15mm French Guard Chasseurs a Pied

Here are the next 78 figures to cross the painting desk: the chasseurs a pied of the Imperial Guard.

 

I am working on the foot grenadiers now.  The guard is almost done!

15mm French Guard Fusilier-Grenadiers

The latest 72 figures for John's French army are these colorful middle guard Fusilier-Grenadiers.

 

I have four more guard battalions to paint, and then I can tackle the French line infantry!

15mm French Guard Tirailleurs

 

Work continues on John's French army. Today we have two battalions of the Tirailleurs of the Young Guard.

I love the way these turned out. When I am able to paint more Napoleonics for myself, I think some French Young Guard are in order!

Dark Age Saxons

While I suffered from the dread disease this summer, I still wanted to paint, but my hands were so shaky and sore that my results were not up to professional levels. Still, I find painting relaxing and therapeutic. What to do?

Well, I dusted off an old, half completed project: a ninth century Saxon army for Saga or Lion Rampant. The figures all came from Black Tree Designs with one exception: a 3D printed miniature MacPhee from Minuteman Miniatures.

The motivation for this project came from Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Stories, which are ripping reads, and my eldest daughter's interest in the Viking age. 

Unfortunately, the period is extremely difficult to research. What did Saxons wear? Who knows? Wool, certainly, and mostly dyed with vegetable dyes, but which colors? How popular were vibrant colors? How likely were ornate decorations? How accurate are illuminated manuscripts and the Bayeux Tapestry? To a certain degree, everything before widespread photography involves educated guesses, but Saxon England involves much more guesswork than education. The Dark Age is called "dark" for a reason.

I settled on more natural colors and less hem decoration for the poorer warriors and more vibrant colors for the better equipped. That seems most likely to me.

Warrior Group One

Warrior Group Two

Warrior Group Three

Archer Group One

Archer Group Two

The Whole Force

Set piece battles were extremely rare during this period. Most warfare consisted of small scale raids, which makes Dark Age Britain ideal for skirmish gaming. I doubt I will ever need more Saxons than this, so we have here the rare project that I can call complete!
 

15mm French Guard Fusilier Chasseurs

With summer over, the kids back in school, and the 'rona only a memory, I am able to get back to painting! These 72 figures are for John's French army. The fusilier-chasseurs are usually listed as "middle guard," although I am not sure such a thing as "middle guard" ever really existed.

 I have the next four guard regiments in progress. Things are picking back up!

I'm Molting!

 I am sorry that I have not updated this blog in a while, but I have no new painting to post. My family and I all had the dread disease this summer. We recovered nicely, and everything in our lives is now back to normal, except ....

The skin on my hands is peeling off in stages, and the new skin has not yet hardened. The result is cracked and painful fingertips, which makes painting painful. This has happened to me in the past following a prolonged fever. My doctor said that while it is uncommon, it is not unknown. So yay for me.

I hope to get back to a more regular painting output in September. I always find painting relaxing, and I have definitely been missing it.