Warlord’s own Rich Carlisle has been researching these elite fighters – and has prepared a hobby guide. So – grab a brush, check your bearings, and keep watch for enemy patrols!
Commando – People who push through when things get tough. Who never lose sight of the mission – no matter what they’re faced with. People who thrive on adrenaline and know the value of teamwork!
I’ve been inspired by the Royal Marines for years, particularly the action prior to D-Day. The Amphibious Raiders set is a great way to kick start a specialist force.
These raiders miniatures were rested from the Warlord range for a while but it’s a gem of a set with the four chaps paddling hard through the waves to plant their mines, and then the same 4 commandos posed out of their cockle MK2 canoes ready to nip up the bluff and pop a few timed charges around Jerry’s radar installation.
Commando Amphibious Raiders
Includes two resin canoes (each with two metal Commando occupants,) and four metal dismounted Commando raiders!
After some serious research (watching the Cockleshell Heroes) I got stuck into preparation. I want to get these on my table ASAP, so no dilly-dallying – off we go!
The resin canoes may need a bit of sanding to flatten the base (be sure to wear a mask when sanding resin), then a wash in warm water with washing up liquid, letting them thoroughly dry before painting to remove any grease or release agents from the resin casting process. This will help the paint adhere to the models better..
Start with a base colour, I used Army Green primer spray from the Army Painter range, then a watery US Olive Drab (Vallejo 889) overcoat to darken the canvas. Follow this by highlighting edges and textured surfaces with a 50/50 mix of US Olive Drab and Khaki (Vallejo 988).
I wanted to add a bit of colour variation and found that the canvas canoes were often camouflaged by their crews – I chose a different pattern for each canoe but using the same colour pallette. Simply use a Russian Uniform green (Vallejo924) or similar lighter green to create random shapes over approx ½ the canoe. Then highlight these patches with a mix 50/50 of your green with Khaki.
Lastly to break up the greens add a thin stripe of Sky Grey (Vallejo 989), following the edge of the splotches.
The commandos get a simple block colour in the same way as the canoes. I started with US Olive Drab and then highlighted with Khaki again (50/50 mix). For the faces I used Cork Brown (Vallejo 843) as a warm base colour.
Highlight the faces by adding a touch of Pale Sand (Vallejo 837) to the cork 75/25 mix. Add depth to the faces with an Army Painter ‘Quick Shade’ (Soft Tone or Strong Tone at your preference) then once dry I used a Mahogany Brown (Vallejo 846) in fine lines sparingly across their flesh areas to create a camouflaged look. Add over the brown a stripe of black (Vallejo 950) but leave a bit of the brown showing around the edges.
Paint up any guns or hoods/scarfs in black and highlight by adding in the Pale Sand using a 75/25 mix.
Base them up and you’re done, for now anyway 😉 Now head over, if you’ve not already done so, and check out these articles for more gaming inspiration:
Mark Barber’s brilliant article on No.47 Commando Royal Marines
Bolt Action: Night Fight scenario rules
Time to get raiding and lead the way for the Bolt Action Summer campaign coming soon!
Commando Amphibious Assault
We’ve also put-together a new Army Bundle – the Commando Amphibious Assault – which includes;
2x Cockle MkII canoe
4x RM Commandos with paddles
4x RM Commandos on foot weapons drawn
2x Sandbag Emplacements
1x German Heer MG42 MMG Team
Our good friends over at Osprey Publishing produce a fantastic range of resource books – including a particularly good read on the Cockleshell Raid – we can’t recommend it enough!
Oh yes – don’t forget these books to read at your leisure:
D-Day Commando – Ken Ford
Commando Tactics: The Second World War – Dr Stephen Bull
47 Royal Marine Commando – Marc De Bolster
From Omaha to the Scheldt – John Forfar
By Sea and Land – Robin Neillands
Commando – Kenneth Macksey
D-Day – Stephen Ambrose
The Longest Day – Cornelius Ryan
The Royal Marines 1939-93 – Nick van der Bijl
Lastly, the essential item – ‘The Cockleshell Heroes’
Dan Hewitson
Tom Mecredy