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Sunday, April 16, 2017

French Command - SYW in North America

Well!  A project that had not seen action at the painting desk in a very long time.  How long?  Almost exactly three years.  The 25mm French and Indian War collection has remained dormant with no new units being mustered in three years.  For a project having reached maturity and not often getting to the gaming table, long periods between additions is expected. 
Why now?  Rummaging through The Lead Pile to pull a few odds and ends for the 28mm WWII project, I came across the remnants of the FIW project.  Only one or two handfuls of figures remain unpainted and these are miscellaneous figures with no set purpose for building cohesive units.  There was enough figures to field a French command stand.  One can never have too much command, right?  With only a handful of WWII British and Germans needed to round out their platoons, adding three more figures into this tranche would hardly be noticed.  A quick little diversion.  
The three figure command stand shown today sources from a mix of manufacturers.  The mounted officer and the foot officer with spontoon are both from Dixon.  The foot officer in front is from 1st Corps.  Nice figures all.

Having mounted this French command on a round base, I am very tempted to go back to the FIW project and remount all of the command on similar round bases.  Previously, command was mounted on the same size rectangular base as the infantry.  While rework, it should not take much time.  Another quick, slightly larger diversion.

26 comments:

  1. Great looking figures Jonathan! I can't remember seeing any FIW figures on your blog at all!

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    1. Thanks, Ray!

      The building of the FIW collection mostly predates the blog but there are still a couple of dozen FIW entries buried in the blog. A search will turn up photos of the collection.

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  2. Excellent as always Jon, it reminds me that I have some unpainted Rangers in the pile somewhere as well.

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    1. Thanks, Jake! Your support is always appreciated.
      Rangers? Do you have small FIW project lurking in the background?

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    2. Yeah, it is limited to a few Colonial Militia and some unpainted Gripping Beast Rangers I have not gotten around to painting. Too many eras, too little time.

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    3. "Too many eras, too little time."

      So much truth in that!

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  3. Lovely work, I to am going back and remounting all my ECW command on round bases very nice figures.
    Best Iain

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    1. Thank you, Iain! I prefer my commands on rounds too. Most already are but the FIW collection is an lod project long before I saw the light and wisdom of roundly based command.

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  4. They look elegant and superb, wonderful job!

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  5. Great work Jonathan. Another period I have always been attracted to but never took the plunge...one day.

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    1. Thanks, Mark! Can one have too many projects? I have not found the answer to that question yet.

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  6. These painting diversions often get the dormant armies onto the tabletop.

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    1. Peter! You are spot on!

      A quick check of the gaming log shows that the last time the FIW collection was out on the table was three years ago. That game coincides exactly with the date of the last figures painted.

      We are a predictable lot...

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  7. Very nice looking command Jonathan!

    Christopher

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  8. As you say, a nice little diversion, going back to FIW. Like you, I am a fan of the round bases for command stands.

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    1. Compared to your epic works, my French command stand is indeed a very little diversion!

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  9. Excellent vignette! I can't stop looking the face
    of the second foot soldier!!You should place a cloud saying "...what the h%&l am I doing here...." :)

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    1. Thanks, George!

      The figure in the rear is a Dixon figure who many call them "pumpkin heads." Their heads and facial features are exaggerated but gives them much character.

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  10. Fine little vignette; a period to get back o the tabletop before too long!

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  11. I don't like the style of the faces (reminding me of Mars-figures), but you painted them perfectly.

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    1. Thank you! The heads and faces on some of the Dixon figures are a bit "pumpkin headed" but look good when painted.

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