For My Dear Mssrs Ronan and Le Manchou

All,

This is the last of the armies I have finished, though I do have a work-in-progress that I'm going to photo and hang here tomorrow.  So, without further adieu, here is my latest army; and what are they?  They are Early War French, circa 1940.  What was the inspiration for this army?  I must tell you that I previously had very little interest in Early War, and even less interest in having a French force.  But my friends Ronan and Le Manchou have been putting on a campaign featuring France vs. Germany in 1940, using the Lardies' Chain of Command rules.  I've really enjoyed reading the battle reports Ronan has posted, which piqued my interest in Early War.  To be honest, I still wasn't particularly interested in the French, figuring any attraction to them was strictly due to the fun and interesting batreps.  But I began reading up on Early War, and the more I read the more I saw the French troops are generally given short shrift regarding their fight against the Germans, and that, contrary to popular belief, there was actually some very heavy, pitched fighting that occurred.  Well, that was enough for me, so I must give a hearty "Merci Beaucoups" to my friends across the ocean for sparking my interest.

As always they are 10mm, and this particular force is 100% Minifigs.  It's funny; pretty much everything I own is either Pendraken or Minifigs.  I have a good amount of troops from both, and in some cases, I happily mix the two.  Most importantly, I've found Leon and Dave to both be great guys that go out of their way to help you out and get you what you need.  So, the funny thing is, whenever I post a new army I always feel a bit self-conscious if the force in question is available from both companies.  There's no problem if I get something from Pendraken that Minifigs doesn't have, or vice versa; the internal stress comes when I buy something all from one company even though both companies have troops to offer.  I guess what I'm trying to say is, I love you both! ;)

Having said all that, I went with Minifigs' French because my Early War Germans (as well as Soviets, Japanese, US Marines, and Brits, for that matter) are Minifigs, whilst my Late-War Germans (and US, Brit Airborne, Brit 8th Army, German Afrika Korps, US Ardennes, and German Ardennes) are Pendraken.  My moderns are mostly Minifigs, largely due to Pendraken just now getting around to the Post-Vietnam period.

The entire force: armor on the left, with a single Char B, two Somuas, and three R35 tanks.  Heavy Weapons and HQ in the center, with five officers, a 75mm gun and horse-drawn tow, two 25mm AT guns, four MGs, three mortars, and three AT rifles.  On the right are the infantry, with my customary fifteen stands of riflemen.

The armor force, with R35's in the front, Char B at top left, Somuas at top right.

Another view.  I'm not in love with my camo job on the Char B...

But I like the camo on the Somuas...

And I love the camo I put on the R35s.

This photo reminds me that I lied...  It's not 100% Minifigs, because I put a Pendraken tank commander on one of the R35s and on the Char B.

Closeup of Somuas.

The Char B.

Showing off the tank commander, which is actually a Brit.  I put brown on them, trying to make it look like the leather jackets and helmets they wore, but I'm not sure it worked very well.

Heavy Wpns and Officers.

The French '75.'

25mm ATGs.

French MGs.

AT rifles.

81mm mortars.

The French officers.  Not sure what color the kepis should be, I used a sand color.

The infantry.  Five platoons of three squads.

Another view.

Opposite.

Some closeups.  This one really irks me; the gent second from right (with binos) was meant to be an officer, but I was one rifleman short, so he went on a rifle stand...

More rifles.

And another set of rifles.  I really like the poses, and the castings are fantastic, very crisp, detail is great.  I'm really proud of these little guys.  I won't say they're the best paint job I've done, but I sure spent a lot of time on them, using quite a few colors, despite them not even having camo uniforms!

Well, one more set of photos to go, then I need to get some fightin' in this weekend, so stand by for more!

V/R,
Jack