Black Brigade - Digging Through the Miniatures

I've spent a good portion of the day digging through and cleaning up the infantry and weapons for my Polish 10th Brigade army, and I've had several surprises - from both the "good" and "bad" categories. I've also spent some time searching around the internet for additional figures and Polish vehicles (and references) with mixed success.

First, let's talk references. In addition to the book I've referenced before, there are several decent references online. One I've discovered recently is the PIBWL site, which has extensive coverage of Polish armor and other military vehicles. They have a great section on the C4P halftrack and the Vickers 6 ton tank. I've also found a couple of books I have on order which will hopefully arrive soon.

I've spent most of the day going through the various True North figures which at this point will comprise the majority of the force (though I won't make that final determination until the Forged in Battle figures come in). Although I wish there were a few more poses, overall I'm impressed with the detail of the infantry figures. The rifles are a little spindly, but the faces appear to have good relief and should paint up nicely. Given the predominant color of the uniforms will be black, the contrast for the rifles and other equipment should be good.

The heavy weapons, as I mentioned before, are a bit of a mixed bag. I've identified what should be the squad level BAR, though the detail is not as great as I'd hoped, and there is only one pose - prone. I'll need a total of eight of these, and I'm hoping the Forged in Battle version will work well with the True North figures (at least from base to base if not within base) to provide a little variety on the table.

I've also been working with the True North motorcycle as I'll need one for the command team. Unfortunately the motorcycle with side car included is not a "Sokol" 1000 as used by the 10th Brigade. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm sure it isn't what I needed. However, the included crew is correct for the 10th Brigade, so I'm picking up a pack of the Battlefront Motorcycle Platoon (PL400) and will add the True North crew to the Battlefront Bike. Battlefront's Sokol is reasonably correct, though it will need a little accurizing.

For the basing I'm thinking of using the Battlefront Urban Rubble bases (XX106), but mixing some "dirt" and grass in rather than having them purely urban. I think it will give the infantry (at least) some very interesting basing.