Who Do You Think You Are Kidding?

A few weeks ago I painted up most of the Nazi/Undead invasion forces for the Vlad's Army feature pack for 7TV.

Today it's the turn of the stalwart defenders of good old Blighty: the Home Guard of...'Walsingham-on-Sea"?

I had originally intended on using a cobbled together force from my VBCW/Operation Sealion army for Vlad's Army, but back in the summer at the 7TV Fantasy day, I was surprised to receive on of the 'Most Sporting' awards, and my prize was a Dad's Army box for Bolt Action from Warlord Games.

Given that the defenders of Walsingham-on-Sea are less than loosely based on Captain Mainwaring & Co. I figured I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth and would do this properly.

The box contains 18 metal miniatures of the main characters both in and out of uniform, along with a few additional characters from the show.

The sculpts are very characterful and some of the facial expressions are excellent. I particularly like the gormless looking Private Godfrey.

Despite the character they have, I often find the casting of Warlord Games metal miniatures to be a bit rough, requiring more clean up than other manufacturers I use for Bolt Action (Artizan or Crusader for example).

Thus was particularly true for Corporal Jones, who needed some hefty chunks of flash removing.

This set also represents the first time I've painted WW2 British, and so I had to actually do some research rather than just slapping on what I had available.

I used a base of Vallejo English Uniform, with Khaki for the webbing and Ushabti Bone for the packs and gaiters. A coat of Agrax Earthshade later I highlighted up the webbing, packs and gaiters for contrast. Helmets were done with US Dark Green, with lighter green highlights on the leaves.

Vallejo always seems to be my go to brand for painting WW2.

Although intended for Vlad's Army in the short term, this unit can also feature in Bolt Action should I ever return to Operation Sealion. They will serve adequately as Old Soldiers in a Home Guard list, or even as the actual characters, as there are special unit rules for the cast.

As mentioned earlier, the box also contains duplicate sculpts of the main characters before they received their official kit.

Although not needed for Vlad's Army, it seemed a shame not to get them painted at the same time, and they can easily work as LDV (Local Defence Volunteers) in Bolt Action.

I believe their outfits and equpment are based on the Dad's Army TV movie which charts the formation of the unit.

As such, the painting was a bit more fiddly that for the models in uniform, especially Jones' apron, the LDV armbands and Pike's scarf (although that is on both versions of the stupid boy).

Again, these are a characterful bunch, but I'm disappointed in Walker. Not only does he have quite a nondescript pose, he also has a distorted face.

Additionally he's not armed with the shotgun he arrives at the first training session with, much to Mainwaring's chagrin. It feels like a missed opportunity, especially as LDV units can include a couple of shotguns.

Naturally, wherever the Home Guard go, Warden Hodges will be there to annoy them, and so he also has sculpts both in and out of uniform.

Given that he's unarmed in both poses, he is likely to feature in Vlad's Army as one of the civilians that are destined to be bitten by a vampire or rescued by the Home Guard.

It's not clear which fate Hodges would dislike more.

Finally, to round out the set, we have the Vicar and the Verger. Not only are these characters likely to feature as civilians in Vlad's Army, but the clergy can be useful in a range of settings, meaning that they have the potential to be the most used miniatures in the set.

They turned out a bit shiny even after a coat of matt varnish. Not sure why.

And that's it. 18 painted but I also bought another 14 miniatures from Wargames Emporium, taking advantage of them selling individual sprues. You'll see some of them pop up soon.

Acquired: 144

Painted: 166