Thursday, May 31, 2012

TQD Castings British Infantry Part One

Recently (well, February), I mentioned that I was going to take a chance buying some figures from TQD Castings, a line of figures made under the UK's CP Models banner, because they make a 20mm padre figure, which happens to be the scale I do WW2 skirmish gaming in.

The pack (TQD-BR3) I wanted includes an officer in shirtsleeves, a dispatch rider, and a padre. Done and dusted, I said, and ordered them. At the same time I ordered a five figure pack (TQD-BR3), a useful looking set of British infantry, none of them looking especially in a hurry, that could be useful to flesh out scenes or show infantry moving up to the front.

So here's the lot, set up besides some vehicles from my collection:

The officer figure. He's cast with his sleeves rolled up, and since I've worn a battledess tunic and don't see how you could ever roll up the sleeves on that garment, I decided to give him a cream coloured shirt rather than a standard issue khaki one - maybe his wife sent it to him. I'm planning to use him as Lt. Denis Audet in my Platoon Forward games, which are chronicled on this blog. If you're wondering about the vegetation on his helmet, it's bits of dill weed from the herb cupboard. I dried crushed basil flakes, didn't work.

The dispatch rider, who to my mind looks like he's directing traffic. I'm not too happy with his lips, he looks like he's blowing someone a kiss. Perhaps I should fix it, or find a pretty 20mm French young woman figure for him to be looking at!

And the padre figure. If it seems that the finish on this figure looks a little, well, bumpy, you're right. Once the black spray paint I was using as a primer had dried, I was horrified to notice that it had dried in a somewhat granular form. I scraped as much of it off as I could, but I was quite upset because he was the reason I bought this pack. However, from a distance, he doesn't look too bad.

So what to do with a padre figure on the tabletop? Still scratching my head on that one. Thanks to one of Sidney Roundwood's posts, I am thinking that I could use him as a first aid man for skirmish gaming where first aid rules are allowed. To that end I thought about painting a red cross on the satchel, but too much of it is covered by his arm. Perhaps I should go back and give him a Red Cross armband. There's a thought. Here's the good padre with some AB Miniatures casualty figures from my collection.

Ill put up the other figures tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for looking, it means a lot to me. Cheers, Mike

16 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Chris! I'm enjoying your alt tank creation efforts on your blog.

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  2. I think the scenario should drive what the padre will/can do. Using either IABSM or TW&T, I would say they should be able to remove shock at the very least when joined to a unit.

    Say you are doing a Spanish Civil War scenario, a padre figure with a unit of Carlists could add fervor to a charge (possibly) as well. For a campaign game like Platoon Forward, he could be used like a medic and possibly reduce the severity of a non-fatal BM injury.

    For scenario driven, you could dictate that the padre has to reach a stranded unit on the far side of the table or something like that. Lots of possibilities. I may include an Italian Chaplain in one of my scenarios for the CSIR I am writing. Father Don Natale Traversa (80th Roma Regimental Chaplain) at the fight at Pokrovskoje, rushed to the front to aid the wounded and came under fire several times. I think he will need to make an appearance.

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    1. Hello Chris:
      I appreciate the thoughtful comments and suggestions. I have had some similar ideas ref TFL rules sets. I've been reading several accounts of Canadian padres in WW2 whose devotion to the wounded and courage under fire made them inspirational and beloved figures. I would not allow a padre in a scenario to give tactical orders or combat bonuses, but I would allow him to remove shock and possibly aid wounded Big Men.
      Your fascinating account of Fr. Traversa has me wanting to know more, and reminds me that chaplains were active on the Axis side as well.

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  3. Great work Mike and never a truer comment on the BD sleeves. I too was inflicted with the sandpaper tunic for a thankfully short time in the early eighties (Before its enforced retirement)as working dress and you just cannot roll them up as posed.

    All in all some fine painting. Well done.

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    1. Thanks Paul, that's high praise indeed. Actually, I wore the BD tunic while I was playing in a punk band long ago, never wore it as a uniform item. My dad wore the sandpaper serge for 30 years. Our uniforms today are super comfy by comparison.

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  4. Very nice set of fugues and very good ideas provided by Chris. Thanks for posting
    Benito queing in tel Aviv airport at 3am in the morning and happily entertained with your blog

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    1. Thanks Benito. Hope you have safe travels.

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    2. Thanks, already back home. Following Chris' comments, I was thinking that you could add a "Padre" card to the deck to activate the figure; the Padre can reduce a number of shocks to a unit for example; or even recover 1 casualty if played just after a section has lost 1 or more of its men

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  5. Very nice brushwork, but is the padre Mad?????

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    1. Totally mad, mate, totally mad. But in a good way, not in an angry way. :)

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  6. That's a good point about the battledress being not suited to rolling up- could it be the "utility pattern denim battledress uniform"? or indeed the "War Aid khaki drill jacket" manufactured by the US but also distributed to British troops in Nth Africa & Italy? Perhaps he'd served in Nth Africa and kept his favourite jacket? British officers did appear in all sorts of interesting non-issue clothing at times (I assume your Canadians did the same).
    Those figures look great BTW, thinking of getting some myself- when I've worked my way through some more of "the stash". :)

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  7. Excellent figure pack and nicely painted. A good subject, and some very good suggestions from Chris.

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    1. Thanks Leif! Chris is a smart chap, glad to have him around. :)

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  8. Thanks Jacksarge, appreciate it. That's a good point, a lot of Cdn officers served in the Western Desert as part of the CANLOAN program, he may have picked it up there. There's a joke, which I still hear where I work, that it's against regs for any two British officers to be identically dressed when together.
    I need to go back and make his tie a darked kahki, to emphasize the contrast.
    Cheers,
    Mike

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  9. Lovely brushwork MP. The red cross armband would be most suitable plus you could add a morale bonus for unit within a certain distance. After-all, no matter what denomination the padre was he or she was an is a hero in my books.

    Cheers,

    Helen

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