British Para Army for Bolt Action

My hobby funk issue last month inspired me to just grab some stuff and start painting with no real concern as to why.  I pulled down a large assortment of British paras from the shelf above my paint bench and got to work.  A month later I have added 47 miniatures to this collection.  I realized that this collection has been documented in bits an pieces going back to the start of this blog 10 years ago.  It now seems like a good time to do a full documentation of the collection considering I have now painted all the miniatures I have for this force.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have never really build a 28mm army for Bolt Action specifically and this collection is no exception to that.  The first figures in this collection were acquired from my friend Tom more than 15 years ago.  These first figures were painted by another friend, Kevin.  Even though I was not a huge fan of the paint jobs on these original figures I never went back to repaint them,  As you will see below, I think they still match OK with my painting style.  A style that has evolved over the years.

Since this collection was not built with Bolt Action in mind it is WAY too big.  This is really a company of paratroopers and more than I would ever use in one game.

Company HQ and Support

First up we have Major Howard, a limited edition figure from Warlord Games.  He is accompanied by a Crusader Miniatures para with a captured MP40.  These are both recent paints by me.

This is my para sniper team.  The sniper is a Foundry model painted years ago by Kevin.  The spotter is also a Foundry model painted by me this week.  

The flamethrower is a Foundry model painted by Kevin and the assistant is a Crusader figure I painted about 10 years ago.  You can see the differences in the colors and style that make the figure painted by Kevin stand out.

The forward air controller/forward artillery observer team are Foundry miniatures.  The radio operator was painted by Kevin years ago and the observer was painted by me 10 years ago.

The medic is a limited edition miniature from Warlord Games and is a recent paint job by me.  I am really excited to have this one in the collection!

The 6pdr anti-tank gun team are Crusader models and recently painted by me.  This is a nice set but the gun is a little flimsy for a game piece.  I orginally had the gun and the team on a single base but I did not like the look.  With BA2 now specifying individual bases I will attempt to stick with that whenever possible.

First Platoon

The first platoon commander is from Foundry and was painted by Kevin.  Back in the early 2000's it was still fashionable with my friends to paint eyes.  I got over that years ago.

The medium mortar is from Crusader Miniatures and is a recent paint job by me.  I like Crusader a lot but their lack of variation in weapons team figures makes me sad.  I think I have 5 of the dude pointing.

The Foundry Piat team was painted by Kevin.  Again, the eyes.  Thankfully my eyes are getting to the point that I can't see this except in a picture or if I really study the figure.

This is a Vickers medium machine gun team from Crusader Miniatures recently painted by me.

Squad 1 is a mix of Foundry figures and Crusader.  About half these models are painted by Kevin and the other half are mine from 10 or so years ago.

Squad 2 is almost entirely Foundry with, I think, only one Crusader.  I think all but one of these were painted by me over the years.  

Squad 3 and again we have a mix of Foundry and Crusader.  Paint is also a mix of mine and Kevin's work.  This picture shows the difference in basing from one paint batch to the next.  They don't really match but they still look good together.

Second Platoon

Platoon 2 commander is a Crusader model recently painted by me.

Here we have another MMG team just like first platoon.  Painted by me.

This medium mortar team is from Warlord Games and was recently painted by me.  

Warlord PIAT team is a recent edition to the collection painted by me.

Squad 1 is back to a mix of Foundry and Crusader.  Most of these are older paint jobs by me with  one or two by Kevin.

Squad 2 is another recent edition to the collection painted by me.  These are Warlord Games figures that came in my Pegasus Bridge set. I was a little sad to see one duplicate figure but otherwise a nice set.

Squad 3 is mostly Crusader miniatures with the exception of the Bren team that are Foundry figures.  These are all recent paint jobs by me.  

Even though this represents all the figures I currently own for a British Para force I don't think I can say I am done.  There are still a couple of different gun teams I would like to add as well as Jeeps.  It will likely be a while before I tackle and more projects for this army.