Friday 1 August 2014

Potential Spanish Civil War Project: Plenty of Possible Platoons

So, a few of the Wyvern Wargamers chaps have declared 2015 project to be Spanish Civil War, which presents an opportunity to invest in some of Empress miniatures' highly acclaimed range. The idea is to play Chain of Command, which we're already familiar with for WWII, so I'd be looking at a supported platoon. 

There is plenty of choice in both the official lists and the Empress range. I've been reading around the subject a little, most recently Ernest Hemingway's SCW classic, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and resources on Arlequin's and Curt's great blogs. 

I remain stumped over which platoon I'd like to start off. My initial preferences were:
1). Republican, partly because of the classic English support for the underdogs
2). Not irregular platoon (i.e. militia). I've always struggled choosing a good colour palette for pure irregular forces. Uniforms tend to come out better, a little variation is appreciated.
3). Avoiding grey and navy blue uniforms, both colours that I've painted a lot of in recent years. 
4). A platoon with a better range of Empress sculpts: at least 3 packs plus some support options. Though I am willing to do conversions such as head swaps. 


My first thought was Peninsular Army Cavalry. Advantages are that it would look great, the mounted Empress miniatures are excellent. I also haven't seen a any cavalry, let alone a whole platoon in the few SCW-related blogs I follow. Unfortunately, my initial enthusiasm dimmed when I started totting up the cost: really rather expensive, once you get into mounted and dismounted options for multiple units, plus support options. And I don't particularly enjoy painting cavalry at the best of times, never ideal for finishing a project, though they do often look great when finished. Back to the drawing board. 



















Second plan used the lovely Assault Guards models. THey can be Republican, multiple packs and 
separate heads for conversions, check. Ah, but Guardias de Asalto wear a navy uniform, or grey overalls, which isn't ideal. Humm. Then a moment of inspiration, the Carabineros: frontier guards. Doable with the same minis, but they wear 'pea green'. Better! This remains a fairly strong contender. 

Then I saw the Italian Tankettes, so cute:

CV33, available from Empress Miniatures.


Which put me onto the Italian Corpo Truppe Voluntarie (CTV). While they are Nationalist, they fit the regular and colour requirements. Once again, I don't recall seeing any painted up in the English blogging community. The platoon is very well equipped and led and they have a plethora of support options. But that doesn't really feel right for the SCW: one might as well stick to WWII if you have the luxury of LMGs in every squad and armour support on hand! 

Which leaves the current choice at Carabineros or CTV. There are other options, but can anyone suggest anything I might not have thought of that fit my original criteria? 


26 comments:

  1. Fun! Here are a couple other suggestions Phil:

    Carlist Requetes: Great uniforms (no blues!) Gotta love the jodhpurs!
    Moroccan Regulares: Nice mustard uniform colours with coloured puttees and who can deny a good fez!
    Republican or Nationalist Navy: Real oddball stuff here. Chance to do some shore actions. Need to check on the uniforms though...
    Condor Legion: 1/2 of von Thoma's command (4 Pz I tanks) perhaps with an 88 for spice?
    The Italians are a great option as well...

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    1. An yes, the Requetes are a fun idea in their jolly red berets. The list is interesting too, they can get a bit of support, mounted troops, religious icons. Plenty to choose from. They can join the top two.

      I'm blank on the navy though. There seemed to be some marines engaged inland - similar to army uniforms perhaps?

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    2. The uniform of the navy columns was, in the first months of the war, "navy grey" for the marines (Infantería de Marina) and blue or grey for the sailors. The first ones, in the same cut of uniform as those of the regular infantry when forming part of security detachments, shore parties, etc. When they were formed in an Expeditionary Battalion, they received a kakhi uniform. The Carabineros are a very nice option for the Republican side; in the end, they formed several Mixed Brigades of the Republican Army.

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    3. Thanks for the info Juan!

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  2. I'll look forward to the new project taking shape, sorry I can't give any suggestions I don't know much about the period.

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  3. I love thinking about new projects, perhaps a little too much if the truth be told, this looks like fun Phil - good luck.

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    1. Yes, I've been browsing Empress on and off for a couple of months now

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  4. Just starting to paint some EPR sections myself
    Painting issues aside, if you want to play a challenging unit go for the militia! I have played (and lost!) twice already but it is really fun and to some extent addictive. A careful selection of the support options is needed and a timely arrival (not too soon, not too late) to the table as they are really weak when trying to win the field by exchanging fire against seasoned African Nationalists or Carlistas

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    1. Benito, you're showing your true colours! I can easily see you as a member of the militia at that time. Hmm, anarchist perhaps? :)

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    2. Ahah, militias are interesting but fall foul of my dislike of painting irregulars. But they should make an appearance - hopefully a couple of the other chaps will bring the rabble out.

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    3. Ha, ha Curt! You missed a long way

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    4. You can reinforce your militia ranks with some Carabineros, Guardias de Asalto, regular soldiers... and, as Benito says, they are a wonderful force to play with (and they had a lot of funny "armored" vehicles!!!).

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    5. Actually this discussion is enticing me to wirte something in my blog too about my recent games with the militias in Chain of Command... I'll see if I have some apre time this afternoon

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  5. You don't have to field your cavalry mounted, so you could still go down that route and add mounted figures later if you stick with them.

    I would probably recommend 'Peninsular Infantry' for the widest range of options and they effortlessly become 'EPR Infantry' for later battles. As the Republic officially disbanded the army right from the word go, you need not stick to a wholly 'regulation uniform' look for the unit either.

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    1. True, but they don't feel like cavalry without at least a mounted section on the rabble

      Army is another fair option. I wonder if this is why people get into the SCW - something for everyone?

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    2. Something for everyone... except maybe the guy who likes power-gaming with tanks. :-D

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  6. There is a lot of information in this book: "Uniformes Militares de la Guerra Civil Española" by José María Bueno. Ed. Almena. Lots of plates, with English captions.

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    1. Thanks for the recommendation - I'll keep an eye out for a copy

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    2. Juan is right on this. Bueno's book is actually THE book on uniforms, at least until today.

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    3. BTW, I have the Almena edition but also a copy of the first original edition published by Editorial San martin in the 70s!!! A real little jewel of a book

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    4. Another vote for Bueno here too! I wonder about some of the colour tones at times, but it has no competitors.

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    5. Bueno is the best book about this war but the green of the italian troops is slighlty off..
      for the CTV, the best book you can find is (in Italian)
      "Stefano Ales e Andrea Viotti, Le uniformi e i distintivi del Corpo Truppe Italiane in Spagna 1936-1939, Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito - Ufficio storico, Roma, 2004."
      The publisher is the The Italian Army Historical Office, so I could not find a better source!! ;)

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  7. Phil, this looks like a great project. Best of luck with it! Not a period I know at all, so I'll be watching with interest!

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  8. Hi,
    first of all I wanted to tell you that you have a great blog..
    Excellent choice about the Italians (the fact I'm italian doesn't influence my opinion at all..) ;)
    To help you on this project, please allow me to link to you an old post of my own blog where I painted an Italian Officer of the Empress range.
    http://gnotta.blogspot.it/2011/04/ufficiale-italiano-in-spagna-1937-parte.html
    About the uniforms, an error I've seen alot on the blogosphere is that the Italian CTV is often painted in the WWII "grigio verde" uniform. In fact, the Italian soldiers had the uniforms made in a different fabric in a particular colour, the italian "Khaki Oliva", I hope this help...
    keep up the good work, I hope to see soon some lead Luigi and Antonio on your blog.. ;)
    ciao!!
    Fabio

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  9. Cheers Gnotta, your CTV officer looks great. Thanks for the link and info Though he needs some chaps to lead it seems...

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  10. Does anyone have good info on the uniforms of the Eusko Gudarostea (Basque army)? They seem to be in berets - would the Empress Requetes be suitable?

    As the war went on would they have been more similar to the Republican army (uniform/helmeted)? Or retain basque identity?

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