Soviet Reinforcements

Remember I said I was plotting something big for the Soviets? Well, it’s finally arrived…

 

Yeah, I went there...

While this is in actual fact far too big for the groundscale we intend to play, it will make a cracking centrepiece of terrain for games, or potentially an objective for some derring do on the part of some SAS mobility troop infiltrators. However, you can’t just have a TEL on its own, for any sense of realism, (and for yet more stuff for GMPG clad Landies to brass up), the attendant fleet of supporting and command vehicles should really be represented.

Boxbodies, you gotta have boxbodies.

I also took the opportunities to pick up some assorted APCs  from Hobby Den, in the shape of an MTLB, a BTR-60, and a BTR-70. The thinking is that the MTLB will be used as a generic command vehicle to accompany the SCUD deployment, as well as for use in other scenarios requiring a Soviet HQ to be represented, while the BTRs will be used to transport a “specialist” motor rifle squad for two of the Soviet forces; the BTR-70 will transport a KGB Border guard squad accompanying the temperate force opposing the BAOR, while the BTR-60 will carry a Naval Infantry squad for use with my planned Soviet force in Norway (these will be given a higher troop rating than the normal MR units, and have really just been included to let me paint some funky looking uniforms as a change to the usual Soviet Khaki, and also so I can make use of the new Elhiem MR troops in the pipeline with different poses…). It will also allow my to mount up my existing Motor Rifles until some obliging company (I’m looking at you, S-Model) provides us with a decent plastic BMP-2…

So all in all, that should be enough Soviet vehicles to keep me going in the meantime (until I cave in and get tanks…), and before I’m accused of Meglomania, I should point out that I have refrained from buying the 1/72 Topol ICBM and TEL that Zvezda have recently released. I’m fairly sure this would allow games where we could just set up a board each in our own houses, and deploy our own troops thereon, and I could then just phone Dave and instruct him to douse his board in lighter fluid and drop a match on it, while playing The Doors “The End”…

I’m aware that the Christmas Season is well and truly upon us, with all the attendant commitments that brings. So, with their being every chance that this will be the last update prior to the big day, and in the event that it is, I’d like to take this chance to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and all he best for 2015, from John, Dave and myself. Thanks for your interest in the blog and your support over the last year, we hope that the posts have provided something of interest to you, whatever side of wargaming floats your boat. Hopefully 2015 should bring a renewed burst of creativity, we’ve got lot’s planned, and as ever, watching the inevitable chaos as we try to bring it to fruition should be amusing if nothing else!

Best Wishes!

Iain

PS, to continue the madness of that video, do a Google image search for "Soviet Christmas cards". Thanks to Andy Rix over at Cold War Gamer for opening my eyes to that particular brand of inspired lunacy....

Cold War Update…

…the last of the year? Well hopefully not.  However, of late I’ve been trying to batter through some of the last remnants of half done stuff on the workbench.

The Soviet BRDM-2 has progressed a bit, and the weathering doesn’t look too bad, now that the rest of the vehicle has caught up with it a bit. Hopefully should have this finished by the end of the month, and thus allow the Soviets to start 2015 with at least some mobility….

Back in the West, I’ve finished the remaining two US infantrymen

Here they are with the rest of the fireteam

And the whole lot together. I’m quite chuffed with how cohesive they look, despite the two dramatically different kit and uniforms between the infantry and the LRRPs

With that being the end of the available infantry for the time being, I guess it’s time to start on the vehicles…

Cheers,

Iain.

Latest Cold War Progress…

Since the last post I’ve made a start on the two remaining US infantrymen for the 70's project. They’re coming along nicely and hopefully should be finished by next week.

I’ve moved the BRDM-2 on a little bit, too. Unfortunately I may have gone a bit too heavy on the weathering; the paint job would be fine for some chanky old rustbucket from the Balkan conflict, but not quite as suitable for a well maintained machine in its prime, in the service of a Guards Motor Rifle Regiment…

I’ve also just procured something a bit special for the Soviets, but you’ll just need to wait to see what that is….

Cheers

Iain

Let It Snow...

Just a quick update for now; LRRPs all finished and fully based up.

Last pair of infantrymen started; in this case squad-level support in the shape of the M203 and M60…

Cheers

Iain

OK, Some More Communism…

There are still some assorted Soviet items on the workbench just being finished off. These will be reinforcements for my main, temperate Central Front, Soviet force opposing my BAOR.

First up, the Elhiem AT-4/5 ATGM team.

Note, this has subsequently had the bushes added to the base that I forgot to do before photographing it…

Elhiem DShK HMG team

First Soviet vehicle, a BRDM-2 from S-Models. This is the first kit of theirs I’ve built and I must say I’m impressed. Lovely, crisp detail, quick construction, clear instructions, no flash or sink holes/ visible ejector pin marks and even PE parts! Also included is a comprehensive decal sheet allowing for various Warsaw Pact member states to be represented. And what’s more, you get 2 in a box! Two vehicles, with decals and PE parts and of the quality rendered really can’t be beat for about 12 quid. My one minor criticism would be that rather than the inclusion of PE parts (the bulk of which I’ve left off as too delicate for gaming purposes), I’d rather see S-Model reconsider the positioning of some of the moulding gates on some of the finer pieces (MG barrels and the shafts of the pioneer tools in particular) as these are almost impossible to remove or clean up without mangling. However, as noted, this is a minor and not insurmountable gripe.

At present, it’s still at the green stage of painting, and looks a bit scrappy. But hopefully that should change with successive highlights…

With yet more Soviet infantry on the horizon from Elhiem, I’m going to have to come up with an idea for shoehorning some more in, to justify buying all the poses… At the moment Naval Infantry are top of the list; at first they were going to be based the same as these guys for Central Front fun (or even Home Front shenanigans; the recent Elhiem RUC releases would do just dandy for mainland UK police…), but thinking about it logically, they may be better based to match my nascent Norwegian force (all three of ‘em!) to support planned Soviet operations on NATO’s northern flank….but that’s for another day.

Cheers

Iain

A Hazy Shade of Winter…

Well, there’s been quite enough Communism on this blog of late, time to redress the balance with some apple pie eatin’, football watchin’, moonshine sippin’ good ol’ boys…

Work has finally begun on my long-planned late 70s US Army project. I plumped for a winter scheme purely for aesthetic reasons; there’s just something about a snow themed army that hits the spot for me. As for the timeframe, I wanted something different from the more common M1 & M2 laden late 80’s US Army-of-Much-Shooty-Death, and liked the underdog factor of 1970s USAEUR. This also allowed me to indulge in MERDC-ing the shit out of various bizarre AFVs, which feature the seldom seen brown & white MERDC scheme (as previewed in my last post. Well done if you guessed correctly. If you did I may even provide some sort of pointless prize, like a picture of a fish or something…). This was intended for areas  of open plain without heavy vegetation, which suited me down to the ground (I envisage some ruined industrial terrain being created for these guys, and their inevitable winter-themed Soviet opponents, to fight through)…

At the moment, there is a bit of a dearth of suitable infantry figures kicking around. However, Matt at Elhiem is sculpting away like a some sort of thing possessed, creating a load of late 80’s US Army PASGT wearing troops, and when he’s done with these, I’m reliably informed that earlier M1 helmeted types will follow. So that gives me a head start to paint up the whole two packs that are currently available.

I say two, but this is really only because going for a winter army has allowed me to use the Elhiem Fictional Arctic Fireteam as a LRRP unit. This set of four features some of the nicest sculpting in the range, with 4 troopers armed variously with M16A1s, an UZI and an M79 Grenade launcher. I’ve added ALICE packs to underline the fact that they’re SF (nothing says that like a stonking great rucksack). At the moment, these guys are just awaiting basing;

I deliberately went for quite a blue tint for the parkas, working from a photograph; however it did come out slightly bluer than I had intended, but still looks pretty decent, I reckon. The white boots are Arctic issue “Mickey Mouse” boots, and the mittens are similarly painted as having the white covers on them.  It might look slightly incongruous given that the basing won’t be totally snowbound, and the rest of the army won’t be nearly as heavily equipped; however I’m going on the theory that the rest of the snow suits are in their bergens (it’s melted a bit since they were deployed, y’see…) and since they’d be spending weeks outside in exposed hides behind enemy lines, they’d need a few extra layers. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it (that and it looked good)…

As for the grunts themselves, I’ve got the first two finished and two waiting in the wings;

These guys have had the hip pockets of their BDUs filed off to back date them to OG-107s, and hoods sculpted onto their M-65 jackets, to make them look slightly more “wintery”. The helmets have been painted to show the Autumn/winter reverse side of the Mitchell cover, and the uniforms are a mix of shades of green, since any shots of US Army personnel seem to show no one’s uniforms quite matching…

As for vehicles, the tank park currently looks a bit like this-

And I picked this up from KingKit, to give the LRRPs a sweet ride (jokes about “heliborne insertions” to follow). MERDC was trialled but never adopted on helicopters, so of course this will be painted in MERDC. After all, it’s a SF bird, and who knows what would’ve happened if it had all boiled over. Needs must when the Devil drives and all that…

Next up will be making a start on some vehicles, but what to do first…

Cheers

Iain