Creating 20mm 1940 French Support Options - Part Three or Trois

 

G.Garitan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This time I will focus on the non-vehicular support options open to the French in the 1940 Blitzkrieg book. 

This will be the most challenging aspect of sourcing files as the need to find a decent STL to resize to 20mm means that some of the rarer items will be difficult to find. I suppose there is always the option of buying a 20mm fill in from one of the suppliers of published 20mm miniatures that exist.

Again Colonel Muller has most bases covered but there are a few outliers in amongst them. 

Pictures below are from Colonel Muller so all copyright etc due to him.

Support Choices

• 37mm mle M1916 Infantry Gun with five crew and Junior Leader - perfect model with officer and two crew, needs additional two crew though. 

• 60mm Brandt mortar Team with Junior Leader and four crew - although a reserve regiment this does the bill. The officer is superb and comes with four crew so a full complement.

• Canon de 25mm L72 AT gun with five crew and Junior Leader - with officer but only three crew.

• Canon de 47mm L53 AT gun with five crew and Junior Leader - with officer and only four crew and a very nice sandbag emplacement that you can also use on other support options.

• Canon de 75mm M1897 with five gun crew and Junior Leader - again with officer and only three crew but you purchased the upgrade limber this gives you an additional three crew/officers.

• Captured MG34 - this would be an upgrade for the usual FM 24/29 LMG in a squad. There is this option with tripod support or this one without. The issue is replacing the FM 24/29 LMG on a model with the MG34 - which is certainly achievable with some fiddling around in 3D editing software.

• Engineer Demolition/Engineers Mine Clearance/Wire-Cutting Team - this is one of the challenges I found in sourcing appropriate three man squads. There is this single figure from Colonel Muller with an explosive charge but you would still need two more suitable figures to complete the team. I think I will go for using the ammunition carrying and crew figures from amongst the other support options and group them in threes as to fill in as these three teams. I might add dynamite and other tools to the figures or bases to help distinguish them.

• Escouade de Fusiliers Motocycliste - my previous post covers these chaps.

• Forward Observer Team with fixed line telephone and 81mm mortar section - given the new v2 version of Chain of Command and the removal of the need for an onboard FO this is slightly redundant but I include it for completeness and my nerdy need for a full list, plus it is also a great model.

• Francs Tireurs - whilst not strictly needed, being able to put down on to the target JOP a figure to indicate its impact would be nice. Something suitably resistance looking here or here or maybe a French policeman would do then job?

• Fusil Anti-Char Boys Team with two crew - nice choice of a pair advancing or lying prone.

• Medical Orderly - Not a single figure but a first aid post, I think the chap with the saw would make a suitable medical orderly to roam the battlefield.

• Sniper Team - a couple of choices here - either Reserve or Active.

• Two Bouteilles Incendiaires - a great selection of four infantrymen throwing lit bottles.

That about wraps up the non-vehicular support options, the main issue is crew counts to match Chain of Command requirements and the engineer teams being a bit of a compromise.

More to add to the pile of grey resin shame methinks. Next up will be the armour support choices.