VDV Company Unit by Unit

OK - as promised here are the photos of each of the individual units broken down.

I'll start with the Company HQ

Moving from left to right we have Sniper (forgot to put a spotter figure in...) Medic, Company CO, Company Political Officer, Company HQ BMD-1P, Company Sergeant, Senior Technican (with radio) and a paratrooper.

First Platoon

The squad in the centre is the Platoon HQ squad, with each squad having 5 dismounts - an NCO, a RPG, a RPK-74 or PKM, and 2 paratroopers with AK-74 (possibly one also having a BG-15).  BMDs are a mix of BMD-1s and 2s.

Second Platoon

Similar set up to the First Platoon

Third Platoon

Again this is very similar to the First Platoon.

Now we get into the support options.  The Company would have attached to it some AA options - typically a MANPADS squad with SA-7 or SA-14.  The Battalion also has a ZU-23-2 Battery so I have mixed these two together.

Three of the four figures are armed with SAM.  The fourth is the NCO in charge.  The SAM squad could be carried in a BTRD, such as the one on the right, which could also act as a portee for a ZSU-23-2.  I've added another ZSU-23-2 onto a Gaz-66 truck - which could either tow the AA gun or again act as a portee.

Another company support option was the Automatic Grenade Launcher Squad - equipped with AGS-17 AGLs.

Again this squad is transported in a BTRD.  They had 2 x AGS-17 and 3 other squad members (and NCO and 2 other crew)

Each Battalion also had a 120mm Mortar Battery

The battery had 6 mortars, so I thought it reasonable that each of the three companies could be supported by a gun section of two tubes.  I also added in a 2S9 Nona for more options.  Beside (on the right) the 2S9 is a Mortar Fire Controller.

Probably only used if they were without the BMD's a Parachute Regiment has an anti-tank battery of AT-4 Launchers and SPG-9 recoilless rifles.  I've included them for completeness sake.

I've also included a Foward Air Controller and a Forward Artillery Observer, along with there UAZ-469 rides.

Finally - the ASU-85 platoon

So that's pretty much it for my VDV.  Of course there are a couple of other units that could fit in with the VDV, like a BRDM Anti-tank Platoon, but they can also fit in very easily to a Motor Rifle Company, so I'll hold them over for that.

Thanks for looking

Have fun

Richard

Complete VDV Mechanised Company + Attachments

Well I've finally finished and managed to photograph my first Cold War 1-to-1 company (apart from a T-72 Tank Company).  This is a VDV (Soviet Paratrooper) Mechanised Company primarily equipped with BMD-1 and BMD-2 air-portable/air-droppable infantry fighting vehicles.

All the figures here are from Liberation Miniatures and the vehicles are a range of ACE kits, S&S Models, Liberation Miniatures, MMS, GRAN and MAC.

Here are a few photos of the whole company plus attachments:

I hope you can get an idea of the size/scope of the force by looking at these pics.  Tomorrow I'll break it down into it's constituent units.

Thanks

Richard

BMD's and BTRD

Well I didn't quite realise it at the time my my last post was my 150th post - so I'm quite chuffed with managing to make it this far!

Enough self-congratulation - on with the show.

Next up are a couple of ACE Models BMD-1s.  As I said in the last post, the under-carriage on these were a bit of a nightmare, a real lesson in pain-in-the-neckery - basically because they allow you to have the wheels up or down.  Once I had decided what to do with them and which hatches to leave open - it was all relatively straight forward. 

I added some standard Liberation Miniatures Russian Tank crew as the drivers, and did some head swaps on some more tank crew to create VDV vehicle commanders.  I'm happy with the end result - (it would of helped if I had put one of the turrets on properly!) so here they are:

At the same time I quickly worked up an old MMS BTRD and added a GRAN or ACE ZU-23 to give my VDV some more AAA.  Here it is:

And here it is with the Gaz-66 AAA from last week:

Finally here is a group shot of my most recent VDV armour:

Thanks

Richard

A trio of BMP-2s

Well, here we are, back on the Cold War wagon again.  This time my Soviet reinforcements consist of 3 BMP-2s each of different make.

It's easiest to jump straight into the pictures - so just bear in mind as you look at them that they are arranged for easy comparison from left to right - MMS - S&S - ACE Models

As you can see - a fairly basic and simple paintjob - but the look I was going for.  These chaps will play a vital role in a small game I am currently planing.

Next up - some Soviet Artillery or perhaps something (Cold War related) that is a little different.

Thanks and have fun

Richard

MMS BRDM-2 Variants

This week we are back into the Cold War with a couple of MMS BRDM-2 variants.

Firstly some good news on MMS. From what I understand a long time ago (in a galaxy far away) MMS used to make a pretty impresive array of Cold War vehicles. Some time ago they stopped. It seems they must have decided to concentrate on WW2 vehicles.

Luckily for me I have a friend who has a little stock of Cold War MMS vehicles that I am slowly buying off him. Some appear every now and again on ebay as well.

Now the good news: The Hobbyden has recently announced that they are taking over the MMS modern Range. It looks like , their main emphasis will be the Cold War and in particular their first releases will be focussed on the Soviets. Unlike the original MMS (at least what I have seen of it) all the stuff done by The Hobbyden will be produced in resin and metal - which means it will weigh a lot less for postage.

So that is really good news - The Hobbyden also has a range of stuff made by them that suits the Cold War - go check them out.

Okay - so onto my MMS BRDM-2 variants. Here's a wikipedia link with more information on the BRDM-2:

BRDM 2

Review

I can't really say too much here as i got both of these vehicles completely made up. Recently however, I did get a MMS BTRD in its original box - still in peices so I'll give a proper review of that one later. These are very heavy models and basically all I can say is that they look pretty damn good to me!

Painting

I simply painted these as I pretty much paint every Soviet bit of kit I have - so nothing new there.

So - on with the show. First up is a BRDM-2UM Command Vehicle



Its a pretty boring model - hence just the one photo - but it does the job I think.

Next up is a 9P148 Konkurs. I really like this one:





Again - pretty standard stuff but a lovely detailed little model.

Bottom line - keep an eye out for MMS releases from the Hobbyden and watch out on ebay - well worth it.







Have fun

Richard

Finished the Week Long Project

Well - there you go... I finally managed to finish my week long project. At first I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew - then I thought I'd finish with time to spare - and then it took until tonight to get it all done to a wargaming standard. I hadn't actually planned on doing any figures, but did manage to finish 18 of them - so I'm pretty happy with that.

After this weekend's big game I'll come back to these and weather the vehicles and base the figures properly.

Here's some pics of the whole lot (I need to fiddle with the settings on the camera - its eluding me at the moment...)







T-72's - The Tank Collection (repainted) on the left, Cromwell models on the right



ACE models BMP's



Liberation BMD-1s and BMD-2s (some older? some newer I guess)



MMS 2S1



Liberation Soviet figures - dipped





Moving on to some British stuff now - to be ready by Saturday morning!!!

Have fun

Richard