Figures - Progress To Date

This project really started with a dream, and with the figures. For ages I've read accounts of solo campaigns, set in fictional lands, using figures painted in fanciful semi-historical colors. Such campaigns have been played by famous and not-so-famous wargamers for decades now, and it was time I had a go at it. So that was the dream.

To that end, I went to the hobby store, looking for figures. I wanted a campaign set in a 19th century world, favoring the latter part of the century - the Colonial period. I wanted troops in costumes not readily recognized. Even with new paint jobs, Napoleonic and Colonial figures of the major powers are easy to pick out. I think that takes away from the feel of the figures for this kind of thing, personally. It'd work for 18th century conflicts, since the uniforms were nearly identical for all nations except for the color of the coat, but not for the period I wanted to game in.

At the hobby store, I struck gold. Of a sort. I found a box of HaT 1/72 WWI Serbian Infantry. These guys are armed with rifles, and wear webbing over loose, baggy tunics. Perfect for the Colonial period. Their oddly shaped soft caps, pantaloons and pointy-toed shoes set them apart from anything else I'm familiar with. Awesome.

The downside is that the sculpts aren't very good. The details are soft, especially in the faces, hands and weapons. But hey, they'll do.

To date, I've painted a whopping twelve infantry figures - one sprue of figures, in Gobbelani regular army colors. The pics aren't great and the colors are off...the tunics are really a dark royal purple.

These need basing, then it's on to another unit of these boys, this time painted up as colonial troops from the southern provinces.


More figures are on order. Strelets Cossack infantry and cavalry for the Ethnic Nerds, HaT Russian Militia for the Molotovnik town militias across the border, and a few other assorted boxes to round out the collection.