More French for 1940

 I don’t seem to be able to shake my enthusiasm for painting 1940 French. Here are the latest off the painting desk.

A 75mm artillery battery, horse drawn of course, for my N African troops in the shape of the 1st Moroccan Division 

An obsolete but rather splendid little P-28 armoured car. 

Two more Char B1 bis, inspired by the last photo on this post of an actual paint scheme. It looks pretty good and to be honest wasn’t too difficult to do. I’m pleased with them both.

This is what the two tanks above were based upon.

I reckon the French are pretty much done. I’ve still got a few vignettes to finish ( oh and one battalion of N African infantry) but then they’re done (?) . A battalion of Hotchkiss tanks are finished but not adorned with their decals.

THEN, we might even see a game next weekend subject to all the usual caveats. 

French Army 1940 on Parade.

 I thought I would organise a parade of my French 1940 troops, primarily so I would be able to see where any gaps were in the orders of battle of the formations I had chosen to produce for the tabletop; this exercise would then allow me to move on whatever French remained unpainted and unwanted to another home. Everything is organised more of less for Rapid Fire.

HQ of 3DLM (Division Legere Mechanique)

I wanted a random N African or Senegalese unit. These are the support company for the first battalion. I need (?) to finish the second battalion and some horse drawn artillery.

Tirailleur battalion.

A host of refugees.

The rump of two battalions of Dragon Portees. With a squadron of motorcycles, two of motorised infantry, attached AMR light tanks and assorted AT guns and mortars these should be quite tough.

Two squadrons of AMR light tanks for the Dragon Portee battalions.

Somua and H39 for the 1st and 2nd Cuirassiers. 

Divisional Reconnaissance Group 

I should field the group with either the Schneider P16 or the Panhard AMD 178

The whole lot on parade 

This was actually quite a useful exercise as I’ve been able to give potential new homes to lots of metal and resin from the box of doom. I’ll be able to field another N African battalion, a battalion of Chasseurs Portee and ultimately an armoured brigade with Char B tanks, all of which are some way through being completed already. 

I will have far too much but at least there will be a good selection to chose from for any future games.

A Garden Extravaganza

A mate of mine shared this at our weekly Virtual Wargames Group (aka the Zoomie Boys and Girls Gamers in our house).

Quite inspirational given it is such a long time ago. Here is the link.

https://fb.watch/wM8aVqknbL/?

A Mighty Fortress of God. The Siege of Munster 1534-1535. A Review

I have to admit that the subject of this latest book by Doug Miller is something I had never even heard of, as my focus has previously been on the wars in Italy taking place at the same time. I was looking forward to learning some new stuff, and was not to be disappointed.

A Mighty Fortress of God, the Siege of Munster 1534-1535 is one of the latest offerings in Helion’s excellent and growing series ‘from Retinue to Regiment’. 

In brief, in February 1534 Franz von Waldeck, the Catholic Bishop of Münster began a siege that would last for sixteen months. The Anabaptists holding Münster viewed it as the 'New Jerusalem',  and they resolutely resisted the bishop's forces. The Anabaptists fortified the city, and repelled numerous assaults while suffering from starvation, disease, and internal strife. Ultimately the defenders were be betrayed and the city fell.

Doug Miller brings the siege to life through the vivid accounts of contemporary witnesses and detailed historical research. We are taken on a step-by-step journey through the each aspect of the siege: the construction of earthworks, the organisation of defences, the failed attacks of 1534 to the dramatic betrayal that finally led to the collapse of the Anabaptist defence in June 1535, this account covers a key moment in Reformation-era history. The author also explores the motivations, leadership, and ideologies of both the besiegers and the besieged, offering an unparalleled and for me massive insight into the complexities of the Anabaptist movement, which was entirely new to me, and its extinction in Münster.

As ever with Helion books, we are provided with lots of specially-commissioned artwork of clothing and flags together with contemporary black and white images and photographs of surviving buildings and equipment. The numerous colour plates of troops and coats of arms are simply beautiful and are inspiring. I have to say the image of the Landsknecht longbow man came as a surprise, but the weapon’s continued use is perfectly plausible. There are some particularly useful colour maps of the area and the siege itself.

The appendices amongst other things include Bishop's Articles of War, and details of the actual costs of the siege.

This is a superb addition to the series and the author should be commended on the quality of his writing and research. As I said at the start of this review, I knew nothing of this siege but have now learnt a great deal about this fascinating episode set during the Reformation in Germany. I now even know who and what the Anabaptists were and what their beliefs were. Fascinating stuff.

ISBN 978-1-804515-55-6  141 pages soft

Frontier Soldiers of New France - a brief review

 

The late Rene Chartrand’s legacy continues with this volume covering the French army in North America. It’s full title is ‘Frontier Soldiers of New France, volume 1; Regulation, clothing arms and equipment of the colonial troops in New France 1683-1760’. This book was co-authored with fellow Canadian scholar Kevin Gelinas.

Beautifully illustrated with a huge number of contemporary and specially commissioned colour and black and white images, uniform details, and photographs of surviving arms and equipment, this volume provides a comprehensive, probably the most comprehensive to date, examination of a fascinating and colourful period of French colonial history, one so closely linked to our own. 

Every aspect of the officers and men in the colony and their uniforms, be they serving in the Compagnies tranches de La Marine, Metropolitan companies, Artillerymen and even armed constabulary units and Swiss. Indeed, I had been unaware that detached companies of Swiss infantry served in New France and Louisiana during this period. I actually found the chapter on military hairstyles particularly interesting, as it sheds some light on the prevailing customs and mentality found in the colonies, and the thought of some bewigged and powdered French officer plunging through the forests of North America while trying to maintain an appropriate hairdo and appearance is an amusing one.

The second part of the book investigates regulation weapons and equipment of officers, non-commissioned officers, infantrymen and artillerymen, and each aspect is discussed in some detail and accompanied by a significant number of photographs of surviving equipment and numerous sketches and drawings. 

Finally, the appendices cover the Irish Company, the Corps of Cavalry and the troops stationed on the islands of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. The Irish appear to have been recruited from British prisoners of war, while the cavalry were a regular company of 200 men raised specifically to counter British incursions and landings and to generally make a nuisance of themselves wherever they could, which earned them the respect of their enemies and might make for an interesting skirmish game.

This is a well researched and presented book, and the authors have had access to previously unpublished material and resources.  For those interested in colonial warfare in North America this is an invaluable reference. 

ISBN 978-1-804515-46-4. Soft covers, 269 pages.

New additions - a little bit of joy

 

Picking up the brush again….

I thought I’d try and make sense of all my 1940 Fall of France stuff, starting with the French. As ever I have far more stuff than I would ever need unless I was doing something really BIG. 

So while deciding which soft skin vehicles I actually need I was inspired by a photo I came across of an interesting camouflage scheme on a French truck.

My attempt at recreating this image is pretty average but it’ll do for now as it’s been several weeks since I had the motivation to paint anything at all. It needs tidying up a fair bit but there is a war on! My only defence is that I’ve been married for so long I’ve forgotten what a naked woman looks like.