Painted Bulgarian Riflemen

Following on from my post yesterday, I have painted two pre-production samples of Great Escape Games' forthcoming range of 28mm WWII Bulgarians. I am sure that a pro painter will have made a better job than me, but it is far easier to get a sense of what a miniature figure is like once it has been painted.  

I have to say that these were really nice to paint (and quick), not for lack of detail, but the paucity of equipment that the Bulgarian soldiers carried around and the simplicity of their uniforms. Normally, I paint WWII Germans, which tend to have more detail on their uniforms and also lots more equipment, all of which requires a different colour. These guys have a single colour uniform, some ammo pouches and a bag. ;-)

I spent a bit of time yesterday scouring the Internet for colour photos of Bulgarian uniforms, of which there are very little. I settled on using photos of a bunch of re-enactors; here is a link to one of the sites I used for reference. The colours I used (all Vallejo Model Color) were:

• Uniform - 70921 English Uniform
• Helmet - 70890 Reflective Green
• Boots - 70950 Black
• Rifle - 70871 Leather Brown / 70995 German Grey / Boltgun Metal from Games Workshop
• Rifle sling - 70886 Green Grey
• Ammo pouches - 70940 Saddle Brown
• Epaulettes - 70946 Dark Red
• Flesh - 70860 Medium Fleshtone

I washed the models with Citadel Agrax Earthshade and then highlighted using the same base colour mixed with a bit of 70919 Foundation White.

I know that they are not going to win me a Golden Demon, but I think they're good enough for gaming. Just need to wait for the range to go into production now. ;-)

New 28mm Bulgarian Infantry

I've recently been reading more about, and therefore getting into, the war (WWII, of course) in the Balkan region. I've started collecting an early war German panzer division and think that the opposition that I will pit against them first will probably be Greeks.

Does the Crete campaign (Operation Mercury) count as early war, or is it straying into being mid-war?  Either way, I've already got a good sized force of German Fallschirmjager and Gebirgsjager as the invading force and a small, but growing, band of Allies and some partisans to oppose the invasion. I've got Indians and DAK for North Africa too. I've always fancied gaming Syria in 1941, but back to the Balkans first...

My good friend, Stuart, from Great Escape Games has provided me with a couple of pre-production samples of GEG's forthcoming Bulgarian range to paint up. Here's what two of the riflemen look like based and under-coated. Check back soon for progress updates on the painting.

They have just closed a "GEGstarter" (a sort of kickstarter type thing) with an initial commitment to produce 40 miniatures. I can't wait!

UPDATE: I have now painted the minis.