A burst of late-arvo & early-evening energy this week saw me complete the painting and basing on my Zvezda French Infantry.
43 figures from the 23.99 dollar (Australian) box. Considering the time and enjoyment - yes I enjoyed it - I got from making these little fellas I think the cost was worthwhile.
I could have been loafing around, comfort-streaming shows I've already seen, and generally frittering away the small moments that make up my extremely busy, but ultimately dull days.
My missus even had a quick geez and asked me if these were the 'Mardi Gra Parade soldiers'...haha...good one.
Well, I'll admit, they are a bit more 'theatrical' than the hundreds of other Second World War olive-drab figures I've painted up over the years.
The Pavises were the hardest thing to paint, I tried a few different free-hand designs, but in the end, my efforts looked so decidedly crappy that I had to throw in the towel...and just crack on with the rest of 'em.
But there's something really cool and gruesome about this period. I don't reckon I could have done this kind of warfare personally...playing Lion Rampant is fun, but I mean getting 'up close and personal'. My internal organs are quite comfortable right where they're supposed to be.
Getting jabbed with a spear, lashed with a sword or gouged with a crossbow bolt is just plain brutal. Cool in the movies... but just so brutal when you stop and think about it.
Darwin has just had a bit of a COVID scare lately, so after a brief lockdown, hopefully things will go back to normal and I can organise a Lion Rampant game.
That game has really gotten under my skin a little. Probably more than any other game. I can't wait to play it again.
And yes... there was one fella missing from the last photo but be assured they all got painted!!!!!
Of course, once I started taking photos, and thinking about doing a little bit of low-key social media bragging I started noticing all of these imperfections.
But you get that on the big jobs as they say. No turning back now, I've got a box of French Mounted Men-at-Arms to assemble and paint.
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