Warlord Games Red Devils! British Airborne

Bolt Action by Warlord games and published by Osprey publishing, has fast become one of my favourite games to play on the tabletop, smooth, fast with some innovative mechanics it’s a great fun game.  I have shown it to friends who only delve in the realm of silly space elves and such like and they loved it for the way it plays and the cinematic feel it gives.  

I have a few forces varying in size for Bolt Action, I have the US, the Germans, and the nucleus of a small British force.  Of course as always there are so many other armies I want to field, but all in good time….

Today I’m taking a brief look at the Red Devils set from Warlord games.  It is what im using as the foundation for my future force.   When I first saw this set, I had to have them, I mean British Airborne are just cool, it’s the red berets they just look fantastic in model form.  I have a force of them for Flames of War, (at Morgan's though)  and I need them in Bolt Action as well.

The Red Devils box is a great way to start an airborne force.  It comes with a 2 man PIAT team, a Vickers MMG and crew, an HQ section and a 10 man squad. And none of the sculpts are the same in the set.  They are all metal models with a nice weight to them. Sadly the box does not come with bases, though I had a load lurking around, its still worth remembering.

The models came out of the box crisp and with very little flash on them. There is a great amount of detail on these models, from mugs and canteens, to some troops having their berets tucked in their epaulets.

The HQ you get in the set consists of an officer with SMG, and another with an SMGand hunting horn.  I decided to make him my “adjutant” otherwise known as guy with my officer.  A radio operator, good for using as either an arty, or air observer and a medic.  It really shows the character in this set

 PIAT  team, nice models again though I’m not a fan of laying down figures. The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank (PIAT) was a British man-portable anti-tank weapon developed during WW2. The PIAT was designed in 1942, and entered service in 1943.

The PIAT was based on Spigot mortar system, that launched a 2.5 pound bomb using a powerful spring and a cartridge on the tail of the projectile. It possessed an effective range of approximately 115 yards in a direct fire anti-tank role, and 350 yards in an indirect fire 'house-breaking' role. The PIAT had several advantages over other infantry anti-tank weapons of the period, which included a lack of muzzle smoke to reveal the position of the user, and an inexpensive barrel; however, this was countered by, amongst other things, a difficulty in cocking the weapon, the bruising the user received when firing it, and problems with its penetrative power.

The Vickers gun is a lovely model, with the loader and ammunition belt being my favorite part.  The gun comes in one piece, with the crew individual.

Fun Vickers fact: Introduced into service in 1912 it served until 1968! It also had a role unusual for a machine gun in that the Vickers was used for indirect fire against enemy positions at ranges up to 4,500 yards (4,100 m). This plunging fire was used to great effect against road junctions, trench systems, forming up points, and other locations that might be observed by a forward observer, or zeroed in at one time for future attacks, or guessed at by men using maps and experience. Sometimes a location might be zeroed in during the day, and then attacked at night, much to the surprise and confusion of the enemy. New Zealand units were especially fond of this use. A white disc would be set up on a pole near the MMG, and the gunner would aim at a mark on it, knowing that this corresponded to aiming at the distant target. There was a special back-sight with a tall extension on it for this purpose.

The squad itself has a mix of weapons, 1 Bren gunner, 4 with SMG and 5 Rifles.  I know being metal it limits the weapon load outs in your force, but I like the mixture, it suits the character of an airborne force

 I love these models and can not wait to expand my force for these guys