Italian cavalry WW2 from Waterloo 1815!

Yes!

Cavalry during World war 2 and it's not the polish one!

The new surprise from my favorite figure manufacturer "Waterloo 1815" is the Italian cavalry during World War 2.



The charge of the polish cavalry during "Case White/ Invasion of Poland" is a well know-myth.

But a lot of people don't know that the 3. Cavalry Division Amedeo Duca d'Aosta took part on the eastern front during WW2.

The division was part of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia and fought till 1943.

Each division had two cavalry regiments, a highly-mobile infantry (Bersaglieri) regiment, an artillery regiment, and a light tank group.

The squadrons of the cavalry regiments were horse-mounted and, other than a motorcycle company, the Bersaglieri were issued with bicycles.

The light tank group had a total of 61 tanks. The tanks were typically L3s or L6s.(All info from Wikipedia!)

This part of history is now alive thanks to "Waterloo 1815" in 1/72 scale.

Here are the first picrures: (From plasticsoldierreview.com)

the figures:



the horses:



the accessories:



The set contents 10 figures and 10 horses, with 5 figure- and 2 horse poses.

The material is fairly hard.

The first Italeri "Fast Assembly"-kit!

The "fast assembly"-kits from Italeri was for a long time in my radar, but the models produced till now wasn"t on my wish list, till I noticed this one:



Autocannone RO3 with 90/53 AA Gun in a 1/72 scale!

As usual the information from Wiki:

The Cannone da 90/53 was an Italian designed cannon, and one of the most successful anti-aircraft guns to see service during World War II. It was used both in an anti-aircraft role and as an anti-tank gun.

The designation "90/53" meant that the gun had a 90 mm caliber and a barrel 53 caliber-lengths long.

Fifty or so 57 were ordered to be mounted on heavy Lancia trucks and designated Autocannoni da 90/53.

The box includes 8 figures:



There are 2 sprues the above for the truck and the below for the AA gun:



At last I got one and build it!



and from the opposite side:



The rest of figures and the whole model will be painted and altered!

Folgore Division Light Artillery!

The following set from "Waterloo 1815" is the "Folgore Division Light Artillery"!

As usual the box picture:



The careful followers noticed that the box picture is the same like the one on the "Folgore Division infantry" box.

Why?

Nobody knows...

It's a mix of figures on the picture from both boxes, so that we can argue that the picture was designed for both boxes!

The Material is as usual medium plastic, my favorite. The box is produced in 2003 and includes 21 figures with 7 different poses and plus 3 guns.

The Folgore Division had been raised for an invasion of Malta, therefore, the division had a unit of light artillery, as fire support for the paratroops once they had landed.

It was light and easy to assemble and use.

The artillery piece in this set is the 47mm anti-tank gun, which was used in large numbers in Italy and was the principle heavy gun(!) of the division.

The model is good and detailed and comes in just four pieces - the barrel, carriage and two wheels.

The wheels fitted very well, but you have to enlarge the hole so that the barrel would fit without a problem.

But the angle is not correct, so that the gun is pointing very high.

The crew for this gun are various figures kneeling or sitting with arms up as if they are handling the gun.



Placed by the gun base they all stand successfully.

They are dressed in the unique paratroop uniform including paratroop helmet and the sahariana jacket.

Both officers are wearing a cap and are handling binoculars.

The other piece of equipment is the 8mm Breda machine gun. This has been quite well sculpted, with an offset tripod.



The style of these figures is very similar to the old Esci ones.

Perhaps they share the same sculptor.

Detail is well defined and there is little extra plastic.

Folgore Division / Waterloo 1815

The next set from the Italian producer "Waterloo 1815" is "Folgore Division Infantry"!

The picture of the box:



PS.The AT-gun on this picture is not in the box included.)

This set was produced in 2003 and have 44 figures in 11 different poses!

The only critic about their first Italian infantry set in WW2 was the few poses of the figures.

It seems so, that the firm listened to the complaints and increased the number of the poses from 6 to 11.

The Folgore ('Lightning') Division were an elite unit of Italian paratroops, who were specially raised and trained for the planned invasion of Malta.

When this invasion was cancelled they were shipped to North Africa, and made a name for themselves as excellent fighters.



Paratroops wore a different uniform to the rest of the army, and this has been represented here also very good.

Their finest hour came at El Alamein, where they fought bravely, but suffered very high casualties, so that they never reached their former effectiveness.

A lot of figures are kneeling or lying, which reflects the realities of desert war during WW2 in an open terrain with little or no cover.



All this is correctly sculpted.

(Those figures are missing, because they are not yet painted! The picture is from "plasticsoldierreview-website!)

One of the lying figures has on his hand a mine, essential defensive weapon in the desert against tanks!

Most of the men are armed with the 9mm Beretta machine gun.

Several men have grenades, and one has a Molotov cocktail, which was used in the North African campaign.

The style of these figures is very familiar with Esci.

Detail is good with no flash.

Waterloo 1815!

Again "Waterloo", Napoleon and his last 100 days, Wellington and Blücher?

No, no!

Today I want to introduce you "Waterloo 1815", an Italian manufacturer of plastic soldiers.

The firm was born in 1999 of course in Italy and the owner is Andrea Pierini, with a passion for plastic models.

The first produced figures were some Atlantic reissues, like greek cavalry, but since 2002 they began their own products.

In my opinion, the weak presence of the Italian army in WW2, was filled by “Waterloo 1815”.

Especially during the ranks of WW2 model makers, figure painters and collectors, inkl. Wargamers “Waterloo 1815” earned a reliable name!

The Folgore division - infantry and the light artillery, also Italian infantry at El Alamein were majority figures of the all North African theatre during WW2, building the majority of the Axis forces.

Therefore, it was always a question, why none of the producers produced those figures?

Thanks to Waterloo 1815 we have them and in a very good quality!

My first set from this company is a

Italian Infantry (at El Alamein) with a picture of the box:



The figures were produced in 2002.

In the box there are 36 figures in 6 different poses!



The material is medium plastic.

All the figures are dressed in standard Italian tropical uniform, many of them wear shorts.

One man wears the standard Italian steel helmet, while another wears the very common tropical helmet.

The remaining two privates have a fez worn on the back of the head, which identifies them as being either Bersaglieri.



The sculpting and detail are excellent.

There is no flash and the figures are well proportioned.

It’s a set of excellent quality, but only six poses are not enough for any infantry set, without any advancing figure.