I think I mentioned a while back that I was waiting for some early WW2 French I ordered to complement the platoon I picked up at Spartacon. Well, they've arrived. For the most part, they're good. But this one gave me pause...
Clearly it's labelled as a French Hotchkiss gun. Clearly those are not French gunners, and though it's a little hard to tell in the photo, that's not a Hotchkiss gun, either. Most definitely Germans. I contacted FRP Games, where I ordered them from, and let them know they apparently have a collection of mislabeled stock. I suspect it was a mislabeling done by Crusader USA, and isn't FRP Games' fault. Still, I asked them to let me know if they have any actual French. I haven't heard back yet, and I may not, as I suspect Crusader USA minis are getting scarcer by the day.
In the meantime, I guess I now am the proud owner of a German machine gun team. And while I do have a Bolt Action French gun team, I still wouldn't mind getting a Crusader one as well.
I do have to say over time I generally have had good luck with mail order, which has become the lifeblood of all my hobbies, including the Mustang restoration, the model cars and the gaming. Oh, there is the occasional foul-up with a shopping cart (how did I get two vials of the same paint?), and the occasional long waiting period, but for the most part the vendors I've dealt with have been good. And again, in this case I can't really blame the vendor, if you just read it, you'd think these were French if you didn't take a look or didn't know the difference.
C'est la vie. Or should that be, so ist das Liben?
They did look french to me but I'm thinking I'm going blind....
ReplyDeleteI can't say I get much trouble with mail order items. You'll just have to paint up the Germans as well now!!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think my German forces just grew by one machine gun crew. :) Perhaps they are collaborators?
ReplyDeleteI have to ask, do you just collect these pieces, or are they pieces for a game with a set of rules on how you use them?
ReplyDeleteeither way, the model looks awesome!
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Hi Taker, welcome!
ReplyDeleteThese in particular are used for WW2 skirmish gaming. I use the rules Arc of Fire. More here: http://skirmishcampaigns.com/aof/index.htm
I have some photos on the blog of a recent game played using Russian and Finnish forces. There are rules and figures for pretty much any historical period you can imagine. My favorites would probably be American Revolution and Civil War, and WW2. One of my current big kicks is WW2 aerial combat.
Although you hit a fair point - I tend not to game all that often, so I guess you could say they are more for painting and collecting!