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Dardanelles Campaign 1915 (DS3520) 1:35 ICM via H G Hannants Ltd More widely known as Gallipoli, the Dardanelles Campaign was a 1915 battle that raged from early February to January the following year, and resulted in extensive casualties on all sides. The Ottoman or Turkish Empire were on the side of the Central Powers along with Germany, Bulgaria, and Austria-Hungary, ranged against the Entente Powers of England, France and Tzarist Russia. The aim of the campaign was to weaken the Turkish Empire and secure the Suez Canal, cutting Turkey off from their Asian territories, allowing Entente battleships to bombard the capital Constantinople (now Istanbul), negatively affecting Turkish morale and their people’s willingness to fight. Both sides considered the campaign a victory, although they all suffered appalling casualties, making it a pyrrhic victory at best, regardless of which version you believe. Naval operations set the scene, followed by troop landings that included British, New Zealand, French and Australian forces ranged against the Ottoman troops and their civilian support personnel. The Entente command staff underestimated the strength and mobility of the Turkish forces, including their level of preparedness for the assault, which increased the casualty rate and kept the frontline in virtual stasis, much like the Western front of the time, creating trench systems to protect their positions at the expense of mobility and the likelihood of significant advances. The intense grinder of battle eventually affected opinion at home after several months with little in the way of advance to show for it, and during the process a young Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty had a major career set-back for his part in the operation. The eventual withdrawal of entente forces was well-organised, and its secrecy was largely maintained, allowing the troops to escape comparatively unhindered, leaving behind equipment and other stores that were suitably spoiled to prevent their later use by the Turkish or other enemy forces. The Entente forces learned many valuable lessons that were useful as far in the future as WWII however, and it affected the careers of more than Winston Churchill, but the most awful cost was the substantial loss of lives. WWI British Infantry 1914 (35684) This set consists of two sprues in grey styrene in a bag that also includes the weapons sprue detailed below. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprue for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from ICM’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. All the figures are standing, advancing at a walking pace as was common during WWI, and there are three soldiers with standard uniforms with cloth-wrapped puttees over their boots, a Lee Enfield rifle with bayonet affixed, held in both hands in a slightly downward angle, presumably to avoid poking a colleague in front. The other figure is an officer in similar garb, but with a pistol belt, swagger stick and a revolver in one hand on a lanyard linked to his belt. The lanyard and rifle slings will need to be added from your own stock, using lead or pewter sheet for the slings, and cord or wire for the pistol lanyard. WWI British Infantry Weapons & Equipment (35683) Comprising one sprue of grey styrene within the same bag as the British Infantry set above, there are a huge array of weapons and equipment (no surprise there) to upgrade and detail your models and dioramas, using the painting instructions that can be found on the sheet. From the box you can make the following items: Lewis Machine Gun Lewis Magazine Pouch Lee Enfield No.1 Mk.III Rifle Lee Enfield No.1 Mk.III Rifle with Bayonet Ross Mk.III M1910 Rifle Ross Mk.III M1910 Rifle with Bayonet Lee Enfield Scabbard with Pickaxe Handle 1907 Bayonet 1907 Bayonet with Scabbard Lee Enfield Pouch (Left) Lee Enfield Pouch (Right) Leather Pouch Bandolier Rifle Mortar Rifle Wire Cutters Webley-Scott Mk.VI Revolver Webley-Scott in Officer Holster Webley-Scott in NCO Holster Webley-Scott Officer Pouch Webley-Scott NCO Pouch No.16 Grenade Mills Grenade Shovel Pickaxe in Case Pickaxe Axe Wire Cutters Mess Tin Canteen Compass in Case Rattle Binocular Binocular Case Mk.I Steel Helmet WWI Turkish Infantry 1915-1918 (35700) This set comprises of one sprue in grey styrene in a bag that also includes the weapons sprue detailed below. The parts for each figure are found in separate areas of the sprue for ease of identification, and parts breakdown is sensibly placed along clothing seams or natural breaks to minimise clean-up of the figures once they are built up. The sculpting is typically excellent, as we’ve come to expect from ICM’s artists and tool-makers, with natural poses, drape of clothing and textures appropriate to the parts of the model. Two of the figures are standing, advancing at a walking or jogging pace in a stooped manner to avoid incoming fire, the other is kneeling and aiming his rifle at the enemy, all three wearing standard uniforms with cloth-wrapped puttees over their boots, and a Mauser rifle with bayonet affixed, held in one or both hands. The other figure is an officer in a similar basic uniform, but with calf-length boots, a fez-style hat and a pistol belt, field-glasses and a Broom-handled Mauser C96 pistol in one hand, plus a sabre in its scabbard hanging from his belt on the left. The binocular strap and rifle slings will need to be added from your own stock, using lead or pewter sheet. WWI Turkish Infantry Weapons & Equipment (35699) Comprising one sprue of grey styrene within the same bag as the Turkish Infantry set above, there is a huge array of gear to upgrade and detail your models and dioramas, using the painting instructions that can be found on the sheet. From the box you can make the following items: Mauser 1890 Rifle Mauser 1890 Rifle with Bayonet Mauser 1893 Rifle Mauser 1893 Rifle with Bayonet Mauser 1903 Rifle Mauser 1903 Rifle with Bayonet Mauser Bayonet Scabbard Mauser Bayonet in Scabbard Mauser Rifle Pouches Bandoliers Wire Cutters Respirator Canister Mauser C96 Pistol Lemon Grenade Stielhandgranate Grenade Officer Sabre NCO Sabre Small Shovel Canteen Binocular Binocular Case Map case M1918 Steel Helmet WWI British Vickers MG Crew (35713) This set contains the gun and two-man crew, plus lots of accessories. Inside the bag are three sprues in grey styrene plus a folded sheet of instructions and painting guide. You can build one complete machine gun from the box, but there are two guns and two tripods, the former having options for fluted and straight cooling jackets, while the latter are set up for seated or prone operation. Construction of the gun is simple, with the breech details and firing handle attached to your jacketed barrel of choice, followed by the two arms that hold the gun in place and their central arm with adjustment wheel at the bottom. A length of finely moulded ammunition slides through the breech, and the unused end is fixed to the ammo can with more moulded rounds in an insert that sits on top of the box. The weapon is inserted into the hole at the top of your choice of tripods, then the afore-mentioned ammo can and the water reservoir for the cooling jacket, which is linked by a hose to the underside of the muzzle, but isn’t mentioned at all in the instructions. Depending on how you will deploy your gun, you could use a length of lead wire portray this, gluing it to the can. If you’re unsure of the correct locations, there are many good resources online. The figures are covered on the glossy instruction page, with two views where necessary, showing the parts in position and giving full painting options using their usual letter codes in red. The figures are well sculpted with sensible parts breakdown into torso, head, arms and legs, with peaked caps that glue onto the flat tops of their heads. The gunner is in the seated position operating the weapon, while the ammo feeder is prone, feeding the link into the breech of the gun from the ammo box in front of him. Additional rucksacks, pouches and water bottle parts are included on their sprue, with many more parts on the accessory sprue, which has a separate instruction sheet, mostly for painting purposes. There are copious Lee Enfield rifles, a Lewis gun, spades, axes, more pouches, binoculars and some battle bowlers that could be used instead of the earlier caps if desired. There are also pistols, grenades, wire cutters, a rifle mortar, pick-axe and sheath, and even a football-style rattle for signalling. You can use as many or as few of the accessories as you wish, keeping any spares for use in future projects. Backdrop The backdrop is found folded flat inside the box, and is printed on thick card with a rugged glossy printing on the front face. It has two folds engineered-in, and is intended to be folded into three sides of a rectangular box, in which you can pose the figures and equipment if you wish. It’s a bonus in many ways, and is entirely optional, as some might prefer to create their own groundwork for ultimate realism. Conclusion Great figures and accessories that could be built as a tribute to the men who fought and lost their lives in that terrible campaign. Highly recommended. Available in the UK from importers H G Hannants Ltd. Review sample courtesy of

Gallipoli 1915 ICM 1:35 (DS3501) The Gallipoli (or Dardanelles) campaign was the ill fated Allied attempt to weaken the Ottorman empire by taking control of the straights that provided a supply route to Russia. Despite a large Naval presence and mass landing of troops eight months of fighting saw the allies defeated by the only real Ottoman victory of WWI. Modern day Turkey see this event as a defining moment in the creation of the Turkish State. Due to the large numbers of Australian and New Zealand commonwealth forces who fought and sadly died during the campaign ANZAC Day was created to honour those men. In both countries this has grown to mark the main day of commemoration for all wars and operations which have followed. There are two sets of figures in the box, one of Turkish troops, and one of ANZAC Troops. The Turkish set which has been previously released here brings us four figures. Two troops running, with one kneeling firing his rifle, and one officer kneeling with his pistol out. In the period leading up to WWI the Ottoman Empire decided to modernise its Army, but did so by buying equipment in, instead of arranging for domestic suppliers to do this. A German Army mission was invited to advise on this, and surprisingly they favoured German Army weapons, and German manufacturers. The standard infantry front line rifle was the M1903 Mauser bolt-action rifle, and the side arm the Mauser C96. This set from ICM brings us two sprues one for the figures, and one for the equipment with a selection of the the M1903 with and without a bayonet. The C96 holstered, and out of the holster with the holster separate. Other items on the sprues are Helmets, Bayonets, ammunition pouches, water bottles, grenades, a map case, and even binoculars and their case. A box with two sets of the equipment is also available here from ICM. For the ANZC troops there are again two spures of plastic; one for the figures and one of equipment. The weapons and equipment are standard Commonwealth items with a standard field cap with neck cover for one figure, and standard slouch hats for the other 3. The figures are one running, two standing and one with a trench periscope. Conclusion This is a good set which provides for any WWI Gallipoli diorama, or even a small stand alone vignette. The figures from ICM are very well sculpted. Highly Recommended. Review sample courtesy of