For those not up on my senseless banter, I've been giving Michael a little good natured stick for him attempting to slip his beautiful gypsies in as part of his Victorian side challenge. So to serve me with an appropriate gob-stopper he submits this amazing battery of Russian guns who are in the midst of pounding Victoria's 'brave 600' into glue and smoking boots.
From Michael:
Whilst I am thoroughly enjoying the variety the bonus rounds have brought to my painting table, this entry is what the painting challenge is all about for me - focus! It was a wonderful summer full of dinosaur and zombie distractions, but here we have an entry that sees me back at the heart of the Victorian era - the Crimean War.
This small battery of four 6lb Field Guns each with a Russian crew of four are all 28mm from the Wargames Foundry range. I find large batches (this represents a large batch for me!) of similar miniatures difficult to work on, due mostly to my inability to focus on one thing for any length of time, but a relatively recent article in Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy magazine introduced me to the concept of faces and bases!
Having mentally prepared myself that I didn't have to lavish as much individual detail on each miniature the whole unit seemed to come together quite quickly. The only down side was when I dug out the Light Brigade for the final photograph, I realised that I no longer liked the cavalry bases they were on; still that can be a job for after the challenge!
Absolutely gorgeous work Michael. Welcome to the ranks of the nutters who do large, homogeneous units for no other reason than the simple pleasure of it looking so darn cool (and that last shot is very, very cool).
This battery of Russian guns will give Michael 125 points, which includes a little extra for the wonderful basing and assorted artillery accoutrements. Wonderful stuff Mr. Awdry!