4CMBG Infantry w/ M113\s

 After struggling with a month of shift work in which morning, noon and night was experienced in a fairly random manner and thanks to some fantastic insomnia while trying to transition back to a dayshift schedule, I've been able to complete the Canadian Infantry of the 4CMBG. All I have left is to finish a U.S. Vulcan for additional air defense and the army is complete.

 Here is an air defense unit with blowpipe missiles. I hope they don't miss!

Here is a TOW unit next to an M113 TOW launcher. The M113 TOW is actually from Peter Pig and is supposed to be for a modern Humvee. Not quite accurate, but I love the fact that a dude is actually operating the TOW launcher.

 

Platoon of infantry and a squad to support the TOW team.

Finally there is the Command vehicle. There is no squad to go with this as I figure the vehicle will most likely act as a marker for command radius and not actually fight. So in all that will make a force of 4 Leopard 1's, a platoon of infantry and support units for air defense and anti-tank. Looks like Greg added some fairly modern stuff (by mid 1980's at least) to his force, so I hope we play with a high troop quality modifier.

4CMBG M113's

I've finished the majority of the Canadian M113's. All models are Battlefront except for the Lynx which is QRF. Hopefully I can get the rest of the infantry finished over the next few weeks.

Some More 15mm Soviet Vehicles

More Soviet armour for the subjugation of the running-dog Yankee capitalists...

The build up continues for the 15mm Cold-War- Gone-Hot project. Here are a few more vehicles - a pair of MBTs and another IFV. These were painted while traveling on vacation in Northern Ontario.
There are two T-80BVs and another BMP-2D troop carrier in this painting batch.  The models are all from QRF.

QRF T-80BV tanks - ERA bricks mounted on the hull and turret

My prior experiences with the QRF T-80BVs were not great, but Geoff at QRF told me had re-done the molds - and he has.  These tanks were much, much nicer to work with than the previous ones.  And as mentioned previously, QRF is the ONLY one out there making this Soviet beastie in 15mm.

This MBT mounted a 125mm main gun

A view of the rear deck of the tank with the snorkeling equipment stowed behind the turret

Lots of stowage is modeled on these QRF vehicles

Ready to face off against NATO troops

The QRF BMP-2D is a very nice model - very clean.  To make this one stand out a little bit I put an antenna into the turret and mounted an un-ditching beam on the back of the vehicle.  These beams are usually seen on the back of the Soviet tanks, but I saw several photos online of BMP-2s carrying them so I thought it would be a little different to add one.

A view showing the un-ditching beam attached to the rear of the BMP-2D hull

As with my other Soviet vehicles, these are painted in a three-tone "Fulda" cammo pattern.

30mm cannon and AT-5 missile launcher on the turret

The liberation of the proletariat is imminent...

This brings the vehicle contingent for my Soviet Motor Rifles to a healthy level - six T-80BVs (two platoons' worth) and five BMP-2s.  I will continue to add odds and ends to the column, but the main fighting power is in place.  Can't wait to get them on to the table!

4CMBG Infantry

Here are some Canadian infantry for my 4CMBG force. Models are QRF West Germans with head swap from Peter Pig. The head swap was essential and I'm glad I took Greg's advice on the matter. The QRF infantry are definitely bottom rung, but the head swap makes them passable. Note the Carl Gustav models in each group. The one thing I'm intrigued by about the Canadians is just how poor some of their equipment was in the 80's. The Carl G being one example. There were better weapons than the Carl G at the time (milan for example), but the Carl G is what they got. With an effective AT range of 150m (from what I've read) it would have taken some sand to sit there while a T-72 was rolling towards you.
The rest of the infantry will have to wait until I get another batch of heads from Peter Pig. I was also going to post more pics of the Leopard's, but I realized I didn't paint the stowage tools. I'll see if I can get that done tonight and post some more pics.

4CMBG Leopard 1

Shamed by Greg's rapid progress in a challenge I proposed, I buckled down and started painting. First completed are my troop of Leopard 1's. Used in the 80's until just recently, they were our best (and most economical) answer to vast swarms of Soviet armor. Note the large box on the front of the turret. This is a camera system used in the early 80's. I believe it was moved internally in later upgrades. These models are QRF. All in all not bad models. A few casting issues, but nothing I couldn't fix.

Next up are some infantry followed by the M113's. The majority of the infantry will have to wait until I get a replacement order from Peter Pig.

More 15mm Cold War Soviets

More Soviet/Russian forces to tackle the West

I finished a few more odds and ends for my 15mm Cold War Soviets during the long weekend. There are three QRF vehicles - another BMP-2D APC, a BRM recon vehicle and a "Tunguska" 2S6 anti-aircraft tank.  There is also a solitary infantryman with an SA-7 shoulder-fired SAM.

Another BMP-2D from QRF

The BMP-2D is an upgraded variant of the Soviet BMP-2 APC.  It is equipped with some extra armour on the skirts and the turret intended to give some extra protection against infantry AT weapons like LAW rockets or (much more likely to be faced) RPGs.  This is a very nice model from QRF.  I painted this in a "Fulda" cammo pattern to match the other AFVs in my Soviet column.

A BRM recon APC from QRF

The BRM is a recon variant of the BMP APC platform.  It has a larger turret and carries all sorts of radar and ranging/sighting equipment.  The Warsaw Pact forces will know NATO has been encountered once they watch this thing burn up a few hundred metres out from the head of the column.  This was a QRF model too, and was OK in terms of quality. Like the other vehicles, the BRM received a "Fulda" cammo scheme.

SA-7 trooper from Peter Pig

This figure is from Peter Pig's AK47 "Professionals" line

Trying to keep enemy aircraft and helicopters away from your column is a key worry for any Warsaw Pact commander.  Helpfully Peter Pig offers a pack of "regulars" from its AK47 Republic line carrying the Soviet SA-7 shoulder-fired SAMs.  I don't know how effective these weapons are but the motor rifle troops will take all the help they can get.

The Tunguska is a heavily armed anti-aircraft platform

I wish I had decals for the numbers...my free-hand isn't great

For some serious anti-air work we will have the 2S6 "Tunguska".  It lacks the charm and character of the better-known ZSU-23-4 AAA tank, but it packs more punch, carrying a pair of 30mm cannons and a set of SAMs on the turret.  I didn't add any cammo to this vehicle, figuring it would have been attached to the column from a higher-level formation.  This is a QRF casting, and it is very good - very clean, crisp lines and not much flash.  The only area where they might improve would be the tow cables stowed on the front of the hull - the detail is a little soft there.  

Cold War Russians - 15mm

The west is doomed...or just a former Soviet republic...you know, whatever comes up for the gaming table

Another fun 15mm diversion!  A few weeks ago our friend Mike F posted some pictures of a budding modern project.  Of course I like to encourage new projects here among our group, so when Mike sent me a note asking if I had any 15mm Russians for Cold-War-Gone-Hot type games, I promised right away to come up with some - after all, I had been thinking about just this kind of thing as my own 15mm Golan Heights project had gone ahead and is pretty much finished now (in as much as anything is ever "finished" for me).

Motor rifle squad - the officer (pointing) is Peter Pig - the balance are from the new Eureka line

These infantry are the (still relatively) new Eureka 15mm modern Russians, with a few Peter Pig figures thrown in.  The vehicles are all QRF castings.

Another motor rifle squad

Squad number three

The Eureka Russians are amazing.  Just awesome sculpts, easily on par with Peter Pig and some of the flat-out best 15mm castings out there. They are part of a range intended to represent the Russian army at the time of the first intervention in Chechnya (and there is a range of Russian troops wearing those awful and ridiculous-looking sphere-shaped helmets if that is your thing) as well as some Chechen rebels.  I think in terms of equipment they fit anywhere from the late 1980s into the mid 1990s - or even later.

BMP-2D from QRF - a really nice model (and a very cool variant of the BMP)

I painted the infantry in a sort-of-woodland camo that I have seen on Tim Rich's figures.  Of course, his paint job is WAY nicer, but it's still fun to try to copy the best.

BMP-2 - detail is softer on these

The only knock I would have on the Eureka range is that it lacks an ATGM set - a touch disappointing considering how amazingly complete the range is otherwise.  You have AK-74s, AK-74s with grenade launchers under the barrel, LMGs, RPG-7s, the little RPGs that look like LAW rockets, heavy MGs, automatic grenade launchers and mortars.  Wow.

Officer on the left is Eureka, the medic on the right is Peter Pig

Two Russian marksmen - Eureka castings

The other knock I would have gently put to Eureka is the shipping - they go cheap (which is great when you're paying), but I lost three LMG troops with broken weapons thanks to the sloppy packing, which kind of sucks.

Heavy weapons to support the troops

I bodged an AT-4 missile team using an AT-4 missile set from QRF, a spare Eureka grenade launcher crewman and spare Peter Pig heavy weapon crewman.

Automatic grenade launcher - a problem solver on a tripod

AT-4 ATGM team - missile from QRF, crew on right from Eureka, on left from Peter Pig

A motor rifle platoon ready for the attack

The infantry are supported by a smattering of vehicles painted, once again, in a poor copy of a Tim Rich cammo pattern known as "Fulda", a three-tone scheme seen on many Russian AFVs at the time of the fall of the Berlin wall.  I'm not sure how widely used it was, but it looks neat, and I was tired of painting Russian stuff just plain green.

T-80BVs from QRF, infantry from Eureka

The vehicles are QRF castings.  As always with QRF the casting quality is hit-and-miss.  The tanks are T-80BVs, and I have to give QRF credit as being the ONLY one out there offering these vehicles.  They had lots of flash, needed a LOT of drilling and fixing, and each had only left-side track sets.  But in the end they painted up pretty well, and I'm happy with how they turned out.  You can't notice the track SNAFU very much with the weathering etc. I think QRF has re-workd the molds on these models, which would be great, as I ordered several more to round out the force :)

The T-80BV makes use of reactive armour

The APCs are a mix of two BMP-2s and a BMP-2D. The BMP-2s were not too bad casting wise, but the detail was soft and the track assemblies very soft.  The 30mm cannon on the turret was also very thin and I worry they will break before long. On the plus side, as with the tanks, you hardly notice flaws in the tracks once the vehicles are based and weathered.

Are those road wheels on the right side? :) Add more mud...

In contrast, the BMP-2D - an up-armoured model of the BMP-2 with applique plates on the turret and sides - is a top-notch casting.  Super clean, really durable, lots of clean detail, top notch.  And once again, as far as I can tell, QRF is the only company taking the trouble to offer this vehicle.  I have ordered a couple more of these suckers as well.

Another view showing the ERA "bricks" on the turret and hull

Overall the force represents (very roughly) a motor rifle platoon and heavy weapon platoon.  There are three seven-man squads, each with an RPG-7 and LMG, a small command element of an officer and a medic, two dudes with sniper rifles, two heavy MG teams, an AT-4 missile team, a mortar team and a grenade launcher team.

Ready for the advance! Is that a Leopard C-2 over there?

So Mike - over to you....I'm sure you have more than a solitary M113 lurking to defend the NATO lines...I'm looking forward to battle with the Canadians in the Fulda Gap!

Regina 2013 - AAR Number One - Golan Heights, 15mm

Syrian T-62s rumble into action - models by QRF

Note - This post was originally published as a guest post at Analogue Hobbies.  Click here for the original. GB.

Greetings again to the visitors at Analogue Hobbies.  I'm sorry to interrupt the steady stream of entries to the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge (well, not sorry if it interrupts Ray), but I'm sure many of you have noticed your recent entries to the competition have been slow to appear on the Blog.  That's because I have rocketed out to Regina for a wonderful visit with Curt and Sarah, and we have been gaming our faces off!  Here is the first of a few AARs from the trip - a tank battle set in on the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

Syrian T-62 company - nearly all QRF models, with a few Old Glory

Those of you who visit the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts pages will have seen the Golan Heights in 1973 appear as one of my not-infrequent "new insane projects" back in the summer of 2012. I have painted a good sized pile of 15mm Syrian and IDF tanks and infantry since then, and it was fun to kick off the gaming here in the centre of God's prairies with a Yom Kippur game.  We used the Bolt Action rules engine for the game, with the platoon-activation modifications our Fawcett group has used previously for 15mm WW2 games.

Centurion Sh'ot MBT - model by Peter Pig

In the 1973 surprise attack on the Golan Heights a small number of IDF tank battalions, spread thin along the "purple line" at the frontier, held out heroically - and at very high cost - against several Syrian divisions.  Many Syrian units broke through holes in the IDF lines during the first two days and tried to find their way to the bridges over  the Jordan River. If they had succeeded, it would have been game over in the north for the IDF. This scenario imagined an action involving of one of those units - a company of Syrian T-62s approaching the "customs house", a very old bridge and collection of buildings that straddled the previous border with Palestine.

Table on the first turn - Syrian platoon enters along the road

Historically the Syrian spearheads approached this location, met some resistance, and turned back - night was approaching and they were not sure what defences were in place. If only they had known at the time there was practically none, the 1973 war might have turned out differently. So this scenario is a "what-if" of sorts - what if the Syrians were more aggressive?

Centurion arriving as a reinforcement

The table was 6'x4', with the Syrian force - a company of 13 T-62 MBTs - entering at one edge, and having ten turns to get at least two tanks across the old bridge representing the crossing of the Jordan river (I think the actual bridge was a Bailey-type bridge, but I found the stone piece evocative of the age of the place in question).

Traffic jam on the advance - the tank in the foreground is Old Glory

Another picture of the Old Glory tanks - one has already been dealt with by IDF gunners

Opposing this tide of armour was a small force of IDF tankers composed of reservists coming up into the fighting - two Centurion Sh'ots behind some improvised defences, and three more arriving from off the table during the game. The old buildings represented an orchard and farm area near the "customs house". The IDF mission was to stop the Syrians at all costs - if they could knock out or disable eight of the Syrian tanks, it would halt the attack. But would they last?

T-62 platoon struggles forward under fire, but at least they took out one of the Centurions (at top)

Curt took the IDF side and I plated the Syrians. The Syrians started with one 3-tank platoon already coming down the road, and would arrive in platoon-sized batches over the first three turns, while Curt would receive another Centurion on each turn starting with the first until all five were on the table.

IDF Centurions await the Syrians

I tried to split the difference between moving and firing, thinking I could put enough fire on the IDF to to knock them out AND overrun them. I mean, I had a 13 to 5 advantage, right? No such luck! Soon T-62s were burning on the road, causing a traffic jam and causing the tanks to detour. The Bolt Action rules model the movement of tracked vehicles very well, limiting the turns of the vehicles.  You need to think ahead a bit - sure you can turn and move, but will your flank be exposed? Will you be able to move again from where you end up? When you are trying to get 13 tanks moving, this is a challenge.

Syrian T-62 settles in for some cover to duel with the Sh'ots

As more T-62s arrived the battle heated up.  The Syrians managed to knock out one of the Sh'ots.  For good measure Curt parked one reinforcing Sh'ot on the bridge over the river, and moved the other Centurions forward aggressively.  Tank shells criss-crossed the battlefield as both sides blazed away.

The fate of most Syrian tanks on the Golan Heights in 1973

IDF tanks under heavy fire - one knocked out

I had one platoon which managed to stay relatively pin-free, and they cause some trouble for the IDF - immobilizing a second Sh'ot and putting some heavy pins on a third. It was the opening I had hoped for.  But I was not able to get the other tanks moving consistently - I had one fellow zipping down the flank, but he got tagged by the Sh'ot on the bridge.

Curt's last line of defence

Ultimately the IDF knocked out the eight T-62s needed in order to halt the attack by the ninth turn, but it was a close-run engagement, with the IDF having lost two MBTs themselves. My early decision to try and engage hurt me in the end - we should have been running up that road for all we were worth, losses be dammed!

More burning and immobilized T-62s

The game was a blast - I love a table filled with burning tanks, and the Golan Heights in 1973 is a setting that obliges that preference for sure!

Table at the end of the game

Following the battle we sortied for lunch in Regina and then re-set the table for our second game - the Sudan in 1884. Now let me see if I can find all of those entries from Ray here on Curt's computer and delete them...