Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Guest Post - 28mm Austrian Infantry Officers from GregB

28mm Austrian foot officers from Wargames Foundry
Hello again to the good folks who visit Analogue Hobbies!  It is nice to be back and intruding again with a little guest post here on Curt's blog.  Curt had a recent post featuring some 28mm French infantry officers, and I'm here to foreshadow some opposition to those fellows - featuring a group of stoic, hard-marching and (probably) hapless Habsburg officers from the Austrian Army.

Nice action in this sculpt - more variety would have been nice, but considering the huge range the Perrys did overall for Foundry, it's pretty amazing

I am painting these as I will be visiting Regina this weekend and Curt will be introducing me to "Sharp Practice" from the TooFatLardies. I find the Lardies' rules can at times be an acquired taste, but overall I really like how they embrace different approaches to different rules and settings ("Chain of Command" in particular is brilliant). My 28mm Austrians will be making another trip west down the TransCanada Highway to tangle with Curt's beautiful Napoleonic collection.  I'll save the scenario details for Curt to share, but suffice to say I am pretty psyched for the game!

This fellow is a Hungarian officer, but I snuck him in with some white pants - the big coat covers things up nicely :)

These castings are from Wargames Foundry, sculpted by the Perry twins.  These models are pretty old, and have that slightly plump look which defines a lot of the Foundry castings, versus the leaner look I personally see in the sculpts the Perrys have released under their own name in more recent years.

Love this rotund fellow saluting by doffing his helmet
Unfortunately the posing is not so varied in these Foundry Austrian officer packs so there is a bit of a monopose when they are all together, but overall they still look the business. It has been several years - at least two, maybe more - since my brushes have worked on any Austrian figures, so it is nice to be back in the groove a bit.  It was slow going at first, trying to remember how to approach the white coats etc. but having painted a good size pile of these fellows already, my memory caught up pretty quickly after the first figure.

A mix of facing colours are present - hopefully to help differentiate in the game
I left the groundwork neutral and barren - if I enjoy "Sharp Practice", I'll add more detail to it, but otherwise I will dig them out of the bases and use them for other purposes related to my 28mm forces, probably starting as a cadre to get another big 40-casting battalion started...

I know my toy Hapsburgs are looking forward to another tangle with Napoleon and his pretentious lackeys!  We can make Austria Great Again! And I can't wait to see Curt and the folks in Regina once more!

There was word of some snow in the forecast today...that has me thinking it will not be long until the next Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge is upon us? How many points would this have been worth...?

30 comments:

  1. Absolutely terrific work Greg. I particularly like the officer in the greatcoat and helmet. I get very nostalgic when I see these older castings from Foundry. Yes, they are a bit stumpy and a tad round, but they're still wonderful models.

    I look forward to seeing these lads encouraging their troops on the Marchfeld. Long live the Haplessburgs!

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    1. Thanks dude! I'm sure they will be motivated by the appropriate mix of sausage and beer...

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    2. No Brezels, you sure? Well, judging from other Lardies rules Sharp Practice isn't exactly a Beer and Brezels game anyway...

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    3. Brezels might be the key to victory, now that you mention it...

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  2. Napoleonics scare the bejazes out of me - I'd be petrified of getting the colour of a sabretache wrong, or not actually knowing what a sabretache was...

    So these impress me very much indeed!

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    1. Thanks very much Evan. Yes, different historical periods can be intimidating for sure (every time I'm tempted to try some Italian Wars stuff, I just give up after brief research attempts) but our group is pretty relaxed about the little details.

      The Napoleonic cliff is steep, but the dive is fun!

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  3. Foundry figures are great, the Perry's figures are top notch and your painting has certainly done them proud! I do wish the both of you a lot of fun using them! As to the Lardies' rules: I like Dux a lot but have serious doubts about Sharpe Practice. Anyway I am very interested to get your take on the rules so will await the batrep rather impatiently ;-)

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    1. Thanks Sander - I'm looking forward to giving Sharp Practice a try!

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    3. SP is great as a skirmish set but frankly speaking, when you heard "Napoleonics", images of large masses of men and horses moving in the battlefield come to your mind. After playing extensively before the summer, it failed to catch our imagination as Chain of Command did for IIWW. For that reason we've decided to test other large-battle rules. Currently playing with Age of Eagles, but also looking at Pickett's Charge (this is for ACW but a Napoleonic book is expected sometime next year)

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    1. Thanks Tamsin - won't be long until the next painting challenge, will it?

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  5. Wonderful brushwork Greg. Keep them coming!

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    1. Thanks Millsy - a few officers are one thing, we'll see if I tilt over and decide it is time to add another battalion to the Hapsburg lines...

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  6. Superb work - I assume the 48 figure infantry battalions are on the way?

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    1. Well, I do have a bunch of Sash & Sabre fellows racked up for a painting run...if I could find where I put the flags, it might indeed be time for more units on the table - might save that for the Challenge :)

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  7. Great looking hapsburgs, nice figures and lovely painting. Reminds me I've got 200 vixtrix to build and paint ! I think they'll be easier than the French
    Best Iain

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    1. 200 figures?! My hat's off to you Iain. I did one 32-figure unit of Victrix French and that pretty much cured me of plastics. I'm completely on board with their cost benefits and their ease of kit-bashing/moding, but I just don't have the will for the assembly and I still have a unexplainable love for the heft of metal figures.

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    2. Together we can find the cure for plastics...

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  8. Very well done Greg! Naps normally don't cut it for me but seeing your and Curts skirmish approach I'm rather tempted by some Murawski ones.... looking forward to see you painting up some more during the challenge.

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  9. Very nice paiting work Greg. And Austrians are less freuqent on the gaming tables than British recently.
    I'm planning a Napoelonic project for this year's challenge.
    Curt, when will be you launching the chalenge this year???

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  10. Hapless maybe but quite beautiful work!

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    1. Thanks! Hapless is OK, as long as they look great doing down in Flames...

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  11. Nice, Foundry Austrians! I painted hundreds of them little fellows. It's a lovely range, if for the fact they don't mix well with modern Naps. But on their own they work well.

    Nice work Greg, if you need more variety look at Hungarian officers.

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    1. Thanks Iannick! I do have one Hungarian chap in there already :)

      All this Napoleonic discussion has me wanting to get started on another unit!

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