Italians completed

The Italians for my Yugoslavia invasion project are now completed. Most unlike me, two weeks before the Carronade show - no hair dryer required!

First up, some seriously heavy artillery. This is the Ansaldo 149/40 from Heer46 Models with Perry's crew. I appreciate that it's a bit OTT for Bolt Action, but I couldn't resist. Some 590 were ordered, but only 51 were in service by the outbreak of war. It was a good design and the Germans took over production after the Armistice in 1943.

Like most wargamers, I usually paint the elite troops first, so I surprise myself with the late appearance of the Bersaglieri. Traditional light infantry units, by WW2 they were mostly attached to armoured, cavalry or motorised divisions. There was a battalion in Zara, which justifies their inclusion in this force. The models are from the Warlord range. The farmhouse buildings in the background are from the Tablescape range. A new firm to me, these are very light models and very nice indeed.

Lastly, we have the Blackshirts, or MVSN to give them their proper acronym. Originally they were Mussolini's street thugs and grew to 340,000 combat troops. A battalion was attached to most divisions and there was one in the Zara garrison. They were equipped like normal infantry units with the exception of black shirts and different insignia. These are standard Warlord Italian infantry models.

It's always nice to finish a project. If you come to the Carronade show on 11 May in Falkirk, you can command these units against the Royal Yugoslav Army in the GDWS 'Breakout from Zara' participation game.