Mirliton Italian Soldiers in Tropical Uniform

In a couple of weeks we will be hosting a Chain of Command game at Flemcon in Stockholm. It will feature a LRDG attack on an italian airfield. We have lots of LRDG vehicles, but almost no Italian defenders. Actually there are very few italian miniatures available. I guess it's because the Italian soldier of WW2 isn't quite hyped up as much as say, the Waffen SS or the soviet Guards Armoured divisions.

Betrayed by higher command and a crappy domestic arms industry, the Italian soldier nevertheless fought with great tenacity in several theatres including North Africa and the Eastern front. Luckily for us, there are some small companies producing Italian models and miniatures, including Mirliton Miniatures, from you guessed it, Italy. I decided to order a few items to try them out, and lo and behold, a few weeks later a package arrived.

Mmm... the golden brown hiding precious treasures...

I ordered a couple of Breda anti-aircraft guns, one on a vehicle mount and one on a ground mount, along with a set of crew. Also included in the order were a Fiat-Revelli MMG with crew. I will let the pictures do the most of the talking now.

A bewildering amount of parts that will eventually be a Breda AA-gun on a ground mount. Details are good.

The vehicle mounted Breda almost done. I'm thinking of putting it on a LRDG truck...

...and here finished with crew. The figures are nice, but a bit chunky. Some of them had ugly mold lines.

The MMG with crew. To my surprise it came with the sandbags included.

I had to check my Encyclopedia of WW2 Infantry Weapons to assemble the machine gun though.

This version seems to have a different kind of jacket around the barrel and a smaller ammo box.

A nice little vignette alltogether. The loader has some goggles on his helmet, in case you are wondering.

And here's what they will be protecting, a Caproni bomber. It's finished now, but only 90% completed in this picture.

Just look at all those panel lines. Hell to paint, but it's nice to see into the cockpit.

So if Italians are your bag, check Mirliton Miniatures out. They are a bit expensive and the sculpting on the figures is not top notch, but they are adequate and they have some odd equipment that's not available anywhere else in 20mm scale.