Comrade! - (Army pics)

A request or two was made to see group/army pictures of my Soviet collection and now it’s all done, I’m no longer sick-as-a-dog and the rain has moved on I grabbed all the pieces and took a few pics for your delectation. Forgive the quality of these photos, they were taken in between annoying coughing fits and so might not be all that great, but they are better than none, eh?

1000 point Bolt Action force of Late War Soviets.

1. GAZ-67 Jeep transport for the Mortar team
2. Medium Mortar team and spotter
3. T-34/85 tank
4. ZIS-6 Truck transport for the Guards squad
5. Sniper team
6. BA-64 Armoured Car
7. ZIS-3 Divisional Gun team
8. Maxim Medium Machine Gun team
9. Veteran Tank Riders squad
10. Guards Infantry squad
11. (Free, points-wise) Inexperienced Infantry squad
12. 1st Lieutenant and Adjutant

The whole lot

Stuff on the right

Front rank out of focus

Now in focus

Better look at those cold-whipped faces

Motor Pool

What's next? (I hear you ask.)

Well for these Communist boys, I have a squad of Scouts in overalls, a Light Mortar team, Commissar, 2nd Officer, Medic and a couple of Anti-Tank rifle teams to paint up for some more options. I also plan to pick up another squad of regular infantry plus a 2nd truck and an earlier war tank to expand my playing options.

I've mentioned before I also have a German force to face the above Soviets, also a Winter (Of course) themed force in greatcoats and scarves, etc. I have almost all the pieces for this 1000 point army with just a ½-track and Panzerschreck team left to pick up. 2017 will be a little more bad-guy-ish I guess.

Due to being so ill, not much painting has been undertaken since my last post, though I did manage to work a little on a Reaper Bones Hill Giant I’d picked up ages ago. I wanted to work on something NOT-World War 2 for a bit! Am hoping to have the big bugger  finished and posted here before the Year’s end.

Tonight will also see the 1^st outing of my above Soviets on the game table – a game of Bolt Action versus my regular opponent Densmol’s Germans (Reportedly bringing an evil SS list.). I’ll try to get some pics and post up an AAR on the affair for you to read.

Should I get no further posts out prior to the weekend, then I hope you all have a very happy Xmas with your loved ones, safe and warm and full of as many hobby/gaming-themed gifts as is possible!

Comrade! (Part 18 - Done)

The final piece of my 1000 point Bolt Action Soviet army is painted and weathered.

This is a T34/85, a tank with a gun that was developed specifically to be able to pop later mark German Panzer iv tanks. It could also pierce the thick armour on Tigers and Panthers on occasion . It became the main battle tank of the Soviet Union until the end of the war.

As with the rest of my Soviet collection, I slapped a whitewash on the tank. The red stars are sloppy free-hand, as is the basic Cyrillic on the turret. It’s been pointed out to me that the snow effects are a little unrealistic as most of it would fall off as it trundles across the battlefield, but too late now. It’s on and it’ll have to do.

*And yes, a post with full army pics is forthcoming, it’s just soggy as heck outside right now, so I’ll have to wait until the wet weather moves on.

Comrade! (Part 17)

This is a Warlord Games Soviet ZIS-3 Divisional Gun. Crap pictures though - apologies, it seems it's too dark in the mornings (My typical opportunity for doing so) for photo-time.

In-game it can fire as both an Anti-tank gun AND a light howitzer. (Most guns of this size typically are classed as either-or.) This all metal kit was crisply sculpted and only had one glaring issue - game rules have it as being crewed by four men, yet the gun is sold with only three!? (Not very good planning on Warlord's part.) Lucky I had a spare infantry-man from my plastic Winter troops set to fill in!

The painting was easy - both gun and crew were a breeze to get done and fit in well enough (The metal crew are all Summer uniform, not Winter like the rest of my army but o well.) with the rest of my army. I based the whole thing on a CD, used my usual basing medium, made sure to leave indents for the crew bases so I can remove them as casualties are taken and added snow effects and some foliage. The logs are some very nice finds by my son whilst out with his Mum walking the dog. These too were painted and look okay as a makeshift log-barrier thing.

Fellow with the shell at the back is the plastic addition to thew crew. Some hand manipulation and a crappy looking artillery shell made from a toothpick and he'll do. 

Tried to add red & white stripes the to the ranging poles. Pretty shoddy effort though. 

Unlike most of the rest of my force, this base is not entirely covered in snow, to account for the crew running back and forth with ammo, etc.

Was very tempted to add some sort of white-wash camo to the gun too, but felt it would just melt in with the base-colours so stuck with basic Soviet green.

I promise better pictures will be forthcoming once I have an opportunity to get out when the lighting is better. But rain and storms are on their way to Northern California so that might be a while yet.

Finishing up this gun means I only have my tank to go and then be able to call this army the mythical "Fully Painted". Which rocks muchly. The tank is currently about 75% completed and I hope to have it done and posted here by next week, in time for my Mum's visit from Blighty when painting time will be near non-existent.

Hope everyone's staying warm out there!

Comrade! (Part 16)

Shamefully I missed all last week's opportunity to post up. Rotten of me for sure. I blame a combo of soggy weather making picture-taking conditions non-existent and Thanksgiving escapades. But enough on that. 

Some painting has commenced since my last post - firstly my Medium Machine Gun team for my WW2 Soviet Bolt Action army. The wheeled Maxim machine gun (I think from WW1) was still utilised by the infantry as a reliable piece of kit and so I present it here for you. As my previous post mentioned, the sculpts for the crew were rather crap, therefore most facial details had to be painted on so please excuse the crudity of my freehand. (These are Warlord Games sculpts)

Friday 25th also happened to be my very good friend Gregg's 42nd birthday and as my gift to him, I decided to paint up this dragon. He seemed happy enough with it, so job done. (Though I did mention that he is not at all allowed to plonk it on the table as a monster for us players to face in any future rpg session!) I have no idea who produced this mini.

Horrid focus on this one, apologies. Rain was starting up again and so was taken hastily!

Also about this time last year another gaming friend, Steve had asked that I paint up this cute Fox. A simple effort, I am most chuffed over how his eyes came out - shifty, like a sly fox should have!

And with extra time to myself and whilst watching the Oakland Raiders do their best to once again lose a game I went on to start work on the final two pieces for my WW2 Soviet army. Since these pics were taken the crew to the AT gun were completed and it's base started on. I might well have it finished by this weekend!

And.... I'm spent. Christmas is coming up and a gaming opportunity or two could be on the cards if I can wrangle spare moments between incoming family and friends' visits next month. Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate - Ciao!

Comrade! (Part 15)

This weekend I was lucky enough to have the house to myself for an extended period of time. I watched Grosse Point Blank, the second season of Dark Matter and finished off my GAZ-67 jeep and GAZ-6 truck for my 28mm Soviets.

Keeping with the Winter theme I've attempted a whitewash effort and applied a similar mud/snow effect as shown previously on my BA-64 to make sure they matched. In all honesty, my mud effect is painstakingly long to apply and by the time I'd gotten to putting the snow on, I was out of patience with the whole process and so apologise that these two don't look as good as they could or should.

Wanted the Whitewash to look like it was hastily slapped on with some sort of locally sources household paint. 

Left the windows without snow effects - it's a clear-skies kind of day I guess.

Trying to spread the textured stuff and then paint it brown during the muddying step in all those wheel arches and nooks and crannies almost killed my desire to paint for the res of the year!

Overhead shot to show the truck bed - kept it deliberately simple so that minis placed in there won'd bugger up the work.

GAZ-67 jeep knock-off was a cool little motor. The Soviets didn't actually make that many of them cos the Yanks had sent a massive amount of regular Jeeps through Lend Lease. Still, I like how chunky it looks in comparison to the Western version. (Driver here with gloves painted on as it's obviously cold as heck driving open-topped int he snow!)

I tried unsuccessfully multiple times to cut out some clear plastic to fit in the window frames, but the frame is pretty damned flimsy (It arrived folded three ways! >_<) so just imagine that this fellow drives with his eyes open against the frosty breezes.

The snow gathers even in the back seat. Wet trousers for whoever decides to plonk their derriers in the rear.

I also got started on my Maxim Medium Machine Gun team. This is another Warlord Games set, though not at all up to the standard of their other metal sculpts. The details are so soft (!!!) that I'll have to get rather creative during the detailing phase. As well, base coated my tank with Soviet Green so that I can slap on Winter Whitewash.

Still lots to do, but Base colours and initial wash are done. Next up are the fun parts.

With my transport vehicles done and the soontobe finished (above) MMG team painted up, that'll leave only my T34/85, ZIS-3 Divisional artillery gun and mounted Tank Rider marker to paint up and then call my 1000 point WW2 Soviet list fully painted! Pretty excited to be honest. :)

Used up a 3MMRPC Joker during their Halloween sale (They advertised their WW2 Soviet line 40% off) and purchased a squad of Soviet Scouts to add a fourth infantry option for my army. I really like these SMG armed sculpts as they are all in full hooded overalls. This means I'll be able to paint them up all white and test out a new White painting recipe I have in mind. Something for after I finish the main list.

Cheers.

Comrade! (Part 14)

Lots of time found for painting this weekend, which gave me ample opportunity to finish off my third and final squad for my WW2 Soviets. These guys are the "free" Inexperienced chaps that Soviet players get per their National rules. All armed with rifles and Anti-tank grenades/Molotov Cocktails.

With these done, I can go on to start work on my vehicles (More on those below) and final weapons teams. If this pace keeps up, I'll actually have a fully painted army before Xmas!

Lots more uniform looking fellows to this squad. Wanted them to look "Fresh out of basic training" with as much uniform gear as possible. 

I also kept their bases specifically bare of grasses or bushes to make them more distinctive in order to be able to tell them apart from my other squads all the easier. 

Squad leader pointing the way. Shite pic though as I couldn't get the phone camera to zoom in well enough. O well.

Firing Line - the mass of grey greatcoats and green helmets looks bloody cool to me.

With these finished I got going on the squad transport, a ZIS-6 truck. It's painted up to a basic tabletop level and I could just go and play with it as is, but to match the Winter theme I'll apply whitewash and weathering at the same time as the other two vehicles in my list (Tank and Jeep).

Model is a Resin and Metal effort by Warlord Games. Took a little warm water treatment to twist the truck bed straight and a little trimming of the cab room, but otherwise went together well and was relatively fun to paint up. 

Just a quick spray of varnish and it'll be ready for the next step.

Work was also started on my little GAZ-67 Soviet jeep. Not much left to get it up to the standard of the above truck.

This thing's got a drive too who is also on the list. 

Hope to have lots more done this weekend as I'll have the house blissfully to myself for most of the time! :)

Zomtober 2016 (Week 5 GOOOOOOLLLLL!!!!)

The mojo returned and my Zomtober 2016 goal of painting up my WW2 German zombies is completed afterall.

Nuff said.

All five of them, new arrivals at the fore. The bases need a wee bit of touching up on their edges, but otherwise I'm happy enough with them considering they were fast'n'dirty paint-jobs.

Unteroffizier (Not that zombies observe ranks or anything.) in the center, with Fraus Guts-out and Gammy Leg either side of him. 

Camo Smock things. Looked up some late late War camo designs and saw this relatively simple one. Contrasts well enough with the Feldgrau I think and doesn't look utter shite.

As you can see, Gammy leg has been dragging his right leg and bleeding all over the shop, whilst Guts-out (A design request from my son) seems to be dripping and slipping in... himself.

So there - Zomtober ended up a success afterall and I'm happy enough with the finished pieces.

Whilst basing these, I also got the painted-til-now Soviets based up too (Post on those to follow once all of the squad are done.). Two months until the end of the year and I think I can have my Bolt Action Soviets fully painted by then!

On the gaming front, got in a game of Star Wars: Armada with Densmol Saturday. My Imperial fleet fell to the massed firepower of Admiral Ackbar on his MC-80 and attendant bomber squadrons though. No blaming the dice on this one though, just pure silly Admiralship on my part. Loads of fun though!

Happy Halloween to you all! Hope all of you and your loved ones stay safe and dry out there. (I'll be handing out sweets again, which I very much enjoy as I love seeing all the little faces eager and excited for the holiday.)