Zouaves de la Garde!

With the completion of the Garde Voltigeurs battalion the next French Crimean War  unit in the  queue was a unit of Garde Zouaves. 

The figures are not from Great War Miniatures’ range but from Wargames Foundry. The rank and file are from the Maximilian range, sculpted by Aly Morrison, while the Officer types are Mexican regulars from the Old West range. The figures are obviously smaller/more slight than those from Great War Miniatures. To partly counter this difference to the eye I was able to obtain a set of back packs & sundry equipment for them from North Star. These bulk out the Foundry figures nicely. The more aggressive advancing pose of the rank and file Zouaves also helps deceive the eye as they appear to be crouching forward in the attack. The French eagle is from Front Rank via Gripping Beast and the bearer is a converted pointing officer from the Mexican regulars pack. There were some helpful sources on the net as well as in the book Aly kindly gifted me ~

A line zouave probably from the FPW period, but it gives a sense of the look I was after with the addition of the North Star backpacks to the figures. Turbans were apparently reserved for parades and dress uniform wear, which is another reason why I chose figures from the Maximilian range figures rather than the FPW range. There is a varied range of colours for straps, gaiters and such across various sources, so I chose to go with Boneyard Light over Arctic Grey mid-shade to help the figures ping! You can judge for yourself at any rate now, blathering over ~

Next in line for their time under the brush are two figures to represent a Command stand for my Garde Brigade: a mounted officer from Athena Miniatures I think, which I bought at last year's WMMS, and another on foot from Wargames Foundry's Old West Mexican Command pack. That will leave just the Chasseurs de la Garde to complete the French component of the Crimean War project until I can source some artillery. In the notorious Lead Pimple there remains still a regiment of Foundry Roosian Cossacks, more figures to make up a Cossack command stand and a Perry Miniatures Cossack light cart! When they will surface I can't say.