Build guide

Building a Canadian force from Commonwealth kits

The Canadian Army wore British-pattern uniforms and webbing, used British small arms and artillery, and fought in Sherman tanks and Universal Carriers like the rest of the Commonwealth. That means most of a Canadian tabletop force comes from British and Commonwealth kits. What makes it Canadian is the paint, the decals and the history you choose.

1. Infantry: the core of the force

Canadian infantry looked almost exactly like British infantry: battledress, helmet, 37-pattern webbing, the Lee-Enfield rifle, the Bren light machine gun and the PIAT. The visible difference is colour. Canadian battledress was cut from a darker, greener wool than the brownish British cloth (RCA Museum). Shoulder titles and formation patches finish the look (see the markings guide).

Any late-war British infantry figures can stand in for Canadians. The Commandos kit on the store is the closest plastic option currently stocked. Use it as Commandos alongside Canadians at Dieppe, or treat it as a source of British-pattern figures for conversions.

British & Inter-Allied CommandosBritish-pattern figures. Commandos fought beside the Canadians at Dieppe.View at Warlord Minis →Commonwealth Strike Force - British & Commonwealth Army DealBundle: Commandos, Kangaroo, Valentine II, carrier, weapons teams and 6-pdr.View at Warlord Minis →

2. Carriers and Kangaroos

Every Canadian infantry battalion used the Universal Carrier. Warlord's kit builds a Mk I or Mk II, with four crew and decals (Warlord Games product page).

The Kangaroo is the most Canadian vehicle you can field. In summer 1944, Lt-Gen Guy Simonds had Priest self-propelled guns stripped of their howitzers so they could carry infantry. Brigadier C.M. Grant ordered 72 conversions on 31 July 1944. The work was done by an advanced workshop under Major G.A. Wiggan, and the vehicles first went into action in Operation Totalize in August 1944 (Canadian Military History; The Canadian Encyclopedia). Each carried about a dozen men. Warlord's kit is the Priest-based version, which is right for Totalize. Later Kangaroos were built on the Canadian Ram tank chassis (Juno Beach Centre).

Universal CarrierMk I or Mk II, 4 crew, decals. Fits every theatre from Sicily on.View at Warlord Minis →Kangaroo APC (Priest)Priest-based Kangaroo, as used in Operation Totalize.View at Warlord Minis →

3. Tanks: what fits and what doesn't

4. A starting list by theatre

We don't give points values or unit profiles here. Use the rulebook and army list for the game you play.

Stand-ins we'd avoid

Putting Canadian decals on a Matilda or Crusader produces something that never existed. That's fine for a casual game, but don't call it a historical Canadian force. If you need a model the store doesn't have, email Warlord Minis and ask whether it can be ordered in.