British AWI Casualties for the Analogue Challenge

So here are a few pictures of my recent entry into the bonus round of the Analogue Hobbies painting challenge. These are all from the Perry Miniatures plastic box set of British Infantry for the American War of Independence.

 

 These were figures which I wasn't sure how to use, until I saw a number of different blogs where people had used figures as casualty counters (usually with an insert for some dice). This always seemed a bit fiddly to me, so rather just paint the tally onto the base and turn the base according to the total. All figures are 4 to a base, so it's a very easy way to keep track, and when to remove bases. I do hope you like them.

My Analogue Hobbies Challenge heroes Theme entry

 So the two-week theme came around again in the Analogue Hobbies Challenge. I was really glad to get this one in as it was touch-an-go whether I would succeed due to a very busy month at work.  The two figures in question are from Gripping Beast's 28mm Romano-British/Arthurian range. They are painted up to represent Artorius himself, plus hero/sidekick Lancelot (he of the mask).

I did enjoy painting them, and even had a go at painting the shield design on the masked figure. The shield pattern is from LBM with a bit of paint to blend it into the shield.  I have to say that I much prefer the cast on shields. I really find that the separate shield you have to glue on for the other Gripping beast figures are poor on detail and do not paint up that well. As with all glue on weapons and shields on wargames figures, they seem to pop off with a certain regularity.

I had intended to do more figures for this round, but as said, time was in short supply. I hope to put up the additional figures over the next week.

Maximilian Schell or "Captain Stransky" from "Cross of Iron" passes away

I've always liked "Cross of Iron" for it's brutal portrayal of life on the Eastern Front during World War Two, and think it was one of Sam Peckinpah's best films. It's quite a bloody affair of a film, though that's par for the course with most of Peckinpah's films. I always though the character that really stood out in the film was that of Captain Stransky, a hammed up stereotypical take on the Prussian elite officer class in the Wehrmacht. In this role though, the Academy award winning actor Maximilian Schell shone brilliantly opposite (a fairly wooden) James Coburn, and in my mind made the film. So it was sad news today to hear that he had died.

The passing of this great actor will probably resonate with all the participants of the current Analogue Hobbies challenge (with its Peckinpah theme). As a young child of political refugees from Hitler's annexation of Austria, I believe he took particular pleasure in depicting fanatical Nazis in all their evil banality (excuse me if I borrow a few terms from Hannah Arendt), and indeed it was his portrayal of the defence lawyer for the Nazi war criminals in "Judgement at Nuremberg" that won him the Oscar. I will finish with a clip of his award winning performance:

Judgement at Nuremberg clip