The French Wars of Decolonisation and I - part 2

Part 1 of this rambling story told of how I had first become interested in the French Indo-China and Algerian Wars.  We'd left it where I had moved onto other periods specifically late World War 2 Eastern Front.  

We're now into the early 2000's.  I'd been very focused on building up a collection of 1/76th WW2 figures.  True to form I went off on a tangent after discovering the splendid 1/6th action figures from Dragon and started collecting these.  It wasn't long before I started kitbashing FIC and Algerian figures using WW2 items.  Now the Internet proved useful and I was procuring from all over.

This had given me an outlet for my interest but I still was yet to wargame the period.  Then a couple of things happened around the same time at the end of 2005.  A local hobby shop opened and I found a Matchbox 1/76th M24 and then I discovered Liberation Miniatures.  Praise be!  Liberation did a specific Indo-China range.  Not a Vietnam range a specific First/FRENCH Indo-China War range.  An order soon went in and at last I was on the way.  

Liberation Miniatures French Paras

Finally I was collecting The French Indo-China War.  I built up a platoon each of French paras and their Viet Minh opponents with some support options.  Some terrain was added and I even got a few games in over the years.  

Liberation Miniatures Viet-Minh

Collecting for Algeria was a different matter entirely.  No-one did a specific range.  It was a few years later that I discovered Elhiem and buried in their Vietnam range were some French paras.  These are far more suitable for Algeria than Indo-China armed as they are with MAS 49/56 rifles and AA52 lmgs.  Not many of them in Indo-China!  However, they're lovely figures perfect for paras of the 1 or 2REP in Algeria. 

Elhiem French paras

But there still wasn't any specific ALN figures to be had anywhere and the project was mothballed yet again. 

To be continued...

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