Heavy Support for WWII Minis

 Just finished some German 15cm heavy artillery along with 15cm Infantry Gun and 5cm PAK.  And some Soviet 160mm mortars.  The infantry on snow bases in the pic are Germans in greatcoats armed with Russian SMGs (courtesy Peter Pig minis).   these are all 15mm sized minis.  Thanks to Jim for printing the 15cm heavy artillery.

The little shiny objects in the corners of the bases are magnets I use to hold any status markers.  For Rapid Fire rules, they aren't really needed but I also use the stands in operational level games where a stand can be a battalion or regiment.  I usually dull down the shiny magnets with a black or brown Sharpie marker.  

Muddy, Snowy Tanks

Painted some 15mm Soviet armor I had sitting around.  Tanks are in winter whitewash with a liberal application of mud, rust, and grime.


First batch are T-70's, an interesting little tank . . . well armored and a good gun for its size.  Not much use by '44 though except as a recon tank.  These are all Plastic Soldier Company models.










Second batch are T34's.  Again these are Plastic Soldier Company models.  Also have a set of turrets to convert them to T34/85's, though the wheels and hull are not correct for T34/85 but close enough for gaming.











And third batch are Battlefront Models.  A KV-1, two factory types of T34, and a T-60.

More Artizan WWII Soviets

Crewed Weapons . . .

And some riflemen . . .

Eureka WWII Soviet Infantry

Really nice 28mm Figures from Eureka's new line of Soviet WWII Infantry.  I like how these turned out.

Best Snowy Base

Trying a few different ways to get snowy bases.  Left hand technique is white glue (that dries clear) and Woodland Scenics Snow.  Center technique is white glue, brown ballast, and then latex paste (dries white)  as partial cover and snow.  Right hand technique is latex paste and snow.

Center and right techniques could complement each other on the tabletop.  I think those are the techniques I'll go with.

Minis are WWII winter Soviets, 15mm from Peter Pig.

The Ubiquitous T-35

A Soviet T-35 Armored Fighting Vehicle.  This beast was either immobile when the Germans launched Barbarossa or the few in running order broke down trying to get to the battlefield.  15mm Battlefront miniature.

Soviet Mechanized Brigade Circa 1944

Minis are 15mm Quality Castings, basing is for Command Decision (one stand=platoon/battery).

Bottom row is Brigade HQ and HQ level assets, next three rows up are each an infantry battalion.  Back row is the two-battalion tank regiment, mortar battalion and field artillery battalion.  

28mm WWII Sovet Infantry

I recently completed some 28mm Soviet WWII Infantry from Plastic Soldier Company.  I don't like these plastic figures as much as metal figs.  While the sculpts are more to scale than most, the plastic rifles tend to break or bend, and there is not much "depth" to the sculpting . . . there are not cuts and folds in the sculpt for the brush to find and help bring out detail.  Also, as you can see from the side by side shot with a Westwind (?) metal figure, their size is larger than most metal figures.

Commie Armor to Battle the Nazi Menace

Finished the batch of Soviet Armor.  Churchills, T-34s, and since no one makes a Soviet 37mm AA gun, I have French 25's standing in.  All 15mm Quality Casting miniatures.

And it looks like I need to clean the camera lens or ccd. . .

Black Death!

WWII Soviet Naval Infantry Brigade, 3 battalions strong with AT, artillery, SMG, Pioneer, and Mortar battalions attached.  15mm Battle Honors figures based for Command Decision Test of Battle (one stand = one platoon/battery).  The Naval Infantryman wore the distinctive black trousers/ dark blue tunic/black peacoat.  Their dark attire and zeal (some unit cohesion and often fighting on their 'home turf' naval base) when committed earned them the sobriquet "black death" from the German Army. 

A good link for some reference material.

Big, Bigger, Biggest

A T34-76, a T34-85, and an ISU-152 are ready for battle.  Minis are 15mm Quality Castings.

Lend-Lease Arrives!

Finished some M3 Grants in Soviet markings.  Quality Castings 15mm minis.

Battle for Ogledov August 12 1944

Played a Command Decision Test of Battle game recently.  Game went well. The battle was Ogledow Aug 12 1944. This little fight was the debut of the German King Tiger, a Panther on sterioids with faulty mechanics just like the Panther. A battalion of the Royal Tigers left the rail yard in Poland, 11 made it to the battlefield, the rest broken down in transit. A single T34/85 KO'd three of the Tigers and a mix of T34's and JS-2's defeated the remainder. The Germans were attempting to counterattack to reduce the Soviet Sandomierz bridgehead over the Vistula. That was the historical battle.

The battle on Sunday saw the JS-2's playing king of the hill with the Tigers. The Tigers left the road to get within striking distance but started bogging down. The Soviet infantry "battalions," really just a strong company by this time in their summer campaign, were roughly handled by a company of StuGs with grenadiers supporting them . But with the JS-2's holding the central hill, the Germans couldn't break a tough nut.

Paining Up Soviet WWII Troops

Over the past week, I've been very busy . . . Partisan Brigade, 4x KV-85, 6x T-70, 6x BA-64, 2x GAZ-67, 4x Wagons, 6x Limbers.  Vehicles are Battle Honors/Quality Castings 15mm, partisans are Eureka 15mm.

More KV-85 and the Photo Setup

Worked with the Canon Rebel to see if I could get decent shots of 15mm infantry.  Nothing worth posting so far.  Going back to my Olympus 3MPixel camera, I got some better shots of recently painted armor.  Again 15mm Battle Honors/Quality Casting models.  Need more focal depth (treads out of focus) and need to straighten that barrel!

WWII Soviets and a Better Photography Setup

Been busy this past week painting Soviet vehicles. Also setup a light box to improve photography but I still need to work at it some more. Light is uneven because of two different wattage bulbs (I'll correct that tomorrow), and still working on the camera settings. Camera is an old 3 megapixel Olympus. Once I get that camera squared away, I'll try the Canon Rebel SLR. Ooo-yeah. Anyway, here's some pics. Minis are all Battle Honors/Quality Casting 15mm.