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Hi guys,

I order the Commonwealth starter and the rulebook last night and i wanted some advice on how to make the Commonwealth troops Australians. Im not overly concerned with being too historically accurate but i want to be relativly close. What units should I get to flesh out my force?

Any and all advice is welcome, I am completely new to Bolt Action

I'd start by picking a campaign for inspiration: from my knowledge (which is far from authoritative) the Australians fought in North Africa (including Tobruk), Greece, and the Middle East from 1940 until 1942; after which they were primarily engaged in the Pacific. The Armies of Great Britain has a section in the back detailing what forces could be found in each of these campaigns.

I don't know enough about their uniforms and equipment to say much, but I'd recommend checking out Osprey's 'The Australian Army in World War II' as they're usually good books for initial research into a subject, have lots of illustrations and photos, and a bibliography for further research if desired. Perry Miniatures just launched a 28mm British 8th Army (North Africa) platoon box, but I don't know if the uniform is appropriate for Australians in North Africa- the pics I found on google images seem to imply that the Australians at Tobruk were wearing the common British uniform, but I'm no expert on the matter, and I have no idea what they wore in Greece, the Middle East, or the Pacific.

Also, if memory serves me correctly, the Long Range Desert Group that saw action in North Africa was recruited from New Zealanders- not sure if that's close enough to count, but it does make for a very unique army, with a focus on elite squads and fast, well armed, poorly armored Recon vehicles.