Wargames Atlantic 28mm WW2 Italians

       Often considered the "junior partner" among the Axis powers in WW2 the Italian army had a longer battle history and wider experience than the Germans. While Adolph and his gang were Anschlussing a friendly Austria  the Italians had been fighting campaigns in Africa against Ethiopia, finishing the conquest of Libya and meddling in the Spanish Civil War. The Italian army had no lack of bravery, experience of battle or of fighting in wildly different climates. What they did lack was capable commanders and an advanced armaments industry, this led to them becoming less combat effective as the onset of war forced the pace of weapons development.

       This set of minis will allow you to build Italian forces for most of the pre-war conflicts as well and most of the troop types that saw service during the Second World War. The models are cast in the now-familiar soft gray plastic that give very precise detail and exhibits no flash and very few mold lines. Included in the kit are the dizzying array of headgear worn by the Italian army between 1936 and 1943 (some might start before and last longer for all I know), pith helmets, Alpini caps, steel helmets along with an assortment of feathers to mark them as Bersaglieri. Also included are  shovels and axes in a surprisingly large quantity. A particularly nice addition is a water-cooler MMG on the smaller command sprue, complete with tripod and arms with hands holding the grips, nicely thought through and parted-out.

 

the front of the box 

 

 

 which features some very well-painted copies of the miniatures

 

 

 

 the back of the box 

 

 

 

 box with contents; 

two small command/MMG sprues and five large on

 

 

 command sprue side A

 

 

 command sprue side B

 

close-up of the arms in the command sprue

 the column third from the left has hands holding the spade grip for the MMG

 

the officer body, and above it the obligatory arm pointing to something 

 

 

 The large sprue side A

 

 

 the large sprue side B

  

 

very precise molding of the weapons and nice active poses

 

 

 a closer look at the weapons

 

and a choice of heads 

 

 

  

lots of heads 

 

 

and canteens, plus more heads 

 

some feathers to go with all that headgear 

 

 

 the deep sculpting and sharp detail will make painting an easy task

 

 

       A highly versatile set that fills a gap in the cast of WW2 armies this set should prove popular with games and modelers. The hardest part would be deciding which troops to build given the large number of areas that the Italian army was deployed to. 

       Very Highly Recommended!