Painting Figures

HATs new Chasseurs, now available in marching poses.
It is a little worrying how exciting I find this particular development.

The always interesting Prometheus in Aspic had an interesting post about painting wargames figures over Christmas. His argument is I think a valid one, there are those of us who simply do not have sufficient time to paint all the figures that we would like to play with and are willing to pay for the privilege. I used to be a far more prolific painter than I am now, but I simply don't have the time that I did then.

There are those who feel that professionally painted figures are never really your own. I've never seen the point of this. I like painting and building terrain, but I don't feel my experience or enjoyment of the hobby is lessened by using figures painted by others. No less a gifted artist than Alte Fritz, whose skills with a brush are irreproachable makes extensive use of figures painted by others, so it doesn't appear to be a case of those who can't, don't.

I, like Prometheus, do some finishing on the figures that I commission. I always do the bases myself, mainly because I find that it is usually the base rather than anything else that ties a group of figures together. Most of my commissioned work is done by Mark Bevis, who I can recommend for his speed, economy and extensive knowledge of uniforms and kit.

A review of my forces finds me facing a shocking lack of French Light Infantry. I have one battalion of the Legion Irlandaise, who were light infantry, but who are hardly representative of the breed. I haven't managed to get my hand on a box of the new HAT Chasseurs yet, but in the meantime I'm busying myself by trying to send off as many troops to Mark as possible so that he can make a dent in them while I'm elbow deep in sanding floors and the like.

With that in mind, I've prepared some of John Cunningham's sepoys for the brush.

This week is also looking good for gaming as I've managed to organise to play my new Command & Colours: Napoleonics game on Thursday and hopefully get some Memoir '44 in on Friday.