Artizan March Or Die Additions

[Siaba]

Not at all. The uniform is much different.

[doug6125]

Rif raf miniatures do that range for the rif wars, though I think theyve taken thenm off their site at the mo

[former user]

is this thread already too dead to resurrect?

has anyone tried the mounted company or the Chasseurs yet?

[Arthur]

is this thread already too dead to resurrect?

The Artizan March or Die thread is like the villain in old Hollywood serials : you find out it's still alive even when you thought it had died several times over  

Haven't ordered any of the Chasseurs d'Afrique yet but I have quite a few of the mounted mule companies packs. Very nice figures with lots of variants, and they withstood the single-piece casting treament pretty well, methinks (the mule and riders are not separate). Artizan have even released one more variation on the theme since my original post (greatcoat and kepi this time around) :



The next releases should include some Senegalese tirailleurs command (Nick Eyre confirmed they are in the pipeline) and presumably more Moroccans.

[Patrice]

presumably more Moroccans.

Perhaps with different headgear/hoods?

OOooh all this is getting interesting. I just did some research on the web… lots of old postcards, and documents etc… there could be some nice ideas for Pulp scenarios too, between the Conference of Algesiras (1906) and WWI; there were rival consulates (French, German, British, Spanish…) in the main towns, newspapers were complaining about criminality and depravation etc…

I never thought of gaming this although I heard memories about Morocco in my family, my grandparents were in the French colonial administration: my great-grandfather was captain of the gunboat "Marrakchi" (Morrocan flag, French officers) in 1913-14 and he was later a harbour officer, and my grandfather was a radio in Casablanca airport in the 1920s!

[former user]

Very nice figures with lots of variants, and they withstood the single-piece casting treament pretty well, methinks (the mule and riders are not separate). Artizan have even released one more variation on the theme since my original post (greatcoat and kepi this time around)

That was exactly what I wanted to ask. In the pictures some appeared separate cast and some single piece. Are all single-piece?
how about the officers? also the mounted legion officers are not shown in a picture

[Arthur]

Perhaps with different headgear/hoods?

Dunno, that's pure speculation on my part. But it would make sense for Mike Owen to add more Moroccans as there are only a handful of packs out at the moment.

[Arthur]

That was exactly what I wanted to ask. In the pictures some appeared separate cast and some single piece. Are all single-piece?
how about the officers? also the mounted legion officers are not shown in a picture

Packs MOD 041, MOD 042 and MOD 043 are single-piece castings (presumably because it would have been impossible to get the greatcoat to hang on the mule convincingly if the rider had been cast separately). Command pack MOD 040 has separate riders and comes with horses rather than mules, which is fine for the officer but rather odd for the NCO : I'd recommend mounting him on one of the spare mules from pack MOD 037 if you also bought that one.

You can't see it on the pic but the NCO on the left also has a hole in the back, presumably to accomodate a separate rifle since he doesn't have a pistol and comes with full webbing and rifle ammo pouches :



The rifle wasn't included in my pack (wanted to email the good folks at North Star about that and then I forgot) and it doesn't appear on the Artizan website's pic either : odd, that. My guess is Mike Owen wanted to add it (and probably sculpted it as well) and then the item was forgotten at the moulding stage.

The FFL officers come with the exact same separate horses as MOD 040. One of these worthies wears a kepi while the other one has a sun helmet. 

[Mike Owen]

Hi, I remembered my log in at last! I am currently working on more Moroccans and some Berber figures alon with the Senegalese command and local  Arab scouts. The NCO in the mounted command is on a horse as he would normally ride the Officers spare horse, the figure should fit on to one of the mules I have done.

[Elk101]

This is becoming a very, very nice range indeed Mr Owen.

[former user]

now it gets interesting
THX for the reply and for the excellently sculpted range

there aren't many that complete ranges of the FFL
however, how comes the FFL is so often made with so few heavy weapons?
I understand as an infantry formation there weren't that many, but at least MG or mortars should be there?

[Arthur]

Machine guns were first issued in limited numbers to the FFL in 1908 on a trial basis and the Legion did not find the experience particularly conclusive as the weapons were prone to jamming because of the North African dust and sand. I haven't really looked into the subject of mortars, but they would have been of limited use against a very mobile opponent. The Legion was supported by regular artillery during the Moroccans campaign though, so a field gun and crew would be a welcome addition. But by and large, the early 20th century campaigns in North Africa were mostly wars of movement fought with small arms.

[Arthur]

Hi, I remembered my log in at last! I am currently working on more Moroccans and some Berber figures alon with the Senegalese command and local  Arab scouts. The NCO in the mounted command is on a horse as he would normally ride the Officers spare horse, the figure should fit on to one of the mules I have done.

Thanks for the clarification, Mike. Was the hole in the sergeant's back actually designed to take a rifle, then ?

[huevans]

Machine guns were first issued in limited numbers to the FFL in 1908 on a trial basis and the Legion did not find the experience particularly conclusive as the weapons were prone to jamming because of the North African dust and sand. I haven't really looked into the subject of mortars, but they would have been of limited use against a very mobile opponent. The Legion was supported by regular artillery during the Moroccans campaign though, so a field gun and crew would be a welcome addition. But by and large, the early 20th century campaigns in North Africa were mostly wars of movement fought with small arms.

Mortars would not have been available until the 1920's. Machine guns would have over-heating issues as well as jamming I would think. The Sahara is hot and there is no water source for cooling barrels. Remember that Machine guns were not well regarded until WW1 had begun. Until that time, they were thought of as a nuisance and operated by specialists in very small numbers.

[Arthur]

Mortars would not have been available until the 1920's.

That is true of modern Stokes-type mortars (though trench mortars became quite commonplace during WW1), but Coehorns had been in use since the late 1600's and were still commonly deployed in the early 20th century (the Russians modified their design to allow them to fire navy shells during the war of 1904-1905 against Japan). However, such weapons were extremely cumbersome and thus were of little use outside of siege operations. I haven't looked into the matter properly but I very much doubt they played a part in the 1900-1914 campaigns.  

Machine guns would have over-heating issues as well as jamming I would think. The Sahara is hot and there is no water source for cooling barrels. Remember that Machine guns were not well regarded until WW1 had begun. Until that time, they were thought of as a nuisance and operated by specialists in very small numbers.

Very true, though not all North African campaigns were fought in the Sahara. In Morocco, the engagements obviously didn't occur in the desert - unlike previous operations in the Sud-Oranais.