Monday 6 August 2012

5e Division d'Infanterie Coloniale

Hot on the heels of 7 DINA is effectively the new and improved version.  Just when I thought I had built all the French divisions I needed, alomg came FAA with their French Moroccans.  Needless to say, not buying them wasn't an option I considered. 
I had intended to mix in some other French figures but by the time I got round to assembling the division they had been used for something else.
I recall buying one of each pack in the range, and this gave me enough infantry for eight battalions.  I know there should be nine but 1940 divisions were often understrength.
The chaps firing or carrying MGs simply represent infantry battalions in Megablitz.  As far as I can see no two of the figures in 5 DIC are the same.

The divisional engineers are represented by these stout chaps.
For the artillery I used this old and unidentified kit of a '75 with crew from Irregular's 'Really Useful' range.  The Renault truck is actually a Peter Pig 15mm model but since Renault built several sizes in essentially the same style (AGR, AHN etc) I think I'll get away with it.
Actually the PP Renault is by far the least dodgy of the two lorries in 5 DIC.  The divisional LOG column uses this Matchbox die-cast of a 1980s Volvo which I have modified with a new sticky-out radiator and round headlights.  Actually I built about a dozen of these 'fake' Renaults as at the time I was building my French units 'real' French lorries were rather thin on the ground.
The divisional recce uses this Frontline resin model of the Panhard P.178.
The assembled division.  The vehicle front right is the Div HQ - a die cast Ford van.

13 comments:

Al said...

Cool, agree about the scarcity of French kit. In CD terms you have almost a battalion :) nice one Tim

Mojo said...

Nice troops, Tim!

Paul said...

Impressive outfit Tim, nice truck conversion.

Tim Gow said...

Al
Plenty more coversions and bodges to come.

Tim Gow said...

Mojo
Thanks - they are the kind of figures which respond well even to my limited painting abilities.

Tim Gow said...

Paul
Stand by for more shameless bodging.

Peter Douglas said...

Tim

Great stuff!

Cheers
PD

Tim Gow said...

Peter Douglas
On another blog recently it was suggested that I built 'obscure units'. Evidently it's true...

Archduke Piccolo said...

The 9th Battalion could, of course, be on some detached duty...

I can see why Megablitz has its attractions. Aside from 'Horse foot and Guns', do you know of rule sets with a similar scale for other periods? I'm thinking 19th century...
Cheers,
Ion

Tim Gow said...

Archduke Piccolo
Detached duty? Yes, that sounds convincing! As regards the 19thC, I'd suggest Richard Brooks's 'Minislacht' and it's derivatives. This can cope with multi-corps battles in a couple of hours. For the ACW, have a look at the same author's 'Terrible Swift Rules' which I posted a while back - search under 'ACW'.

Wg Cdr Luddite said...

I will happily recommend 'Minischlacht'.

High command level, challenging decisions and quick resolution.

Unknown said...

Hello Tim,
Nice job ! It is pretty rare to see somebody interested by the WW2 French army. I assume that your figures are conversions. Plastic or metal ?
Cheers from Fred who was with you last year with Len on the London Toys soldiers Show.

Tim Gow said...

Frederic Baranger
The legendary 'French Fred!'. Good to hear from you. Recently there has been a lot of WW2 French kit on my blog - including some ships.
The 20mm figures are mostly metal castings from FAA, Hotspur, Skytrex and Raventhorpe. A few are conversions. My French WW2 'army' currently stands at 18 divisions!