A New Project or Un Nouveau Projet : Brick by Brick

As Sinatra sang, "I did it my way."

Or rather I will be.

While having a clear out recently, I admitted to myself that I was never going to get around to painting (or finishing in the case of one squad) the Warlord Games 28mm French WW2 force I had acquired,, let alone acquire and paint an opposing Italian force (for the very short Italian invasion of France, which was Mussolini's attempt at a land grab to gain a seat at the negotiating table post-victory).

Those figures are moving on.

However, it *is* a project that has interested me for some time. 

The possibility of playing a "what-if" campaign, where France holds out against the Axis stirs my imagination. This is the same reason I will not part with my 1/72 PTO collection - invading imaginary South Pacific islands allows me to campaign (you know, when I get to it) without feeling too constrained by history. 

And despite letting go of a lot of gaming-related stuff (a LOT), I still have the desire to do something wargame related with Lego / Lego-clone figures.

The two ideas collided while I was searching for Lego minifigures for Halloween's game last year, but I let it go (because I had the Warlord figures at the time). Also, the price.

Well, I stumbled on a good deal on Etsy, last week, and so, this arrived Monday:

 

The two guns are of questionable historical accuracy but they will suffice. The figures came with extra heads -bandaged/wounded or just different expressions - which will be useful too, to give the figures variety.

16 French infantry with Adrian-type helmets in uniform colors suitable for WWII (they aren't all the same, which is a shame,but I'm not going to complain and I think they are somewhat close to accurate in the amalgam). Besides I can group them into units by color and easily tell one from another.).

The figures need minor assembly. There's always a risk you'll end up short an arm or a hand. Then again, there's always a chance you'll end up with extras too.

Infantry-wise, this is almost all I need for the French for my current plans - 3 to 4 figures on a base can be a squad or a company, a group of 5 individually-based figures can be a squad,. And thus this bunch could be a platoon. You get the idea. Re-basing Lego figures is easy-peasy.

Four uniform styles. Two helmet variations. I need to pick up a weapons pack - I've seen some that include a gun that could pass as an FM 24/29.

 

Cobi makes a suitable brick Renault FT-17 which will make a good Christmas present to myself when the time comes. 

I have a "building brick" Italian CV33 on order from eBay (I believe it's  Chinese brick clone) and I'll be receiving a set of 5 Italian infantry for Father's Day (oddly, I just realized that my son's mom and I exchange gifts to celebrate, but he doesn't even give either of us so much as a card!)

Fistful of Lead works with just 5 figures, and One Hour Skirmish Wargames, does too (although you end up being able to do more double and triple moves), and so I'll be able to play from the get-go once the Italians get here, no painting required! 

 (I play with toy soldiers because I like the toys and I like the stories the games produce. I do not particularly enjoy painting - it's a means to an end)

Lego figures look fine on regular wargame tables, but I have a ton of greenery from the games I've run for our family fall festival and I can raid my son's excessive collection of bricks to make other scenic items. So I may mix it up and do full Lego games or just use the figures with my usual terrain depending on mood.

It's not an entirely super serious project- it's Lego/clones after all, but that's the best part about solo-gaming - you only have to please yourself.