Rif War Spanish

Rif War Spanish

Last batch for now

More Baraka Miniatures 28mm this time Spanish Infantry wearing their pillbox fatigue cap circa 1921

Colt 1915 team

6 rifle men

Captian Arenas personality figure

More 28mm Rif War

28mm Rif War

Another small batch of wonderful Baraka Miniatures 28mm Rif War figures. 

I really struggle with 28mm I just don`t have the eye or brush control and I`m just sorry my painting cannot do them justice

Pack Mule and handler

Spanish Foreign Legion 1909 Hotchkiss LMG team 

Infantry machine gun ammo bearer

This figure is part of the Spanish infantry MMG team, he carries a box of ammo for a Colt 1915 "Digger" MMG. He is my first attempt at painting traditional Spanish straw sandals (Alpargatas in Spanish, Espadrilles in Valencian), I am reliably informed they were almost always worn without socks (calcetines) or cloth wraps except in times of extreme cold - Spanish Machismo!!

28mm Rif War

28mm Rif War 

My obsession continues, fed by more wonderful sculpts from Baraka Miniatures

https://barakagm.com/

Once again I apologise that my painting just can`t do these figures the justice they deserve.

First up we have a group of indigenous Regulares

This group represent Captain Cebollino Von Lindeman who earned the Laureate Cross of San Fernando for his actions during a re-supply mission to the Spanish base at Igueriben in July 1921 and some of his command. 

The figures are superb, the uniforms and equipment just can`t be faulted by me, they match every reference I have - Salas, Bueno, etc. 

The Captain is posed standing tall, firing his Campo-Giro pistol, a wonderful commanding figure. The other two figures are dressed as Regulares troopers one posed semi-prone firing over sandbags as if defending the position from the Riffi attackers; the last figure is posed running carrying multiple water-bottles for his desperate comrades.

28mm Riff War

 28mm Riff War

Every now and again I see some figures that make me say WOW I`d like to try and paint those! Well Baraka GM of Madrid produce a superb collection of Riff War miniatures in 28mm. As some of you may know this conflict has been an obsession of mine for a number of years and this is the only conflict for which I have a small (ish) skirmish set-up in 28mm. Now I`m not a good painter at the best of times but I really struggle with 28mm - I just don`t have the talent or brush control and its harder to hide mistakes than it is with 20mm. But I just couldn`t resist these recent personality releases. Baraka GM can be found at their website: https://barakagm.com/

Captain Fidel Pages 

(1886-1923). 

A doctor and a military man, he is credited in Spain as the inventor of epidural anesthesia (though others elsewhere claim credit also) which he used in the field. He wrote several books on military medicine and reorganised Spanish military medicine after his experiences both in Africa and in Vienna during WW1 which allowed him to develop many new forms of treatment.

Following the events at Annual (June-July 1921), he returned to Morocco as head of medical services, unfortunately he was killed in a trafic accident whilst on leave in Madrid on 21 September 1922. 

José Millán-Astray y Terreros 

(July 5, 1879 – January 1, 1954) 

Now this figure was a special given to peaple who bought the very first releases from Baraka (which i did) He and they have stayed in their undercoated state until now, as i was in a painting mood I added him to this batch.

Millán Astray was the founder and first commander of the Spanish Foriegn Legion, sometimes referred to as "The Old Scared One" as during his military career in Morocco he was wounded several times including losing his left arm and right eye!

Medical assistant

Nurse

Chaplain

Wounded soldier

This figure is not Baraka he comes from a joblot I bought yrs back from a guy in Scotland

  

Baraka Miniatures figure review

Baraka Miniatures

Baraka are a new company based in Madrid, Spain. They have recently began to produce a range of 28mm miniatures for the Rif War, Spanish Morocco in the 1920s. Some of you may remember I have an interest in this somewhat obscure conflict and have written about it in the SOTCW Journal and Miniature Wargames, I also have a pdf "Wargamers Guide" to the conflict which is still available through the Toofatlardies website:  https://toofatlardies.co.uk/product-category/the-riff-war

At this point I should say I have had contact with the company`s owner Borja Pérez de Lema and have shared research, etc with him; other than this I have no financial link to the company.

After several months of discussions on Facebook, where Senor Perez showed the CAD designs for his figures they finally opened a website and released their first figures. As I`ve been following the discussions and already have some 28mm figures for the period – a few more couldn`t hurt could they? So I bought a selection of packs to add to what I already had, there was also an offer if you bought four packs you got a free bonus figure, so that is what I did. 

Here is a brief review:

I bought four packs all of Spanish Foreign Legionnaires:

Each figure wears the classic legion shirt open to the waist, British “Mills” type webbing and “granadero” breeches buttoned from knee to ankle. The standing figuresmeasure 28mm foot-to-eye and are of realistic proportions and are not of the more heroic style of 28mm. These figures show all the advantages of the new technology and use of CAD design, then traditional spin casting. The figures have amazing faces and a level of movement in the poses which is just excellent. There was no flash on any of the figures, some had separate arms which needed assembly and gluing prior to painting.

Legionnaires in Chapiri (side-cap) skirmishing in shirt

Six poses: Kneeling reach for ammunition from his pouch; kneeling in the process of giving a command, rifle held across his body; Kneeling firing; standing at the ready, standing reloading and standing firing (this figure has one leg braced on a pile of stones)

Legionnaires in Chambergo (sun hat) skirmishing in shirt

As above except they wear the floppy sun hat (think US Vietnam era boonie hat) instead of the side cap

Legionnaires in Chambergo advancing in shirt

Six poses all figures have fixed bayonets, five of the poses are different running ones and the last has the soldado posed as if clambering over rocks, his left hand braced on rocks with his rifle in his right. All the poses are dynamic and different.

Legionnaires with LMG

Four figures making two LMG teams with Hotchkiss 1914 models, all wear Chapiri side-caps. Team 1 is prone, both wear uniform jackets, the loader has the large metal storage case for the strip magazines. Team 2 is kneeling, both men wear the legions open shirt, the bipod of the gun rests on a broken wall, the No2 holds a strip of ammunition at the ready.

I also got a free figure representing the first commander of La Legion - Milan Astray “the old scarred one”, with his empty sleeve and scarred face, a nice personality figure.

I was very happy with the figures and the service from this company.

https://barakagm.com

L to R: 1898 Miniaturas; Baraka, Askari, unknown Scottish brand

L to R: Blaze Away Miniatures, Baraka, North Star, Copplestone, Rif Raf