From BenD: 15mm WWII 'Soviet' Armour and Infantry (138 points)

From Ben:

Hello All

While I was painting the US from my last post, I finished off a load of half painted soviet bits and pieces I had meant to get around to to help brake up the Brown Violet. These were a couple of Captured Panthers, a Spetsnaz Unit in Captured German Half Tracks and the Infantry for a Rota Infantry platoon (need to start the Transports...).

I will be honest I was dreading the Soviet infantry, base after base of guys to paint.... this and I much prefer painting tanks (I think because it's a lot quicker for me to do). But with all that I must say these guys were fun! I used a few quick methods I have been  messing around with since I did my US winter Infantry and the end results while not stunning are up to a very good table top standard (really my goal with 15mm).

The Panthers were a lot of fun to paint, I love captured equipment (probably why the Fins are my favourite army as it's almost all captured!) I thought about painting them in German Camo, but thought I'd give them a go in Russian Green first. Part of my wishes I had done German Camo, but I'm still happy with the end result.

And Finally the Spetsnaz, the half tracks are green for the same reasons as the Panthers. I tried to paint the special Soviet camo, but I really struggled with it, so in the end I used the colours from it and used my own pattern. After a quick ink wash I think it works well, if not 100% accurate.

Until next time 

Great work Ben. I'm sure all this captured equipment will provide a rude surprise to their German adversaries. Also, it's nice to see some non-armour entries from you as well - they are every bit as nice as your vehicles. Wonderful stuff.

This collection of Soviet armour and infantry will give Ben 138 points.

From BenD: 15mm WWII American Tanks, SP Guns, Jeeps, Halftracks & Patton(!) (118 points)

From Ben:

Hello All

A little change of pace from my current Soviet Drive (Don't worry I'll be back to that in the next few days). Just before Xmas I sold all my FOW US to fund my Soviet army as I had big plans but small pockets. Well one of the guys who bought my tanks wanted me to round out the army, after a little time to finish my Soviets for Corrivalry I started the US APCs.

First up I did 6 Priest Artillery and 2 OP Shermans, these are all Battlefront models and were great fun to paint. The modeled on Stowage (always a favourite of mine) really adds a lot of character to the unit. Although the crew were a paint to stick in...

Next up was 3 Half Tracks from the Plastic Soldier Company. These guys were a little fiddly to put together but I'm happy with the end result.

And Finally Patton and a Jeep recon unit. Patton is a lovely model with real character and a great model to paint. The jeeps were also fun but having now put together 20 or so of the battlefront jeeps I find them a right pain to do. 

In case your wondering the the .50 cals are missing by request of Mike as he's planning on magnetizing them.

Really beautiful vehicles Ben. The Priests are fabulous, but my favourite has to be Patton's armoured car with its 4-star pennants and the man himself reviewing the troops, making sure 'the other poor dumb bastards die for their country.' Classic.

These fine American vehicles (and their crews) will give Ben 118 points. Well done!

From BenD: 15mm WWII Russian Sturmovik & Lend Lease Sherman and Stuart Tanks (128 points)

Hello All

I have finally got around to painting the Stuarts I have been talking about for a while now and have seemingly done everything in my power not to paint! At the same time I also painted up the Sturmovik I also need for the event and a company of Sherman 76mm for a future Lend Lease only force inspired by Steve's one.

The Stuarts are from the Plastic Soldier Company and are technically the wrong model, but they were the only Stuarts I could get my hands on in time for the event and the difference is only the turret. Also the way I look at it is a Stuarts a Stuart, as long as I don't use the same model for both types of Stuart it shouldn't be confusing. Also I loved the model so much when I did my US versions I wanted to build and paint them again.

The Shermans are also from The Plastic Soldier Company and were a lot of fun to build and paint. I did a small swap on them and used some spare Battlefront .50cals I had instead of the ones that came in the box as they are very flimsy.

And finally the Sturmovik, this is the Battlefront version very kindly given to me by Cid. It was quite fun to paint but I did have a lot of trouble were the under camo joins the top camo on the wings. Game wise I have found this to be a waste of points and it will be dropped as soon as I get my hands on some Heavy Mortars and M17 Anti Air, but I don't have the time to buy the models and to paint them up before the event.

Well thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed the post.

Really beautiful work Ben. I've always had a soft spot for Stuarts (must have been 'The Haunted Tank' comic books of my youth) and its great to see them being put to good use by the heroes of the Soviet Socialist Republics. 

These Shermans, Stuarts and the Sturmovik will give Ben 128 points. I hope they do well for you in your upcoming event!

From BenD: 15mm WWII Soviet SU-122 Assault Guns (24 points)

BenD adds some close support to his Soviets with these four SU-122s.

From Ben: 

A quick update today for my expanding Soviet army. I have started bulking out the support options with 4 SU-122's. The models themselves were very nice to put together as unlike a lot of the T-34 based models the mud guards are modeled onto the hull. this saved me a lot of frustration.

Painting wise they were what I was expecting from my now 100 plus range of Soviet tanks, but were still enjoyable.

In the game the SU-122 is great with Volley Fire and Breakthrough gun they give you a great unit to dig out infantry and gun teams with. They are also very cheap from a points perspective.

Next up will be the Stuarts I talked about in my last post, they got pushed back a little as I found some time for a small unit but not a big 10 tank platoon.

Great work Ben! Very clean work and I really like how you've composed your photographs.

These four assault guns will give Ben 24 points. Well done!

From BenD: 15mm WWII Lend-Lease Soviet Armour (130 points)

Ben has his Challenge debut with this excellent herd of Lend-Lease Soviet Matildas.

From Ben:

Hello All,

Been a few weeks since the last time I did an update for my Soviets, so here is a nice little Matilda horde made up of 21 Zvezda Matilda models with a little conversion work. These are also my first models for The Fourth Annual Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge. So hopefully a nice up chunk of points for me!

I have to be honest I have completely fallen for the current "meta" with this purchase. With the new Red Bear the reduced cost, top armour 2 and a surprisingly good all around armour, the Matilda is a great infantry assault unit.

The Zvezda models come with no open hatches, a problem as I want the commanders to be visible to make it easier spot them in the middle of the game. This was solved by cutting off the modeled off hatches and replacing the whole section with some spare Battlefront T-34 hatches I was given by my friend Robin.

Overall I'm happy with the models and the paint job. The Zvezda model is a pretty good model, I would say one of their best when a few of them have been a little hit or miss.

Next up I have a company of Stuarts and 21 Soviet Shermans. Thanks for looking and until next time...

Brilliant work Ben! Did you use an airbrush for these models, the finish is very smooth. Great decals and weathering as well.  I also really like the Soviet tank commander signalling with his special, 'What did we say? All Together! What did we do? One at a time. ' flag.

These 21 (!) Matildas will give Ben a base of 126 points but I'm adding a few more for the hatch mods and commanders.