Many, many years ago I made some MDF blocks for use in some trial games to get to grips with various rules, whilst, in theory, I painted up Armies as I went along. Alas the latter never really happened and it has been a slow and fitful journey ever since then.
Around the time I moved over to gaming with 10mm figures, I went to the Attack! wargames show in Devizes and saw some superbly painted examples by Walt of his MDF figures from Commission Figurines. I was sorely tempted to invest in some there and then, but managed to resist.
To be honest I'm not 100% certain when I did actually invest in two MDF Armies, to supplement or supplant my MDF blocks. But it was quite some time ago. Like many of my 'projects', this has had spurts of enthusiasm, followed by long periods of complete neglect! I had got to a point where I sort of had enough for smallish games, but still had more units to paint to give me the flexibility for games that I truly desired.
With the Cotswold Wargames Day fast approaching, I needed a back up plan in terms of forces for a game to put on, so turned to finishing off a few units for my MDF Armies, which I duly finished today. Nothing like a deadline to focus the mind!
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| The core Blue Army. |
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| Currently the Infantry consists of 4 Brigades, with 2 x Line Infantry, 1 x Light Infantry and 1 x Artillery per Brigade. |
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| The Blue Army has a variety of periods in its make up, consisting of various Napoleonic and ACW ranges. |
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| One of the Cavalry Brigades, consisting of 1 x Light Cavalry, 2 x Medium Cavalry and 1 x Heavy Cavalry. I can add Horse Artillery to this if I wish. |
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| The 'Reserve', with 2 x Artillery, 3 x Limbers and 1 x Guards Infantry, plus additional Cavalry if I want to make some units 'Large'. |
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| The Red Army in its drawer. The unpainted units are Guard Infantry and Dragoons/Mounted Infantry with the dismounted option. The Blue force had a similar number of unpainted units too. |
What Next?
Having finally got these forces to a point I've long wanted to, firstly I need to try a scenario or two in advance of the CWD. Then moving forward I hope to get in more games now that I have enough troops for some 18thC & 19thC games as I've long planned for. Hopefully this might spur me on to paint some of my 10mm figures as the games progress.
After the CWD is out of the way, I hope to get back to painting some WWII units so that I can resume both of my Normandy campaigns with the French Canadians and the South Gloucestershire Regiment. Best laid plans and all that!
Thanks for reading and as always, any comments greatly appreciated!
TTFN.
Nicely done Steve. Your MDF fellas look great. From normal gaming distance you can’t tell they aren’t 3D metal castings.
ReplyDeleteAnother big bonus of Commission Figurines MDF figures is the rather low cost - the Napoleonic infantry are just under 2p per infantryman. You can hardly go wrong at that price 😊
Good luck with your scenario “testing”. I trust all goes well at CWD and look forward to reading your report.
Cheers,
Geoff
Thanks Geoff:). Yep, when people see them they are surprised at their 2D nature, although they are of course 3D! Value wise they are superb and I've seen quite a few very nicely done Armies over the years.
DeleteThey look very effective, Steve. I think I might choose to double the infantry up on the bases just to give that look of massed troops but that's a matter of detail and preference. And it doubles the work and cost too, of course!
ReplyDeleteThanks David:). These were very much a stop gap project that sort of expanded over time, hence the single line of figures. If I were to do it again I would maybe double up the figures and go for more 'accurate' uniforms, but then I'd run the risk of them becoming 'proper armies' as it were. And of course there is the cost and time issue to factor in too.
DeleteThe MDF figures look really good and are helped by the nice basing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Peter and consistent basing across figures and terrain really does tie everything together:).
DeleteI rather like these generic armies Steve. They give you the flexibility to try all sorts of scenarios.
ReplyDeleteThanks Chris:). It was the simple flexibility I was after from the off, so I hope it all works out as planned!
DeleteNicely done, Steve! Getting a collection to a gameable state is a terrific milestone to reach. Good luck a CWD. Enjoy your game and take some photos.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jon and certainly a milestone that took rather longer than planned to reach! I'm looking forward to the day and will aim to take plenty of photos...
DeleteThey look pretty good to me Steve and the uniforms are along the lines of Imaginations, so no issues at all with those, either!
ReplyDeleteThanks Keith:). In hindsight I think they would have looked better with white or light grey trousers, but once on the table I completely forget about details such as this.
DeleteThey look great Steve and good that you have your armies at a good size for gaming, I have a load of French and Austrian MDF figures that i really must get finished.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donnie and I'm happy with the size of the Armies now. As mentioned, another Brigade or two to do at my leisure. These are so easy to paint, I can knock them out at a fair old rate, but then I don't worry too much about the details. The gloss lacquer helps to make the colours pop so they stand out on the table more.
DeleteLooking really great Steve!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michal:)!
DeleteLovely looking armies, great work - it’s always a joy to see your mdf fellers in action in your battle reports. Love ‘em 🙂👍🏼
ReplyDeleteThanks Martin:)! I hope they will get much more table time now I have two decent forces to play with.
DeleteExcellent MDF troops!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks and they have their own unique charm I find Iain:).
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