Even more French guys

I imagine that people have been worrying about me, as it's been a while since I posted any pictures of dribs and drabs of French WW2 infantry.

Well, fear not. I spent last week in a cottage with my in-laws in the Yorkshire Dales. I've escaped now though, so here are yet more French infantry - just three this time, but these mean that I can now have three squads of ten men in my force.

I have nothing left to say about these...

Next thing to tackle may well be the tank, but I do now have some Shaltari for Dropzone Commander. Those are going to try to tempt me. On the other hand, we've mentioned the heresy of using unpainted models for that... 

Buying the Shaltari hurts my scores a bit, but here they are:

Painted: 56

Bought: 46

I’m still in the black, but it’s a close run thing, I need to get to the brushes as soon as I can!

The 6 Month Painting Challenge Returns!

Avid readers of this spectacular publication will be aware that I took part in the six month mountain reduction and painting challenge (6MMRPC) last year. And that I could have done better at it.

Well, now I have my chance, 'cos it's back!

This is a pile of lead. Geddit?

The rules, taken from The Spider Web of History, are:

1. No purchasing of new miniatures, EXCEPT if you use a joker.  You get three jokers to use on a figure purchase.  Could be a blister pack, an ebay bundle, or a single figure...you can't splurge. The only exception to this rule is if you need bitz or A FIGURE (Singular) to complete a unit/warband etc. 

1.1 - There is an opportunity to "earn" additional jokers.  If you complete an entire project (whole unit/army/warband etc.) with pictures of starting, WIP, and completion, you earn yourself a Joker.  

2.  Gifts do not count against you. Holidays, birthdays etc. Also, if you're given gift cards by your hobby illiterate family or friends, you can without penalty use them on anything you want miniatures wise. 

3.  Paints, terrain (or materials), and other hobby supplies do not apply to the no purchasing rule. 

4.  At least one hobby related blog post and/or Instagram update a week.  If you instagram, be sure to hashtag your pic with #6MMRPC 

5.  Zombtober will be part of the 6 month challenge so, Zombie related stuff during October is ENCOURAGED. Other theme suggestions are welcomed. 

6.  Anyone that wants to submit a before and after picture of a miniature that they are proud of completing during the course of the challenge to dmcffd@gmail.com will be entered into the running for a gift certificate to a online wargaming store of their choice.  Judging will be by an un-biased person.  Amount on the gift certificate will be dictated by winners nationality but should work out to about $30 U.S. I (Spiderweb of History) will not be eligible to win.  

So the main change from last time is an extra joker and the addition of a painting competition. I'll give that a go I think! 

That gives me a couple of weeks to decide what to focus on, too, but one thing's for sure, I'm determined to get my Bolt Action French finished.

Now for something completely different

Ok, so it's not completely different. But I did at least paint one model that isn't Bolt Action French...

...and six that are. So let's start with those. We have three more riflemen - nothing thrilling but I need to get through these to get the army done, and I'm still plugging away at them.

With those done I'm now up to three squads of nine men each, leaving me 13 basic infantry left to paint.

Then, a mortar!

Once again, I've used magnets on the bases so the crew can be removed as casualties. I've made all three crew removable here, so that the mortar could also be used by my partisans.

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for, as I unveil my not-a-French-Bolt-Action figure...

It's a VBCW guy in a kilt!

This was a model I picked up a long time ago as a potential air observer for my partisans, but as I'd never painted him I've been using something else all along. He's been sat amongst my other painting for months (at least) and every so often I've put a bit more paint on him, and now eventually he's complete, sort of by default.

I don't really have any immediate use for him, but it's a reasonably nice model, and he's got a tommy gun, so I'm sure he'll find a place if and when we return to VBCW. Which I would like to.

So, still for the Bolt Action French force, I have 13 basic infantry, an officer, a second mortar and a tank. I'm so close, that it's inevitable I'll be distracted by something else. Probably a new project, that will not only pull me away from finishing this one but will also hinder my goal of painting more models than I buy in 2015.

Let's face it, it's Dropzone Commander. Everyone I play regularly has bought into this. I'm eyeing up the Shaltari starter set. I'm doomed.

Anyway, while they still look good, here are my scores for the year so far:

Painted: 53
Bought: 22