Monday, June 16, 2014

28mm Spanish Civil War: Spanish Foreign Legion HMG Team


Ever since we got back from our vacation I've been suffering from an infuriating case of hobby ADHD - working on a zillion things at once and seemingly getting nothing done at all. Well, I guess that's not entirely true as I managed to stay the course and finish this HMG stand for my much-neglected SCW collection. 

This trio is a team of Spanish Foreign Legionnaires crewing a French-designed Hotchkiss heavy machine-gun. 


Franco was one the Spanish Foreign Legion's senior commanders and it, along with the ferocious Moroccan Regulares (both of whom made up the Army of Africa), proved to be a vital component in his bid for power early in the civil war. Their professionalism and ruthlessness provided a much-needed bulwark for the Nationalist cause, buying them precious time as the quality and quantity of their manpower gradually increased.


This 28mm set, sculpted by the talented (and prolific) Paul Hicks, is from Empress Miniatures. I took a fairly stock approach to the group. The only thing I added was a wooden crate as otherwise the team seemed bit too exposed.  This stand will be a welcome addition to my collection as, oddly, I have many squad weapons for the Republicans but almost nothing for the Nationalists (which runs fairly opposite to how things were historically).

I have a bunch of SCW stuff sitting in the wings, all in various levels of completion, so we'll see if I can stop being a useless butterfly and get some of them done-and-dusted over the next few weeks. Wish me luck!

36 comments:

  1. Very nice looking little diorama! Excellent paintjob that really does the sculpts justice too. Can't stop loving Paul Hick's work. Brilliant man

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is an amazing artist. I'm constantly astounded at how much work he manages to churn out. A sculpting machine!

      Delete
  2. An excellent paintjob and a very nice arrangement. Very well done, Curt!
    This piece of eye candy should give your motivation a real push for the SCW!

    Good Luck !
    Stefan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Stefan! I hope to host a SCW game later in July so that should work as impetus to get some stuff done.

      Delete
    2. Games to come are always a good impetus I presume...
      ;-)

      Delete
    3. Yes, they really help to crack the whip.

      Delete
  3. Beautiful stuff dude. And focus is for the weak...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely work Curt. Painting ADHD? You really need to sit back and....ooh! Squirrel!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tamsin and, yes, may shiny squirrels indeed.

      Delete
  5. That's a cracking piece of work my good man; looks to me that you have settled back into the hobby splendidly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Michael - the holiday was excellent but it is nice to be back at the hobby desk - now if I could only focus...

      Delete
  6. How many wargames painters does it take to change a.... Oh look Shinies!

    Very nice work on these and they will fit in with the other very well indeed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Clint. It's always a bit worrying when you come back to a project to see if you can make the new stuff mesh in with the old.

      Delete
  7. Very interesting period to collect and game. Nice work.

    John

    ReplyDelete
  8. Very nice indeed mate. Empress make lovely stuff which is hardly surprising with the estimable Mr Hicks working for them...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Millsy. Yes, Mr. Hicks makes things go along very easy. Brilliant fellow.

      Delete
  9. Great work dude! And focus is for the weak...the mark of the true hobbyist is completing a 28mm Spanish Civil War MG team, and following it up with a squad of Space Marines, and following THAT up with a platoon of 15mm IDF infantry, and then experimenting with different basing for 6mm Napoleonics, and so on...your mania is inspirational!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha! Thanks Greg - you make it seem all so rational now. You must be right...

      Delete
  10. A great looking piece Curt and reminds me I need to get back on my SCW project! Oh your not alone in jumping around like a frog on speed between projects!

    Christopher

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Christopher - It's good to know that I have 'a bird of a feather' out there!

      Delete
  11. Excellent work! I really love how you manage to create little vignettes with your team weapons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very kind of you to say Nick. BTW I should have 'a little something' for you soon...

      Delete
    2. I'm really looking forward to this!

      Delete
  12. Lovely once again - too much inspiration for me!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fantastic painting work, again. You have done full justice to Paul Hicks´ models.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Excellent painting, composition and basing!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I like the whole work you've made with this!
    Our club next project (autumn-winter) will be Spanish Civil War related (of course with Chain of Command)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers Benito! I look forward to seeing your club's efforts with the period. Chain of Command provides such a nice fit for the SCW but I'd like to see more special rules/options made available(or get off my lazy butt and do them myself).

      Delete

Thanks for your comment! As long as you're not a spam droid I'll have it up on the blog soon. :)