Warlord Italian Army & Blackshirts

I got this as part of the Warlord Italian Army & Blackshirts starter box from a semi-local stokist (free shipping from Montreal for 200$ purchase, cheaper than me driving there). The kit comes with the Warlord Semovente/Carro Armato I reviewed yesterday, along with a set of white metal minis (HQ, 47mm ATG, Mortar and MMG), for a very nice price. Honestly, for most armies in this game, you can get the starter box and play nice games, and most armies that have multiple starter kits can be worth getting each of them.

What you get in it

You get 5 sprues, well distanced and VERY well setup that is easy to clip on and off. The plastic is of good quality, and reacts well to my standard Games-Workship plastic glue. While I hate GW for what they are doing to their game, their hobby tools are still some of the best on the market. Each sprue has 6 little Italian dudes in more or less realistic proportions (not the common HEROIC proportion I am used to in 28mm). Putting one next to a Cadian, as an example, would make the Pasta look a bit unmanly, but the sculpts are simple, but nice.

Warlord’s bases are a bit weird as a flat side with a lip, with the other side having the company logo, but that should make basing these models not a huge issue. The bases come on a massive sprue instead of the damn plastic baggy filled with the things, where you end up missing one or two. Oh, and each package from Warlord comes with a little paper saying “This was packaged by ‘Name of a Nice Slavic Lady'”. I appreciate that, because it means there is a minimum of QA going on.

Diversity on the sprue

Big infantry sprues like these are fun for all the options you need to make your troops up and running. You have 6 bodies, so at least there will be some diversity to your troops, but I ALMOST feel like getting the other army box just so I have more funny looking Milaneses on the table. For heads you get various combat helmets, the blackshirts fez and some officer fezes as well, giving you a nice diversity for the units your are building. You get entrenching tools, bayonets, a SINGLE pistol holster, 2 models of gas mask pouches, little goggles that are way too small for me to put on, plenty of accessories.

Of course, this is a WW2 game, so weapon choices on there are rather limited: you get the standard Italian battle rifle, a few carbines and LMGs, along with a backpack option for the LMG loader. You have a single guy throwing a grenade, and another one holding a pistol. I don’t think I was expecting anything else in there. You have a few other options, a guy with holding binoculars, one with a map and one making a rude Italian gesture. Problem is, you have maybe 3 left hand options outside of the standard “holding your gun”, and you have no “loose battle rifle” or bandoliered battle rifle. But overall, I would say those are great sprues.

Assembly required

Here’s the great thing: This reminds me of the old GW infantry kits, and as the urinalists say, THAT’S A GOOD THING! The head “socket” can accept any head very easily, most accessories can be put on models easily and while the arms don’t have “arm sockets”, they are easy “slide ons”. One of the arm with a carbine and a bandolier is harder to put on, but the rest fits in really well. As opposed to the tank I assembled the other day, this is a huge plus!

Would I buy it again

Here’s where it gets tougher: I don’t need another box of these guys. That’s great for me as a customer and gamer, but for Warlord Games, this makes it harder as if I get a starter box, I’m more or less good on average grunts. There is a Bersaglieri Starter Box which looks somewhat interesting for what is included in it, but sadly, for the Italians, it comes with that darn Carro Armato kit I don’t like. There is also an Alpini Mountain Troops, which doesn’t have a starter. But do I really need more little Italian dudes to paint? 30 of them is already a lot. Being a collector might be what hurts me here, because some of the other kits ARE cool looking, but somewhat expensive.

We’ll have to see how the game plays, to be honest.

View other Product Review here!