At the start of Italy’s war, the Italian Army had no assault engineering units designed to take on enemy fortifications. The performance of pioneer units in the German blitzkrieg demonstrated to the Italians the need for such units, leading to the creation of the Guastatori del Genio which began training units in late 1940.

By early 1941 these specialised assault engineers were fighting in North Africa, and by mid-1942 they were also on the Eastern Front. During the Sicilian campaign the 11th Guastatori Battalion was attached to the ‘Livorno’ Division, fighting alongside them throughout the campaign.

Contains 10 metal Italian Guastatori miniatures:
* NCO with rifle and pistol
* 2 x two-man flamethrower teams
* 2 engineers with rifles and bangalore torpedoes
* 3 engineers with rifles
* Plastic bases

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

Infantry support teams are a vital component of Bolt Action armies. This pack gives you three such teams with which to add much-needed firepower to your Italian Army or Blackshirt force.

The Solothurn anti-tank rifle was a cross between a true anti-tank rifle and a light anti-tank gun. Featuring a light wheeled carriage and a magazine-feed, the Solothurn could achieve a rate of fire of up to 20 rounds per minute.

The Italian army had no specialist sniper rifle, and the relatively light-weight Carcano Model 1891 with its small calibre bullet was not ideally suited to the role. However, in the hands of a skilled marksman the weapon would prove deadly enough.

The Brixia 45mm light mortar was a powerful and successful weapon in the hands of properly trained soldiers. Its rate of fire was higher than similar weapons employed by other nations, and its accuracy was also unparalleled.

Contains six metal figures.

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

One of the largest ground forces of the war, the Regio Esercito (Royal Italian Army) was hardened by its experiences in Albania, Ethiopia and the Spanish Civil War prior to its entry to the Second World War.

The Italian Army fielded a wide range of weapons from various manufacturers. The most successful and commonly used machine gun was the Breda M37 8mm air-cooled weapon, its reputation led to it being fielded by the British SAS when captured.

Like so many nations, the Italian Army made good use of mortars such as the Mortaio da 81/14 Modello 35 which was nearly identical to the 81mm mortar fielded by the United States.

Contains the following metal miniatures which can be fielded as Italian Army or Blackshirt troops:
* Officer with pistol
* Officer with SMG
* Medic
* Radio operator
* MMG team
* Medium mortar team
* Plastic bases

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

This Bolt Action starter army provides a great value core to your new Bersaglieri army. Whether you wish to build your light infantry to fight in the Battle of France, the campaigns in Africa and Sicily or the brutal fighting on the Eastern Front, these highly detailed plastic and metal figures have stacks of variety and options. Helmets and sun helmets sporting the Bersalgieri's distinctive black feathers and caps further allow for temperate or tropical troops to be built. Medium mortar, machine gun and anti-aircraft gun support elements provide additional firepower to these elite troops.

Armoured support is found in the Semovente 75/18 assault gun (which can alternatively be assembled as a M13/40 medium tank). The comprehensive Bolt Action range has additional troops and vehicles to add to your army when you are ready to expand your Italian force.

This Bolt Action starter army contains the following 28mm models:
* 36 multi-pose plastic Italian Bersaglieri infantry
* 1 plastic 1/56th scale Semovente 75/18 assault gun (or can be built as a M13/40 medium tank)
* Metal figures for two officers, one medic, one spotter, an MMG team, a medium mortar team and a 20mm anti-aircraft gun team
* Also includes plastic bases decals stat cards and vehicle damage markers.

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

With typical Italian panache the Bersaglieri, with their helmets sporting the distinctive black capercaillie feathers, were easy to identify on the battlefield. These were no popinjays, however, as these elite marksmen were a tough proposition to face on the field of battle.

This support group provides stylish officers along with a medic treating his wounded colleague and a spotter who can be used as an attendant radio operator for your commander. Providing suppressing firepower are the workhorse medium machine gun of the Italian armed forces, the Breda Modello 37 and the robust 81mm Modello 35 medium mortar providing indirect fire capability.

Box contains the following metal figures:
* Two Officers
* One Medic treating Wounded Soldier
* One Bugler
* Medium Mortar Team (Weapon & Three Crew)
* Medium Machine Gun Team (Weapon & Three Crew)

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

Italy, seeking to secure its place amongst the powers of Europe, began colonization of a number of African countries in the late 19th century, amongst these being Eritrea.

Eritrean Ascari battalions became a permanent fixture of Italian East African colonization, supplied with Italian weapons and equipment. Serving with distinction in WWII, ascari were crucial in the North African campaign. They were well-regarded and fierce fighters who served until the fall of Italian East Africa in 1941.

Box contains 10 metal figures with plastic bases.

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

Box contains 10 metal foot figures

Set includes:
* 7 Random Riflemen
* Random NCO
* Random LMG Team

Note: This is the first of two Paracadutisti Paratrooper Infantry Sections. Each contains unique sculpts so are ideal to mix and match to lend your army greater variety in poses. You can find the second here

The Italian paratroopers were hard men, often poorly supplied and supported, but fought and died bravely where they stood rather than give ground.

Folgore (Lightning) and Nembo (Nimbus) were the two airborne divisions that fought valiantly for Mussolini and, later, the Italian Social Republic (RSI) until the armistice between Italy and the Allies. Even then, large elements of Nembo sided with the Germans and became the basis of the German 4th Fallschirmjäger division, being one of the last Italian units to surrender in 1945.

Contains 9 metal figures:
* NCO with SMG
* 1 x two-man LMG team
* 5 paratroopers with SMG
* 1 paratroopers with carbine
* Plastic bases

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

Led by tough, experienced officers, the Italian paratroopers were a well-respected foe – during the battle of El Alamein troops of the Folgore (Lightning) Division repelled the British attacks for weeks. The Folgore fought until expending their last round of ammunition, taking out British tanks with near suicidal close quarters attacks and choosing bayonet charges over raising the white flag, such was their elan.

Like their Regio Esercito (Royal Italian Army) counterparts, the airborne divisions relied heavily on the Breda 37 medium machine gun and the Mortaio da 81/14 Modello 35 81mm mortar for close fire support.

Contains 10 metal miniatures:
* 2 Officers with SMG
* 1 NCO with SMG
* 1 Radio Operator
* MMG team
* Medium mortar team
* Plastic bases

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

“I wish to say that in all my life I have never encountered soldiers like those of the Folgore”, stated British General Hughes. The Italian paratroopers of the Folgore and Nembo divisions were extremely tough opponents executing aggressive tactics with great initiative whether faced in North Africa, Italy or on the Russian Front.

Italian Paratroops contains:
* Command: 2 Officers with Beretta SMG,1 NCO with Beretta SMG and 1 Radio Operator with rifle
* 10-man squad: 4 with Beretta SMGs, 2 with carbines or rifles and two 2-man Breda LMG teams
* 2-man Sniper team
* 45mm Brixia mortar and 4 crew
* 2-man Flamethrower team

Formed in May of 1942, the Arditi X Regiment were named after the famed Italian assault units of the Great War and tasked with competing against the British LRDG and SAS units in the Western Desert.

Initially formed up of three companies comprising paratroopers, frogmen and the Arditi Camionettisti motorised forces (often in AS.42 scout cars providing long-range reconnaissance patrols), the Arditi X undertook clandestine sea, air and land operations, often behind enemy lines.

Box contains 10 metal figures with plastic bases.

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

As the Second World War progressed, Japanese forces were pushed back from the territorial gains they had made in the early stages of the war.

With Allied bombing and ground campaigns hampering Japanese industry the Emperor’s soldiers learnt to use whatever materials were at hand to face the enemy, as firearms and ammunition became ever more scarce. This would see Japanese soldiers sacrificing themselves with grenades, a courageous last ‘banzai’ charge with swords drawn, or using sharpened lengths of bamboo as makeshift spears.

The fanatical devotion to their Emperor, their country and their honour led many brave Japanese soldiers to such lengths. Allied troops were both in awe and disbelief of such heroics as the Japanese assault would more often than not perish in the face of sustained Allied firepower. Yet still the Japanese attacked...

The figures in this boxed set represent a squad of desperate but proud Japanese soldiers in the remnants of their uniforms, bedraggled and unkempt yet not bowed by their situation or likely fate. Banzai!

Contains a 10-man squad:
* 1 NCO with sharpened bamboo spear
* 9 soldiers with sharpened bamboo spears
* 10 plastic bases

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

Thought of as invincible by the Allied forces in the early stages of World War II, the Japanese soldier was a brave, disciplined, often fanatical, warrior who fought to the death – sometimes against overwhelming odds. Conquering all before them and carving out a vast Empire during the opening stages of the war the Imperial Japanese Army were truly a force to be reckoned with.

This plastic box set contains enough parts to make 30 plastic Japanese infantry armed with:

* Arisaka rifle
* Light 'knee' mortar
* Hand grenades
* Type 99 Light machine gun (and bayonet!)
* Type 14 Nambu pistol
* Flag pole
* NCO's Shin Gunto sword
* Anti-tank lunge mine
* Arisaka rifle with bayonet
* Type 100 sub-machine gun

Plus lots of accessories including a bugle and full-colour devotional banner and flag sheet!

The men of the Imperial Japanese Army were excellent soldiers, with extraordinary devotion to their country and their Emperor. Battle-hardened by years of war in Manchuria, the Japanese army was well-disciplined, led by seasoned officers, and watched over by the dreaded Kempei-tei political officers. Japanese soldiers gained an air of invincibility in the early years of the war as they conquered Thailand, British Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong, the Dutch East Indies, and most of the American Philippines.

Fanatical loyalty and iron discipline were the core of the Imperial Japanese Army ethos, and although it didn't have the same level of heavy weaponry and vehicles as their Allied opponents they were well supported by the likes of the Type 92 medium machine gun and Type 97 medium mortar.

Contains these metal models:
* 2 officers with pistol
* 1 Kempei-tei with pistol
* 1 medic
* 1 radio operator/spotter
* 1 medium mortar team
* 1 MMG team

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

Japanese paratroopers – Teishin Shudan (raiding group) – proved highly effective in the early years of the war. German successes with paratroops during 1940 encouraged the Japanese to develop their airborne arm as a constituent part of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF).

They were initially deployed in the Dutch East Indies during the Battle of Palambang in February 1942. A regiment of paratroopers dropped onto Palambang airfield, whilst another captured the town and its oil refinery. High casualties amongst the paratroopers discouraged further deployment by air, and the Teishin Shudan subsequently fought as elite infantry formations – much as their German counterparts did.

Possessing the same fanatical will as other Japanese forces and hardened by the rigours of combat behind enemy lines, the last time they made an airdrop was during an assault upon US air bases on Leyte. Most of the force was shot down before reaching its target. Although the 300 men who landed at Leyte caused considerable damage, the small force was soon contained and destroyed.

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

The men of the Kriegsmarine were often asked to do more than serve at sea. U-Boat and ship crews could be found in land actions in many theatres, wearing their trademark blue sailor’s uniforms or the grey-blue U-Boat leathers as they took the fight to the enemy.

The German Navy (or Kriegsmarine) had the peculiar battle honour of being involved in the first action of WW2 and also its last.

Infantry units of the navy, equipped with Wehrmacht weaponry and wearing their trademark dark blue uniforms and steel helmets, assaulted the Polish port of Danzig in the opening action of the war and, five years later, flew into the maelstrom of Berlin, landing in parks and on lakes using seaplanes or any other available transport aircraft. This time they were equipped with panzerfausts in an attempt to stave off the avenging Russian armour.

They formed at least three divisions and some regular army officers were placed in the units to give them the value of their experience. They frequently fought under their usual officer, so a unit could be led by a Korvettenkapitän or U-Boat commander.

They fought in Poland, Narvik, Russia, Dieppe, Arnhem, many of the cut off German garrisoned ports, as well as Holland and Berlin. The Welsh 53rd Division fought them regularly in Holland and found them full of fight, giving them the nickname of the “Blue Devils”.

This superb new boxed et contains ten metal models, each with the Figure Head system of separate heads. Included are an officer/NCO with MP40 SMG, 6 riflemen (two also carrying Panzerfausts), a 2-man LMG team and a second sailor with MP40 SMG. This colourful squad, clad in U-Boat leathers and dark blue Kriegsmarine uniforms will provide your army with something a little bit different!

Originally developed as an anti-aircraft weapon, the Flak 37 8.8cm (or Eighty-eight as it became known by Allied troops) had a high muzzle velocity to allow it to reach the higher ranges modern bombers were capable of at the time. This would make it an exceptionally deadly anti-tank weapon as many Allied tank crews would learn to their peril. The 88 could also be deployed as a conventional artillery piece – as one infantryman noted, the 88 was 'anti-everything'...

Capable of firing in extremis whilst still attached to its wheeled carriages (although with limited traverse or elevation), the 88 could be fully deployed onto its cruciform firing platform and ready to fire in around two and a half minutes.

Many 88s were fitted with a large gunshield although there were many examples of this being dispensed with. Being such a large and heavy weapon it could only be towed by larger prime movers such as the Sd.Kfz 7 halftrack.

The 88 saw service during the Spanish Civil War as well as on all fronts in which the Germans fought during WWII. Capable of penetrating armour plate up to 108mm thick at ranges of up to 1,100 yards, the 88’s fearsome reputation grew immensely during its service in the Western Desert where it was one of the very few weapons capable of dealing with the British Matilda II infantry tanks. A similar scenario unfolded on the Eastern Front as the 88 was among the rare weapons able to tackle the new Soviet heavy KV tanks.

The Flak 37 was the final production iteration of the 88, almost identical to the Flak 36 bar the updated instruments allowing for a greater level of autonomy in fire control.

This Flak 37 kit is supplied with 8.8cm shells and shell cases and can be built to both traverse and elevate - neither enemy armour nor aircraft will be safe!

Contains:
* One 1/56 scale hard plastic WWII 8.8cm Flak 37 dual-purpose AA/AT gun
* 7 metal Luftwaffe crew
* Bolt Action stat card
* Full-colour waterslide decal sheet
* Construction leaflet

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

After the the initial spectacular success of the German invasion of Russia in 1941 the invasion slowed to a crawl as the weather and hard fighting ground down their formations. Desperate to shore up the front seven regiments were formed of non-flying personnel taken from the German air force, the Luftwaffe. These regiments were equipped with standard infantry weapons, and sent to quieter areas of the front to gain experience.

As the war continued more and more Luftwaffe personnel were drafted into what became Luftwaffe Field Divisions, 21 divisions being formed with 12,500 men in each at full strength. They wore the trademark Luftwaffe blue/grey uniforms and many also donned the long camouflaged M1942 jacket or zeltbahn tent capes.

Despite their poor levels of training, they fought bravely in Normandy, in Italy and on the Russian front. The average age of the soldier in these units was 30 years old - much older than other front line troops. These difficulties led them to take more casualties than the regular army units but despite these shortcomings Luftwaffe Field Division troops earned 18 of the coveted Knights Cross medals in the three years that they saw service.

Contains a 10-man Luftwaffe Field Division Squad:
* 1 NCO and two soldiers with SMGs
* 1 MG13 LMG team
* 2 Riflemen with Panzerfausts
* 3 riflemen

One of the most iconic pieces of hardware in US Military history, over 40,000 M3 half-tracks were produced during World War II with many thousands of similar models also being supplied to their allies.

The M3A1 was ideally suited to rushing troops to the front and through gaps in the enemy lines. With a top speed of 45 mph, and armoured enough to keep out most small arms fire, they performed admirably in this role.

They had a crew of three men and could carry ten fully equipped troops. There were many variations on the chassis including tank destroyers, mortar carriers and ambulances, but most frequent by far were the M3A1 with its armament of a heavy .50 cal heavy machine gun and two or more .30 cal machine guns.

Mount up, boys!

This all-new plastic kit is the first fruits borne of our partnership with scale model giants Italeri.

The M4 Sherman medium tank served Allied forces well, with American and British armies fielded them in large numbers (the British calling them the Sherman I).

Alongside the Soviet T-34, the M4 Sherman medium tank was arguably one of the two most important Allied tanks of the war. It was supplied by the industrial might of the United States to the British, Commonwealth and Soviet armies in great quantities, with nearly 50,000 of all variants being built by the war’s end.

The M4 Sherman was a reliable design and was developed into several variants throughout the course of the war, going on to serve in conflicts beyond 1945 around the world.

The Sherman’s introduction during World War II provided Allied tank crews with a superior design to the mid-war German panzers, and one that was always superior to Japanese vehicles, although German tank development would soon outstrip this stalwart of Allied armour capability. Its 76mm of armour and 75mm main gun made it a useful tank and its 5-man crews battled their way through Africa, Italy, the Pacific, North-West Europe, the Eastern Front and into Germany itself.

This highly detailed 1:56 scale plastic kit is a great combination of detail, accuracy and the durability you expect from wargames models that are going to see a lot action. One very cool feature of this kit is the main gun elevates with co-axial machine gun in sync!

Aside from the kit itself we have included this full-colour waterslide decal sheet, allowing you to create this iconic Allied tank in many unique forms...

Based on the ubiquitous M5 Stuart light tank hull, the M8 75mm Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC) provided much needed mobile artillery support to US assault forces. Replacing the M5 Stuart turret with a more spacious open-topped turret to house a short-barrelled M2 (and later the M3) 75mm howitzer and a mix of smoke and high explosive ammunition. A pintle-mounted .50 Cal heavy machine gun provided additional defensive firepower.

Named after the American Civil War general, Winfield Scott, the M8 saw action in North African, Tunisian, North West Europe, Italian and Pacific campaigns in World War II as well as during the Indochina and Vietnam wars. Fielded almost exclusively by US Army or USMC forces, a total of 1,778 M8 Scott HMCs were produced. The M8 was increasingly replaced in the self-propelled artillery role by the M7 Priest and the M4 Sherman with 105mm howitzer – the M8s open-topped turret would continue to be utilised on the support version of the LVT(A)-4 amphibious craft.

Contains 1 Plastic Vehicle, Decals, Stats Cards and Damage Markers

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted

The Marder III was a series of German tank destroyers built on the chassis of the Czech designed Panzer 38(t). Produced from 1942 to 1944, they served on all fronts until the end of the war.

Even in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht was aware of the need to field a more mobile and more potent anti-tank weapon. This need was further highlighted when, in June 1941, Geran anti-tank shells failed to penetrate the armour of new Soviet tanks such as the T-34 and KV-1.

The Marder III was armed with the 75 mm PaK 40 anti-tank gun. This was the final variant of the Marder series and was a significant improvement over previous models, with its lower silhouette, sloped armour and much more functional fighting compartment. This superb resin and metal vehicle comes with two crewmen.

Mongolian cavalry were lightly equipped with few modern weapons beyond the ubiquitous bolt-action rifle and sabre. However they were also extremely hardy and adept, born to a life in the saddle with a proud tradition as horsemen. Mongolian Cavalry can be used in Bolt Action Soviet and Chinese armies in WWII and in Chinese PVA armies in Bolt Action Korea.

Contains five metal cavalry figures with plastic bases