Review: Agema Miniatures Velites

I purchased this plastic boxed set some time ago from Northstar, during one of their sales no doubt.

Having painted up a pair of miniatures I thought I would share my thoughts on these figures. YouTube video below:

Here are some pictures of the painted miniatures for the record. Apologies for not light-boxing it.

Operation Squad Opposing Forces

Further to my last post, I have been looking to put together my two forces for Operation Squad Evolution: Germans and Poles for the September 1939 campaign. The rulebook contains lists for American, German, Soviet, and British forces, while additional lists are available from Massimo Torriani's website for free. The PDF is a must have, since it has the lists for the minor nations and some more lists for those nations already covered in the main rulebook. 

The rule set has suggested force compositions, although my personal tastes lean towards ignoring these in favour of the requirements of the scenario. Additionally, there is a points system, which again, is entirely optional to my mind. I think that knowing the point system might be interesting regardless of whether it forms part of the list building exercise. Who knows, perhaps it might give us some insight into balance within a scenario?

First up is the basic German Heer squad of 1939. This section is led by a Obergefreiter. I also decided to upgrade the spare rifleman from the LMG team to a Gefreiter to give the section a little low-level leadership, after all, someone has to square the lads away and get the ammo state for the section commander! Ranks in brackets are the ones used in the rules, the actual ranks are provided by me.

German Heer Squad		Total points:	530
Obergefreiter (Sergeant)	Kar98k, Stg39 grenades		60
LMG Team
Gefreiter (Corporal)	Kar98k, Stg39 grenades		60
MG34 Gunner	MG 34 LMG, Stg 39 grenades		90
2 Assistants	Kar98k, Stg39 grenades		80
Rifle Team
8 Riflemen	Kar98k, Stg39 grenades		240

As you can see this minimal section comes in at 530 points. I didn't adjust any of the points values, even though I downgraded the Obergefreiter and Gefreiter to Kar98k rifles from the MP40 sub-machine guns they automatically come with. This section is made up of thirteen men. 

Next up we will consider the Polish squad I want to put together which is essentially a Chain of Command Polish section. Again, ranks in brackets are the ones used in the rules, the actual ranks are provided by me.

Polish Rifle Squad		Total points:	660
Plutonowy (Sergeant)	Kb wz98a rifle, wz33 grenades		50
BAR Team
BAR Gunner	Km wz28 automatic rifle, wz33 grenades		60
3 Riflemen	Kb wz98a rifle, wz33 grenades		90
Rifle Team
2 Kaprali (Corporals)	Kb wz98a rifle, wz33 grenades		100
12 Riflemen	Kb wz98a rifle, wz33 grenades		360

The larger size of the squad means that it is slightly heftier in points. The partial mobilisation and chaos of the Polish army at the beginning of September 1939 means that fielding a Polish section understrength seems quite reasonable. The Polish list provided by the rules authors also lists Polish riflemen in "sections" of three. I gave two men in the Rifle Team a field promotion to the rank of Kapral, a sort of Lance Jack position analogous to the Gefreiter above. 

The next step would be to paint up these figures and generate a suitable scenario for them to engage in, but more on that later.