Winter War: Soviet Vehicles

T-26 and BT7

I finally got these vehicles finished. I really found the Winter War camouflage scheme a bit of a challenge and I can see from the photos that I still need to do some work.

All the vehicles were primed with Vallejo Russian Green Primer, they were then drybrushed and some details were painted. I then did a wash using the Citadel Shade Athonian Camoshade. This is a great product for any WWII military project. I then applied some Vallejo orange rust effects. The models were then gloss varnished and allowed to dry. I used the hairspray method for the Winter Camouflage. Two applications, allow to dry and then they were airbrushed in spots with white. I probably could of applied more but I tried to make it translucent rather than opaque. Maybe a mistake. Most of the delay was because I had a shitty cheap Master Airbrush which kept on screwing up (mostly my fault I presume). however last week I got an Iwata Revolution CR, like night and day for sure. Anyway so I used a q-tip to chip off the white and then applied some Secret Weapon rust effects on the tracks, as well as some Citadel Dry Necron Compound. Finally some snow flock was applied to different areas. I think I need to clean off the rust and the snow a little more as noted above. I think they could have come out a little better but they will work.

I tried to get a good selection of early Soviet vehicles and most of them should be useful also for the excellent TFL supplement that just came out for Chain of Command, Operation Winter Storm: The Drive for Stalingrad, December 1942. This looks really good. I already have purchased some mid war Soviets Tanks, including some T-34's, SU-76's and an SU-122. Just have to finish off the rest of those CP Soviets figures.

Some Zis-5 trucks, the main transport for the Soviet army through out the war. These are metals from  Shellhole Scenics. They were nice models, but a little smaller then 1:72 PSC.

All the decals are from Aleran Miniatures.

One of the trucks as a Quad Maxim HMG.

I was curious about S-Model miniatures, they have an expanding range of 1:72 vehicles. I ordered them directly from China, I was shocked at how quickly they were delivered, within 1 week.

They are nice builds, the stowage is excess from PSC and from an Italeri box of battlefields accessories. 

It took me a little bit of time to figure how to put them together I found the tracks challenging initially but once figured out they were fine. The turret was a little difficult to assemble, it would have been nicer with less pieces. They supply you with brass cannon though which is a nice touch for a plastic assembly.

Here we have KhT-26, a variation of the T-26 with a flamethrower. This is from Shellhole Scenics as well. It os certainly a little smaller then the S-Models, but I am OK with it. It is a metal build.

Here we have a T-28 from Shellhole Scenics. It is a monster tank with 3 turrets. The body is resin with the tracks and turret being metal. I think they are planning to convert all their vehicles to this combination.

Very nice model.

Here we have two BT-7's from Pegasus Models plastic range, these are very well priced and all though quite simplistic in their construction are well suited for wargaming.

Alos from Pegasus is these two armoured cars, they are sold as BA-6's but I am sure you could use them as a BA-10. Again very simple, but a cheap useful model.

Chain of Command at The Hobby Bunker

After 9 months, I finally got in a game of CoC at the Hobby Bunker. I had played 3 games previously games in a Soviet campaign but that went dead before we finished the campaign with our last game in January. I had started painting platoons as well as gathering terrain for both a Normandy and Winter War campaigns. My real challenge was that I started my project in 20mm or 1/72 and most local gamers have 15mm FOW armies or 28mm Bolt Action armies. I had already painted a German and British platoon by the time I realised this so it was a little too late. I do really like 20mm for WWII though as I find the 28mm AFV's way too big for a 6x4 terrain (it is almost impossible to transport anything bigger especially if it involves bocage) and with 15 mm I just find it too hard to identify the individual weapons that the soldiers are carrying as is necessary in skirmish wargaming. The price and availability of options in 20 mm is also excellent. You can easily assemble a platoon and basic supports for one force for less then $50 especially if you use the excellent Plastic Soldier Company soldiers and vehicles. I have now painted 3 forces with excellent range of supports and am half way through my fourth, so I do not think I am going to change.

One of the guys Mike, who I met while playing the Soviet campaign voiced an interest in continuing to play CoC so I loaded up the toys this past Saturday and headed to Malden. Mike is quite an easy going fellow and has a lot of wargaming experience, so I find him a well suited player for me. I am much more interested in playing the game rather then winning, now if I only can talk him into painting a 20mm American force!

I am hoping to put together a Normandy campaign surrounding Operation Tonga in which the 1st Canadian Airborne Battalion played a large role. Saturday's game was really to test my terrain and reacquaint myself with the CoC rules. The terrain set up was roughly historical and involved a farm southwest of the LZ-V of the Canadian paratroopers and east of Le Mesnil Crossroads, one of the important objectives early in Operation Tonga.

So the terrain was set up as you can see, based on scenario 6 from the CoC rulebook with the farm as the German area and the canadian paratroopers arriving from the right in the below photo. Essentially the Canadian forces had orders to take the large barn inside the walled compound.We diced for sides and I won and of course took the Canadians. In CoC the paratroopers are an elite force with a rating of 8 and start with 6 Command Dice. Their opponents were basic German grenadiers with a rating of 0 and 5 Command Dice. The attackers have a support of 2D6 in this scenario with the defenders having half that. The defenders set up in a heavily fortified farm with high walls (block LOS and heavy cover) which are classed as a major obstacle. The terrain to the east is heavy with bocage and forests. Just east to the farm are several fields of crops, these are all broken ground and all have normal LOS except for the one cornfield which has light cover. One building was two story and offered an excellent LOS towards the east.

The German JOP's are yellow and the Canadiens are blue

So any way, I diced a 10 on 2D6 so I had 10 supports and Mike got 13 supports (5 + 8, the Force Rating difference). We also diced for Force Morale and I ended up with 11 and Mike had 10, both excellent. We kept our choice of supports secret but I took a HMG (4) and a Sherman tank (6). Mike from what I found out took a 8cm Mortar (4), a PanGr squad (5), 2 entrenchments (2) and some barbed wire (1). I am am not sure what he spent his last support on.

We were a little rusty with the rules but the game went relatively smoothly. We had never played with off table mortars before nor had we had HE fire on buildings, so a couple of new concepts to figure out. The patrol phase I thought went well, with myself advancing my JOP's half way up the terrain, but Mike locked me down before I could get beyond the bocage line. By then I was so into the game I forgot to take photos but I have marked on the photos as best as I can remember the JOP's for each side, I had 3 and Mike had 4 with one in the objective, the large barn.

I advanced my paratroopers quickly and brought on my HMG and Sherman relatively quickly, Mike kept most of his troops in reserve for both tactical reasons but also because my Command Dice (CD) were pretty hot. I think I had 4 double 6's in the game and a quadruple 6 and Mike I believe had only 1 double 6. Mike's mortar barrage was quite effective and kept one of my sections pinned for most of the game. I was however eventually able to take out his Forward Observer with a well placed high explosive shot from the Sherman. As I forgot to take many photos I will not go into the details of battle, but it really was one of attrition with my forces causing the Germans to withdraw from a failure of morale. There was one heroic combat with a section of paratroopers attacking across the high stone wall a squad of grenadiers, I won the combat by one with both sides taking heavy loses. Of course once my chaps got across the wall Mike dropped in a squad of Panzer Grenadiers who immediately opened up with their two LMG's and destroyed the section.

Neither myself or Mike played that aggressively, I think were both focussed on relearning the rules and maybe allowed the game to draw out a little. We only got in two turns and neither of us accumulated a Chain of Command Dice. We made a few errors, mostly omissions but generally the game went very smoothly and seemed to play out in a realistic fashion. I believe we both enjoyed playing and am feel that we will both play many more games.

The Panzer Grenadiers after the wiped out the 1st Canadian paratroop section. Hard to stand up to two LMG's 

3rd Canadian paratroop section advancing toward the farm

German grenadiers evacuating the store house after being hit by HE from the Sherman

The Sherman from the Trois Rivieres Tank Régiment and Airborne HMG team.

As an aide memoire, I usually list things that I had difficulty with during a game in my blog posts so here we go:

Leaders and Forward Observers: I still am having problems with testing for injury or death to Leaders attached to groups who suffer casualties. Today we just left the JL as the last man standing. We also treated the FO as a team rather then a leader. After reviewing the rules, it appears that JL are at risk for injury or death every time there is a kill and that a FO is treated in the same way as a JL. On page 39 (9.1.1). If a JL/FO is without 4" they can be specifically targeted, but only kills are taken into account. If within 4" then test for injury or kill on JL/FO if any kills on unit. Roll 1D6 if </= then kills then hit on JL/FO (good to roll high). If he is hit roll 1D6, on a 1 he is killed, on a 2 or 3 he is out of action for the turn. On a 4,5 or 6 he is lighted wounded and his Command Initiative (CI) falls by 1, so a JL now would have a CI of 1 rather then 2. The second time he is lightly wounded, he is out of the game. For a FO a roll of 1,2 or 3 is a kill, on a 4, 5,6 he is wounded and can not move for the rest of the game but can still initiate bombardment.

Hits on Teams: Hits are divided between teams that are within 4" of each other. If unequal and if in cover the defender allocates the hits to the team of his choice, if not in cover then the attacker allocates the odd hit. The attacker throws the dice for the Hits and the defender throws the dice for the saves.

Bombardment: I think Mike did a great job on this for our first go. It is a little complicated as the FO can call for bombardment or ranging shot. Essentially on the first activation (CD roll of 1) of the FO team nothing happens, on the second activation a marker is placed on the table. A 2D6 roll is performed and the result from Table 9 is applied. A ranging shot only has effect if it was aimed at a specific unit and scores >8 on 2D6. If there is a direct hit roll 2D6 and apply Table 6 for measurement of kills and shock, you do not use the Table 5 to measure hits. If it was a barrage and on target then the effect is over 18 sqin. Here you check the Master Arsenal Table for the number of D6, medium mortars are 4D6. For every team within 18" throw 4D6 and apply Table 5 (effective range, unless in woods or orchards then close range) for hits and then test for kills and shock for successful hits on Table 6 while reducing cover by one. All troops are pinned in the 18sqin area for the rest of the turn. What we did not do is place smoke over the area for the rest of the barrage as LOS is blocked into the area while the barrage continues (time to make more smoke markers). If the ranging shot or barrage is off target, you still go through the above process but on an area as decided in Table 9. Essentially get a roll of 2 on your first throw you are going to end up deviating 6D6 from the marker. On the 3rd and subsequent activations the barrage can continue with the option of shifting the aiming point 6". If a ranging shot was fired initially you can call for another ranging shot but add +1 to the die roll for each subsequent ranging shot. The barrage continues through the phase and on each subsequent activation in the turn, but the smoke is removed at the end of the following phase. The barrage ends at the turn end unless a Chain of Command Dice is used. To activate a barrage in a following turn a D6 is thrown, on a 1 the mortars are lost for the rest of the game, on a 2 they are lost for the rest of the turn, on a 3 or 4 an attempt can be made in the next phase and on a 5 or 6 it is immediately available.

HE against Buildings: This went well for the troops but we forgot to test for building damage (10.3.6). The Sherman has 6HE, so throwing a triple 6 would cause instability, causing troops to have to evacuate on their next activation, failure to activate by turn end would result in a D6 being rolled for each with 6's resulting in a kill. On a throw of a quadruple 6, then the building collapses, each man inside rolls a D6, on 5 or 6 they are killed and the survivors are placed outside. I actually do not think this happened in yesterdays game, but something to remember.

Tank Turrets: Again this did not arise in yesterdays game, but a turret has an LOS of 120 degrees and a hull mounted HMG has 90 degrees. This is modified by the tank turret speed (some are slow and some are fast), our Sherman has a regular speed. A full activation to the gunner is required to rotate the turret to gain the appropriate LOS.

Attributes of Individual Troop types: I was running an elite paratroop unit. I missed that JL's in paratroop sections can activate on a 4 as well as a 3 and have 3 CI's on an activation with a CD of 4. They are aggressive troops, ie. in combat they ignore a loss by one and continue to fight.

Targeting in Buildings: In the advanced rule section on page 70, there are some rules for targeting troops in buildings, I like these and think they would have been good to use in our game. To target troops in a building either the attacker would have had to have a clear LOS when the target moved into a building or be within 18". Otherwise they would only be targeted when fire came from the building. The 18" rule does not hold for Vehicles targeting buildings, either they would have to see fire or a SL/JL would have to be within LOS on entry and then move to contact the Vehicle by touch to let them know. I would regard coming off a JOP as entry into a building.

Anyway I am sure I still have many things to learn from the rules, but yesterdays game was a great learning experience and a lot of fun, I can not wait for our next game.

Dux Britanniarum: Playtest at the Hobby Bunker

Wow two posts in 2 days.

Last Thursday myself and Adam got in our first game of DuxB. We are planning a campaign, but we felt it was good to get in a couple of practice games first. Adam had never played the ruleset and I had played just two solo games. It has became obvious to me that playing solo is no way to learn a ruleset.

We played the farm raid scenario, with myself taking the Britons and Adam the Angle attackers. Essentially for the Angles to win they had to attack the farm, loot some stuff and then escape unscathed. In the pre game set up the farm was placed half way down the table. My entry point was the farm itself but I only got to bring one unit in on the first turn. Adam got to make 4 moves with his whole attacking force before I even got to place any figures!

Here we can see the basic layout. In the far ground are the Angles, all set to go, to the left within the farm itself you can see my missile troops (young boys with slings). They are just there to mark my entry point. I actually do not get to place any troops until the Angles have had 4 moves.

The terrain from anther angle. The trees are a medium obstacle for the troops with light cover and the crops are a minor obstacle with no cover. The fence is linear terrain with light cover. Doorways and gates in the fence are unbarred. (We played this wrong, I thought it was free but it is -1D6 on movement. 

Adam's 4 move headstart was quite successful as you can see as he has entered the farm and actually even has entered one of the buildings. Looking grim for the Britons.

I finally get to enter some troops on the table, I decide to bring in my Comanipulares (elite troops) , I really need to clear out the village. They immediately attack one group of Duguth (warriors) in the rear, while playing the Carpe Diem card as well as a Audacia card. This allows me to attack the Angles from behind (without it they could turn to face me), and adds 2D6 to my combat dice. The Duguth Lose their Amphora and flee. One down.

The Angles decide that an attack with another group of Duguth, these are driven back as well but my elites take some loss and shock. I must of got excited then as I forgot to take some photos. (Adam has some of this action on his blog, the Fencing Frog. the Angle Gedriht then arrive and defeat my Comanipulares. Very bloody action indeed.

Turn 1 ends finally and I start to bring in the rest of my forces as their card come up. At this point my  two groups of Combrogi (warriors) have arrived and driven the Angles out, aside from the Gedridht still trying to loot the cottage to the right. Unfortunately the Angles in the cottage to the house to the left have found some loot and are starting to flee. In the foreground you can see my Pagenses (levy) moving up to enter the fray.

The fleeing Angles with their loot, I have sent out my slingers to harry their journey.

Well as you can see the Angles are successful in escaping with their loot. I lost my elite troops as well as my slingers, but the Angles suffered dearly losing their bowmen, two groups of warriors as well as 8 of the Gedridht. All nobles survived. As we did not calculate a morale test at the beginning of the game, I gave Adam his first Dark Ages victory. Well played! The game played quite well despite the Angle's early advantage.

We made a ton of mistakes with the rules, but the game went very quickly and we had a lot of fun. We had several questions after our first game but most were answered by a re-reading of the rulebook, the others were answered on the TFL forum.

I thought I would list some of the points of confusion we had and in which way they were clarified.

• Fate Cards: When a noble is activated he can use the Fate cards of either suit. The suited cards can not be played otherwise. The bonus of playing a suited cards is that it adds +1D6 to the combat D6 total if the Carpe Diem card is played. The unsuited cards can be played anytime ie. as an offense or defense.
• Movement: Unless the group is moving up to a certain point (to include terrain features or joining another group), the full distance has to be taken from the throw of the D6.
• Champion: Is attached to the Lord, if the Lord joins a group for combat the Champion does as well. He can not act independently.
• Groups in Buildings: Do not offer support to other groups outside of buildings.
• Movement through Unbarred Doors and Gates: Costs 1d6.
• Activation: In respect to movement and going into formation, it can be done with one activation but cost 1D6.
• Nobels Movement: Move for free when attached to group, otherwise costs 1 Activation.
• Facing: A group can move in any direction without cost. It justs moves in that direction, it can turn around etc, with no cost. But at the end of movement it ends up facing in that direction. If the group then wants to change facing or go into an allround stance then 1D6 is subtracted from the movement. I had a tough time understanding this but when I got it it was quite simple.

We are playing one more trial game in two weeks and we will then start our campaign in September. I am sure we will have other questions from our next game and I will post them with our next playtest.

Painting a Zuzzy Verdant Fields Latex Mat

I have been looking for a transportable mat for some time, it really is impossible to transport styrofoam terrain pieces. There are a lot of options out there and I have already purchased 2-3 mats. When it came down to it I just did not like what I had purchased.

I had come across Zuzzy mats on TMP so I said why not. It was $52 for a 4x6' mat which I thought a pretty reasonable price. You certainly have to be patient, as the wait list is 2-3 months. But what I got was well worth waiting for, it comes in a plastic sheath wrapped around a hard cardboard tube. It is make of latex and it has some very interesting characteristics. But why not let photos do the talking. I could not find many resources or guides to painting the mat, so I just went ahead and designed my own. I was looking for a colour scheme that would jump out, less importnat was a natural look.

The mat come in a green colour, I suppose I could have started from that but I find that a Raw Umber  is an excellent choice. I use Sargent Art acrylic paint, it is quite inexpensive and it dilutes easily. I used about a 50:50 water paint mix to lay down a priming coat. I should note that you are advised only to use acrylics on these mats.

Once dry you can see it's first interesting characteristic, there are essentially two different major textures to the mat, one more upright and ridge like and the other flatter with less detail. I of course use the upright for grass and the flat for the brown patches. It does take 24 hours for the first coat to dry well.

So next up is the grass. I apply the dark green initially as a heavy dry brush I used Winsor and Newton Galeria acrylic Phthalo Green, this is a very dark green but when diluted is a little brighter. It is then diluted to fill in the crevasses. You can see the two effects here. Try not to let the dilute paint bleed into the earth parts.

Next I use a mocha coloured brown as the first highlight on the earth, I used  Americana Sable Brown as a heavy dry brush. This is followed by a light dry brush of VMC Iraqi Sand.

I found that I needed to blend the two colours together at this stage to take them down a bit. I used a  very thin wash of raw umber. And I mean very thin, I let the mat dry then for another 24 hours.

Next up is a medium dry brush of a Grumabacher Sap Green, and then a slightly lighter drybrush of a 50:50 mixture of the Sap Green and Newton and Winsor Galleria Cadmium Yellow Light.

Final dry brush with the Cadium Yellow Light on the grass and VMC Iraqi Sand on the dirt. You can also see the second interesting characteristic of these mats; the imbedded stones which I have painted black.

Well all done, the final step was a successive dry brushes on VMC Neutral Gray and Citadel Ulthuan  Gray  on the stones. I take them down then with some Citadel Nuln Oil black wash. All done! Maybe a little garish in the photo, but under natural light the colours are a little more restrained.

Close up with all the details.

With some terrain........a quiet little farm in Northern Britain around 500AD.

Tree bases and hovel from Architects of War, Houses from 4-Ground. Wattle fences fron Renedra.

Crop fields made from pieces of Zuzzy mat and cereal strips from Tamjima1. 

Longstreet Campaign: A Rebel Victory!

Myself and Adam had the final game in our American Civil War campaign last night at the Hobby Bunker. It was by far the longest game we had (going almost 4 hours), probably because of the difficulty of the scenario. Adam has been rolling for the scenarios and he rolled a 10, the River Crossing. This is a scenario we had not played before and looked like a difficult one for the attacker. Neither of us had an advantage in the dice roll for initial position so we decided, after some debate, to go with it. Of course, I lost the toss and ended up taking the attacker's role.

used with permission

Essentially we have a wide river that only can be crossed at 4 different fords. The defender sets up first after the additional 8 pieces of terrain have been laid. The attacker gets to place one additional ford as well as the two objectives. I placed the last ford to the bottom right and the two objectives as far apart as I could, I also broadened one ford (they were all 3 BW's wide) to 4 BW's.

I think Adam kept on thinking that I had a specific strategy, but really it was pretty simple........to get Epic Points by engaging in combat. I had a significant advantage in both troops numbers and some advantage in quality. I think in retrospect, I should have placed the broader ford to the right of the one I chose or to the central ford. I also should probably have placed the far right objective a little more west and  north.

I really wanted to split Adam's forces so he could not concentrate in one place, forcing him to hold some of his troops to the centre in reserve which he did. I did not really appreciate before the game that if Adam got entrenched on the far side of the ford, how difficult it would be to cross the ford or dislodge his troops.

The center of the battle from the confederate POV, those cannon were a big problem.

Far west of the battle with it's well protected objective.

I think the battle played out in a fairly historical sense. Artillery fire comprised the first third of the game, I believe we both placed our artillery batteries well and there was a lot of counter battery fire, with which I was generally successful. I believe by the end of the game Adam had lost 6 of his 9 cannon, while I had lost only one. Unfortunately, his cannon did cause significant infantry and cavalry loses before I was able to eliminate them from the game. I suppose I could have held back my infantry attack until my cannon had done their work, but that would have lengthened an already long game and have been pretty boring. Really I probably should have just raced to the fords in the hope of arriving before the rebels and hopefully not too badly mauled.

I was able to eventually advance my troops to position where they were able to get in position and cross over the river, I think I did get three infantry units over ultimately. It was very difficult though as Adam had by then entrenched so all my infantry fire was skirmish (hit on 6's only) and all attacker melee was hit on 5 or 6 as I was fighting against troops in cover from difficult terrain. The Union troops also had to suffer canister fire from the remaining Rebel cannon, before they could engage the Rebel infantry.

By now I had lost 18 stands to Adams's 12 with a breakpoint of 22, fortunately Adam lost the first morale test so I got to have another turn. Knowing it would be most likely my last, I threw the remaining troops of the 5th NY, the 7th Wisconsin and the 54th Massachusetts against the rebel troops in an attempt to gain an Epic Point (I had 15 bases, so one EP). All were in poor combat position but both the 54th and the 5th had an even chance of winning their combats.

And lo and behold, Adam plays the Old Rivals card on the 54th...........immediately halting their attack! There was really not much to do then but withdraw and concede the game to Adam. Well played. Victory to the Rebels by 1 Epic Point.

You can see Adam's AR on his blog the Fencing Frog. This was my first campaign and it was enormous fun. I really have to thank Adam as he lugged all the terrain to the Hobby Bunker for each game and lent me a Union army until I got my own troops in place. Longstreet is a great game and I felt the campaign system was very well designed. We are hoping to get a multi player campaign started.

Well what is next for Thursday game night at the Hobby Bunker? Well myself and Adam are going to initiate a Dux Britanniarum campaign so we will finally see the return of the Chronica Iohannes.

Longstreet Campaign: Game 8

Our 8th and penultimate battle was fought at the Hobby Bunker June 26. We played the Crossroads scenario for a second time and I elected to defend. 

used with permission

I set up my artillery on both flanks but this was a bit of a mistake as Adam's main thrust was towards the centre. It took me quite a bit of time (ie near the end of the first deck) to get them brought into battle.

Adam's initial attack was quite successful and I was thrown back and he captured the crossroads to earn himself an Epic Point. I was also a little unlucky with my deck as all my interrupt cards were very slow in coming. It really did look quite grim but eventually my cannon were brought to bear and I was able to defeat the Rebels. It was a very close game though and we both I believed played quite well. I lead going into the last game by 1 Epic Point. You can see the complete AR on Adam's blog the Fencing Frog.

146th NY being pummeled in combat.

My post game process was so-so, I got 2 Light Artillery cards which were of little benefit. But the Priority card will be quite useful in the last battle and with the See the Elephant and Hail to the Chief cards I was able to improve my units. But the best card was the US Coloured Troops which allow me to field a 10 base regiment of eager troops. You can see the full post battle process below.

As you can see two new units have entered the fray (still need to base them), the 19th Indiana and the 54th Massachusetts. I see that Adam has had two more Longstreet games at the Whiz and he has a many experienced troops. He has been a formidable opponent. 

Well we will see how it goes, the Campaign deciding game is in two days. Stay tuned.

Winter War Soviets: NKVD Squad

I recently received the figures for my Chain of Command Winter War Soviets. There are several choices in 20mm Soviets, but none really for early war. My research leads me to believe that the Soviets troops sent to Finland in 1939 had slightly different uniforms then those in mid and late war. I believe they had a different helmut and neither snow suits nor telogrieka uniforms had yet been issued. Really I had not much choice except for troops in overcoats. I had a long look and really the nicest figures were TQD Castings Kursk Soviets. 

When they arrived a couple of weeks ago, I was quite pleased with my choice. Wrong helmets  but other wise good to go.They really are nice figures. Chain of Command lists the Winter War soviets has having 4 fifteen man squads in each platoon. To break things up, I decided to go with one squad of NKVD. Multiple sources indicate that several regiments of NKVD border police fought in Finland, but I really could not resist the blue and red cap of the NKVD internal police. Not really in winter attire but so it goes.

Soviet squads in CoC have a JL, 12 riflemen and a 2 man LMG team. There was no LMG's modeled in the TQD NKVD figures so I decided to make a slight adjustment. I substituted the LMG with 4 SMG armed men as well as an SMG armed JL. This makes them slightly overpowered at close in fighting but underpowered at longer ranges. However, according to the CoCulator both squads work out to being 25 points. I liked the idea of the NKVD being sent in has close combat troops.

As you can see these are very nice figures, it would have been nice to have more poses but that is a very minor criticism. Mark at CP Models was great with which to deal, and I can highly recommend this company and these troops.

The NKVD came with slotta bases, I cut them down and then used the residual metal to buttress the  figure

They appear pretty solid

I have only a few soviet vehicles left to winterize they should be up soon.

Longstreet Campaign: Game 7

Almost a month since my last post, and gaming activity almost down to zero. I have been finishing up some Soviet vehicles, but otherwise on the painting front........zero. The Drive on Minsk-1941 Chain of Command campaign at the Hobby Bunker has trickled down to zero, I do not think I have had a game since January, but maybe it was even before Xmas. It is always a challenge for me to game on a regular basis as as I work shifts and every second weekend but unfortunately the other players involved appear also to have had multiple distractions. Hoping for a game in early July. I have had my June, 1944 Operation Tonga campaign for the same group ready to go since April!

Then there is the tragedy of Iannick's knee. He had elective surgery on it in February and he is still not up. He has been my regular opponent and excellent gaming friend since the start of my interest in the hobby, we usually have a game every 6-8 weeks alas now none since last year. Life is just not the same without lugging figures and terrain to Montreal. Hopefully though a game in early August.

Finally there has been my Longstreet Campaign with Adam. Now is Adam is a gamer, from his blog I get a sense he gets in at least two games a week. So meeting and getting to game with him on a regular basis has been great. That has been a little slow as well unfortunately but hopefully our next game will be next week. We did get to play the last Thursday in May, and I finally gained a significant victory. We replayed the Walled Farm Scenario.

used with permission

Adam won the toss and elected to be the defender. I placed almost all my terrain choices in the middle in front of the farm. I have become quite apprehensive of Adam's superiority in artillery, and wanted to advance under cover. You can see the AR on Adam's blog. He was a little unlucky with the dice, but I think I played a pretty good game defeating him just after one deck.

The post game process is quite interesting in Longstreet and it all went well without too much attrition until the Campaign Card draw. I pulled 3 artillery cards which were of little value to me, aside from being able to upgrade to another heavy artillery battery. The Name in the Papers did allow me to pull ahead in Epic Points, but I have always found this card a little unfair. I was hoping to get the Coloured Troops card, my only route to Eager troops or at least a See the Elephant card, but nada. I did however finally get promoted up to a Major General, I think Adam must be the equivalent of a Marshall of France by now!

You can see Adam's post game process here. He still has a force with which to be reckoned as you can see.

Other things:

• Well the Habs lost to the Rangers but a great season!
• I just received my Soviet troops for my Winter war project, I selected TQD Castings and the figures are just great, plan to have 3 squads of Soviet regulars and 1 squad of NKVD. I think they are going to look very good.
• Hopefully will have some images of my Soviet vehicles up soon.
• The next Longstreet battle will see the debut of the 146th NY.