I have been thinking about picking up some Wargames Atlantic Partisans for some time. Today I was in one of my favourite haunts the “House of War” in Croydon, Melbourne to pick up some paints. Sure enough, out I walked with two boxes of the Partisans.
There are eight sprues with four figures per sprue. The value at 32 figures for AU$55.00 was certainly there but there were some issues. These include:
- No guide – Warlords have a brochure which shows which arms goes with which weapon;
- No heavy weapons;
- Only enough rifles for half the figures;
- No shotguns;
- Pistol holsters a bit over size;
- Limited pose varieties – only four.
The pluses are:
- Very cheap;
- Lots of head variety;
- Plenty of sub machine guns for later war partisans;
- Easy to put together (once you work out which arm goes with what);
- Only head, arms and sometimes a weapon needs to be added;
- Plenty of hand grenades;
- Bren light machine gun.
Once I arrived home I decided to put together a 12man late war partisan squad as a sample.
I came up with this Bolt Action 12 man Partisan squad at 174 points.
Leader with sub machine gun 13pts.
Two men with sub machine guns 26pts.
Partisan with Panzerfaust 15pts and one with rifle 10pts.
The Panzerfaust is from the Warlord Games Fallschirmjaeger box set.
Bren Gunner and Loader at 40pts.
The Bren Gun came from the box but I used the Commando “Bren gun barrels and accessories pack” to add to the loader.
5 Partisans with rifle at 50pts.
As an after thought I decided to add an Anti Tank Team with PIAT.
PIAT and Loader with rifle 28 or 40pts.
I used the PIAT, PIAT bomb case, and PIAT bomb (in the loaders hand) from the Warlord Games British Commando box which have been set aside for my “Dr Who UNIT” figures. The Warlord Games figures are slightly larger but the arms fitted OK.
I have a sprue of British 8th army figures that was “stuck” to a magazine which has an anti-tank rifle which I will try and convert.
There is lots of scope to customise figures and I pleasantly surprised to plan and put these guys together in a couple of hours.
As an side Irregular Miniatures have some excellent figures in their Very British Civil War range that can be added to the Partisans. The figure sculptures are just OK but are very cheap!
WW1 17pdr
Light Mortar
Vickers machine gun
All in all the Wargames Atlantic are well worth the purchase! As this was just a quick exercise the rest will wait until I start working on my Very British Civil War project.
Very nice! They have issues to be sure but for making cheaper VBCW models it’s fantastic. I have lots of them for my VBCW socialists that have yet to be painted.
thanks. My plan is to use them in VBCW and Operation Sea Lion games as well. I really like the “went the day well” rules so I hope to start them when I have what;s on my plate finished.
Thanks for the post! I don’t know that my wallet is ready for it, but I’ve been increasingly tempted to jump into Bolt Action thanks to posts like this one that I’m seeing across the blog world. I enjoy the Warlord Games GI kit I’m currently cannibalizing for a 40k project, and the scope and range of what’s available (through the various miniature companies, and across all armies), along with what I’ve learned of the game, looks like great fun.
Check out FUBAR rules. They are a one page set that work very well for small action (Platoon) games. They have a variety of free downloadable sets.
https://fubarwargames.wordpress.com/downloads/
Like many, I have been thinking about the WA boxes. I’m tempted by the partisans, but with close to 100 metal ones already, I might investigate the dark ages or fantasy ranges.
It will be interesting to see how their range expands. I had a look at some of their Death Fields range and these looked like a cheap way to collect Imperial Guard like troops. Also a Box of the WW1 French look as if the might be great for a WW2 Platoon of Senegalese Tirailleurs!
that french box does look super versatile
My plan is to pick up at least one of them!
I quite like WGA miniatures and this is one of the sets I think is the most “multi-purpose”. Your review is sound and I agree with your assessment.
Thanks grumps.
Those don’t look too bad assembled. Will be good to see them finished.
Cheers
Pete
Sorry Pete. A few more projects before these to do!
A nice selection GP. The PIAT looks as if you have assembled it with the shoulder pad facing forward though. https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/New-Book-The-PIAT-Britains-Anti-Tank-Weapon-Of-World-War-II-11.jpg
It’s one of those funny pieces of kit where it isn’t immediately obvious which way round you should point it. Maybe the partisan isn’t too sure about it? 🙂
Regards, Chris.
Oops! Having never seen or used a PIAT in real life I bow to you greater knowledge. My experience is only with the earlier models of the Carl Gustav! I will fix forthwith. Great feedback much appreciated.
If you’ve fired a Charlie G, then the “Sproy-onggg” of a PIAT is a little underwhelming. On the plus side, the tank can’t see where you fired from if you miss 😀
Miss? Wash your mouth out!