British

Commandos fought in campaigns in Europe, Burma, Africa and earned battle honours for many famous actions including arguably the greatest raid of all – St Nazaire. Commandos were fielded in many different ways – from units of less than a full section up to full assault divisions depending on the task at hand. Superbly trained, aggressive in action, well-equipped and deadly in hand-to-hand combat the Commandos were rightly feared by their German, Italian and Japanese foes. Contains:

• 36 multi-pose hard plastic commandos
• One Centaur IV close support tank (resin & metal)
• Metal miniatures for:
  • two officers
  • one medic
  • one radio operator
  • one medium mortar team
  • one MMG team
• Also includes plastic bases, decals, stat card and vehicle damage markers.

This set contains:

• 1 x Commando HQ
• 1 x Forward observer
• 1 x Commando Medium Machine Gun Team
• 1 x Commando Medium Mortar Team

HQ The middle ranks of officers were almost invariably drawn from the upper-middle classes: educated in the public schools, instilled with the values of empire, and imbued with a sense of confidence, duty and resolve that is difficult to conceive of today. An officer unit consists of the man himself and can include up to two other men acting as his immediate attendants. FOO Forward observers are liaison officers responsible for coordinating the attack of heavy artillery batteries from behind the lines or aircraft strikes. Medium Machine Gun Team A .303 Vickers water-cooled machine gun offered fire support to infantry units. This was another weapon of World War I vintage that soldiered on through World War II and beyond, proving extremely effective at laying down continuous fire over a long range. A typical team consisted of a lance corporal gunner, a loader and an ammunition bearer. Medium Mortar Team The 3-inch mortar was used to provide support from up to 3,000 yards dependent upon the projectile used. The 3-inch mortar was operated by a crew of 3.

Infantry weapons teams are a key component of any Bolt Action army, providing as they do great tactical flexibility for your force. Sniper teams, anti-tank teams and flamethrower teams are among the most prevalent, presenting your opponent with multiple challenges to overcome. British forces were armed with 2-inch mortar for close support purposes. Two men were needed to operate it. An NCO was responsible for carrying and firing the weapon while the other carried ammunition. Weighing less than 11Ibs and offering an effective range of 500 yards, these mortars were quick to manoeuvre and deploy as needed. Snipers were armed with a SMLE No.4 Rifle equipped with a No.32 Mk.1 telescopic sight. The team carried fifty rounds of ammunition, five tracer round and fiver-armour-piercing rounds. Two No.36 Mills bombs or two No.77 smoke grenades were also carried, along with binoculars and a camouflage net. The portable flamethrower available to British forces was the Ack Pack. At a weight of 64Ibs, the Ack Packs could be carried and operated by one man. Fully loaded, the Ack Pack was capable of ten bursts each of a two second duration. With a range of fifty yards it was a truly fearsome weapon that excelled in clearing bunkers and buildings. Contains the following Warlord Resin Plus figures:

• 2-man Light Mortar team
• 2-man Sniper team
• 2-man Flamethrower team

Infantry weapons teams are a key component of any Bolt Action army, providing as they do great tactical flexibility for your force. Sniper teams, flamethrower teams and light machine gun teams are among the most prevalent, presenting your opponent with multiple challenges to overcome. By their nature as specialist raiders, Commandos go to battle lightly equipped in terms of weaponry. However, they made good use of Vickers K machine guns - formerly aircraft-mounted machine guns - with their high rate of suppressive fire. These 2-man teams comprise a Vickers K gunner and his No 2 laden with extra ammo. Whilst marksmanship was a vital skill for all Commandos, those with a special aptitude for accuracy and field craft were often employed as snipers. In the early days of the organisation, snipers were employed on a more ad-hoc basis; later in the war they, along with their scoped rifles, were specifically listed in Commando tables of organisation and equipment. As well as being used for scouting and attacking enemy forces, snipers were also employed in pairs on landing craft to target enemy defenders during the run in to amphibious assaults and raids. For the assault on Normandy in June 1944, Commandos were issued backpack flamethrowers for clearing fortified positions on the beaches. The Flamethrower, Portable, Mk 2 carried enough fuel for approximately 10 one-second bursts and were quickly discarded after the initial stages of the assault. Contains three Bolt Action Order Dice and the following Warlord Resin PlusTM figures:

• 2-man Vickers K LMG team
• 2-man Sniper team
• 2-man Flamethrower team

Sherman Firefly was a British invention that mounted the powerful 17 pdr anti-tank gun on a Sherman hull. Making its debut on D-Day with one Firefly per troop, it soon became highly valued as the only British tank capable of defeating the Panther and Tiger tanks it faced in Normandy at standard combat ranges. In recognition of this, German tank and anti-tank gun crews were instructed to attack Fireflies first. Over 2,000 were made, and by late 1944 numbers had increased to two per troop. Often known as the 'Charlie' tanks in the field because of the 'c' denoting them as rearmed with the 17-pdr, the nickname 'Firefly' was unofficial and referred to the huge muzzle blast. As with all Warlord plastic vehicle kits, the Firefly comes with its own sheet of waterslide decals with a variety of unit markings, tank names, and other identifying markings to give your model that additional touch of realism when it takes to the tabletop battlefield! In games of Bolt Action the Sherman Firefly is a medium tank with a super-heavy anti-tank gun with a reduced HE charge. It can be included in any British armoured platoon. This vehicle can also be used in games of Achtung Panzer!, the game of close-quarters tank-on-tank combat, its rules can be found in the Achtung Panzer! rulebook.

Formed from the Western Desert Force in 1941, the British 8th Army comprised men from across the British Commonwealth - British, New Zealanders, Australians, Indians and South Africans. Following early successes against the Italians in North Africa, the 8th Army suddenly faced a new, more deadly foe - the Deutsches Afrika Korps led by their mercurial commander, Erwin Rommel. Thus began a series of operations with Allied and Axis forces being pushed back hundreds of miles only to regain that territory and more with battles at El Alamein, Tobruk and Beda Fomm becoming legendary. With the Allied victory in North Africa the fighting soon encompassed Tunisia and then the very heartland of Italy itself. Struggling against the oppressive daytime heat, choking dust and freezing cold nights in addition to battling their German and Italian opponents the 8th Army become more popularly known as the 'Desert Rats' - a nickname adopted from the 7th Armoured Division, a key component of the Western Desert force. This boxed set contains a multitude of parts and options allowing you to field soldiers as diverse as British, Sikh, Punjabi, Mosselman or Scottish. Just the job to tackle Rommel's Afrika Korps or Mussolini's Italians! British 8th Army contains:

• Enough plastic components to make 30 British Commonwealth miniatures. Includes a host of options to allow for different weapon configurations and command models.
• Equipment included: Lee Enfield rifle, Thompson submachine gun, Bren gun LMG, Boys anti-tank rifle, Webley pistol and 2-inch mortar.
• Plastic bases.
• Construction leaflet.
• Optional Indian (Sikh, Punjabi and Yusufzai) and Scottish Highlander heads.