Bolt Action - Review: Warlord Games Metal Senegalese

For those of you that have followed our site, listened to any of our podcasts or seen any one of my several thousand Facebook posts you would be aware that the French are my favorite force in Bolt Action. There is just something about the underdog that attracts my interest, and in the tabletop game of Bolt Action no force is the butt of more jokes than the French.

The Senegalese charge whilst a regular French squad provides covering fire

So a few months back I became somewhat excited to see Warlord Games were bringing out a metal set of Senegalese soldiers to complement their existing French range. In game terms the Senegalese are rated as regular but have the Tough fighter special rule, a must have in any force I field on the table. Not only are they a cost effective close combat unit but they look amazing with their unique red Fez's and coupe-coupe's knives. I had been making do with a WW1 range, and whilst the general look may not have changed much between wars, I really was looking forward to some fresh sculpts and more 'modern' weapon choices.

Providing Escort for a mighty Warlord Games Char 2C

Well, I got my hands on this new box set last weekend and Warlord Games have really delivered on the quality with these guys. The 10 man metal boxed set are just sensational in detail and character with almost no flash so clean up was super easy. There are 10 different poses with an SMG, LMG, VB launcher (Rifle grenade) and two with their coupe-coupe's out ready for the assault. There is enough variety to fill out a few squads without being too repetitious, and I generally only field two or so squads as assault troops. So this keeps me happy enough to gradually replace my existing WW1 miniatures with these ones.

Warlord Games Somua Light Tank adds its firepower to the mix

So who are the Senegalese? From the box set - "Ever since the 1850's France had recruited troops from Senegal and other West African countries in her empire. By 1940 nearly ten percent of the French army was formed of Colonial units. They soon earned a reputation for ferocity in combat and gave a very good account of themselves in dozens of actions as the Blitzkrieg overwhelmed France.

Fierce in attack and stubborn in defence, The Senegalese were feared and often despised by German troops who objected to the West African close combat weapon, the Coupe-Coupe, a massive heavy-bladed knife that the troops wielded to great physical and psychological effect!"

Patrolling the streets of a French village

These guys were a pleasure to paint and I highly recommend them to anyone thinking of starting an early war French force or padding out there existing troops. In the mean time I will let the pictures do the talking!