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Latest; 'Snakes, chequered shields and swords' Bosnian-Croat HVO Guardsman, april 1995
I'm back from a brief hiatus with my first modern figure in years, this time it's a Bosnian-Croat guardsman of the HVO(the Bosnian-Croat army) in Western Bosnia, april 1995. He's a member of the 2. gardijska brigada(2nd Guards brigade) which, along with the other HVO 'guards brigades' consisted of well-trained, well-equipped professional soldiers. Most of the HVO, especially in central Bosnia, were raised locally and consisted of part-time 'citizen soldiers' who pursued regular civilian jobs(to what extent that was possible in war-torn Bosnia) outside of their military service - the 'guards brigades' were different in this sense.
What catches the eye the most is the overall US/NATO-look of this soldier, with the M1 helmet and M81 woodland camouflage he could be straight out of 'Just Cause' in Panama. This is not a coincidence as the HVO, especially in Western Bosnia, were(officially and unofficially) equipped with surplus stuff from HV(the Croatian army) and Croatia proper - which had in their turn during Croatia's war for independence been equipped with loads of US and NATO surplus(along with Eastern Bloc and commercial items both by governments, gunrunners and rich Croatians and other symphetizers living abroad).
He's wearing an obsolete US Army M1 helmet, with an M81 Woodland cover. These were widely worn with HVO troops, alongside old JNA helmets, the odd East German M56 helmet and even a number of new PASGT US ones. There are even photographic evidence of German M40 helmets and US 'Mitchell' covers being worn by the HVO.
The uniform is based on the US M81 Woodland camouflage and both surplus US items, Croatian and Bosnian copies and commercial variants were worn.
His gear consists of a Belgian M71 web belt(similiar to the US M1956 but with a British-style buckle), US army 'ALICE' suspenders(Croatian-made copies were also worn) and a surplus JNA(Yugoslav army) Zastava ammo pouch.
He's wearing a pair of civilian hiking boots, as you can imagine a myriad of different boots, military and civilian were used.
His insignia consists of the HVO-shield on his left army, the 2nd Guards Brigade patch(A snake, a Croatian chequered shield and a sword-grasping arm of an armored knight) on his right arm. For identification reasons in the heat of battle, he's wearing a pair of white cloth strings for unit-idenfication. Insigna was not always worn and it wasn't uncommon for soldiers to wear onlly the Guards patch and not the HVO one or vice versa, insignia on the wrong sleeve or no insignia at all.
He's armed with the trustworthy AK47-S, widely used during the conflict along with the JNA Zastava AK-variant as well as the FN-FAL and G3(by the HVO, that is).
As an historical sidenote; there aren't any records of the 2nd Guards Brigade being involved in any warcrimes during this brutal civil war that ravaged the heart of Europe in the early- to mid-90's.
Parts breakdown;
Helmet: DML with custom Woodland cover and chinstrap
HS: TB, repainted, custom cigarette
Uniform: ACE, modified and weathered with custom insignia
Equipment: DML and Soldier Story, modified and/or weathered
AK: DML, repainted with custom sling
Boots: DiD, weathered
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发表于 2016-12-7 08:19
发表于 2016-12-7 08:48
