Chain of Command prep I: catalogue the collection

I've been threatening to organise a Chain of Command game for a while now and am finally getting around to doing something about it.

The game will be set during Operation Market Garden, north of the Rhine, with 1st Airborne defending the Oosterbeek perimeter from encroaching Germans. First step in the game preparation is taking stock of my collection and seeing whether I can build a viable Chain of Command force out of them.

I just did that with my British paras. I sorted them out according to types to see where I had a surplus or a deficit. This is the result:

Basic infantry

Of these, I need two types - your bog standard riflemen and Sten (or 'liberated' German SMG) armed soldiers:

The Sten types

The riflemen (some Stens to be transplanted from the multiple bases in front)

So it seems I have about twice as many riflemen as Sten types, which is a ratio that is skewed too much towards the Stens. So it seems I will need to paint some more rifle types. Luckily these figures (20mm Britannia and FAA) paint up rather quickly.

Support

For support I'm covered pretty well, having several Bren, Vickers MMG and PIAT teams as well as some 3" and 2" mortar teams and a FOO unit. Here's the faces to go with the names:

Front to back: Bren, Vickers, PIAT, mortars. FOO is hiding among the Vickers teams.

Leader types

Of these I also have more than enough. Various figures which can serve as both junior and senior leaders:

Leader types, with some transport in the background

In addition I have quite a few jeeps, a supply point and other bits'n'bobs which can serve as jump off points for this force.

So - on to painting some more riflemen!