The battling gents Ray and Fran came up with this questionnaire that I thought was very interesting so I thought I would join in.


1. Favourite Wargaming period and why?

That would be the American Civil War as the period has fascinated me since I was kid of 10 when I picked up the book Bruce Catton'sThe Civil War and started looking at those fantastic figure maps in it from the shelf of my Dads friend who was a history teacher.



2. Next period, money no object?

It's not so much money as it is time to do what I want is the real issue. My drawers of unpainted
figures can attest to that! So if I could suspend time and completely paint my entire ACW collection then that would be great!

3. Favourite 5 films?
This is HARD!
In no particular order:
-The last of the Mohicans




-The usual suspects

-The Shawshank Redemption

-Goodfellas

-Blazing Saddles


4. Favourite 5 TV series?

-Ken Burns The American Civil War(Probably my favourite of anything ever put on film)

 -Band Of Brothers

-Shogun

-FireFly

-Game Of Thrones

5. Favourite book and author?


Book: Shogun by James Clavell




Series: Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell




6. Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!


Robert E. Lee
I'm not sure he is the greatest general in history (with Hannibal probably taking that title), but Lee is my favourite. He was indeed a great general who fought a number of years successfully winning most of his battles outnumbered, out supplied in terms of quality rations, equipment and quantity. By and large "Bobby Lee" was respected on both sides and could be argued if not the greatest commander in history, then at least a contender for Americas greatest.

7. Favourite Wargames rules?
Tough one as I like several, but currently I'd have to say
Black Powder and Hail Caesar are proving very good indeed! Hats off to Rick and the gang!



8. Favourite Sport and team?

When I was able to play I enjoyed American Football and following the Vikings for a number of years until switching my viewing to Mixed Martial Arts competitions in particular UFC when that started up.





9. If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?

Liked Rays lotto pick idea or perhaps buy large shares of Microsoft before they went big, but if to witness a historical event or place in time then I would like to see the Merrimac and Monitor battle it out from the shore.



10. Last meal on Death Row?

American made Pizza with a whopper, fries and diet coke.


11. Fantasy relationship and why?

For the pure wow factor Scarlett Johannson who reminds me of a WWII Pin up.

12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?

James Dean



except you would need to add about 40+pounds and double chin to be more accurate, but hey it's my darn film choice! I do at least still got the hair!


13. Favourite Comic Superhero?
Batman was close, but my favourite is the Green Machine himself the HULK which is the ultimate a** kicker if there ever was one!

"You won't like me when I'm angry!"

14. Favourite Military quote?


Soldier:"Sir we are surrounded!"

Smith:"Excellent we can attack in any direction!"

General Oliver P. Smith at the battle of Chosin Reservoir in the Korean war.

15. Historical destination to visit?
Not really one place but several at once. I would like to rent a mobile home and spend a Summer touring American Civil War battlefields.



16. Biggest Wargaming regret?
I regret that I'm unable to stay focused on one project at a time so I'm always in a state of regret I suppose. Also, not so much a wargaming thing, but one thing I really regret is not keeping some of my toys and comics books I had as kid, because I would be friggin rich by now!!



And yes I had all those at one time plus a heck of a lot more!


17. Favourite Fantasy job?
ACW Battlefield tour guide


18. Favourite Song Top 5?
I'd say late 60's and 70's classic rock is my favourite and naming 5 would be impossible for me, but to name a few:

-"More then a feeling"-Boston

-"Old Time Rock and Roll"- Bob Seger

-"Angie"-Rolling Stones

-Suspicious Minds-Elvis

-"Take it easy"-The Eagles



19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?
I've had a lot of moments I've really enjoyed, but not one thought jumps out in my head enough that I would call my favourite just yet.


20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you?
-Tricky one here as I don't want to upset folks with different politics so I'll steer away from that, as I have quite a bit under that topic and I could get ugly and I do mean ugly if I start.
-Unanswered or extremely delayed e-mail responses.
-Flash and bad mould lines on my figures(I hate cleaning figures and even more so when I have to do more work).
-Wishing I could paint quite a bit faster while still maintaining a standard I like.
-That there is too few hours in a day to do what I want.
-That I can't seem to motivate myself to excise and eat better like I should(wipes cookie crumbs from his mouth while typing).
-High heat combined with humidity.
-Traffic jams.
-Overly crowded places(wargaming events not as much for some reason):-)
-Seeing people doing the most moronic thing I can think of which is texting while driving at the same time( knock it off if you do it please!)
- filling in blog CAPTCHA type ins proving I'm not a robot.
-The usual marketers trying to sell you stuff.
-Always more of course

Le Regiment de Berry

Once again posting and commenting has ran away from me, but I have a small excuse in that my computer has been down for a few days preventing me from doing so.

My interest in the French and Indian War is twofold in that I both have an interest in the skirmish fighting(little wars)with Indians, Coureurs de Bois etc. and the more formal fighting between the Regulars of the British and French. I'll start with the French and then move on to the British over time.

I would probably have started with the skirmish aspect first, but my friend Mike at http://dreispitz.blogspot.de/ is an absolute fan of the Seven Years War and wants to start gaming Maurice. While I don't much care for the Seven Years War I want to support him so I started the formal French and Indian War battle material first, because the regiments I will be doing while based in North America/Canada for French and Indian War look exactly the same as the ones fighting in Europe. In fact the battalions serving in North America had their parent regiment/HQ stationed in Europe.

The figures are from Front Rank and where quite nice miniatures to paint with nicely raised detail and easy access to parts. My critique the poses are bit limited. Typical of French units of the time I went with a light grey and white combination and then added a red which are the regimental colours. I used army painter followed by highlights except the white gaiters were I used no AP on as I like my whites very clean. I didn't save much time with painting as I added so much highlights to the AP that basically it became more another step in painting rather then a complete process.  The banners are from the fantastic GMB designs. I also used the same banner design twice as the solid white colonel's colours were left in Europe and never deployed to North America.

I know I swore off AP , but I wanted to try once more and was once again not completely happy, but the washes also don't make me completely happy either.....as both leave a brownish residue in places that I don't like at all so thought why not. While I'm reasonably pleased with the outcome it took too  long! To be honest I'm quite frustrated with painting at the moment as I can't seem to find my comfort zone. I'm searching for a way to economically paint my figures, but still have them reach the standards that satisfy me and I just can't seem to find it. I'll have to keep using the same method for the rest of the French Regulars, but on my next project I'll be trying something else out which hopefully will pay off in regards to time in and results both making me happy.

I also had time enough to add both white and scenic backgrounds to cater to preferences. Please forgive all the pics as I get carried away!!
 
Thanks for viewing!:-)
Miniature Company-Front Rank