10. A Sop To My Conscience

Hi, and welcome to the update. Hoody-hoo! And while I am sticking to my principles (more or less) and am working on The Project Which Must Be Finished, I find that I can still sneak in a twenty-minute session of painting once in a while. What's more, I can take pictures of all the stuff I've painted previously, which hasn't been photographed yet, and make it look like I'm making a lot of progress. My "French Invasion of Dahomey 1892" is coming right along. Yesterday I finished the last of the French forces (another damn set of eight identical Tirailleurs, bleah), so now all that's left are the Dahomeans. It's back to eight, but in four groups of two's. (If that grammar is too weak for you, just read a couple of posts back and you'll understand what I mean.) I am now more than half way finished, having completed 64 French, with only 48 Dahomeans to do (plus two mules). I realize this is a little heavy on the French side, but it's the way the packs came: when I bought them, I bought two full sets of all the packs, with no regard to balance; just a straight-up purchase of what Dixon makes. What's more, 8 of the "French forces" are porters (ie, non-combatants) and 16 are Tirailleurs Sénégalais who will probably run away fairly quickly. Then there's the set of 8 of which 4 are dead/wounded. So truthfully I have 36 battle-ready French troops versus 44 Dahomeans (hey, King Behanzin can't be expected to fight!). Anyway all this will make more sense when you see the final product. For now, here's what I've accomplished since May this year. Click on the pictures for a bigger view. FFL Skirmish Line - Pack 1 poses 1&2: FFL Skirmish Line - Pack 1 poses 3&4: FFL Advancing - Pack 2 poses 1&2: FFL Advancing - Pack 2 poses 3&4: FFL Officers & NCOs - Pack 3 poses 1&2: I have them as (L to R) the Colonel, Captain, Major, Lieutenant. FFL Officers & NCOs - Pack 3 poses 3&4: I have them as (L to R) Sgt, Cpl, Cpl, Sgt. (Ya see, the Sergeants have the grey hair....) FFL Bugler, Mule Minder & 2 Dead - Pack 4 poses 1&2: FFL Bugler, Mule Minder & 2 Dead - Pack 4 pose 3: I have them as 1 wounded, 1 dead. (Might make for a good game objective, rescue the wounded prisoner, oops too late.) FFL Bugler, Mule Minder & 2 Dead - Pack 4 pose 4: FFL Marines - Pack 5 pose 1&2: FFL Marines - Pack 5 pose 3&4: This is the only set I have where the figures are not the same from both packs. You can see there are three of one fellow, and only one of the fellow on the right. Just worked out that way. Native Bearers Carrying Loads - Pack 6 pose 1&2: In diapers.... Native Bearers Carrying Loads - Pack 6 pose 3&4: In colored Underoos.... Tirailleurs Marching - Pack 7: Tirailleurs Advancing - Pack 8: Don't even think of getting marching and advancing mixed up. You...you heretic. And so we come to the end of our update, wherein many voters have been persuaded to vote for yours truly as Emperor Of The Known Universe. And you thought this was just about miniatures! Thanks for visiting.