Mercs Vs Simbas

 As a compliment to my last post I have photographed my mercenaries in jeeps and the Simbas. The two main phases of the 1960s Congo war were an earlier attempt by Katanga (a resource rich area) to break away and then after resolution rebellions by dissident groups such as the Simbas, backed by communist countries. The Simbas thought that their witchdoctors made them invulnerable to bullets. They were eventually proven very wrong. Congo trrops might be spooked by black magic but not the mercs and Belgian forces.

Various seated figures and cowboys were used for the mercs. The Simbas are a wild selection of American Indians, 8th Army, pirates and others. (One of the Indians is still pretty much a 'Redskin' but the others have a black African skin tone. One thing the Simbas liked to do was to wear headdresses of grass and feathers so I decided that a delve into my box of plastic Indians a good source of figures. The main differnce is they wore shorts or trousers, not Indian leggings.

First up, made in China, 50mm white hunter, minus sniper scope.

    Airfix 8th Army conversion
Foreground - Hing fat pirate with new headdress with various Indian conversions in the background



mMrcs - seated figures with putty berets
   Figure with heavy machine gun is upscaled Aussie but he is smaller than the others.. Cowboy conversion behind machinegun on stand, I know, it is a pretty rough looking machinegun made from putty and wire but looks ok at  a distance.
   Simbas including A Call to Arms Zulu


  8th Army kneeling conversion

                                    More Indians and 8th Army plus an Armies in Plastic officer
               The AIP officer (I forget the set) has a common pose. he has added lion skin headdress on his cap and fur on his shoulders.
             Foreground: Africa Corps hand grenade thrower with machete added.




The mercs were good at shooting their way out of ambushes. They were heavily armed. Their opponents had everything from bows and bolt action rifles to the odd Kalashnikov obtained from their Soviet, Communist Cuban (The anti-communist Cubans were strafing them from planes, courtesy of the CIA) or Chinese allies.

The mercs worked with the central Congolese government (formerly their enemy when they fought for Katanga's independence) and the Belgian paratroopers.

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  1. RogerMarch 21, 2023 at 7:28 PM

    Very nice scenario for a wargame! Just my cup of tea!!
    The 'large' Jeep looks like a Dodge WC51.
    I've been looking for 'berets' and really found your tips of making them out of putty helpful.

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    1. QuantrilltoyMarch 21, 2023 at 9:53 PM

      Berets must be among the easiest headgear to make from putty. Just use bare heads or cut down existing hats and build up the new headgear, being careful not to make them too bulky. I look at a pic of a soldier in a beret as my model.
      Mat and I gamed that scenario a year or so ago. The mercs had to battle their way through road ambushes. There were also central government troops who could be spooked into running if exposed to enemy witch doctors. These magic practitioners also inspired the SImbas but the rebels lost their mojo if the witchdoctors were killed. The Belgian paratroopers arrived by parachute with scatter dice used for landings. The objective was to rescue the Belgian and other civilians from the Simbas who had them captive in a town.
      I'm not sure now, but we might also have had an attack on the Simbas from planes.

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