French Late War Battalion Command

[Sidney Roundwood]

I thought I'd share some pictures I took at the weekend of a battalion command stand for a late Great War French force I've been collecting.  The figures are Scarab Miniatures and painted up very easily.  The 60mm circular base is from Martin at Warbases.









The figures in the background and to the side of some of the photos are from Brigade Miniatures late war French range.  When I placed the Brigade figures on the table with the Scarab miniatures I thought they actually blended fairly well size-wise, especially as the terrain boards are fairly busy and stop the eyes resting on the sculpting differences.  I'd worried a little that the bulkiness of the Scarab figures (which makes them lovely to paint) may have looked a little out of place beside Brigade infantry of the same height but less bulk.  But I think I've worried unnecessarily.

The diminutive and ever-present war reporter is from Bicorne Miniatures' range, representing (perhaps) the notorious Monsieur Almeyreda, editor of the pacifist (or German funded, depending on your view!  ) Parisian newspaper "Le Bonnet Rouge" which closed in the wake of security scandal in 1917.

[grant]

Fantastic work!

What rules do you use for gaming WW1?

[Sidney Roundwood]

Thank you! 

We've mainly be using "Through the Mud and the Blood", simply because we have found that it gives a realistic result and is very good for multi-player games (where each player can control a small force of, say, half a platoon, or a couple of tanks).  The card activation allows the game to flow smoothly and these are the rules we've used for participation games at shows and at other clubs.  The card activation also makes it very easy indeed to include additional forces, random events, bonuses and friction into a game without altering the underlying mechanics of the rules; as an entirely personal view, I think this is perhaps one of the over-looked attractions of card-activated systems.  We usually play as a club with between 4-6 players and an umpire/ GM and these numbers, plus the low-level tactics I want my games to focus on, quite possibly make "Through the Mud and the Blood" a strong front-runner for Great War rule-sets at the skirmish/ large-skirmish level.

However, I do like "Warhammer Great War" when coupled with the "Over the Top" supplement.  I think "Over the Top" was a very good addition to Great War wargaming - the additional fortification rules, barrage rules and the short (but excellent) section on trench fighting at the rear of the rules really are excellent.  It's a great set of rules to introduce to friends who may have been Warhammer 40K players back in the day and who may be looking for a very familiar experience.  I did a review of the "Over the Top" supplement on my blog a while back:

http://sidneyroundwood.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/over-top-warhammer-great-war-supplement.html

I've got a copy of "The Price of Glory" and keep meaning to test these on the tabletop. I think they look interesting - they're certainly more of a "classical" ruleset.

I think "Crush the Kaiser" seems a very good rule-set for a slightly higher level of command (say battalion/ brigade level).  I've not played but I have spent a lot of time talking to the Crush the Kaiser chaps at some of the UK wargaming shows (and at Crisis). 

Quite possibly other rule-sets might come out during the course of 2014 for the centenary.  I hope so!

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Superb work!

[Calimero]

Really nice work

[marianas_gamer]

  Wow, very nice!
LB

[Johnnytodd]

Nice!  You've captured the subtle color of "Horizon Blue" perfectly.  If I ever aspire to WW1 gaming I'd hope mine look this good.... John

[jp1885]

Cracking!
How do the Scarab minis scale up to, say, Great War, Renegade and such?

[Phil Robinson]

Cracking!
How do the Scarab minis scale up to, say, Great War, Renegade and such?

Sid has some comparison shots on his blog, no Renegade though.

Grand painting there Sid.

[former user]

most excellent brushwork

as I understand, Scarab scales well with Old Glory and Crusader

[Sidney Roundwood]

Thanks everyone. 

@former user and Jon (JP1885) - the Scarab figures scale up well with the (early war) French 28mm figures from Renegade Miniatures.  Both the Renegade Miniatures and the Scarab Miniatures have less fiddly and intricate detail on them to paint (by contrast to say, Great War Miniatures' figures) - so painting is easier, slightly quicker and there are move wide surfaces to cover with the paint. Personally, I would not use Old Glory "No Man's Land" figures (about 27mm) with Scarab Miniatures in the same unit.  The Scarab figures are noticeably chunkier, whereas the Old Glory figures are more slight and sculpted in a distinct style.  I would have no problem with using the Old Glory figures with the Scarab figures on the same table.  The Old Glory French casualty figures make good casualty markers ... they reminded me a lot of Perry Miniatures when I was painting them:





As I mentioned above, the differences with the various figures really do tend to be lessened when you seem them on the table in a game.

[jp1885]

Thanks!

[Marine0846]

Really great figures.
Love the buildings.
Super work.

[OSHIROmodels]

An inspiration as always 

cheers

James

[bergen]

Great colors ! And ambiance.