In preparation for the second public outing of our Battle of Keren game at Partizan on June 1st, I've been fiddling around with some Perry plastics to create some more interesting models for vignettes etc. I've also been robbing some parts from the Valiant Miniatures British Tommies (although allegedly 1/72 scale, they are actually very close to the Perrys' 1/56, I reckon more like 1/60.)
First up are some Sikh stretcher bearers:
Next are some British and Sikh casualties:
The backpacks are the metal Perry ones - these are great, they fit perfectly onto the models and add some nice variety. The grey heads are Valiant - they actually have a little deeper detail than the Perry ones, and also have hair, so good for a bit of character. You can see this even better in the next pic:
Here's a classic pairing - soldier helping his wounded mate back to the aid post. One of the running poses and the grenade-throwing arm really lent itself to this:
A pair of Sikhs carrying water to the front line (in the Battle of Keren around a third of the troops had to act as porters just to keep basic supplies going):
My British CO, Capt Michael Osborn, whose West Yorkshires finally took Fort Dologorodoc on 16th March 1941. Not much of a conversion this, I just wanted a figure who looked like he was pointing out the Italian MG post up the mountain.
And some of his men of the West Yorkshires. Capt Osborn's eyewitness accout describes how his men wore orange and yellow 'screens' on their backs so as to be visible to their forward observers as they climbed the mountainous Fort Dologorodoc. (It didn't work, they still got shelled by their own side.) I've modelled the 'screens' with a bit of greenstuff attached to their backpacks; pretty rough (I hope it'll paint up OK) but probably not much different to the real thing improvised the night before the attack.
A West Yorks Bren team, again with a Valiant head. I've taken a leaf out of Scrivs' book and am going to prop up the Bren on a rock to fire uphill.
And finally, something unusual: WW2 troops armed with shields. The Indian engineers at Keren improved shields to combat the menace of Italian 'red devil' grenades being rolled downhill. 5 feet tall and made out of corrugated iron, the shields were apparently very unwieldy and most found use as bivouacs. But I thought it'd be fun to make a couple in use:
The shields are made from corrugated iron roofing from a model railway stockist, hence the transparency. Hopefully they'll paint up well!
More pics when I have actually painted them...