20mm Zvezda Soviet Motor Rifle AT-7 team

Continuing the Soviet/Russian theme from my last post; basically while I can still find the Russian Green and green grey paint pots, this is the Zvezda Motor Rifle AT-7 team.  Three figures, the AT-7 gunner and two assistants with spare rounds armed with AK-74s, one still carrying spare rounds on his back, the other has dropped his spare rounds next to the AT-7 gunner.  Minor assembly required but nothing too tricky.  Based and primed using my usual style, they are painted with a khaki grey wash, Russian Green body armour, helmets, AT-7 and weapon tubes.  NATO black boots and AK-74s.

Correction added; AT-7, not AT-4 (duh!).

As ever, thanks for looking.

20mm WW2 Soviet infantry

The possibility of a 20mm WW2 game at Gauntlet in July has given me the impetus I needed to dig out all the Works £2 diecast vehicles and the Plastic Soldier Company infantry that I bought in one of their sales a while back.

These are nice figures.  You get 57 in a box for anything between £10 and £15 here in the U.K.  They are hard plastic and come on three identical sprues, which need cutting carefully to free the figures.  Some assembly is needed (sticking on heads and arms mainly) and they can be stuck with poly cement or superglue (I used a Superglue this time).  I based them on 20mm square mdf bases from Minibits and undercoated them using Vallejo pale grey primer.  Uniform is a khaki grey wash, webbing and greatcoats in khaki.  Light brown for leather cases and ammo pouches.  Russian green helmets, NATO black boots and weapons, the latter dry brushed basalt grey, and beige brown for rifle stocks and entrenching tool handles.  The figures are very uniformly kitted out with greatcoat wrapped around their torsos, usually a leather case and ammo pouches, belts and Y shaped webbing belts.  Some wear helmets and the rest wear side caps, except the senior officer, who wears a peaked hat.

First up, the three figures carrying DP28 LMGs over their shoulders.  

Assistant LMG gunners, unarmed except for spare ammo cases.

Deployed DP28 LMG team in the prone position, wearing helmets.

For a bit of variety I did a team in side caps.

Advancing figures with rifles at the ready.

Throwing a stick grenade, armed with a PPSh-41 SMG.

Junior officers/NCOs/observers with pistol and binoculars.

Standing figures firing PPSh-41 SMGs.

Advancing carry rifle across body.

Similar pose with the PPSh-41 SMG.

Unarmed female soldiers, suitable for medics or command/communications groups.

Kneeling firing rifle in helmet.

Kneeling firing rifle in side caps.

Standing firing rifle in side cap.

Running with PPSH-41 SMG.

Senior officer pointing with binoculars and holstered pistol.

Kneeling firing PPSh-41 SMG.

Rifle advancing in helmet.

Crouching with rifle at the ready.

Really nice poses that should mix well with both metal and other plastic soldier manufacturers.  Good value with 19 different poses plus some variability through relatively easy head swaps.  I'll probably look elsewhere for additional troops as I like a bit of variety of poses and I don't think I'll have much use for the unarmed female figure - different if she was armed or operating a radio or some other more useful pose.  I like the look of the Italeri and Pegasus figures, so will probably add packs of these if I go as far as building up a company.  I have a pack of the PSC heavy weapons, which I'm in the process of assembling.  These are proving to be rather fiddly, especially the Maxim HMGs, which don't seem to fit together too smoothly - in fact they are something to be a real pain in the ass, but I'm sure they will be worth it in the end.  Plus, in the pack you do get 6 AT Rifles (3 deployed and 3 moving), 3 50mm mortars, 3 82mm medium mortars and 6 Maxim HMG teams, 3 firing and 3 moving.  More of these in another post.

Thanks for looking.

20mm Ferret MkII armoured car

This is the 20mm Ferret MkII AC from RH Models.  I got it ready for Crisis Point although in the end it wasn't needed.  The hull is a resin casting and the wheels and turret are white metal castings.  I painted the vehicle in Vallejo reflective green, NATO black wheels, MG and straps, beige brow and gunmetal tools, sky blue vision ports.  Wheels and MG are dry brushed basalt grey and the whole model is washed in Army Painter strong tone ink diluted 3:1 with flow enhancer.  Weight marker is flat yellow, canvas rolls are English uniform and olive drab.

This was a joy to put together and easy to paint.  No air bubbles and very little excess resin to cut or file off.  I'll probably finish the turret with a pair of REE magnets to hold it in place.

So, it can provide a command run about for cold war gone hot scenarios or it can patrol the streets in the Winter of 79.

Thanks for looking.

20mm Humber Pigs

These are Humber Pig models in 20mm from Sgts Mess.  I picked up a platoon's worth of transports, 4 vehicles worth.  I painted these up quickly to get them ready for the Crisis Point game earlier this month, although they never made it onto the table then, unfortunately.

Nice crisp castings and simple to put together.  Just the wheels to fit and the front fender/bull bars.  I painted the bull bars separately so that I could put more detail into the front grill and lights, although there isn't a lot to do in that area.  Just the lights and an ink wash for the grill.

All four vehicles ready to crash through a barricade or improvised road block.

Nicely detailed rear doors.

I'm not a big fan of some of the other BAOR vehicles from Sgts Mess, especially the FV432 which looks somewhat squashed to me, but that's just me.  These I really like and I'm looking forward to getting a glimpse of the new Landrovers that are being released as well as putting in a plea for the Saracen and Saladin when I saw them at Triples.  Well worth a look at their web site if BAOR vehicles are your thing or drop them an e-mail if you fancy the Saracen or Saladin.

These are going to find themselves on the streets in my Winter of 79 games.

Thanks for looking.

20mm card buildings

Following a couple of visits to model shops in Northwich and Chester, I took the plunge and picked up some Metcalfe card model buildings in HO/OO scale.  Here are the three kits covering the Manor Farm complex, the farm itself and a workers cottage, barn and tractor shed, and modern barn, silage pit and chicken sheds.  I've spent around 3 or 4 hours assembling these, they aren't perfect, but are pretty robust.  I'll finish them off by darkening some of the fold lines, adding some plastic tube chimney pots and basing them. I've photographed them with some RH Models 1980's British infantry for scale.  I think they will also work well with 15mm scale troops as well.

First up, the Manor Farm House itself, showing the front porch and side lean-to building.

Rear view with extension and rear lean-to buildings.

The farm set also comes with a workers cottage, shown here from the front with side lean-to.

Rear view of the cottage with side and rear lean-to buildings.

The large modern barn set with side building cow byre.

With the barn comes this pair of chicken sheds.  These need to be based on some plastic strip wooden runners when I come to base them.

On the left is an empty silage pit, which also comes with the modern barn complex.  On the right is an older style barn with hay loft, showing the front entrance.

With the older-style barn comes a tractor shed, perfect for storing your ... err ... tractor.  Or possibly your bomb factory, bank robbery haul, transmitter, etc.

I also picked up a couple of terraced houses, a corner shop, library and a small factory complex; more on these later.  Once I complete them, I'll have enough buildings for a small town or the edge of a larger town or city suburb.  So, I have some simple Winter of 79 scenarios in mind based around the farm complex to try out my copy of the Living on the Front Line rules.

Thanks for looking.

Flames of War D-day landings

I managed to get these off my phone at last. A game from back in February, 10 players, four Brits, one US and 5 Germans on 20ft of table.  A straight up beach assault.  Looking along the table, I had the German left flank, closest to the camera.  I placed my two 75mm PAK40 bunkers on each flank facing inwards, covering the two sea wall 50mm PAK38 bunkers.  With some wire and entrenchments scattered about, there were lots of obstacles for the attackers.  I also had a couple of 88mm AA guns back in the village (lower right).

The view for the Allies from the landing craft!

The beach view from the opening of the extreme left hand PAK40 bunker.  Dennis is sitting in the middle distance working out how densely he can pack his assault armour - unfortunately, he managed to lose or immobilise most of this while straying in the minefields.

The empty rear of the German defences.

The scene about 3 turns in.  Ian's AVsRE have knocked out the closest PAK 40 bunker and eliminated the entrenched infantry, but a pair of Stugs are engaging them from the flank, knocking one out in the first round of firing.

The whole length of the table.

Here come the Stugs!

Dave's armour in the next sector, pretty much stalled at the HWM and largely reduced to Priest SPGs.

Dennis with his troops also pretty much hung up at the HWM.

 

 

The action was pretty intense, but a fun game.  My Stugs got the range of the AVsRE and knocked one out before we ran out of time.  Ian's infantry were gradually working their way off the beach, but weren't likely to have much armour support as the Stugs were about to have another crack at the surviving AVRE.  However, Ian's AVRE made the deepest inland penetration of the game, so he felt fairly happy.

 

We were pretty pleased with such a great looking table set up in around an hour, although the rate of play was quite slow, as is usually the case for such a big game.  Lots of fun though and nice to see it all laid out.  It was also the first chance for me to use my bunkers since I bought them, more years ago than I care to remember.

 

Thanks for looking.