french Archives - Page 4 of 6 - Felix's Gaming Pages

Flames of War General de Gaulle

A veteran of World War I, in the 1920s and 1930s de Gaulle came to the fore as a proponent of mobile armoured divisions, which he considered would become central in modern warfare. During World War II, he reached the temporary rank of Brigadier General, leading one of the few successful armoured counter-attacks during the 1940 Fall of France, and then briefly served in the French government as France was falling.

Charles de Gaulle is available for Flames of War and comes with a Somau S35 objective. The blister contains the metal parts and resin objective.

The base for De Gaulle is quite simple, De Gaulle, a staff officer and a motorcycle combination.

The most challenging part of this base is the motorcycle combination. At one point I did consider leaving it off entirely….

Has certainly put me off buying any French motorcycle combination platoons!

The Somau S35 objective was much easier to put together.

See the workbench feature on General de Gaulle.

Flames of War French Hotchkiss H-39

Despite having been designed from 1933 as a rather slow but well-armoured light infantry support tank, the type was initially rejected by the French Infantry because it proved difficult to steer while driving cross-country, instead being adopted in 1936 by the French Cavalry. From 1938 an improved version was produced with a stronger engine, the Char léger modèle 1935 H modifié 39, that from 1940 was also fitted with a longer, more powerful 37 mm gun.

Having made up the hulls, the next stage was to sort the turrets out. The metal components were fitted to the turret.

See the workbench feature on the Flames of War French Hotchkiss H-39.

Flames of War French Hotchkiss H-39

In order to fix the tracks to the hulls, I scored the hull sides and the tracks.

The tracks were then glued to the sides of the hull.

As you might guess from the page title, I have decided to make these up as the H-39 model. Battlefront are very good in marking the rear decks with H35 and H39 so you know which is which. They fit very easily onto the resin hulls. Here are the three hulls.

See the workbench feature on the Flames of War French Hotchkiss H-39.

Forged in Battle 15mm French Mortar Team

I was recommended these Forged in Battle miniatures at a gaming shop in Birmingham. They look well casted and a similar size to Flames of War infantry.

The mortar crew were given a basecoat of Green Brown (879) whilst the mortar itself was given a basecoat of Gunship Green (895).

See the workbench feature on the Forged in Battle 15mm French Mortar Team.

Painting the Flames of War Char B1 bis

After deciding to create an Early War Flames of War French force I went and got the French Early War Paint Set.

After purchasing the set and getting out some French Infantry to paint I was disappointed to find that the box set didn’t contain Green Brown (879)for the uniforms or Olive Grey (888) for the helmets. I had a pot of Green Brown, but no Olive Grey. So I left painting the infantry until I placed an order for some Flames of War miniatures and ordered a pot of Olive Grey paint.

So you can imagine my frustration when after that arrived and I sat down to give my Char B1 tanks a basecoat of Tan Yellow (912) the standard basecoat for French tanks was also not in the box. There was an assumption that you would have other box sets… I didn’t… so I needed to get another pot of paint in order to paint my models… I bought the box set so that I would have all the paints I needed, in the end I think it may have been easier to just buy the paints separately.

Once the Tan Yellow (912) arrived I gave the three Char B1s a basecoat.

The turrets were stuck to a wooden stick to make them easier to paint.

See the workbench feature on the French Char B1 bis.

Flames of War French Hotchkiss H-39

The Hotchkiss H35 or Char léger modèle 1935 H was a French light tank developed prior to World War II.

So far I have two of these blisters and each contains three tanks. You can make them up either as the H-35 or the H-39. As well as the resin hulls and turrets you get metal tracks and rear engine covers.

The resin hull and turret.

See the workbench feature on the Flames of War French Hotchkiss H-39.

Flames of War French Heavy Artillery Battery

This is a boxed set with parts to make four four 105/155mm C mle 1917 S guns with crew, Observer Rifle team, a Staff team and a Command Rifle team.

Having constructed the guns and put the crew on wooden sticks, the next stage was a white undercoat for the figures and the guns.

I also gave the guns a white undercoat.

I also sprayed the underneath of the guns with a Humbrol Dark Brown spray to add shadow.

La Resurrection De La Nation

Spartan Games have released details about their new releases for the Republique of France.

These are very nice looking models. I like the flying battleships.

French Heavy Artillery Battery

This is a boxed set with parts to make four four 105/155mm C mle 1917 S guns with crew, Observer Rifle team, a Staff team and a Command Rifle team.

I initially decided that I would make two of the guns as 105mm L mle 1913 S guns.

Here are the two 105mm L mle 1913 S guns, I am using road wheels rather than spoked on these.

Here are the two 155mm mle 1917 Howitzers.

The completed 105mm L mle 1913 S gun.

I was going to make the 155mm mle 1917 Howitzers with the provided spoked wheels, however after thinking and reflecting about it, I decided that I would make up all four as 105mm L mle 1913 S guns.