Latest addition: Mars Italian Paratroops
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Italy raised a few airborne units but, as far as I know, it did not carry out any airborne operations during the war. At some point, an airborne invasion of Malta was considered, but later the plan was dropped. The different airborne units were La Spezia, Nembo, Ciclone and Folgore. La Spezia, formed in 1941 and originally intended for the Malta operation eventually fought and surrendered in Tunsia. Nembo was formed shortly before the 1943 armistice and then it was crippled by malaria before it could see any action. A new unit on allied side was later formed with the same name. Ciclone was also being formed when the armistice was signed and did not see any action. The Folgore division was the most famous of them all. It in North Africa with distinction. During the second battle of El Alamein in the fall of '42, it held back the allied attacks of more than 5 divisions for about two weeks, inflicting heavy casualties to the Commonwealth's infantry and tank units, fighting on until it was out of ammunition. Most of the Italian men were either killed or captured by the end of the battle. The survivors were organized into an independent battalion and fought on in Tunisia until they were also captured by mid 1943. In terms of toy soldiers, we have a handful of sets. Let's take a look.
Waterloo 1815 Folgore Division
A good set for the West Desert campaign. I like how they reflect the relaxed dress code that existed in the North African desert. Note however how most of them retain their para helmets. The only thing I don't quite like about these guys are their bases, which make them a bit wobbly.
Waterloo 1815 Folgore Division Light Artillery 1942 - Part I
These figures are manning a heavy machine gun. The man with the bullets does not quite get to feed them into the MG, but he's still useful to have close by. The spotter with the binoculars is doing a good job. I might just try to remove the plastic that joins the cap to the hands which looks a bit odd. The machine gun itself looks like it could take out more than just infantry. It could easily knock out soft-skin vehicles and maybe even some lightly armored ones, but probably not very effective against some British 8th army Grant and Matilda tanks.
Waterloo 1815 Folgore Division Light Artillery 1942 - Part II
These other guys are the crew for the small howitzer. I am not sure about the caliber of the gun. I thought it might be a 37mm which is what was often issued to the paratroopers as it was easier to drop along with them during an airborne operation. However a reader recently commented that it's likely a 47mm Bohler gun. Apparently the wheels were detachable and it could be mounted on a tripod. It might not be clear from the picture, but all these figures come without a base, but they still manage to stand well on their own. One thing I don't quite like about the gun is that you can't change the elevation without messing around with the peg that inserts into the wheel carriage. All in all a good addition to the Folgore infantry.
Mars Italian Paratroops
Mars gets bonus points for having tackled this often overlooked service branch. These Italian Paras, most likely from the Folgore division which fought in North Africa are very nicely done. They are some of the recent sets made via 3D printing and you can tell how the poses are a lot more natural. The chosen printing material has improved and is able to capture a lot of detail and getting less brittle. I ordered these guys in 'Big 1/32' scale (1/30) and they go quite well next to the Waterloo 1815 Folgore Paras. In terms of the figures themselves, one thing that caught my attention is the diversity of head gear represented. Some of them are wearing the standard Italian helmet, although a couple of them with the paratrooper cover, one of them has a field cap on, a couple of them are wearing the Folgore beret, one of them appears to have a German Para helmet, and one of them is wearing a standard Italian infantry helmet (at first my imagination -or was it the netting?- tricked me into thinking it was a US army helmet!). Their weaponry is also pretty diverse, including a few German issued items like the panzerfaust and the potato masher grenade. One thing to consider though is that the panzerfaust went into service during the second half of 1943, so that figure is better suited to represent the Folgore paras who continued to fight against the Allies in Italy, likely at Anzio, after the armistice of Sept. 1943. Also interesting is the kneeling guy who is carrying a backpack with a couple of spare barrels for the Breda Mod 30 light MG being fired by the prone guy.
Atlantic Italian Paratroops - Part I
This is an interesting set from Atlantic. They represent post-WW2 paras, but given the scarcity of figures in representing this service branch one might decide to press them into service as WW2 troops. The poses show more action than Atlantic's average set. I am not a big fan of the guy jumping over the tree stump, or the guy who is just standing straight, but overall it is a very decent set.
Atlantic Italian Paratroops - Part II
It's good that they gave them an anti-tank weapon. I don't know however about the guy dragging the parachute since they did not really take part in any actual combat missions. I guess you can use him for a fictitious operation or some training scene. When you buy these guys, be aware that they come in a couple different boxes. The blue box only has 6 figures. The yellow box contains all 10 poses.
Click here to see a post about Italian Infantry
Click here to see a post about German Paratroops
Click here to see a post about the British 8th Army
Another great informative entry. Glad it is here other then Facebook
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it. It will eventually make it to the FB page though. I try to post to the blog as soon as I have new content, that way the search engines have more topics to hit, and I post more gradually on FB to keep a steady stream of content and keep the audience engaged. What makes you prefer the blog?
ReplyDeleteHahah I guess I just do not like or trust Facebook
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