In an effort to reduce duplicate miniatures, my Bolt Action Partisan army contains models from no less than nine different companies. Luckily, Footsore Miniatures has a wide variety of miniatures for Partisans and I picked up the majority of the range:

• Workers Militia
• IRA advancing
• IRA firing
• IRA with shotguns
• IRA with pistols 

Not only is there a variety of unique models in the range, the Footsore models fit the period and the equipment that I needed for my Bolt Action army.

Painting these models presented a unique challenge. Because partisan and resistance forces do not wear a uniform, when painting these models I had to strike a balance between keeping each model unique and at the same time trying to maintain the individuality of a ragtag group of resistance fighters. In order to achieve this goal, I unified the weapons, equipment and basing for every model. So even though there are major differences in clothing and kit these three points of similarity resulted in a cohesive look and feel.

In Bolt Action these models fit into two different units – Regular Partisans withs rifles and Inexperience Partisans with pistols. The Regulars make up the bulk of my army. Between Footsore and few other companies, I have 39 riflemen all told. Thier purpose is to take a hold objectives while being able to sustain a heavy amount of punishing enemy fire. Even though the units are Regular, not Veteran, because they are two large squads (20 and 19 models each) they can absorb far more casualties than your standard Bolt Action unit. You will typically see units between 8 and 12 models strong but not these Partisans. They will be taking to the field of battle at almost double the unit size. This factor alone will make the two Regular units difficult to shift off of objectives.

The Inexperienced Pistol squads have a different role. These two squads are my strike force. The plan is to use trucks to outflank the enemy and then dismount and engage in close combat assaults. The lower points cost and the potential to put out 24 close combat hits gives the two pistol squads to ability to ‘punch above their weight’ and can threaten more expensive enemy units.

Footsore provided me with a variety of models all equipped with what I needed. The sculpts are unique and the casts were of the highest quality – very little cleaning required and were a joy to paint. It is not often that I am able to paint units in an army using a mixed and varied color pallet. I am looking forward to additions to the range and I cannot wait to get these Partisan out on the table!