More 20mm urban terror paramilitaries

The next set of recruits into the Winter of 79 campaign is a unit of militia in berets.  I've painted these up in a mixture of khaki, brown and grey jackets/parkas, blue jeans or brown trousers.  They all carry SLRs, Sterlings, Brens or GPMGs.  These are from RH Models (Liberation) and are very nice with really crisp detail.

A pair of leaders.

A rifle team, commanded by a Sterling armed NCO type, a pair of FNs and a Bren gunner.

Another rifle team as above, taking cover.

A third rifle team.

A fire support team of GPMG and assistant plus an NCO.

Another fire support team.

Of course these can be mixed and matched with the bareheaded troops (posted earlier) to add some AT support and make up larger units.

Thanks for looking.

20mm Command Post

I wanted a bunker position to provide a firebase to cover a roadside checkpoint for a Winter of 79 game.  Fortunately, Ironclad Miniatures attended the WMMS show in Wolverhampton a couple of weeks back and I saw this in their catalogue - perfect.  As it comes from their Vietnam Firebase range, I figured it can dual purpose for my US and ANZAC forces in that conflict too.

The sand bags are Russian Green dry brushed grey green, while wooden parts were English Uniform dry brushed light brown.  The model is stuck to a 10cm square mdf base built up with resin filler to level off the surrounding land surface, covered in PVA glue and sprinkled with sand.  Static grass and straw and dead grass clumps were added for variety.

Front view.

Rear view.  I added some wooden packing crates, metal ammo crates and an oil drum to give it a lived in look and some discarded magazines around the parapet - all bits from Sgts Mess.

The roof is detachable and this view shows that four figures based on 20mm squares comfortably fit into the bunker.  Figures are Winter of 79 militia/revolutionaries, and will form the subject of a later post.

The view from an attackers perspective.

This was a great little casting.  Almost no preparation needed - I did give it a wash in warm water and detergent.  Paint coverage on the resin was great and the whole thing took a hour or so, excluding drying times, to complete.

Thanks for looking.

Elhiem Cold War British

I finished the BAOR figures I bought from Elhiem in their Christmas sale.  Here is a full platoon in patrol poses, three sections of 8 and a platoon HQ of 4 or 5.

Part of the platoon HQ, left to right officer, RTO and sniper.

The rest of the platoon HQ, a light mortar gunner and an NCO with Sterling.

The fire support gun team with GPMG gunner and assistant, plus an SLR rifleman.

The rifle team with 4 SLR riflemen (including NCOs) plus a Sterling armed Charlie G gunner.

A dog handler, complete with German Shepherd.

Higher level (Co or Batt) commanders.

More command figures with the RSM.

An advanced optics spotter team, at the back an RTO and spotter with binoculars, at the front the officer and a rifleman.

Various manpack support weapons, at the front a Charlie G gunner and a Blowpipe launcher, at the back a LAW gunner.

I've still to add a platoon from Britannia Miniatures and that should give me a full company, enough to fill a table in 20mm I think.  I must say, it will be good to get the last of the DPM figures complete as it's quite time consuming, although does give a pleasing effect to the models when they are finished.  Again, these will finish up in the Falklands, Centag, Northag and even North Wales in our Winter of 79 campaign.

Thanks for looking.

20mm Argentine support weapons

A busy week this week.  I spent the week on business in Bahrain, which made a nice sunny change to the British winter, although on my return I find Spring appears to have sprung, can't be bad.  Anyway, I'm off to the WMMS show, but have managed to photograph the support weapons groups I've put together for my Argentine forces for the Falklands campaign.  Following some suggestions on the SOTCW forum, I looked at the Reiver Miniatures Korean War range and found most of what I was looking for in the US forces from that range.  These are painted up the same way as the infantry that I posted earlier (link http://sedimentswargameblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/20mm-argentine-troops-for-falklands.html ).

First up, a pair of 81mm medium mortar teams.

Next, a pair of 106mm recoilless rifle teams, these are Reiver artillery crew with 106mm recoilless rifles from Sgts Mess.

A pair of tripod mounted M60 machine gun teams.

Two 3.5" bazooka teams.

A pair of 2.36" bazooka teams - not  sure these will be of much use, but they were in the bazooka packs so I'm sure they will come in handy somewhere or other.

The senior command pack, three officers and a pair of Walkie Talkie RTOs.  I think the walkie talkie guys are pretty weak sculpts, they stand as if on parade and as their feet are close together they look like they will be weak at the ankles with the risk of snapping off.  However, the generals look the part.  Although the officer in the centre wears a greatcoat, it passes for the kind of quilted raincoat worn by General Mario Menendez in photos that I've seen on the internet.

So, with the possible exception of the earlier bazookas and the walkie talkie figures, these should work well with my Argentine infantry.  A side benefit is that these can also see service in my generic NATO cold-climate armies, such as Norway or Denmark.

So, now it's time to head off to Wolverhampton and add to the lead pile.  As ever, thanks for looking.

20mm UK Urban Terror paramilitaries

At last, some potential opposition for the Regulars in my "Winter of 79" themed campaign.  These are all RH Models from their UK Urban Meltdown range, representing irregulars/militia/paramilitaries in anoraks and civilian clothing.

First up leaders, the kneeling figure wears an RAF greatcoat and carries an SLR.  The unarmed chap wearing his football scarf stands next to a leader with Sterling SMG.

A pair of Charlie G gunners.

Snipers, the bane of uniformed troops on COIN operations.

NCO type figures, cell commanders, etc.

Guys carrying Sterling SMGs.

GPMG gunners.

Bren gunners.

Militia armed with SLRs.

I depicted most of these guys in faded denim jeans, painted flat blue and dry brushed ivory, as these would be the most common trousers/pants available (in 1979 I possessed 2 pairs of denim jeans and a pair of brown cords as an alternative to school uniform).  So funnily enough most of the rest wear brown cords, with one of the leaders in green cords.  They all wear parkas in a khaki green colour (I mixed golden olive with khaki), which closely resembles my favourite jacket from the late 70's complete with rabbit fur trim on the hood and a garish tartan lining.  The leaders wear dark green flak jackets and an RAF greatcoat, probably purchased from the local Army and Navy (in Plymouth the shop used to be called Goulds).

So, these can form a unit of Free Welsh, a Workers Militia, rustic militia, urban defence force or any other possibility, fighting as pro-Government or Revolutionary elements.  I guess they could also be used as hastily raised Home Guard types in a Britain-invaded scenario in the second half of the 20th Century (certainly 60's onwards), or even as a well organised criminal gang.

As ever, thanks for looking.