"Pacific Islanders for VBCW 'Prince Philip Movement'" Topic

If you're unfamiliar with the Prince Philip Movement its a religious sect in Vanuatu that believes Prince Philip is the son of a mountain spirit and thus divine. He's been quite sweet in dealing with them, and its generally the kind of slightly absurd story that pads out news programs somewhere towards the end.

I was considering porting this to my tentative dabblings with VBCW, albeit with a few fictional touches here and there to make the islanders entry into the conflict a little more believable. My question therefore is about miniatures more than anything.

Is there a good source of suitable types for a 1930's Pacific Islanders militia? Theres a bit of stuff with native peoples during ww2, but ideally I want something a little less tribal, as they're here to fight for the king and I like to think he'd have equipped them at least somewhat.

A little less tribal ? Look at the Askaris by Hinterland !

link

Surely they must be a dream of Prince Philip as a teenager
(grin)

Look for figures wearing kilt like wrap round skirts – Commander Spicer-Simson would make a perfect command figure (and I know someone makes/made him in 28mm). The wrap round skirt was very popular for Native forces in the British parts of the Pacific right up through the 1960's and I think is still full uniform for the Fijian Police Force (the bottom edge is cut into triangular dags in Fiji).

Tiger Miniatures makes late 19th/early 20th Century Somoa "Fita-Fita" riflemen in their Colonial German range:

link {scroll down to bottom}

Pulp Figures makes Islander Provisional Fighters in his Savage Seas range:

link

Both are 28mm.

There may be others.

Jim

WW1 highlanders in kilt could work if you painted up the kilt as native Polynesian style rather than tartan.
Having said that, and not to be a downer, but isn't the Prince Phillip Movement a post-war phenomenon.

Weird, as I saw this thread I realised I was flicking through a back issue of the Fortean Times with an article about 'The Philip Worshippers of Tanna'. (Issue FT309 XMAS 2013)

Indeed its a post-war thing, as is Prince Philip himself for the most part (least so far as being a Prince goes!). Of course its mere happenstance that the movement worked out the way it did, so I don't think it should prove too difficult to invent a pacific island once toured by Wallis and enamoured with her that then saw their king married to her and the rest falls into place. This is VBCW, where Bavarian volunteers come forth as Jacobites in support of Rupprecht and the Yorkist Front seeks to become a thing. Really this is more realistic than many parts of the set-up!

I quite like all the options presented thus far (including the lovely misses), might look into some degree of mixing. I just wish it was easier to swap around metal bits – give some fita fita caps to those pulp miniatures in exchange for their heads, get a more cohesive feel to them.