Invasionietta

[Hammers]

the game steel panthers WWII (well the modded game that still survives today) has an excellent (like 11/10 excellent) scenario set in this theatre that would be 'jolly' (bloody no sweary pants rule) easy to convert to a minis game. Its the froggies ambushing the brits as they advance up the track to somewheresville.

Antanananananarivo

I am assuming the time life book is 'wars in the outposts' which is an excellent read and an essential companion to anyone who gets the squits with having to paint up one squillion figures to have a game. Lots of excellet small unit battles to rip material for games from.

That's the one and I agree.

[Plynkes]

There ain't no no sweary pants rule here, Steve.

You can say M*** as much as you want. It's just that other than Hammers, who occasionally is laid low with debilitating bouts of internet Tourette's, nobody really chooses to.

[Hammers]

Arse. Pants. Shit.

There, I did it again.

[Plynkes]

Dug out some more pics for you, H...


KAR Anti-Tank Rifle gunners (with their rifles on the ground), pictured with South African infantry. Abyssinia 1941.


East Africa 1943 (included because of the cute little doggie).


India 1944.



Burma 1945.


India 1945.

[Plynkes]

Though I will say you are a right jammy bastard for having your own mini. Have you got one of your own yet?

Yeah, I was given four(!) for free, one of which I gave away. Haven't painted 'em yet though (which will come as no surprise to anyone that knows me).

[Plynkes]

So they appear to believe they make 20mm figures?

This bit is what confused me. Why the emphasis on 'they?' Why the question mark? A rather confusing, going round the houses way of saying "yes, they are 20mm."

I had never heard of them before today, and you made no mention of what size they were in your initial post. Seeing as I'm mostly a 25-28mm figure sort of fellow, it hadn't occurred to me that they would be anything else (silly really, but there you go - we can all be a bit blinkered at times). The following posts where the phrase "big 20mm" was used led to my seeking a clarification as to the size.

[carlos marighela]

I think the moral of this thread is that when the laundry tag on your pants says 'hand wash, do not tumble dry' you should do as it suggests.

Some friends and I looked at doing Madagascar some years back but in teeny weeny scale, where pants weren't held to be an issue and swapping french heads onto 6mm Eighth Army figures wouldn't have caused anyone heartache. If I remember correctly there's an S&T board game on the subject. Finding suitable French in 28mm would be a struggle.

Scurv is right. If you want happy small scale WW2 in the tropics, think Timor 1942. You get cute little tanks ( Japanese) and quite a bit of exotica, like Japanese paratroopers (god knows who makes those).

[Hang Tuah]

Japanese paratroopers (god knows who makes those)

Stonewall has an excellent little range sculpted by the late Paul Barnshaw, who did the Dutch, Greeks, Poles and Norwegians for FAA. They're 20mm though.

http://www.agisn.de/assets/images/IJA_Paras.jpg

[Hang Tuah]

Raventhorpe's a pretty historic brand, they're to 20mm what Minifigs and Essex were once to the 25mm and 15mm worlds. Despite the fact that quality-wise they've been superseded by the likes of AB and TQD, their headless, headless, costumisable figures remain remarkably useful.

Here's what the Rapid Fire team's take on Vichy French troops using Raventhorpe figures for their Safi game back in the early '90s:





 

[Hang Tuah]

Also, for detailed accounts you want to check out the British and Indian official histories of the war, as well as Colin Smith's England's Last War Against France: Fighting Vichy.

And don't be surprised to see a 20mm range of Vichy troops uniformed for the tropics (shorts and sun helmets) released sometime later this year. 

[Hammers]

All good but I will die a 28mm man. The Artizan French legionaries are in British gear, right?

[Hammers]

I have a huge amount of plastic 1:72s in the shed but I foresee no joy in painting those.

I wonder if one would be lynched by a mob of anoraks if one by means of head-swaps converted these to Tirailleurs Senegalese.