VBCW FARMERS (1) - "ON THE CHEEP"

Herefordshire has always been a predominantly agricultural County. Farmers (and their tenants) therefore formed a sizeable proportion of the 1930s population, but (astonishingly enough), no-one has yet produced a 28mm range of "jolly bucolic types with rifles, Lewis guns and support weapons" suitable for VBCW action.

Well, that is not quite right. Eureka have produced THIS RANGE of 1930s Australian "Home Guard/ex Diggers" types which are reasonably suitable. Some types can be salvaged or converted from the latest lines of French Resistance figures, and in the best VBCW way, the spares box can also be searched for left over "agricultural looking" figures from the Boer War, or other time periods, such as these Casting Room Miniatures Victorian/Edwardians or these Wargames Foundry 18th Century Civilians. 

Nonetheless, the absence of a 1930s farmers range is even more regrettable given that the "distaff side" is now astonishingly well-catered for by Bad Squiddo Games:

1930s Female Agriculturalists ranging from pig keepers to "ratters" - but not a male Farmer in sight

1930s Farmer's Wives with improvised weapons - but no Farmer Husbands.

A whole posse of Land Girls (armed and unarmed) - but (yawn!) again no Farmers.

Clearly, a rare case of "inverse sexism" in the 28mm manufacturing market, which would only be truly upsetting if the term had the slightest meaning in the much simpler world of 1938. Still, we need 1930s farmers, and this being the Herefordshire VBCW, we need lots of 1930s farmers and therefore need them cheep - in the old phrase, so cheap that they can't even afford a second vowel.

Well, here's the best solution that we've found - EM4 Confederate Infantry at the best value ever price of £4.99 for twenty, or a mere 25p per figure:

As this REVIEW HERE points out, the hats on these Confederates are more of a type of "bush hat" than any sort of headgear associated with the Southern States during the ACW, but that is all to the good for VBCW farmers. The "blanket rolls and beards" look equally produces a "1930s agricultural" vibe without any need for conversion - and if you're lazy in that department, all you need to do is turn a blind eye to the length of a musket as opposed to the length of a rifle (or invent a backstory where all your farmers are musket armed, but "fire as if they were rifles").

All in all, the need for conversion is minimal. Lewis Guns can be obtained from Colonel Bills or elsewhere. If you want additional poses, you could always headswap the "confederate bush hats" on to some of the equally value for money EM4 Union figures (some with puttees and boots, some with shoes and trousers):

As the linked review points out with helpful photos, the EM4 miniatures are compatible with Perry Miniatures ACW plastics, which also makes them compatible with other Perry plastic figures, such as the Desert Rats (with helmets, rifles, Brens, Boys AT gun etc...). With a bit of scrounging around and a few metal figures for Command HQ characters, a "Went the Day Well" Platoon sized "VBCW Farmers Field Force" can be built up for little more than a tenner...now that truly is "cheep"!