The Japanese Naval Infantry, also known as the Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF) were a unit within the Imperial Japanese Navy Land Forces. They were landing units raised from ships crews which received special infantry training. They were deployed in battalion strength, ranging from a couple companies to a few thousand men. In 1941, some of these units were converted into parachute units and were successfully used against the Dutch in the operation to capture the Celebes Island. SNLF Troops were also deployed to capture Milne Bay in New Guinea. In this case they were defeated by well reinforced and determined Australian troops and from that point on they were mostly used in defensive actions. SNLF units were also used in the summer of 1942 to capture unopposed Kiska Island in Alaska, part of the Aleutian Islands, which they occupied for about a year, withdrawing before the US troops showed up. Another renowned action was the defense of Tarawa, where they fought to the end. SNLF operations often suffered heavy casualties. This was in part due to the isolated nature of their operations which made resupply challenging, but also in part due to the fact that they were not as skilled in infantry warfare tactics. They were however determined to fight, often resorting to their swords and bayonets when running out of ammunition. This is not to say that they were poorly equipped. SNLF had access to heavy weapons, artillery, and even tanks and armored vehicles. In terms of plastic toy soldiers, this is a subject that had been largely ignored by manufacturers until recently, when a couple of companies decided to cover it with some nice new production figures. Let's check them out!
Plastic Platoon Japanese Naval Infantry
Until recently, the great majority of Japanese plastic troops available have been regular Japanese Infantry, so it is nice and refreshing to see a different service branch being depicted. The challenge now is to find enough other poses to form a substantial fighting unit. But that's a good problem to have. As usual with Plastic Platoon, the sculpting is superb. The poses are good action poses and the detail is crisp and rich. For instance, you can clearly see the insignia showing that these guys are marines, and a few of them also wear Japanese flags on their head/helmet. Another feature that is unique about them is that they all carry a gas mask on their back. I wonder why this has only been depicted with these naval infantry guys. And then you also have a man wearing a bullet-scarred breast plate, similar to those worn by the Soviet scouts. Speaking of that guy, I do think that he could have been sculpted with a wider stance. If you throw a grenade with your legs so close to each other, you are relying primarily on arm strength for the throw... then again, maybe he thinks that the can get pretty close to the objective given the extra protection that he is wearing? :-)
Expeditionary Force Japanese Naval Infantry
This is such a timely set. Just as Plastic Platoon released its set of Japanese Naval Infantry, we now have 9 additional poses to assemble a full squad, or an understrength platoon. The two poses that stand out from this set are the flag bearer/bugle player and the flamethrower. Very nicely done. The other figures are pretty standard charging/firing poses, not unlike the ones that were released as part of the Japanese infantry sets. What makes these uniforms stand out is that all have the naval infantry insignia prominently displayed on their shoulders and on the front of their helmets. A nice detail that will stand out well if you paint the figures. One thing I do have to say is that when placed next tot he Plastic Platoon guys, these marines do feel a bit bulkier -or the other guys seem a bit slimmer- which one is it? Anyhow, now need to plan a landing operation for these guys!
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