Tricolour – red, white and sprue
I did a thing! Not only that, but I FINISHED a thing. That never happens. My hobby workshop looks like a memorial to abandoned projects and half baked dreams. The sort of thing everyone gathers around once a year to watch a member of the royal family lay a wreath on. But not this time baby – I have built, painted, and based an entire French army for Bolt Action 3rd edition, and the army book isn’t even out till next year. WHAT IS HAPPENING. While thanks go to my partner for leaving me alone for enough time to build and paint all my little toys, the real star of the show is the new(ish) Warlord Games French Infantry kit which I really need to talk about. Absolute banger of a box so please indulge me as a rave about it for well beyond the advised word count.
Pourquoi?
Forgive me as I temper my own enthusiasm. I have long been a Francophile when it comes to all things WW2. I am fascinated with how one of the great powers of the era fell so hard and so quickly despite having a vast empire, almost a million active troops, a colossal navy, and was sitting behind the most impressively fortified border of its time – the Maginot line. Despite all this, France would topple to the German invasion in only 6 weeks due to outdated doctrine, some lacklustre equipment, historic communication systems, and failed leadership. A nation who had stubbornly resisted the Germans a generation before now reeled in disbelief as a very sinister flag now hung from the Eiffel tower, and the nation’s darkest days of the 20th century began.
Still, I always say the French never stopped fighting – they just took off their uniforms. Like a non-school uniform day but with more machine gun fire and fewer Kpop t-shirts. The history books are full of individual accounts of the French fighting like demons against the German invasion, and the capitulation only gave way to the most famous partisan group of the war – vive la resistance! Spoiler alert but France did manage to win their country back through dogged determinism and the unbreakable spirit of all of its people enduring through the occupation, from soldiers in exile storming back over the channel on D-Day, to little grand-mère with an SMG under her beret on her way to ambush a German checkpoint. Go on, Nan!
So with my German force pretty well rounded at this point, and my desire to paint any more green or beige lads at an all time low, I was ready for a new project. Given my rabid frothing above, France was the obvious choice. It was actually the release of the Warlord Games French infantry kit in plastic that really got me flirting with the fleur-de-lis and convinced me to go in on the project. That was… some time ago now but I have never claimed to be an efficient or speedy hobbyist so here we are.
Sprue review
So back to the backbone of my army, the French Infantry kit. This release was one of the first in a new generation of infantry kits from Warlord Games. That means the sprue is bursting with early war weapons, equipment, and most interestingly, different head options for your Franks. The main bodies are fairly standard positioning for Bolt Action minis – most in various stages of running/firing stance and one in a crouch position. With minimal effort it’s easy to get all your lads in pretty unique poses so your army doesn’t look like a Warhammer Fantasy Battles dwarf army – no shade, it’s a vibe.
Using the handy binocular arm included, let’s take a closer look at what’s on offer on the sprue. Firstly, loads of backpacks and pouches which work great for engineers and other similar units who would have extra gear. Then you have some bayonets in sheaths, and a few more exotic machete type blades to stick to backpacks and belts of your colonial troops.
Weapons wise, we have plenty of rifles both in hand and ready to be slung over shoulders and backs. One rifle also comes with a rifle grenade (VB launcher) attached which is a fun option to see and will hopefully feature in some sort of grenadier section when the new book comes out. For your special weapons we have an LMG being wielded. That’s a MAC FM24/29 for those who care. I do. Next we have a MAS38 sub machine gun on a firing arm. Fun fact, this is a weird looking gun. If you don’t know, Google it and tell me it’s not a pistol cosplaying as an SMG. Speaking of pistols we have a pistol firing arm too – I assume this is a pistolet ruby because it is adorably tiny. Last but not least there is a healthy assortment of arms holding clips, a grenade, and doing things like pointing, waving, and of course…. smoking a cigarette because some stereotypes die hard I guess.
This is fun – I used every single cigarette arm because of course I did. so including the additional small teams and artillery crew not mentioned above I have 111 painted and based infantry total. 14 of which are holding cigarettes, that means that 14.41% of my force are actively smoking a cigarette while under fire. Maybe I should house rule it that each unit can only Run once per game before they collapse wheezing and coughing up asbestos. Don’t smoke kids.
Lastly, the head options. This is why I fell in love with the kit. First, you have your quintessential adrian helmets – headgear so iconic their design influence remains visible today – think of a fireman’s helmet. Next up we have some large berets which are perfect for your special forces like mountain troops (Chasseurs Alpins), and also some colonial hats to represent contingents of Berbers, Senegalese, etc. To round off the formation we have an officer kepi, as well other bits and pieces like a garrison cap, bandaged head without helmet, etc. One final, final point – the sculpts are grand. Loads of character, dynamic poses without the need of tactical rocks, and all the pieces work really nicely together. Assembling these kits was like a grown up Build a Bear experience minus the screaming children. Better yet, the mould lines are minimal and it’s soft plastic so easy to file and trim as needed. Bien joué Warlord. By the way I am just Google translating all these French terms so sorry if I have called your father a hamster or something.
Oh la la, nearly forgot! There is also a French Army Insignia Decal Sheet included. Cool. Don’t ask me about it because I am not enough of a sadist to apply insignia decals to 28ml infantry. There if you want them, but as the French say…. no.
My boys in Sacreblue
So, because I have failed to mature into a proper adult and still stubbornly hold on to my need to be nonconformist, I painted my fellas in horizon blue. If you are about to um actually
me that the French were in green by WW2 then you just activated my trap card. While the French army began phasing in the American Khaki from 1921 … they had a huge army. By 1940 there were still plenty of active troops not yet issued the new green. Predominantly these troops were in the reserve but given the rapid success and speed of the German offensive the boys in blue did see action. That is all the excuse I need to paint my little heroes like they are heading to battle in their pyjamas.
Not much to note on the painting method really. I used Army Painter Speedpaints to thrash them out quickly, then plastered their legs in mud and grimey washes to give them a “we’ve had a doosie of a day” sort of look. Basing was also super simple. I went with a mud texture from Vallejo and added some meadow flowers to firmly set my force in the fall of France campaign. If you are still enraged that I had the (Charles De) Gall to paint them blue then you’ll love this – I painted the officer’s kepis red, and even painted a few officer’s trousers red too. Yeah, I won’t try to argue that the pantalon rouge was not almost immediately replaced at the start of the first world war because, as it turns out, putting the most important guy in your unit in bright red trousers is not top tier tactical thinking.
Look, I confess, I modelled my force with a deliberate WW1 feel. While not everything in my force is rooted in the historical accuracy of the second world war, it certainly turns heads and has already led to some wonderfully engaging conversations around a force you just don’t see very often. It’s a pleasure to connect with people about something I passionately believe deserves some time in le spotlight, and hopefully entice them over to my side of the La Manche.
Fin
Well there you have it folks. Hopefully I have upped your respect for a wonderful force of Monsieurs who fought for liberty and smashed the fascists, and brought some attention to a bloody good kit from Warlord Games. Keep an eye out on future articles because I am itching to show you how I absolutely pushed the boundaries of historical accuracy with my vehicle colour scheme, and let you know how my new force has been performing on the table. Not to give too much away but it pretty much syncs up with their 1940 performance. Bon.
