SCW Basque Militia - Empress Miniatures?

[aphillathehun]

New to the SCW.  Finding uniform info for all the various forces seems a little daunting.  These folks sound interesting in the CoC rules but I've only found a single period picture of them online.  I'm sure I'm not using the right search terms.

So, what empress figures would one use for these and how would they be painted?

(Suggestion for Empress - it might be neat to have a personality pack that included a period priest).

[Eclaireur]

Phil,
I would suggest the militia packs. Civvy clothes and berets seem to have been the order of the day for many of those guys. I'm not sure about some of the requete figures from the nationalist range - maybe Arlequin will be along shortly and he is more knowledgable than I. But you can buy the requete heads separately even if the bodies are too 'uniform' for basque militia.
On clergy, what about these guys...
https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product_info.php?cPath=23_37_47&products_id=1756&osCsid=1tmdpep5dr07q3st5rnkiae0n4
EC

[Arlequín]

I know very little about them either as far as 'uniform' goes; except that a black 'Carlist-style' beret, set them apart from the Requetés.

There are quite a few photos available though, including some re-enactment groups. Try searching for "gudari" and particularly "Euzko Gudarostea" for some ideas and sites devoted to them. Both terms will bring up some photos of ETA members if that might be an issue for anyone though.

By and large beret and Spanish helmet head swaps will do the job and you might consider some of the Musketeer/Footsore IRA/VBCW as potential recipients (even the ones with SMLEs, they do pop up in rare photos on a solitary basis); the weather up North can be somewhat cooler and inclement for a fair bit of the year; in the mountains for most of the year in fact.   

Other than the more or less universal berets, they had the same access to stored uniforms, helmets, weapons and equipment, as everyone else. There were also Anarchist and other 'Republicans' there besides the Gudari (in separate units), so don't feel completely tied to them. 

All of the Polish Renault FT deliveries (60 or so MG or Gun models fielded in mixed units) went to the North, so that should make a change to T-26s, along with the Euskadi 'Toy Tank'.

Good luck and looking forwards to seeing them if you have a go! 

[Leigh Metford]

The plates in the Bueno book suggest that the short cazadora jacket in civilian materials and colours, particularly lumber-jacket style coloured stripes on a white background, was popular amongst the Gudaris.

[aphillathehun]

Thanks for the tips guys.  It gives me something to aim for and more research to do!

[Oldgamer]

Check out the film Gernika as it shows quite a few Basque soldiers.

[Arlequín]

Out of interest the re-enactors in blue jackets and Brodie helmets represent Batallón Gernika, a unit created in 1945 from exiled Gudariaks, which liberated the Médoc. I'm not aware of British-style helmets in use during the SCW. 

[aphillathehun]

By and large beret and Spanish helmet head swaps will do the job and you might consider some of the Musketeer/Footsore IRA/VBCW as potential recipients (even the ones with SMLEs, they do pop up in rare photos on a solitary basis); the weather up North can be somewhat cooler and inclement for a fair bit of the year; in the mountains for most of the year in fact.   

Other than the more or less universal berets, they had the same access to stored uniforms, helmets, weapons and equipment, as everyone else. There were also Anarchist and other 'Republicans' there besides the Gudari (in separate units), so don't feel completely tied to them. 

I have some Carlist figures.  They do not have separate heads.  Do other figures in the empress range have separate heads, or is it going to be the case of me buying the spare heads and hacking through a cast on head?

My preliminary investigations seem to point me toward taking figures from the International Brigade packs.  If they have a beret they are good, if not putting a head with a beret on.  The berets seem not to have a tassle like the carlist figs do, but I imagine I can fix that with a file pretty easily.

[Arlequín]

The Empress figures will require surgery to change heads. The Carlists and others should work fine with tassle filed off and appropriate paint jobs.

Everybody didn't wear a beret, but if they did it was apparenly black. So a force with plenty of them, but in which helmets and other items are present, will match the photos I am seeing.

[aphillathehun]

Another group of figures that look like they might be good for this are the Artizan maquis.  Have you looked at those?  I don't know what their weapons are.  And I don't know how they compare sizewise to the Empress figures - would guess they are chunkier.

[Arlequín]

My limited experience with Artizan is that their figures are somewhat bigger than the Empress SCW, although not beyond the realms of average guys versus big guys in the real world; peoples' tastes vary.

SMGs aside in any case, the Maquis look 'un-military' (which is of course how they should under the circumstances); no webbing, no ammo pouches, nor an attempt to look 'part of something'. If I was playing out 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' or something like that, or workers militia on Day One, then I think these would be a good fit. As part of the Basque 'Army', kitted out in stored or locally manufactured items as a regular force, not so much.

Just my opinion anyway. I have always liked the Footsore VBCW figures and have long sought a way to include the 'workers militia' within the SCW... sadly I have had to just accept that they mostly look too 'English' to work. Probably won't stop me getting some and including them, I would just never claim they were historically accurate.

When someone buys my figures for me and paints them up, they can tell me what's accurate.     

[Leigh Metford]

Correction: checks, not stripes.

The Bueno plates support your viewpoint about Gudari equipment, Arlequin. 

[Arlequín]

I would imagine that I am supporting Bueno's viewpoint. 

[Siaba]

My limited experience with Artizan is that their figures are somewhat bigger than the Empress SCW, although not beyond the realms of average guys versus big guys in the real world; peoples' tastes vary.  

Artizan ranges vary in size. I used figures from their partisan range as international brigadists and they go along very well with my Empress figures. As you mentionned it, "maquis" (the correct french term is "maquisard") could be very nice to represent basque militiamen.