28mm African Wars Portuguese

[Kingscarbine]

Hi,

My good friend Carlos Marighela sent me some sample figures of these generic Portuguese infantrymen,  about to be released by Eureka AUS. They are absolutely fantastic with great detail and clean. There will be more poses and support weapons (at least a MG42/59). If there's a market for these more can follow in the shape of Dragoons, Paras and Marines. Enjoy

[Arlequín]

I've been waiting to get a look at these for ages. They are just what I want! Who do I have to kill to get some? 

[carlos marighela]

Nobody, simply send an email to Nic at Eureka and request some.  Not sure of the official release date but as ever you can usually buy them direct if you ask. The immensely talented Kosta Heristanidis apparently enjoyed the project so as Nuno says, if they sell perhaps we can convince him to make some more.

Good to see others share my enthusiam for the subject matter and of course the sculpts themselves. Anyone wants a list of available vehicle/ aircraft/ guns/ reference material to compliment the figures let me know and I'll post one. Nuno almost certainly has an even better set of sources than me, including first person testimony from his father.

[Christian]

Moito brigado!

I hope Nic has some at CanCon this month. I think a little bit of a guide on how to use them i.e. uniform colours, eras of conflicts, who to fight against etc. is in order if it ain't too much trouble. Some reference pics... or if you have the raw material I'll offer to put it together on a couple of pages.

They look great. Kosta is a really talented and very nice chap, too.

Definitely want to pick up some of these!

[carlos marighela]

De nada, o prazer e meu!

Conflicts.

These are primarily intended for the Guerra do Ultramar, the colonial campains that raged in Angola, Guinea and Mozambique between the early 1960s and 1974/5. The Portuguese military fought a series of counterinsurgency operations against insurgent/national liberation forces in the three colonies. Their experience and tactical innovations were capitalised on later by the Rhodesians and South Africans, including the use of fireforce type reaction forces, airmobile envelopment and even horse mounted troops. The settings of these campaigns reflected the diverse nature of the terrain across Portugal's African territories. Steamy swamps in Guinea, thick bush to open savannah and arid scrub terrain.

Opponents.
The Portuguese faced a variety of opponents. In Guinea the principle opponent was the PAIGC, in Mozambique, FRELIMO and in Angola, the fractious combination of the MPLA, FNLA and UNITA. Eureka already produce suitable figures for all in their ZANLA range. Most of these groups were armed from the mid sixties on with Soviet and Chinese arms. By the early 1970s, in Guinea at least, this extended to light armour (albeit it never saw action) and 122mm rockets.

I'll touch on a painting guide when i dig out my paints tomorrow. The most accesible English language guide is the Osprey. The plates and uniform info is generally ok, much of the rest of it is a little vague and makes incorrect assumptions about organisation based on very limited, second hand sources.

[meninobesta]

oh Fod*-se!

 

Now I'm going to have to spend money! don't you guys know Portugal is in a financial crisis?

excelent miniatures!

Carlos, I'll PM you for more info!

[v_lazy_dragon]

Very nice - I'll be getting them at some stage These guys would also look good mixed in with the Mongrel Congo mercs, as part of a mercenary force.

[Kingscarbine]

John Cann's "Counterinsurgency in Africa: The Portuguese way of war 1961-1974" and "Brown Water of Africa: Portuguese Riverine Warfare 1961-1974" are a must if you can find them.

I'm also involved in playtesting the next AA/FoF supplement "Bush Wars" that will cover the 1960-80s Congo, Portuguese Africa, Rhodesia, SADF Border/Bush Wars (Angola/Namibia) and Sierra Leon (Operation Barras?). There will be good information and scenarios for these figures.

[Lowtardog]

Very nice I built a skirmish force using the old HLBS 36mm figures back in the day they had a good few in the same dress. Long overdue chaps and wll done

[carlos marighela]

John Cann's "Counterinsurgency in Africa: The Portuguese way of war 1961-1974" and "Brown Water of Africa: Portuguese Riverine Warfare 1961-1974" are a must if you can find them.

I'm also involved in playtesting the next AA/FoF supplement "Bush Wars" that will cover the 1960-80s Congo, Portuguese Africa, Rhodesia, SADF Border/Bush Wars (Angola/Namibia) and Sierra Leon (Operation Barras?). There will be good information and scenarios for these figures.

The John Cann book is about to be reprinted in paperback, next month I believe, you can pre-order it at Amazon. IIRC they are asking $30 as opposed to the out of print hardback editions which go for $100 +. Best English language tome on the war.

There is a superb Portuguese site on the war, which with a web translator is accessible to all. Covers weapons, organisation history etc etc. You'll also find some excellent links to film footage of operations from the  RTP TV archives.

http://www.guerracolonial.org/

[the commissar]

..............Anyone wants a list of available vehicle/ aircraft/ guns/ reference material to compliment the figures let me know and I'll post one......

Yes please - and approx dates of use of the equipment if you have them (For example the Osprey - not always the best source -  mentions the use of Humber Mark IV armoured cars but I wonder how long they would have continued in use)

[carlos marighela]

Humber/ GMC Fox
The Portuguese used the GMC Fox in Africa, which is basically a modified Humber IV manufactured in Canada.  The main difference was the fitting of a .50 cal machinegun vice the 37mm gun, aprt from that they are almost identical in appearance externally at least. These saw service in Guinea and Mozambique as part of the recce squadrons. They were progressively replaced by Panhard AML-60s from the mid 1960s on. Bolt Action produces a Humber MkIV, although it's currently OOP as part of their mould rotation. Simple conversion, just replace the gun with a .50 cal in a gun tub, not dissimilar to that on the Humber MkII.
AML-60.
These progressively replaced the Foxes in service from about 1967 onwards (1970 on in Mozambique) and I believe they popped up in all theatres. FoA produce one in 1/56 but if you want a quite serviceable diecast then there's an old French Dinky version which pops up with remarkable frequency on Ebay. I have a couple of these, they are nicely done.
EBR-75.
In Angola there the 1st Cavalry Group, the Dragões de Angola used these heavy French cars. These were only used in Angola. The version used was the one with the big FL-10 turret. They were found to have significant limitations in terms of off road mobility in part die to the length of the 75 mm gun barrel ( basically a modified version of the Panther tank's main armament). They were mostly employed for convoy escort as a result. There was an APC version of the EBR, the EBR-VTT, used only Portugal, If you can imagine a Saracen based on the the French hull then you have a rough idea of what they look like.

The only way to get hold of an EBR-75 for 28mm is to buy the old French Dinky diecasts. These are becoming quite expensive and the proper ones with FL-10 turret ( the same one as the AMX-13 tank) are relatively rare. I look for the scungiest ones I can find then clean them up and repaint them myself. There is an ebay seller in France who casts white metal separate spare parts for old Dinky vehicles and you can get the right turret quite cheaply. Add some stowage and a decent paint job and it's amazing how well these old toys come up. The VTT APC is by necessity a conversion. there was a chap in France who makes variations of Dinky models on commission but you are probably better off doing it yourself.

[carlos marighela]

Daimler Dingo.
These were used by independent recce platoons. A number were converted with a fixed cupola atop them that looks a bit like a Humber turret, this had a number of weapons ports that could be used with rifles or MGs. the conversion wasn't universal, there are photos showing the standard open top version but this would make for a distinctive model. A 1/60 Dinky diecast exists and these are quite cheap usually. Bolt Action make them as did Chieftain in 1/56 and IIRC either Westwind or BTD.

Softskins.
Early in the war there was quite a lot of use of GMC trucks, the 2.5 ton version and the smaller 1 ton and 3/4 ton wepaons carriers. These tended to be replaced by Unimogs of various marks and for the heavier work by Portuguese made Berliets. Jeeps of various marks, including the Ford/ Willys originals,  CJ-3 and CJ-5 were used as standard light vehicles although the SWB Unimog  401/ 404 series were a popular alternative, especially in the cav squadrons and platoons.

Everyman and his dog make the US softskins, just try the usual suspects, Bolt Action, Westwind etc. Appropriate Unimogs are only available from Dinky as are the Berliets. Fortunately they tend to be numerous and reasonably priced on Ebay especially if you buy paint worn versions and repaint. I've found that the Eureka crew for their M113 makes a good driver witha minimum of work and the spares you get are worthwhile anyway. Alas, nobody makes the SWB version. It's a pretty basic model and it's all simple angles so I'm planning a plasticard conversion as one of my next projects.

[carlos marighela]

APCs
Early in the piece M3 halftracks were supposedly used as the APC in cav squadrons. Two armoured cars, four softskin recce vehicles and an APC making up a platoon/troop in the cav squadrons. These would have accompanied the Fox GMCs, the EBR-75s were accompanied by the VTT version as mentioned above. To be honest I've never found a photo showing halftracks in Africa. That's not to say they didn't exist, merely that every photo I've seen to date shows trucks.

In the mid 1960s the Portuguese developed a wheeled APC of their own, the Chaimite, based on the Cadillac-Gage 'Commando'. Visually the look very similar, save for the rear of the vehicle, which is a an inclined plane on the Chaimite. These were used to accompany the AML-60s in cav squadrons. I've seen photos of both the turreted version (identical to the Cadillac-Gage T-50 turret) and the open top version with a pedestal mounted MG in service in Africa. These came in around 1970 and saw service in  Guinea and Mozambique. Nobody makes a Chaimite, so you need to convert a Cadillac-Gage Commando. FoA makes a resin one in 1/56, whcih I suspect would be the easiest start point ( yet to get around to this myself) If you aren't too anal, you could just use as is, they look near identical except from the rear. Solido produce a diecast open top version in 1/50 but if set upon a conversion it would be more work.

Guns.
I doubt many gamers will require field artillery on the table but for completeness sake, the three most widely used guns, the Obus 8,8, Obus 10,5 and Obus 14 ( 25 pdr, 105mm Howitzer and 5.5" gun respectively) are all available in scale. Bolt Action do the 25 pdr (look for a version minus the muzzle baffle) as do others. the 105mm howitzer was actually the German leFH 18M of WW2 fame. Again Bolt Action make one as the leFH 18/40. Dinky, or is it Corgi? I foregt make a rather nice 5.5" gun that would sit well with 28mm figs. Again i doubt anyone will want them but in case someone wants to dress up a Portuguese fire base...

Mortars
The standard types found with infantry battalions were the French Brandt 81mm and US 60mm mortars of WW2 or pre WW2 vintage. These are readily found in 28mm. For field use, especially by the intervention forces, the 60mm was increasingly supplemented/replaced by a 60mm morteirete, a light support weapon. This isn't modelled as part of the existing Eureka range but it's probably the world's easiest conversion, simply an appropriately scaled bit of tubing, a small round base and a carrying strap from lead foil. The tube was marked with range gradations in paint, rather like the Bristish 2" mortar.

[Helen]

Thanks Carlos, that's very good information.

Are you going to Cancon?

Cheers,

Helen