Dressing For The Apocalypse - 28mm: British Army

Currently Under Fire Miniatures have a range of Cold War figures comprising Soviets, East Germans, West Germans (police and army) and US. Unfortunately there are (currently) no plans for adding British figures to their range (but there is a possibility of a compatible range from another manufacturer).

In the meantime, I want a set of figures representing British infantry that are a nice match with the Under Fire and Empress figures that I currently own.

Luckily, I have a number of figures from Crooked Dice that will fit the bill.

Crooked Dice publish the 7TV skirmish rule set designed for games based on the film and television output of a fictional British production company (and their American subsidiary). They have a matching set of figures for a number of their productions.

There are two main ranges that will be the source for my British infantry.

The first is their Army figures.
This is one of their Army Privates with Rifles.

The figures are supplied with tabs and (25mm diameter) slot bases. In this case I cut off the tabs, filed the soles of the boots flat and drilled, pinned and superglued it to a 25mm diameter Renedra plastic base.

He is armed with an L1A1 FN SLR battle rifle. The range also includes figures with Sterling SMGs, a recoiless rifle and a medium machine gun.

The rifle is a bit anachronistic, as by the time of Twilight 2000, the standard British infantry weapon was the L85 (SA80) assault rifle. However, when the original weapon was issued, there were a number of significant issues with it, and it was not until its first use in infantry combat in the 21st century were they fully overcome. For Twilight 2000 purposes, the UK would still have a stock of L1A1s, so they may have been issued to units.

I do have a pack of Hasslefree miniatures L85 rifles that I may try and use as a replacement of the L1A1s. I also might try changing the heads to ones with helmets.

The second is their Department X range.

This is one of the X-Commandos from the X-Commandos 1 pack. They are supplied with a head with a beret. I used one of Empress Miniatures British helmets with extra camouflage (BRIT13).

The figure has rather bulky body armour, similar to that seen in use in that period.

To base the figure, I used a Warlord lipped 25mm base and added a couple of strips of plastic card to make a slot for the cut down tab on the figures feet.

I added a Warlord British Commando rucksack on the back.

Greenstuff was used to add straps and a scarf.

Here it is painted with a Woodland DPM pattern.

Truck Utility Medium, Fitted For Radio - 28mm

Vehicles specifically for Twilight 2000 in 28mm are quite rare, so occasionally you have to improvise.

Crooked Dice have a miniatures game (7TV) and a matching range of figures, most revolving around the film and television output of a fictional British production company from the 'sixties to the 'eighties.

To provide transport for some of the characters, in 2016 they introduced a vehicle which has a remarkable resemblance to a Series III Land Rover.

A slightly out of focus William Killian (another Crooked Dice figure, sadly not currently in production) for scale.

This makes a nice shortish wheelbase hard top Land Rover.

Recently Crooked Dice have run a Kickstarter for a Post Apocalyptic version of their 7TV game. They added a number of conversion items including a Medium Stowage Set. This includes one piece that fits neatly on to the front of their Land Rover, and another that makes a great roof rack load.

In the Tankograd book on Key Flight '89, on page 28 there is a photograph of a Land Rover series III with stowage in that exact same location.

As it mentions in the title, this is Fitted For Radio, so I added an aerial mount using a piece of 4mm square section tube (with 4mm strip ends) and an aerial base made from brass rod to the front right side of the bonnet. The photograph in the Tankograd book has two aerial mounts, but the Land Rover 110 on page 15 has only one (and is a hard top).

Though the pieces fit fairly well, there was a slight gap between the front of the roof stowage and the roof itself, and the piece sitting on the bumper did not balance well.

The former was fixed by adding a tarpaulin made from Greenstuff, the latter had some square section rod added underneath.

This was one of the vehicles I mentioned when I was writing about the Soviet infantry.

It is base painted (PSC British Tank green), but needs decals and weathering.

A British infantryman armed with an L1A1 (FN SLR) for scale. He was converted from a Crooked Dice X-Commando using an Empress British Infantry helmet with extra camouflage.

So now my British have some transport, now I need some British troops.