185th Italian parachute division Bolt action/Rapid fire – Folgore (Lightining bolt)

After painting the Italian armoured division Ariete I could’t not to paint the first Italian parachutists unit: the Folgore (“Lightining bolt”) division. This unit was initially raised to be involved in Operation Hercules (the planned Axis invasion of Malta) but in June 1942 it was sent to Africa.

In North Africa it participated in the Battles of El Alamein, where it was the protagonist of a strong resistance against the attacking Commonwealth forces, managing also to drive off some attacks conducted by tanks and heavy infantry.

For some of the photos I was inspired to an old Italian newspaper that published coloured illustrations very "epic" during the Fascist regime …

… for one my picts I decided to apply some “effects”

The only original colourized photo I found is related to a Cannone mod 47/32 (called also Elefantino).

It was used both as an infantry and anti tank gun but it was effective only on light and medium tanks. During the Second El Alamein our artillerymen fired between 500 and 100 metres to be sure to hit the enemy

I painted also some MMG

All miniatures are Waterloo 1815 20mm and I changed some heads to increase their variety

I painted also some support unit as the medic team. For these unit I choose a mix of Early war miniatures and Waterloo 1815. The effect is fine

The Folgore division fought superbly during El Alamein battle but it suffered such high casualties that they never regained their former effectiveness. In the course of the second Battle of El Alamein the division was completely destroyed and therefore officially disbanded on 23 November 1942. Below the memorial stone place years after the battle by the survivors of the unit

The translation in English of the Italian words is: “Luck and not bravery went amiss”

To complete my infantry army I painted also a SPA-Viberti A.S.42 called “Sahariana”.

It was an Italian reconnaissance car developed to contrast the English Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) actions.

To support the Sahariana I painted also some Bersaglieri motocycle unit. Also in this case I modified the original photo to celebrate this soldier and his way to find a kind of protection in a sunny landscape

SAGA tournament Empoli – BOLT tournament Turin, Oct 16 and 17 2019

Last week end was  full of activities for my club. Some of my mates took part to Empoli’s SAGA tournament while another group organized four tables for a quick Bolt Action competition.

The Empoli SAGA tournament was part of Empoli Games 2019. An Italian event dedicated not only to the Studio Tomahawk rule system but also to boardgames

The events was a success for my club because Aurelian won the first place and the gold medal for the best army painted. All the other my mates were within the first ten positions with: fifth (Arnauld), sixth (Giancarlo) and seventh (Riccardo)

In the same moment in which my friends won in Empoli, Antonio organized with other three local clubs a Bolt Action tournament. The idea was to create a training event to see in what way to organize the event planned for February in which La Piccola Armata will host the Italian Bolt Championship tour

Also this event saw my friends in good position with: Eugenio (first), Antonio (second) and Enzo (third)

Rapid Fire: Alberto’s eastern front scenario (Ogledow 1944), Oct 26, 2019

At the end of October Alberto and Ezio prepared a ww2 scenario related to the eastern front (Ogledow 1944). The scenario's objective was easy ... to take the control of a little Polish village in the middle of the table but the quantity of vehicles and miniatures were significant.

Alberto, Ezio and Flavio lead the Soviet army while Luca and Maurizio the Battlegroup Panzergrenadier forces

I have to admit that I could not participated to this match but … considering the high quality of Alberto's miniatures painting … I try to be present (even if only for a while) and I took some photos

Generally I don’t like to modified the picts I taken but in this situation I think that to do this increase their effects

I have not prepared a real battle report because I could not participate to all the game so I share with you some moments of the battle.

Some German pioneers exploring the battle field ...

... waiting for the arrive of the Volkgranadiers

An MMG and a panzerschreck teams are taking position

But Soviet forces are closer than the Germans can expect … below some Soviet reconnaissance team are studying the enemy’s movements…

… while a column of tanks is marching towards the Polish village

But also the Germans are ready with their heavy tanks that are advancing

At the end the Soviet start their advance and occupy for first the village

But the German reaction is not long to come and, even if they suffer some casualties, they won the game

The corner of the painter – Ivano’s Italian Army

In the last months, Ivano increased the number of his Italian miniatures with new models

He decided to paint only 28mm with great results.

I love his painting style and so some weeks ago I stole some of his miniatures while he was playing and I took take some photos.

He painted some infantry units of the “Regio Esercito”

And the their supports

The Regio Esercito (Royal Army) was born during the 1800’s with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy and it was one of the largest ground forces in Ww2.

Our national army was one of the pioneers of the use of paratroopers so Ivano painted some of them. He decided to dedicate his attention to a specific Italian division the “184th Paratroopers Division Nembo”.

This division was formed in December 1942 from another famous Italian paratroopers unit: 185th division Folgore. The 185th was sent to fight against partisans in Jugoslavia and against Us forces in Sicily.

After the Italian surrender, a significant part of the unit went over to the German side becoming the 4th Fallschirmjäger

He painted some soldiers one another elite unit of our army: the Bersaglieri

The Bersaglieri are an historical Italian unit that it easy to recognize thanks to the black capercaillie feathers applied to their helmets. During the ww2 they fought in all fronts: form the Libyan desert to the Russian frost

He painted also a Pak 38 with an Italian crew

The last unit he decided to paint is a particular army unit that was born after September 8, 1943 … the day in which the Kingdom of Italy signed with the Allied forces an armistice. In response of the armistice, the German army disarmed the Italian troops that they did not decide to continue the fighting for German cause. It was one of the most dramatic period of our history and the start of the Italian civil war but … it is history and we cannot forget it.

In October 1943 Heinrich Himmler devised the “Programm zur Aufstellung der italienischen Milizeinheiten durch die Waffen-SS” creating the first unit of Italian Waffen-SS

Below an original enlistment poster

Ivano painted the unit using German volkgranadiers partially modified with a good result as usual