Building a BEF Force: Part 1 - The Core

After getting the Warlord Games Dads army set when it first came out a good few years ago, the inspiration of building a 1940 British Army for Bolt Action has been sitting in the back of my mind. Following the release of the two Operation Sea Lion campaign books the idea expanded to being a larger army, a combination of regulars and the various home guard and other options offered in the campaign books.

After building up the collection over Christmas and Salute 2018, I finally managed to put paint to figure and finish some units! The aim is to build the army up in a particular way, focusing on the infantry first, then the support weapons and finally the armour. So I present to you the first infantry squad and the command figures.

Overall I enjoyed painting these, since they are all metal the definition was much sharper than that of plastics. However the flipside was that they chipped fairly easily, meaning a few repaints were needed along the way; they have since been sprayed with Vallejo matt varnish which will help protect them.

The palette needed for the infantry was nice and simple, and didn't require me ordering any specific paints. The webbing being all the same colour speeds up the process a lot as well, especially when compared to their German counterparts which require at least five different colours! I know some people paint the Lee-Enfield rifles a lot lighter, but from the source material I've seen for the BEF they have the standard darker wood stocks so I painted them Flat Brown 

Even the regular rifleman came in a nice selection of poses, from firing, crouching and charging. Once I learnt the patterns of the sculpts that were enjoyable and fast to paint.

Here's the more interesting figures from the section: grenade thrower, NCO, and the Bren Team. On the back of the grenade thrower you can see the teacup found on some of the figures, it adds a splash of colour to change up from the uniform and the webbing. The classic hand in the air pose helps show who the NCO is, and he's also wearing a jerkskin which added something different. My main complaint with this set is that there was no option to to equip a Thompson, meaning that I will most likely get some Thompson figures from elsewhere since Warlord do not seem to make them.

I was very impressed with the figures in the command pack, they all fitted for what I needed them to do in the army and provide an extra sense of character.

Here's a better view of the Medic and the OP, showing off the medic bag an the extra gear that the OP has on him. Though not the best in game for the small points costs medics add that extra element of fun. The OP is a must have due to being free in any British Regular list! Furthermore it saves me having to buy the dedicated OP pack since all I need is the one figure.

The two officers in the pack are both great figures and give me some flexibility. The more senior commander to the left, looking very well to do in his cap with stick, will most likely be used in the rare occasions that I'm fielding a Captain or Major. While the slightly more 'battle - ready' figure with pistol drawn is great for 1st or 2nd Lieutenant.

Overall all the figures proved easy to paint with their well sculpted detail and it is a great feeling to finally get some units completely finished! Up next is the other infantry section, a light mortar and a boys AT rifle team