T-62 - Soviet Heavy Metal

Somewhere in Germany circa 1979

Courtesy of my pal Tamas, I took delivery the other day of three Grubby Tanks T-62.  This brings my count of T-62s to six now, which with three left to go - is almost a full combat.  

The figures themselves are resin and metal and have their problems.  There's a bit of bubbling in the resin, which I had to attack with green stuff and I'm not sure the game was worth the candle. Regardless Tamas has done a lovely job on them and hopefully they will be storming across the North German Plain before too long.  

The T-62 equipped units in the 62nd Shock Army, which is the unit I'm sort of modelling.  Armed with substantial armour and a powerful 115mm gun, they were a match for the Centurions and M60s they were arrayed against.

Steel beasts unleashed

I had five minutes and threw a bit of set dressing together to snap some pics.   If there is one piece of advice I can give the budding Cold War gamer it is get yourself some toy cars in your preferred scale because they dress a battlefield like nobodies business. 

I had originally collected these with a view to using them with Battlegroup Northag, many many moons ago, but lost interest when they decided to shift to 12mm figures.  I've run a fair bit of Cold War skirmish stuff using Savage Worlds, Force on Force and Black Ops.  Of those Black Ops is the best wargame, but it is firmly a skirmish wargame and doesn't lend itself to tanks. 

Tom is making noises about Seven Days to the Rhine which is very much a tank heavy game and I do have a copy, so I might have a look at that.  Though between COVID and everything else, God knows when these will finally see the field. 

Not the best picture I've ever taken

I wasn't going to use this picture, because I'd framed it badly, but it does at least give you a decent view of the tanks. 

Vickers Light Tanks

Two twin turrets Vickers Light Tanks from Frontline 

I have been taking an interest in my small VBCW collection of late.  It's mainly an excuse to play some Memoir games and not worry too much about the kit and also I suppose the fact that it is a small collection and therefore something I can finish. These are Vickers 6 Tonners, the type A with the twin Vicker MG turrets.  I picked these because they were a snip at less than a fiver each and they could definitely not be mistaken for anything else. There's something quite Heath Robinson about them. 

Enemy Mortars for preventing pursuit across a frozen river

For those of you unfortunate enough to lack the benefits of a classical education, Heath Robinson was a British illustrator who was devoted to drawing ridiculous and incredibly complex machines.  I always remember the series of sketches he did for the Guinness company which showed the process of making a pint by means of pulleys, bits of string and magnets which were something of a fixture in older Irish pubs in the 1980s. 

Please forgive the eccentric camoflage pattern and the poor pictures. I've been struck down my a ghastly flu and I just wanted to paint something without worrying too much about the details.  The tanks were sprayed grey, because that was what I had to hand. They were then given a coat of dark green and a light dry brush of dark green mixed with a little yellow. The camoflage scheme was plucked from the air and was based on the paints that were closest to my hand.  I suspect that these are going to be forming part of the BUF armoured militia.

A recognition symbol cribbed from a 1/35 scale modelling site. 

I really should have included a picture of one of these with a figure next to them as you don't really get a sense of how tiny these are.  They really are rather dinky compared to the hulking great monsters of later years.

The Flames of War chaps get quite a bit of stick, but I've always liked their painting guides which are quite straight forward.  I suppose if I do any more VBCW armour I will probably use the guide above - but at the same time I quite like my eccentric looking twin turreted creature up above. 

Back to bed I think. Bah humbug. 

British armour

A collection of British armour

I've been wiling away the odd hour assembling part of the collection of British armour I've gathered since Christmas. The Plastic Soldier Company Shermans were from Rosbif and the other armour were from my Secret Santa. The Secret Santa was excellent fun and well done to Ian and Cath for organising it.

I was casting around for information on how to dolly these up which led to a rather frustrating trip to the box room with a lot of coughing and spluttering. Now say what you like about the Flames of War chaps - but they do know how to run a website and while it wasn't quite the same as being able to poke away with my Osprey in front of me, there was some very useful information there.

Amongst other things I found;

British tank markings in Normandy
Flames of War Achilles
Guide to stowage
Guide to painting stowage

Armourfast Achilles with stowage from S&S

I've decided that I'm going to (probably vainly) attempt to emulate the sort of gypsy look that you see in pictures of late war British armour. Lots of tarps, bundles, small packs, jerry cans and so forth. If I could find a bicycle anywhere I throw it on the back. The Achilles in particular look a bit empty and my spares box isn't overly blessed with tank crew, so I'm going to have to improvise. 

Armourfast Cromwell with a Plastic Soldier Company tank commander

Making tarps, camoflage nets and so forth out of green stuff is not beyond the wit of Kinch, so there will be plenty of that. I've been ransacking by bits box for other pieces, which I will add with time. In a rare fit of order - I also collected all my decals and filed them away in a cigarillo box, along with a cigar box for stowage. Though in terms of stowage, I seem to be using it as fast as I can find it.

A Plastic Soldier Company Sherman with a HAT tank commander

I've also taken the opportunity to have a bit of a clean out - so keep your eyes peeled as there may be spare figures going a begging. If you've any particular stuff that you want or have to trade, let me know in the comments and I'll see if I can sort you out. Myself I'm looking for assembled British Second World War  artillery (though Napoleonics, Crimean figures and anything suitable for VBCW would also be welcome), though if you're reading this you've probably about as much idea as what I'm looking for at present as I do myself.