Forces for the 1952 War

All,

So you've seen my concept, my plan, and how I made up the forces.  Here's a closer look at the armies of Hakuna and Matata.

The whole force.

We'll start with the Hakuna Air Force: four F4U Corsairs.  Being a former British protectorate, these were left over from the Fleet Air Arm.

The Martin Baltimore light attack bomber used by the Hakuna Ground Attack Squadron.

On to the Matata Air Force and their Spitfires.

But they actually went to the Soviets for their Ground Attack Squadron, acquiring IL-2 Stormaviks.  I painted them up in two different camo schemes.

Here's a look at the infantry of Hakuna.  All Hakuna ground equipment is in green, while Matata is in khaki.

Infantry from Matata.  The detail on these guys is truly amazing.

Some closeups.  These are all actually Modern US infantry, which I picked because I like the prone troops.  At right you can see weapons bases; each has an LMG and a TOW ATGM.  As this is the 1950s, that's a bit problematic.  For my purposes those TOWs are light mortars for the time being...

And here's a closeup of one of those weapons bases.

And one of the 'regular' infantry bases.

On to the armored fist of the Hakuna Army, their pride and joy, the Fireflies.  These are Sherman tanks armed with 17-pounder guns.

Again.

And one more.  For all the tanks, all I did was spray prime them, throw a wash on them, then paint little national insignia on each side and on top.

Their Matata counterparts, T-34s with the 85mm gun.

Again.

And one more.

The mechanized transports for Hakuna, M-5 Halftracks.

Again.  If my pics weren't so terrible you could see the guys in the back of the halftrack, and the guy manning the .50 cal HMG.

The Matata mechanized troops cruise around in Studebaker trucks.

Again.

The Hakuna command stand.

Again.

And the Matata command stand.

Once more.

Hakuna anti-tank vehicles: M-36 Jacksons with 90mm guns.

And Matata anti-tank vehicles, SU-100s.

Hakuna recon, jeeps with recoiless rifles.

Matata recon, Staghound armored cars left over from the Brits.

Hakuna 155mm howitzers.

While Matata went with Katyushas.  Yeah, I gave them red rockets and steel rails, just to add some color.

Hakuna anti-aircraft, a truck towing a 40mm Bofors.

Matata has the same setup for their AA needs.

Well, there they are, ready for war.  I'm ready, the troops are ready, the campaign is ready, and the boy is ready, so the war starts this weekend.

V/R,
Jack