The Italian forces for this campaign are almost as fascinating as the Ethiopians. Alongside the elite Italian officer classes, many soldiers had joined up from the docks of the impoverished cities of Italy or volunteered as Blackshirts, inspired by Mussolini’s false promises. However, a large proportion of the invasion force was made of Eritrean askaris and I was determined to represent as many of these as possible alongside the European troops. The troops for this campaign were little-changed by WW2, meaning that most could do double service for the British invasion of Italian East Africa in 1940-1.
Left: Italians by Empress Miniatures.
Some photos on this page by Wargames Illustrated, used with kind permission.
These are Eritrean askaris by Empress Miniatures; the mountain gun, crew and mules are from Askari Miniatures in the USA.
mogsymakes 