28mm Perry French Command, Foundry Young Guard Skirmishers and Plowed Field from Architects of War

 

Its been sort of hectic lately, but I managed to get some stuff off the hobby-table this week. I actually started this French command stand at the beginning of the Painting Challenge back in early February. I dunno why, but I found I just wasn't inspired by it, so its been waiting in the wings ever since. Nonetheless this weekend I resolved to put my head down and get it done so here it is.

These are 28mm Perry sculpts from their Waterloo range. The abandoned drum is a plastic extra from a Victrix box. Its funny - I've discovered that most of my command stands are composed of officers who are basically yelling at one another. I guess I always assume that tempers run high during battle so having these guys barking at each other seems sensible.

'Mon Dieu, vous êtes un imbécile! Louis! Did you leave your bloody bicorne back in your tent again?'

I used Army Painter Quickshade 'Strong Tone' on the mounted figures, matte sprayed them and then went over them again to pick up the highlights. I was concerned that the gray horse would end up being too 'muddy'  but it seemed to turn out alright once the highlight was applied. I'm pretty happy with how the Quickshade works on the whole. It suits my painting method which I liken to Kabuki theater makeup - it looks good at a distance, but as you get closer it becomes increasingly  blocky and frankly kinda ugly (Hmm, reminds me of a few pub experiences I've had...). That being said I find it works well for my purposes as I reason most wargaming stuff is seen at an arm's length away.

Next up is a group of 8 Young Guard skirmishers. These are from Foundry but the sculpts, of course, are Perry. I remember years ago seeing these castings in a colour advertisement in 'Wargames Illustrated'. I've always liked the prone and seated figures. These are on the smallish side of 25mm but they seem in the right spirit for Young Guard.

And finally here is another piece of terrain from my winter Architects of War purchase, a large plowed field with a low stone wall on the edge. Like the Vegetable Garden I pretty much painted this stock from the box and overall I'm pleased with the results.

Again, I just added some scenic tufts and groundwork to give it some extra texture.

The command stand and skirmishers will nudge me twelve points closer to John's score as we go into the final three weeks of the challenge.