Royal Navy Section

[Robert Scholtz]

Which British units can have a Royal Navy Section attached to it?

Also, what is the cost for each member of the section?  Are they the same as other infantry sections (13 pts for Veteran, 10 pts for Regular, and 8 pts for Inexperienced) or are they limited as to what experience level they can be assigned (ex. Airborne sections are Veteran Infantry)?

Any reference information would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.  – Robert

[Stuart Harrison]

Royal Navy Section is in Campaign: Sea Lion, p34.  They are Veteran Infantry – if you want to see their stats you can check them on Easy Army, British Army Coastal Defence Reinforced Platoon selector.

[Simon]

My BA army includes two RN Sections at the moment; I cost them the same as for normal army sections, ie regular or veteran.  The other gamers in my club are quite happy about this, as they are effectively the same as army sections, just in a different uniform.  I’ve just managed to buy some RN officer figures, so they’ll have their own officers to lead them now.

For a number of reasons my wargaming is on a shoestring budget, and I have only being buying things that I can afford.  It is a rather quirky army, but fun.

[Simon]

I wrote a reasonable review for the Naval Section figures but Warlord Games haven’t uploaded it to the website.  They’re not alone with this as other manufacturers haven’t either; in fact are there any reviews on Warlord Games’ website?

Anyway, here is my review of the Naval Section:
This is a set of ten metal 28mm (1/56^th) scale figures made for the ‘Bolt Action’ rules.
<It consists of a Chief Petty officer armed with a Thompson sub-machine gun; a Lewis gunner with his number two; and seven riflemen (armed with the ubiquitous Lee Enfield), three of whom also have ‘Molotov Cocktails’ -more of which later.
The figures are well moulded but had numerous vent trails but only required a little tidying. They all have the tall gaiters normally worn by boarding and landing parties, and the ratings have the 1908 pattern webbing with rifle ammunition pouches, except for the Lewis team, who have four Lewis magazine pouches each.
The ‘Molotov Cocktails’, however, as moulded are a let-down; they are the shape of a milk bottle and have large wicks -in other words they are petrol bombs! I cut off the wicks and painted the bottles dark brown (to make them look more like beer bottles) with a red crown cap. In order to reinforce the point I managed to add a small white square with the number ’76’ in black, as the official designation was the Number 76 Grenade.
The pack describes the set as suitable for Early, Middle and Late war periods; I would disagree with this. They are perfect for 1939 to early 1941, but in the first few months of 1941 Lanchester sub-machine guns were issued for boarding parties. Landing parties would probably have half their number armed with Lanchesters and the rest with Lee Enfield rifles. Those armed with the Lanchester would have a pair of the distinctive three-magazine pouches on their 1908 webbing. By 1944 the Lanchesters were being replaced by Sten guns and the ratings would be wearing Navy Blue battledress with the 1937 webbing.  Despite my reservations I like the figures with their blue uniforms -I ended up painting them in Humbrol Oxford Blue (104) as it looked better- as it makes a change from the normal khaki of the British infantry, and my fellow club members agree. And yes, I’ve ordered another pack.
I think these figures would benefit being moulded in plastic as multi-pose figures, with a choice of weapons and pouches. An officer figure would also be welcome -the only good figures I’ve found so far are the Regiment Games range by Badger Games of Milwaukee WI. They are only $9 for a set of four…plus $20 postage back to the UK!

In fact I did buy a second pack; photo to follow.

• This reply was modified 2 years ago by Simon. Reason: Removal of HTML code

[Simon]

I did buy both of Regiment Games’ command packs (they are sold by Badger Games of Milwaukee) and a family member brought them back into the UK for me.  Here is my review:

The figures are cleanly moulded with little flash (especially when taking the age of the moulds into account) and only needed a little attention with a needle file. The poses are good, although one officer appears to be practicing his dance steps. With two exceptions the figures are armed with pistols, and a couple are also wielding Very pistols. The exceptions are one PO with a Thompson, which is fine, and the other has a Bren gun. Whilst landing parties did get issued with Brens it was at a late stage in the war, and by that time Navy Blue battledress was being issued. A small negative is that two of the POs don’t have webbing. However, I am very pleased with these figures, and they will soon be leading my landing party into action.
As for the Bren toting PO; I’m in the process of converting the figure, he will be carrying a Boys AT rifle into the fight.

My conversion of the Bren armed rating was reasonably successful -just don’t look to closely!  I also added packs etc., to some of the figures.

[Simon]

“The Navy’s here!”

My naval landing party comprising two full sections, an anti-tank rifle team, a sniper and his number two, and a Lieutenant to lead them.

Attachments:

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[Simon]

I have had a look at the Easy Army website for a Naval Landing Party army list, and I don’t agree with his version.  I have written oneat https://littlewars.org.uk/wargames/NavalList.html here, and welcome comments.

Having said this I do find the Easy Army setup good, and reasonably easy to use.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 5 months ago by Simon. Reason: Corrected link

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