The sniper team has been made up with a Tiger Miniatures rifleman as the sniper and a an officer with binoculars as the spotter.
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, commonly known as the KNIL (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger), employed skilled marksmen during the Second World War, although it did not develop a formal sniper system comparable to those used by the German or Soviet armies. Operating primarily across the Netherlands East Indies, including Java, Sumatra, Timor, and Borneo, the KNIL fought in terrain that naturally favoured concealment, ambush, and accurate individual shooting. Jungle warfare conditions meant that fieldcraft and patience often mattered more than long range precision.
Rather than maintaining dedicated sniper schools or specialist sniper platoons, the KNIL relied upon experienced riflemen embedded within infantry and reconnaissance units. Patrol leaders, scouts, and selected shooters were frequently tasked with observation, harassment fire, and ambush duties. In dense jungle country, firing positions were often established along tracks, river crossings, plantation edges, and narrow approaches where visibility and movement were restricted. This style of warfare blurred the distinction between ordinary infantry marksmen and specialist snipers.
The KNIL primarily used Mannlicher rifles, particularly the M1895 series and associated carbines. Some rifles were fitted with telescopic sights, although these remained limited in number and were never standardised across the force. A small number of marksmen reportedly used modified military rifles or commercially fitted optics, but the KNIL lacked the industrial and organisational capacity to create a large scale sniper program. Nevertheless, experienced colonial troops often developed strong practical shooting skills through long service in difficult terrain.
The army’s prewar colonial experience strongly shaped these methods. KNIL operations in Aceh, Borneo, Sulawesi, and New Guinea had already emphasised patrol warfare, tracking, concealment, and decentralised leadership. These traditions translated naturally into the fighting against Japanese forces during 1941 and 1942. Small units often operated independently in isolated environments where accurate rifle fire and hidden observation posts could delay or disrupt enemy movement far more effectively than conventional battlefield formations.
After the collapse of the Netherlands East Indies, surviving KNIL personnel continued to fight in guerrilla and reconnaissance roles alongside Allied forces, particularly in Timor and New Guinea. In these operations, concealed shooting and small patrol tactics became even more important. Although the KNIL sniper tradition remains less studied than that of larger wartime armies, its methods reflected the realities of jungle warfare and shared important similarities with Australian Independent Companies and other Allied reconnaissance units operating in the South West Pacific.
Some more Tiger Miniatures KNIL coming in the next few days.