Well, time to start a new army. While perusing my normal online stores I spied a news header that caught my attention on 1st Corps website. “BEF Platoon Deals”

Whoo! I have been itching for early war action since Evan and I did up the early war Germans for Adepticon. This was my moment.

British Expeditionary Force

The British Expeditionary Force, BEF for short, was a contingent of the British Army sent to France after being reactivated in September of 1939 when France and Britain declared war on Nazi Germany. The BEF started to arrive in France on September 4th, 1939. They began to take position on the French and Belgian borders where they began to prepare defenses. They participated in the Phony War while they prepared for action. The British Expeditionary Force had the distinction of being a fully mechanized force. When the Germans launched Case Yellow, the invasion of France, on May 10th the British forces rushed to the River Dyle in Belgium. The plan was to fight the Germans in Belgium not France. The French liked this idea but the Belgians unsurprisingly did not. Some BEF units also manned part of the Maginot Line during the campaign. Despite valiant efforts the Allied forces were beat back into France and eventually the BEF were forced to withdraw from the shores of Dunkirk during the infamous Operation Dynamo. The British Navy was able to rescue close to 370,000 troops but they left almost all of their heavy equipment behind. These men would be useful for the coming conflict but the hit in materials was a significant blow to the British Army.

Why game with the BEF?

In my experience American students aren’t taught about the 1940 Battle of France other than as a short footnote for context. As an adult wargamer I have been fortunate to ignite an interest in the lesser-known theaters of World War II. Now don’t get me wrong the Battle of France is a big deal to the countries who participated. But American popular media doesn’t pay much attention to it besides the excellent movie Dunkirk. I’ve said it before, but I really enjoy early war action. Seeing nations try their interwar solutions against an actual opposing force fascinates me. Sure Tigers, Shermans, and T-34/85s are fun but there is a certain charm when a Vickers light tank is the menace on the field. To be honest the wacky armor choices make me hot and bothered. There is something striking about Vickers VIb and Cruiser tanks. So a big part of my motivation is the aesthetic of the British Expeditionary Force.

But as I mentioned before Case Yellow is a seldom talked about subject outside of the historical wargaming sphere. I was delighted to read about the early stages of World War II and about the bravery of the Allies despite knowing they were on the back foot. It is inspiring reading about rearguard actions by French and British units protecting the evacuation. And not all of the common held beliefs about the Allies’ poor performance in 1940 are true. There are many anecdotes of Allied soldiers fighting and besting the German invaders. The men continued to fight even though they knew they wouldn’t be returning home. In a way I want to keep their stories alive. Those stories deserve to be told.

Coincidentally one of our first Iron Dice team projects is a France board. A French countryside board is very versatile, and I plan on using it to play some early war action in addition to post D-Day combat. The fact that I can stoke both the BEF and French terrain fires at once is pretty handy.

Starting My British Expeditionary Force

As much as I wish these were my painted minis these photos are from 1st Corps website!

After looking at the platoon deals that 1st Corps offered I settled on the BEF 1940 Infantry Platoon as my base force. Seeing as I wanted to game 1940 France and Belgium it seemed like a no brainer to go with the beefier 1940 platoon. It helps that the BEF 1939 Motor or Infantry Platoon and Line of Communication Platoon could be made with the minis included in the 1940 Platoon. I picked the platoon up for £43.80 but even full price at £48.75 it is a great deal for a ready to run force of 39 miniatures. The 1940 Platoon has an HQ and three sections of 11 men. Each section is comprised of one NCO, one 3 man Bren light machine gun team, and seven Riflemen.

Of note also, you are allowed to make some customization choice about your force. You can choose to have helmets with or without their covers or a mix. The same goes for bayonets, with, without, or mix. And they allow you to request to have your LMG teams upright or prone. I went with a mix of covers and bayonets and all standing and advancing Bren teams.

I love that they specifically set these deals up to be ready for Chain of Command. So the base Platoon HQ also includes a two man Boys Anti-Tank Rifle and a two man 2 inch mortar team. They can also be bought separately if you wanted another set.

So with the core of my force chosen I decided to make the shipping worth the cost and fleshed out the force. I added the Company/ Battalion Command Pack for some extra command figures. They can also fluff out crews as Junior Leaders.

Next I added the Field Telephone team for a cool scenario mini set. It could also moonlight as an engineer team or a forward observer team.

A First Aid Post consisting of a stretcher bearer team, medic, and wounded man is a solid addition to a Bolt Action or Chain of Command force. The poses are packed with character and it’s hard to pass this one up.

I figured a Mine Clearance Team would a good engineering team for Chain of Command. I was really happy to see these chaps as engineer sculpts are always hard to come by.

A Vickers Medium Machine Gun team will add some much needed volume of fire in defensive positions. I like that there are 4 crew. I will only have to add one more man to be Chain of Command legal.

I figured an infantry based anti-tank gun would be a good addition to the force. The 2 Pounder was the standard anti-tank gun of the British Army in 1940. It was a very modern weapon with 360 degree traverse and a 40mm round that performed significantly better than contemporary 20mm, 25mm, and 37mm anti-tank guns. It was typically towed behind a truck and was able to be shot from its carriage if necessary. Its main draw backs were its heavy weight and the lack of a high explosive shell until later in the war.

1st Corps makes fantastic looking guns but they are in 1/48 scale. For one off guns like the 2 pounder I could get away with it, but I want to be consistent so I will be 3D printing the gun itself. But good crew in any amount are hard to come by. Chain of Command needs large crew sizes compared to Bolt Action so when I saw the 6 man 2 Pounder Crew I jumped on it. Extra crew figures are always handy to have and can be used if I’m not running the 2 Pounder.

For some more Anti-Tank punch I picked up the Hotchkiss 25mm 6 man Crew. The French built Hotchkiss 25mm AT gun was known as the Anti-Tank Gun, 25 mm. Hotchkiss, Mark I on 25 mm. Carriage, Mark I or 1 Pounder for short in British service. Interestingly the BEF landed in France without sufficient numbers of the 2 Pounders. 300 were issued to the BEF but as the force was fully mechanized they had issues towing it behind their vehicles. The 1 Pounder was one of the first guns to be mounted in the portee fashion. It was a pretty weak gun against the German’s tanks but it did distinguish itself as effective if weak points were targeted.

Like the 2 Pounder, the gun and crew are also available together if you want a 1/48 scale gun.

One of my favorite parts of the BEF is the prolific use of Universal Carriers. It was a workhorse of the highly mechanized British Expeditionary Force. It is such an iconic vehicle. 1st Corps has several options for 1/48 scale carriers and the crew can be bought separately. Bren Carrier Crew A, Bren Carrier Crew B, and the Scout Carrier Crew are available for those of us who prefer 1/56 (ish) scale. Now, don’t get me wrong… 1st Corps’ vehicles are beautiful. I just don’t want mismatched scales.

My plan is to 3D print a pair of Bren Carriers and one Scout Carrier. Dewey Cat does a nice looking Scout Carrier Mk I available on Wargaming3d.

Future Purchases

If you’re a Bolt Action player you will notice one glaring omission from my purchase, the humble and ever reliable 3” Medium Mortar. I will be remedying that by buying the BEF Support Pack which has the medium mortar, another Vickers Medium Machine Gun, and some more HQ types. I will probably snag a BEF Weapons Teams box pretty early on as it will give me another Boys AT-rifle, second 2” mortar, and a sniper team. I hear another 2” mortar can be clutch for the British. I will also be adding another BEF Squad for another support choice and to beef out my numbers for Bolt Action.

I want to have some trucks for mobility and scenery. I have always liked the look of the Guy Ant lorries. Warlord offers them but I will probably find an STL for them as I want a few. I also want to add a few armored vehicles and a French Squad to act as an allied squad in Chain of Command. I think I will use Colonel Muller’s beautiful Reserve Infantry for the allied squad duty. Arvernes Miniatures makes a beautiful Vickers Mk VI STL set which includes the .303 machine gun and .50 machine gun turrets. Those will be on the short term purchase list.

What’s next?

Well, my next step is to paint up a test mini and nail down my paint scheme. So I suppose I’ll be talking about that in my next BEF article. If I get motivated I can paint out a core platoon in a month or two but we will see if that happens. Until next time!