Just out from Figures Armour and Artillery (MLR) is a line of Chindits, British troops in the jungle during 1943-44. I got seven packs of figures from John Bruce at MLR. Each pack comes with three to four figures. Apparently there is still a little bit of organizing to be done yet as my packs do not exactly match the order form.
All of the figures, except for the mdioman, are wearing bush hats, machetes, backpacks, and other assorted equipment. The figures are mostly clear of flash. There are some pieces on rifles that are easy to clip off. For the most part the bases are smooth requiring just a little trimming, but there are no big chucks that have to be awkwardly removed. Each figure is well animated. Details are sharp and should lend themselves to either dry brushing or washes. The faces look like they have beards on them for that manly unshaven jungle look.
Pack number IRP 1 is a platoon command group of four figures. The officer is holding a pistol and pointing. His backpack, equipment, and machete are clearly shown. The radioman is bareheaded with his hat laying on the radio set. The other two figures are riflemen in two different poses. LRP 2 contains a bren gunner, NCO with a rifle signaling to halt, and another rifleman different from the first two. In pack 3 there are three riflemen advancing. They all have the same pose, but it is different from the riflemen in the other packs. All three have bayonets, large bayonets, on their rifles. The figures have a lot of animation, and even look like they are yelling as they charge. Pack 4 has a kneeling bren gunner, a prone rifleman, and a kneeling NCO with rifle giving directions or orders. What is nice about the prone rifleman is that he comes on a base which makes handling and painting much easier.
In pack number 5 there are three riflemen firing, Two are kneeling and the third is standing. The contents of pack six are different from the listing, the contents being correct, the listing is not. Here we have a commando NCO with a Tompson, a crouching bren gunner, and a grenadier. Pack 7, which I do not have a sample of contains muleteers (2) and four loads. Possibly the prize of the shipment is my package 8 which is not listed in the brochure. It contains four figures and what appears to be a small extra piece with a back pack lying on the ground. One of the four figures is obviously working on the backpack. In addition, there is a figure with a rifle grenade, a erect rifleman firing, and a flamethrower. I do not know when or if this package is coming out, but it is a must for an well rounded unit.
Figures can be ordered in the United States from Brookhurst hobbies. Their address is 12188 Brookhurst Street, Garden Grove, CA 92640. During store hours you can call them at (714) 6363580, or use the fax number. (714) 636-9150. In Europe the address is 17 Oakfield Drive, Upton Heath, Chester CH2 MG, and the phone number is 0244 379 399.
Quality Castings continues to improve and expand their line of 15mm vehicles and figures. Just out last December are a number of new and redone vehicles and infantry support troops. The Japanese Type 97 CHI-HA tank has been redone, and three new vehicles added to the line, a Type 97 SHENHOTO, a HO NI 75mm self-propelled gun, and a HO RO 150 mm. self-propelled howitzer. All of the tanks come with the option of having an open turret with figure, or closed turret.
Nineteen light mortar teams are now available for players who like to include the normal supporting units for infantry platoons and companies. For gamers interested in recreating low level actions these figures should be included in almost any action. The figures include variations of American, British and German forces along with Russian, French, Italian, Japanese, Partisan, Chinese, N. Korean, N. Vietnamese, and Viet Cong. Each pack comes with six figures and two mortars and sells for $2.50.
For the Germans, the early Tiger I has been redone, while mid and late versions have been added to the line. All three tanks each sell for $6.75. Chuck Cook, the owner of Quality Castings, sent me a sample of the late war Tiger I. It is a nicely detail model with spare tracks on the turret and the usual amount of emergency equipment (shovels, tow chains, and other tools) on the deck of the vehicle. The underneath of the body is notched, and the treads have a little edge that sticks up to fit in the notch. This saves me from getting out my reference book to make sure I am mounting the treads correctly.
The sample I got requires you to glue the tracks and the hull machine gun to the body of the tank. The turret requires only the turret hatch to be attached. You have your choice of a closed turret, or one with the figure of the commander. The commander figure is just a head and shoulders. It is wearing a cap and headphones. While the tops of the vehicles tend to be flash free, the bottoms and treads need a fair amount of trimming. The body of the tank has a lot of small spikes that are easy to trim. The treads have some more solid chunks that take a little more care, but still only a couple of minutes to clean up. The vehicles paint up very well, with enough detail to work with either the dry brush method of washes to bring out the details and accents.
Figures and vehicles can be order from Quality Castings, P.O. Box 11714, Alexandria, VA 22313, U.S.A. In the future, Quality Castings will be adding a Russian BA64 Lt. Armored Car, US Halftracks with 75mm and 105mm. Howitzers, plus other new vehicles. I am particularly interested in the American half-tmck with the 75mm gun as this was a widely used vehicle, especially in the Pacific.
Next month we will be reviewing a computer game from HPS titled Tigers on the Prowl. We wanted to have the review for this month, but the game has a lot of subtleties and we needed more time to give it a fair play test before reviewing it. The publishers made an immense effort to include all of the factors that could affect a battle, things like air temperature, the amount of light available, and all of the basic items that we normally considered to be involved in warfare.
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© Copyright 1995 by Mike Vogell and Phoenix Military Simulations.
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