World War 2 Dutch, part 3 (finished, for now)

Click here for part 1, Click here for part 2

I ended my last post featuring my WW2 Dutch army by strongly hinting that I might be getting some Dutch marines at some point. Well, that time is now!

While at the outbreak of World War II, the majority of the Dutch army consisted of conscripts, the marines were all professional soldiers. Stationed at Rotterdam, the marines could be recognised by their dark blue coats and the anchor badges on their helmets. The rest of their equipment was very similar to that of the regular army, but they received much better training.

Although they were only few in number, they put up a strong defence of their city of Rotterdam. When the Dutch capitulation was declared, the German commander tasked with capturing the city was surprised by how small the defending army had been. As the story goes, he ordered his men to salute them out of respect for their bravery and nicknamed them the Black Devils.

Sadly, the Bolt Action army list does not allow you to field Dutch marines. While the Belgians - another minor army that consisted mainly of conscripts - have a veteran infantry option in the form of the Chasseurs Ardennais, the Dutch are not so lucky. As a whole, the Dutch army list seems a bit of an afterthought, being only a few pages long with no illustrations whatsoever.

I mean, I can see why. Warlord Games has their own range of Belgian miniatures, so it makes sense for them to devote a bit more time and effort on this army. So I guess I should be grateful that they bothered to include an army list at all. Although it wouldn’t have taken a lot of effort to add a single paragraph on the Black Devils, especially as there is about half a page of empty space left! So, while for gaming purposes I will be fielding my marines as regular infantry, they do provide a nice bit of variety on the table with their blue coats.

Marine NCO an two riflemen.

Lewis gunner with loader. Apparently this was a common way of operating the Lewis machine gun. I would definitely not like to be the loader in this situation!

Oh yes, I also painted up a Schwarzlose heavy machinegun team. Their green-grey overcoats identify them as regular infantry.

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