Perry Miniatures WW2 8th Army platoon

You may have seen the M3 Lee / Grant and Afrika Korps half track featured in earlier posts.  This 8th army platoon is part of the same commission.  Built pretty 'straight', and comprising the same force organisation as suggested in the kit (three rifle squads, each of bren gunner, bren #2, NCO, and three riflemen), plus officer and radioman, senior NCO, AT rifleman and #2, and two-man mortar team.

I use the same colours for all my 8th army, both 20mm and 28mm, and this unit was painted in the same way.  Usually, I either base these on 3mm foamboard (easy to pick up) or just on the tiddly bases supplied in the kit - but this time, I went with some brilliant 25mm MDF bases I bought from eBay.  I usually edge bases in black, and these lasered bases come pre-blackened - result!

One of the rifle squads.  I've included many of the options the kit offers - including a grenade-discharger (kneeling centre front).  The Bren team are based together on a 40mm circular base, hunkered down behind a cork bark rock outcrop.  The remaining basing is just sand and white glue, over the top of hard clay.

Rifle squad #2, which includes my favourite pose of 'man throwing grenade'.  Even as an eager six year old with a set of Airfix plastic squaddies, this was always my favourite.  The Bren tem here have tken time to fill a few sandbags and make a mini-emplacement.

Rifle squad #3.  The Bren team have found another handy rock (the kit only includes three pairs of prone bodies - not enough to expend on Bren teams!  The squad also has a grenade-discharger chap, and a chap throwing a grenade.  I give each squad NCO a Thompson, partly to make him easier to identify.

Support weaponry.  The Boyes AT gunner was originally going to be posed on a base with his #2.  In the end, I gave him an elongated base of his own, and did the same with the #2 so he can serve as an ordinary rifleman when needed.  The mortar team are based more traditionally together on a 40mm base.

The command team (including the Boyes AT #2, on the right).  The officer comes with a jumper on, which I've finished in olive green for  bit of variety.  In reality, the uniformity of the unit is too high - I have 20 or so books on the Western Desert campaign (I know... surely 10 was enough???) and the pictures all tell the sme story.  Under-strength units, mixture of shorts and battledress trousers, some in blouse, some in shirtsleeves, some in trench coat.  Jumpers, corduroy trousers, and all manner of other accessorising was common, and appears not to have been disciplined either.