Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Friendly Temptations

25mm Foundry WWI French Infantry
My gaming buddies often have a gift exchange at Christmas.  Sometimes, the gifts are meant to fill a small niche in an existing project or expand upon reference material.  Other times, the gifts are less altruistic and the goal is to "guide" the recipient into a desired direction.  I, of course, have been guilty of both.  One of the gifts from Scott this past Christmas may fall into the latter category.  That is correct.  One of the gifts from Scott!  Very generous guy.
25mm Foundry WWI French Infantry
With an interest in WWI history and Chain of Command (CoC), Scott had been dropping a few hints that it might be quite fun to build small forces for CoC WWI.  Until listening to Dan Carlin's four part series on Blueprint for Armageddon, I never held much interest in gaming WWI outside of air combat games.  Anyway, without further explanation, I now find the early years of the war very interesting.  

Scott, knowing my attraction to the French in their pantaloon rouge, noted that the French went into battle in 1914 sporting such a uniform combination.  To further "prime the pump" one of the gifts contained an eight figure pack of Wargames Foundry WWI French.  When I opened the package, he said, "here, give these a try!"  Did I hear snickering under his breath?  I cannot quite recall.

With that, the figures went into the painting queue and here they are.  Scott, thank you for the figures.  They were a fun little painting distraction.
The second gift from Scott?  A wargame from Worthington Games entitled, Hold the Line.   Hold the Line is a low complexity hex and counter game featuring a number of battles from the AWI.  While only one game has seen action on the gaming table, it was good fun and a very enjoyable one hour spent.  I look forward to more outings with this one.   
Hold the Line: Bemis Heights

20 comments:

  1. Interesting temptations Jon, love the French infantry...

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  2. Replies
    1. It is good to have friends watching out for your interests...

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  3. Interesting unit for the much neglected early period. I too have enjoyed the benefits of receiving the "less than altruistic" gifts from my compatriots.

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  4. Early Great War--Franco-Prussian on steroids, to include dandy French uniforms. Quite a temptation, indeed. Nicely rendered figures!

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  5. i like those Jonathan. Quite magnificent moustaches, aren't they?

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  6. Well done! I've had a fascination for early war since reading Guns of August some 50 years ago.

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    1. Thanks, Bill! Scott has been dropping subtle hints about WWI and recommended I listen to Carlin's Hardcore History on the Great War. Excellent series and highly recommended!

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  7. Now you're on your own for the rest of the army . . . And your gift led to me making a huge order from Siberia!

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    1. So many interesting figures and periods; so little time.

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  8. Lovely looking french, go on another period, you know you want to!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks, Iain! I have another period that is drawing my attention at the moment. Of course, I am easily distracted.

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  9. Very nice, Jon. Why am I reminded of the parable of the mustard seed? Dijon, of course! :-)

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    1. Thank you, Peter! Maybe the parable would have been more fitting if Scott had given only ONE figure?

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