The basic French list is pretty much ready for the table now. Of course, on the daily commute the mind wanders and before you know it these little pieces of metal and plastic have names and backstories. These are all fantastic Perry Miniatures, except the cannon and crew which are 1980s Connoisseur Miniatures. In the style of Too Fat Lardies (who created the excellent Sharp Practice game system), the names are are meant to be a bit daft ...
Major Volte-Face (LIII) is leading this force, although in what particular direction remains to be seen. In the few games that he has featured, he's certainly lived up to his name. His troops regularly move backwards in an up-beat and determined manner. Apart from failing to rally his troops, old Volte-Face has stepped in dog-dirt, been shot by a cannon, failed to bring countless volleys under control and then accidentally stood in front of his men and was shot in the back. He's leading a formation of 3 groups of 8 Line Fusiliers and is aided by Sergeant L' Excraimont (LI) who often ends up cursing under his breath and doing more than just rallying shock. I painted up a drummer just in case I need to share out Volte-Face's legendary skills by expanding his command range. The drummer / musician is a very handy extra in Sharp Practice and can really help when it comes to giving orders, rallying shock, etc later in the game.
Major Volte-Face inspects a wall.
Sergeant L'Excraimont helpfully identifies its location.
Line Fusiliers - a suitably scruffy bunch
God bless the greatcoat. Easy to paint ...
Next up is the indescribable Captain Cliche (LII) who was promoted from the ranks after leading a group of Light Infantry to honourable death and glory in my very first game of Sharp Practice. He now commands a formation of 2x8 Light Infantry / Chasseurs in Line and he has certainly lived up to his name so far - languid in attack, stoic in defence, flamboyant in the dice rolls and he possesses a keen eye for the ladies at just the wrong moment.
Captain Cliche himself, having a "power of greyskull" moment on a bridge.
He was shot soonafter.
French light infantry Chasseurs - attempting to avoid all elements of proper uniform
Cliche has led them to a well. He later fell in it.
The brave Chasseurs march on, whilst Cliche dries himself off in the background
The final formation is a group of 12 skirmishers/voltigeurs led by the nonchalant Captain Blase (LII) who has seen it all before. These chaps are great in the game - although at key moments I tend to forget those rules about the first hit on skirmishers and the cover-level being increased. I can't quite make up my mind whether it's better to keep them fresh for later in the game or use them to soak up fire and distract the enemy from the start.
This is Captain Blase (looking suspiciously like a metal Sergeant with an out-of-focus shako)
The Voltigeurs. Proving they can jump fences.
Voltigeurs. Barrels. The latter tend to be better at shooting.
Behind them, emerging from a window he broke, is the "spare" Captain With No Name
Behind them, emerging from a window he broke, is the "spare" Captain With No Name
It turns out that no list is ever complete. So I hope to add some Perry Grenadiers in Bicorns painted as Italians just because ... They will be accompanied by one of the first models I ever owned: this cannon and crew from Connoisseur Miniatures. Technically they are led by Sergeant Flatulento (LI), who also has a long-running feud with dog-mess and it is rumoured that his singing career is about to hit new heights. He has stolen an officer's uniform, but the French don't really seem to care.
Some Italian allies - and they've found a cannon.
Old Flatulento blows hard as he strides across a bridge.
He has blackened his hat for no good reason.
The Connoisseur Miniatures were bought from a games day in Sheffield in the late 1980s but I never painted them until now (ahh, the irony, the lead mountain started at the very beginning of it all) because things like Space Hulk appeared. I remember that there was a friendly man running a WW2 demonstration game in 2mm. My first ever wargame. Predictably, things went badly for my squad who were seeking a German sniper in a haystack. I will never forget the look on his face when my father suggested that we shoot all of our injured soldiers in order to get off the board and complete the mission in time for lunch! If that man is out there, thank you and sorry for breaking your carefully planned game.
If anyone's counting then the full French force looks something like this ...
Unit
|
Points
|
Line Fusiliers x3 (24)
Leader Level III [Major
Volte-Face]
Leader Level I [Sergeant L' Excraimont]
|
12
9
3
|
Light Infantry Chasseur in Line x2 (16)
Leader Level II [Captain
Cliché)
|
8
6
|
Voltigeur Skirmishers x2 (12)
Leader Level II [Captain Blasé]
|
14
6
|
Artillery
Leader Level I [Sergeant Flatulento]
|
6
3
|
Total
|
66
|
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