Forged in Battle British 40mm Bofors

Having had a chance to start putting together some of my recent purchases, I thought I would take some pics and make some comments about the Forged in Battle 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns I bought.

These guns come 2 to a pack and include crew. The packs do not include any form of base, so if your buying these for Flames of War you will also need some large bases for them. The guns come in 4 main parts. The cruciform platform base, the gun platform with crew moulded on, the gun barrel (on a small sprue with the gunners heads) and a the detached wheels.

From what I understand, this is a substantially different setup from the FoW models. That's fine, but the moulded gun platform means the angle of the gun cannot be changed. The crew on the FoW model are not moulded on (so can be painted separately) and the gun shield is also a separate part.

One of the things I dislike about the model is the lack of sights for the gun.

To rectify this, I have added my own.

Not perfect by any manner of means, but they add something that I felt was missing.

The other big letdown for me was the crew models. Besides the two on the platform, the guns came with a selection of figures (actually more than you require for a FoW gun crew.

So, pointing guy - ok. Ammo guy - ok. But the rest? I don't even know what the two guys at the ends are doing. The guy covering his ears has a older style type of webbing, and the pose is just... random. The crew of these guns aren't pictured standing about covering ears, they are passing ammo, spotting targets, etc. These three really let the model down. Wheres the guys with binocs, or the range finder? I would accept kneeling opening a crate or something - but unlike the FoW model there are no crates or other add ons in the pack.

Some close up shots of the two random poses (apologies for lack of clarity). I have actually used some of the gunner figures from the airlanding 6 pdr pack I mistakenly bought.

So, all in all - cheaper than FoW/Battlefront but missing the bases and without any command team (which also comes as part of the FoW packs). Easier to put together but not as characterful and without the flexibility. Also, most of the crew models poses are rubbish. Scale wise the models sit well with FoW figures.