Between the Wars British

Several years ago I took advantage of a sale by Copplestone Miniatures and ordered a batch of his Between the Wars (Back of Beyond) British infantry.  After a pulp fiction game several weeks ago, I was envigorated to start painting them.  Although my organization is for The Sword to Adventure, a variant of The Sword and the Flame, it is also applicable for the rules we used in the pulp fiction game, I Ain't Been Shot, Mum by Two Fat Lardies.

So here is the start of the British force:  four officers (force commander and three section leaders), the force color sergeant, the machinegun section sergeant, and Lewis gunners for each rifle section.

The force commander, a major, is front center with the three rifle section leaders arrayed to his right and the three Lewis gunners to his left.  The machinegun section sergeant (kneeling with arm raised) and the force color sergeant (holding rifle) are to the rear.

I have completed the painting but haven't applied the Future sealant, the wash, or the matte glaze.

Here is another angle.  I dotted in the officer rank insignia on the shoulder straps -- a crown for the major and the appropriate number of crosses (or pips) for the captain, 1st leftenant, and 2nd leftenant.  The two sergeants got their rank insignia painted on their left upper arms.  I don't know if the British wore their sergeant's rank insignia on their drill (or "greyback") shirts, but mine will!

Additional figures to be painted will be two British rifle sections, each of a sergeant, a corporal, seven riflemen, and a Lewis gun loader; a Ghurkha rifle section (same composition); and a  heavy machinegun section with two Vickers .303 watercooled machineguns, each with a gunner and a loader.

I found the Copplestone figures very easy to paint, especially since I'm basically a "block" painter and don't try to do layers or shading.  The wash that I apply later will give the figures some additional definition.  They might not look very fancy close up, but they will look very serviceable on the miniature battlefield.

This British command will be teamed with my Rolls Royce armored car (HMAC Ajax) and two (later three) Crossley carriers into a "flying column" for actions anywhere from the sands of Mesopotamia to the plains of the Yellow River.

These figures will be added to about three dozen Chinese infantry of various "flavors" that are already painted (and a Chinese heavy machinegun team and a mortar team still to be painted) as part of my contribution to our pulp fiction/Back of Beyond forces.