first saw these figures, he was dreading painting them...
Ayo Gurkhali! The Gurkha battlecry (the Gurkhas are coming!) was enough to chill their foes to the very bone, accompanied as it was by a ferocious charge with lethal kukri knife in hand.
You can now place a pre-order for our forthcoming metal Gurkha boxed set!
Famed for their ferocity, bravery and very big knives, our Gurkhas boxed set for Bolt Action is due for release in September 2013.
It contains 21 metal miniatures, sculpted by Paul Hicks: Major James Lumley and two attendant riflemen, a section of ten Gurkhas in firing poses, and a section of eight Gurkhas in charging poses – a mix of bayonet and kukri knife to see off the enemy!
A quarter of a million Gurkas served in the Second World War – recruited from Nepal into over 40 battalions. They fought in Syria, North Africa, Italy, and Greece, as well as in Burma against the Japanese.
Each Gurkha carries a traditional Nepalese knife, known as a Khukuri or Kukri. This heavy, curved blade is a fearsome close-combat weapon, as well as being useful for more mundane tasks such as clearing a path through dense jungle terrain.
The boxed set is led by Major James Rutherford Lumley, who was in the thick of the fighting at the battle for Mogaung in northern Burma in June 1944, one of the fiercest and most brutal in the entire campaign against the Japanese in the Far East.
Lumley's daughter, British Actress Joanna Lumley, was to fight as hard as any Gurkha for the rights of the Gurkha soldiers in recent years. This boxed set is as much in honor of her successful stance, as for that of the bravery of her father and his Nepalese charges.
The men of 3rd Battalion of the 6th Gurkha Rifles fought in ferocious heat and stifling humidity after marching more than 160 miles through almost impenetrable jungle. The battle was to cost more than 100 lives, and see two men awarded the Victoria Cross for their quite exceptional bravery.
You can read more about the battle here.