Corpo Truppe Volontarie

[flags_of_war]

Any of you fine gents have a good source for the CTV Uniform colour? I was tempted to keep it simple by using Vallejo English Uniform as i can't get any real good details on the colours other than some i have seen is a greenish brown.

[Sparrow]

Hi - I'm certainly no expert in this area but having a large number to paint myself (my 2015 project!) I've been trying to get to the bottom of this to!

The earlier war Italians may have have worn green uniforms ( these go with the "Adrian" helmets if you're using Empress miniatures) with blue berets (I'm trying to attach a picture with this so hope it works). Later Italians may have had a sand coloured uniform if the plate in the Osprey is correct.

That said I know there are some real SCW experts who read this forum and if they can shed any light on this subject I'd be hugely appreciative . Not being a Spanish or Italian reader I've found researching this whole area a real challenge! (In this respect my beloved ECW is SO much easier  )

Hope this helps

[Sparrow]

I'm also trying to attach a few more photos which I hope help?

[Sparrow]

And again (hopefully!)  - IF this is correct ( a big "IF") this seems closer to your Vallejo English Uniform (speaking of which does anyone know what "Welsh uniform" looks like? - I didn't know UKIP were used to name
Vallejo paints  )

[Sparrow]

Found this one in my stored photos as well - hope it helps

[Durutti]

I have a boys big book of the CTV, I shall attempt to add some pics later.
Lets just say its not a simple issue, and the options are very varied indeed 

If you can narrow the timeline, and theatre a bit for us, then I will try and give you a few valid pointers.

You will however, have fun asembling your force, especially if you like ripping off heads 

[Arlequín]

The short answer is that all the above colours are correct. 

The Italians had Winter, Summer and Tropical uniforms and detachments turned up in Spain in all three. As the supply chain sorted itself out they were eventually more uniformly equipped as appropriate, but for the early part of 1937 quite a few would be struggling with the cold, or wearing a mix of uniform types, which hopefully included the greatcoat.

As Durutti says, time and place narrows things down... or even unit in some cases, as who they were gives us where they came from. While those details are hard to find, they are out there.

  

[flags_of_war]

Jeez i was just painting up the Empress figures. Im not 100% sure what actions they foought in to be honest. The pics i found are the ones that look like it's English Uniform which i might just go with as i have a good triad for that.

[Durutti]

Ok, lets take another route
Who are you pitting them against, and do you intend to use other Nationalist forces with them?

With the uniform issue, it all really boils down to how accurate you want to be.
CTV have particular uniform distinctions, so if you have a formation in mind, I can post up the unit distinctions, early war they are mostly Italian, but later on you get an influx of Spanish troops, and they become a more combined force.
The good thing is, you are no limited to just using the Empress SCW figs, you can combine the Italo-Abyyssinian italians as well, but they would require a head swap. tropical weight uniforms were issued, but not pith helmets.
Not sure if any of the formations were MSVN, there was only one regular unit, that being the Littorio, the others were made up of fascist volunteers, who were not entirely certain where the hell they were going!!!
Early on, uniform issue was patchy, old issue Eurpean theatre uniforms, combined with the lightweight tropical kit, helmets were mostly old stock Adrians, but the later M33 were in issue too, and these grew in number, as more kit was issued.
To add variety, you can use the Perry Italians, and here is a quick review of them
http://nigelh-viewfromtheduckpond.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/1930s-italians-perry-v-empressanglian.html

and scroll down, for a bit of head ripping action 
http://nigelh-viewfromtheduckpond.blogspot.co.uk/2013_08_01_archive.html

You could also throw the Bolt Action stuff into the mix, as they are also useable, and there are one or two more support options in the range.

Later folks, I should be entertaining guests, but have sneaked off to type this. 

[Sparrow]

Bloody hell! Fascinating stuff!

[flags_of_war]

Well we have a game next year and it's only going to be a generic game using BA. Nothing specific to a battle and no need to be 100% accurate.

So far ive painted Falange, Carlists and Moroccans so i guess it is a mixed bag army that prob never happened. They will be fighting against most International Brigades and other Red Militias.

[Sparrow]

Yep, know what you mean - if it's Bolt Action no need to worry too much about accuracy! 

[flags_of_war]

Yep, know what you mean - if it's Bolt Action no need to worry too much about accuracy! 

Yup  tried CooC but the other SCW gamer doesn't like them.

[Durutti]

We went the other way round, tried Bolt Action, did not like them, and switched to CofC.

After typing a ton of crap previously, I realised that I did not actually give you an answer!! 

Uniform colours
this little article is a good help, as it gives you vallejo paint colours, it is I think based on the 1933 issues, and some of that kit saw use in Spain
http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=110&art_id=413

I will check back for the earlier variants, but IIRC, the kit prior to the 33 reissues was more of a greenish-khaki colour. the Adrian helmets were a blueish grey colour. closest match to the webbing colour would be Vallejo's German Uniform.

As for combined CTV, Moroccan,Falange and Carlists, I will have a look at the Malaga orbats, but there may have been that combo in the Frente Del Nord operations against the Euzkadi Militias, but you would not have Brigadas Internacional on the Republican side.

[flags_of_war]

Cheers for that mate.

Just found some nice pics here of reenactors in a variety of uniforms.

http://www.xavicalzada.com/?p=2734