Soviet Infantry-3D Prints

No, I have not started to print Space Marines on my Photon Zero!

I first got my resin printer about 16 months ago in a Black Friday sale, it was $100! I felt there was little to lose as my main focus was to print vehicles that I could not find in hard plastic for my 1/72 WWII wargaming. I am not a big modeller so precise detail on the models was to critical to me but I was finding that my FDM printer although good for buildings was really not the thing for small scale vehicles. I had seen that you could do a lot of post processing to improve things but that would have defeated the purpose of pumping out tanks so I could play games. There are no end of fairly good STL's for free and once I got the trick of placing supports, things were going well. I was expecting to stop there.

And then along came this STL designer, Propylene Foliescu who was putting out the most amazing looking infantry figures for the Winter War, a particular area of interest for me. I knew had a pretty dated printer but I said why not give it a try. I first printed up a bunch of Finns that came out quite well but I already had a lot of Finns so I shifted my focus to the Soviets which I was short one section for a full platoon. 

I went ahead and purchased what he had on Wargaming3D, and made some adjustments to the scale and off I went, I really had a problem with only a single model of the Soviets but when I had a look at the actual models I could see I had a problem. The bulk of my Winter Soviets are from CPModels, these sculpts are really quite nice, anatomic and ...tall. When I compared the 28mm models scaled to 70%, they looked like dwarves. One of the great things about 3d printing is that you can mess around with the scale. I played around and came up with a print where I scaled down the model to 70% and then increase the vertical scale to 80%. They were near perfect as you can see below.

The CP/TQD model is on the right, it still looks a little taller but that is because it has a base, proportionally they were quite similar.

So, I went ahead and printed a batch of models, the Photon Zero has a tiny build plate but it was pretty easy to print 12 models at a time. I was really quite pleased by the result. 

A Soviet section which is quite variably sized through out the course of the war.  there are 15 figures here, with 13 rifled armed troops, a JL and a 2 man LMG team.

Some SMG armed troops to use as supports, there were only 2 different poses.

One thing I was really lacking was guns, here is a Gun team with a SL and  a  m1936  76mm gun as well as a m1937 45 mm gun. 

The guns are from Night Sky Miniatures 

I finally got some troops to put in my Quad Maxim Gaz Truck.

A Soviet Field Kitchen from Night Sky Miniatures

I now have a complete Soviet platoon for CoC, I had been using a unit of NKVD as my 4th section but I am now good. I will try to get the Finns I printed some time ago painted and post them.

 

 

Troops for "O" Group-Finally

 

After several months delay, mostly because I hate painting 6mm infantry figures, I have completed pretty solid Early War German and Soviet forces to play Eastern Front games using Dave Brown's "O" Group rules for battalion wargaming in WWII.

We played a couple of test games virtually using plastic bases in March and April of this year when the rules first came out. I was not sure about going with 6mm troops but I really felt my 20mm WWII were out of scale for this game. I have a lot of AFV's in 6mm which were left over from my Rommel project so I thought why not. I am also having a lot of storage and transport issues and I really needed to decrease my wargaming footprint in our house (interestingly enough, all my 6mm stuff as well as some 28mm skirmish gaming figures and terrain for the FIW, Napoleonic's and SAGA will be taking a trip to Montreal to establish permanent residence in my apartment there). 

I also decided to play the game in centimetres rather than inches so I have put together quite a bit of terrain for this project. In retrospect, I might of gone with 10mm or 12 mm figures but now I am done, I believe I probably made the correct choice. But I have to say I got no pleasure out of painting these 6mm infantry. Now have to think whether I am going to add a Early War Western European force due to the release of the new source book for this theatre. 

Does not look like much but it took quite a bit of work and organization. I am playing on a 100x60cm mat, which I suspect will be fine. The Soviet vehicles are all resin 3D printed as are some of the German vehicles but most are metal from various manufacturers. The infantry and the guns are all from Heroics and Ros, the guns are OK but the figures themselves were not that great with a lot of flash, MicroArmor are much better. The bases are all metal and variably sized, but the infantry bases are 20x14mm. I had planned to go with a 1:1 scale but the infantry base had to fit with my plan to game in centimetres, so each squad (base) is around 1:2 scale with 4-5 figures per base.

Soviet OB

HQ Base

FO Base

4 Artillery Supports

3 Company Commanders-A,B,C

Company A-9 bases

Company B-9 bases

Company C-9 bases

3x Maxim sections

2x 45mm ATG section

2x 76mm IG sections

2x 57mm ATG sections

14x Gaz trucks

3x M3A1 Scout cars

2x T34 platoons

2x T26 platoons

2x T60 platoons

T70 platoon

2x BA10 platoons

SU76 platoon

German OB

HQ Base

FO Base

4 Artillery Supports

3 Company Commanders-A,B,C

Company A-9 bases

Company B-9 bases

Company C-9 bases

3x MMG sections

2x Panzerschrek sections

60mm Mortar section

2x Pak36 ATG section

2x IG18 sections

2x Pak38 ATG sections

12x Opel trucks

PzIV B platoon

PzIV F platoon

2x PzIII platoons

2x  PzII platoons

Pz38 platoon

Sdkfz 222 platoon

Sdkfz 232 platoon

Sdkfz 234 platoon

I appreciate some of the weapons listed above were not available in the EW Eastern Front.

For transport, I use a Chessex troop box which can easily carry 2 complete battalions with all the extras with lots of space to spare. Each army his adhered to a magnetic sheet. I suspect that I might be actually able to fit a 3rd layer in the box.......will it be French or Dutch!

It is funny to think that this blog started off documenting my progress painting 28mm Napoleonic figures and now it is almost completely devoted to Action Reports but I do have several nearly finished painting projects on the painting table which I hope to photograph before the end of the year.

Striking Back-Third Go

 

I got together with Tom yesterday to get in another test of Striking Back, an Armoured versus Infantry encounter set during the Battle of the Raate Road in January of 1940. This is the third test now with 3 different experienced CoC players; and the scenario seems to work well. For this third version, I made some minor modifications to the terrain set up, mostly to make it a little simpler. You can find the latest version with the rest of my Winter War campaign material here in my Google Drive.

I played the Soviets this time, which was good, I had previously played the Finns twice and in this game I really wanted to focus on the CoC Roadblock rules to see how they would work in the scenario. We have had a lot of discussion on the TFL forum about Finnish Roadblocks and I had decided to go with the rules as written.

Clearing Roadblocks
A Roadblock may be cleared by an Engineer or Pioneer demolition Team. They are equipped with sufficient charges to destroy a single roadblock in a game. To do this they must spend two Phases in which they are activated adjacent to the roadblock during which time they must not lose any members killed or have any Shock inflicted. They must retire at least 9” in order to detonate the charge safely, which requires one further Phase activated. On a roll of 4 to 6 on a D6 they can declare the roadblock destroyed, after which vehicles may pass without hindrance. On a roll of 2 or 3 the road block is partially destroyed and vehicles may pass it but at slow speed only.

As you can see this is a pretty tough requirement and although I like winning, I was more focussed on destroying the Roadblock if indeed Tom selected one as a support. I was curious how the process worked.

Finns (Starting FM of 10)
Core
2  SL's
4 Rifle Sections (2 LMG, 2 SMG) with JL's
Supports
Roadblock
Sniper
MMG Team
Off Table Mortar
Rifle Section
AT Defense Team
Medic
Molotovs for each core Section
Smoke Pots for each core section
2 Heavy Satchel Charges

Soviets (Starting FM of 8)
As laid out in the scenario, no additional supports

The game commenced with the Soviets going first. The Finns were not able to advance their JOP's that far up the table.

From the Soviet end

The T28 and BT7 lead the Soviet advance

It looks like there is a Roadblock. The cautious Finns start their advance in the forest.

The BT7 rapidly advances to the Roadblock....big mistake. The KhT26 enters.

A Finnish Antitank team takes out the BT7, but the Flamethrower tank advances up the verge and they disappear in a puff of smoke. The battle has commenced.


  
Finnish Tank Hunters

The Soviet commander sends up a Gaz with a SL and a Rifle squad, they disembark and advance to outflank the Finns, they have a tough slog through the deep snow with their average advance being 3"!

The T28 advances up to the road block on the verge but gets bogged down! The Finns have launched a mortar barrage.

The Soviet slow advance on their left flank. By now the Soviets had pulled back their Flamethrower tank but started to advance their T26 platoon. They also send out a 2nd Gaz truck with a second Rifle squad which disembarks and trudges through the snow on their right flank.


 

The KOed BT7 was a real pain as it blocked LOS from the road so the T26 platoon had to advance up the verge. I only could get LOS from 2 of them on the Finns on the right flank (unfortuantely I forgot that the T26 had a top mounted MMG so their fire power utilised was a measly 4HE)

Time to send out the engineers, you can see them advancing along the road accompanied by a truck mounted Quad Maxim team. We played that the Soviets could ditch their trucks after their troops disembarked.

A real traffic snarl which was my main tactical error. The Quad Maxim had no LOS.

 
Some infantry action 


Two Soviet Demo Teams

The Soviets despite sending 2 Demolition teams in with the T28 giving covering fire, they get rapidly chopped up by the Finns in the forest.


Tom pops another Finnish  squad on the table by now the Soviet moarle is 1, time to pull out.

Well it was a good game, with the Finns winning with a FM of 5 to the Soviet's FM of 1. All three games have worked well with none of the experienced CoC players offering any major criticisms. All games were close with the Soviets winning the first time around, the second game was very close with a intial Soviet win but a major error was made at the end with the Finnish SL taking a FM test which he should not have taken at a time when both sides FM was 4. Our game above was a good victory for the Soviets.

I certainly made a few errors and Tom played an excellent game, holding back his Finns until he had a good advantage and then disappearing back into the forest. The Soviet player does have a pretty tough time advancing his AFV's up the road. Having a KOed tank blocking the road right at the road block was a major error as it blocked the LOS for the rest of my armour. It also stopped me from giving good covering fire to the demolition squad when it attempted to blow the Roadblock. I have to say though I think it is almost a futile task for the Soviets to take out this road block.

I think I may modify the scenario to give the Soviets an option to take another Rifle squad rather than the Engineering squad but I will give it a bit more thought. I really do not want to enlarge the game as it is already quite big.

Retake Suomussalmi

I finally got in a Winter War game yesterday, the first for 3 years. It was nice to get the Soviets and Finns out of their boxes as well as set up some winter terrain. About a month ago, I connected with a relatively local TFL gamer, Greg. He had put on a Sharp Practice game at Huzzah, I did not get to play in the game but we had a bit of a chat and decided in the near future to have a game of Chain of Command. My regular TFL opponent Mike has been pretty tied up with work and we have not been able to get together much in the last year.

We decided to play at my place, which made it very easy as I did not have to lug a lot of stuff about and rush to set up the terrain. I have been working on a Winter War campaign for several years now and this pushed me along and I now have 4 of the 6 planned scenarios done. But more about that later.

Anyway, this specific scenario is set early in December, 1939 and is as laid out in the following pamphlet.

I took a few more photos then usual and the action was quite straight forward as described in the photos. We diced for sides, I ended up with the Soviets. Lately most games I have played, I have been the attacker so it was a change.

The Patrol Phase was very odd as the Finns got 6 free moves and do not have to stay within 12" of each other. I was pretty stymied as we were playing down the short axis of the table and I had 6' to defend. This is where they ended up. You can not see it but there was a Finnish Patrol marker all the way up the table to my left flank. 

Green Soviet Forces

Force Rating -4, 5 Command Dice, 13 Supports

Force Morale 8

2 Senior Leaders

3 Green Rifle Squads

1 Regular NKVD Squad

3 entrenchments

Maxim MMG Team

Flamethrower Team

Sniper

Pregame Barrage

Elite Finnish Forces

Force Rating +5, 5 Command Dice, 8 supports

Force Morale 11

2 Senior Leaders

4  Elite Jããkãri Squads

Off Table Mortar

? 3 Supports

Greg had the first move as he was the attacker, fortunately I had selected a pregame barrage as one of my supports and with the Soviet National Characteristic of Wrath of the Gods, I was able to get 3 of my sections safely entrenched on the table within the first few phases with overwatch markers before he really could get set up. Most of his JOP points were on my right flank so I felt I could anticipate from where he would attack.

The Soviets look ready, but Greg deploys a FO in the tree line to the far right. ...........

.........and Kaboom before you know it 2 of my squads are under the barrage and I lose a JL almost immediately and my FM drops to 6! Oh dear, I say. I am able to end the turn and lift the barrage but by now.....................

........................Greg deploys a Jããkãri squad from his JOP on my right flank and they rapidly advance on my very shocked squad. The Finns are indeed aggressive......................

...............and in they come. Sometimes however the dice gods are on your side and despite being heavily shocked and pinned I manage to eke out a 1 point victory in the ensuing combat and the Finns are driven back.

Some action missed here but Greg decides to advance a 2nd squad to take out the entrenched Soviets , but this time I am ready and it is my turn....... I pop out a Flamethrower Team which takes care of the advancing Finns and drives them back and I also deploy my NKVD squad directly into close combat (I believe Greg was generous here as I believe I was a little outside of 4") with the Finns in the woods and they are destroyed...............

I have now dropped the Finn's Force Morale down and things are starting to look secure for the Soviets as we are both sitting at 6....................but CoC can be a fickle game, it is Greg's phase and he throws 4xd6.............. 

......................and a random barrage drops down on my left flank! The Finns advance on my right and take out the exposed Flame Thrower team. They are indeed aggressive but the NKVD can be aggressive as well and they advance forward to take the battle to the Finns but I had forgotten about the Finnish FO in the woods and before I knew it another barrage rains down on my right flank.

The game now turned into one of pure attrition where the barrage kept on pounding my right however I was able to fire continuously from my left flank on the exposed troops in the centre, I finally got a double phase and was able to lift the barrage and with constant fire the Finns morale dropped to 2, a Soviet victory was had.

I have to say that I really enjoyed this game, I thought I was done for early on when my FM dropped to 6 in the first few phases. I then got lucky with the dice and with my Flamethrower team and NKVD squad and was able to inflict FM damage on the Finns (I think Greg threw a lot of 6's). In my previous games it was rare to have any close combat, it is bloody.

I also have to say that it was great to meet another local TFL gamer with whom it was a pleasure to play. I am sure we will get in more games. I am also that much closer to finishing my Winter War campaign that has been sitting on the back burner fore quite sometime.