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!

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!

The Lucky T-80 - A Legiocon Battle Honour

T-80U tank no. 342 in action at Legiocon. It would significantly outlast its warranty...

Dallas posted a report of our roadshow game at Legiocon in Winnipeg last weekend.  Convention-goers Ray and John joined the game to play along.  They were great guys and I think they really got into the game.

My portion of the Warpac contingent included a platoon of T-80U tanks, and these squared off against Dallas' and John's Leopard 2A6s and MILAN teams.  Many of the Soviet tanks were on fire after a couple of turns, but one particular vehicle - T-80U no. 342 - survived hit after hit after hit after hit.  John finally remarked that the tank should be named "Felix the cat".

Legiocon gamer John helped me with the translation of "cat"

After John made that remark, the T-80U in question survived another hit from a Leopard and yet another couple of MILANs.  The tank would eventually be knocked out of action, but only after tying up a lot of NATO attention and giving the Chemical Commies a chance to get the job done.

I promised John I would paint the battle honour in question on to the vehicle. Here are the photos for proof!

Low-key pseudo bourgeois personalization of the People's Property - tolerated under combat duress only...

John used his tablet to look up the Russian translation of "cat", and I figured this would be the right nickname.

Dallas and I tried to figure out how long we have had these Kitech models in action - I think it has been since 2006, so over six years! Tank no. 342 has repeatedly seen action in West Germany (all for perfectly legitimate, legal responses to unprovoked NATO aggression of course) and after this death-defying performance I figured it was time that at least one of these commie battle wagons earned an action honour.

That weird face is supposed to be "Felix the Cat". So nobody is going to give me any commission work for cat cartoons...

So "Kowka" went on to the tank. I also painted a (very, very) rough approximation of "Felix the Cat" beside the moniker on the stowage & bits along the side rear of the turret.

We will beat their swords into ploughshares...after we beat them up...

Would a T-80U actually survive long enough against NATO's tanks, missiles and air force to accumulate any kind of meaningful battle honour?  Well, I'm glad we never had to find out for real.  But toy-soldier T-80U no. 342 has earned it - the next time it rolls into liberate the proletariat of Helmuth Kohl's corrupt bourgeois regime, it will do so as "The Cat".

Modern Russians/Neo-Soviets/Gazprom Security Solutions

Finally finished the modern Russians. I can't even remember when I originally got all this stuff. I think Greg and I need to have a "Crisis in Kablikistan" or something similar with some of his Russian Kit.

Imprint T-80UK - 1/50 Scale

1/50 scale T-80UK MBT from Imprint Models

OK - sometimes a quick diversion needs a bit of an extension.  While rummaging around in my pile in the process of finishing my BTR-80s and T-90s from Imprint Models, I came across an un-built Imprint T-80UK, the command tank variant of this Soviet Cold War era MBT. Since I was on a bit of a 1/50 scale tear, I decided to quickly throw this tank together too and paint it.

T-80UK bits, with the magnets drilled into the hull and turret

This is an older version of the Imprint model, about four years old - fewer metal components, less detail on the tracks.  I had done a platoon of these tanks back when Dallas and I were fully involved in our bonkers 28mm modern build-up. I have no idea why I didn't finish this model - likely I put it down in some place to "get to it right away", then forgot about it as I moved on to some other new insane project.

Crew figure in the gunner's hatch from Mongrel Miniatures

The Soviet infantryman in front of the tank is from Mongrel Miniatures

Although the kit is older - it is still a great kit. Emboldened by my success with the magnets on the T-90s, I drilled in some rare earth magnets to hold the turret in place for gaming.  I also left the cupola open so I could pop a tank commander figure into the hatch.

Mounting the MG was a challenge - I had lost some key parts for mounting it, so I improvised with some spare pieces I had lying around.  They looked like little mechanical mountings - once they are green with the rest of the tank, they look fine.

Radio antennas were easy to add by using floral wire

The Soviet Union/Russia deployed several thousand T-80s in their arsenal toward the end of the Cold War.  They were also found in the armies of former republics (now independent states) like Ukraine and Belarus.  Cyprus also has some T-80 tanks in the line, as well as Pakistan.  The T-80UK is a very late model of this MBT, and I'm not sure how many went into production or into the line of any nation's arsenal.  It features some very complicated anti-ATGM and anti-RPG systems (the Shtora system, as on the T-90).

I used grey for the lenses for the Shtora jammers, instead of the evil red I used on the T-90s

I painted this tank to match the other recent Soviet/Russian models - dark green with bands of yellow.

I lost a couple of the components for the Shtora system - a couple of receivers (or something) that were mounted toward the rear of the turret.  But they are pretty minor pieces, so I don't think it matters too much.

This view provides a good snapshot of the "Kontakt" reactive armour blocks on the front of the hull and the turret

This T-80UK will ride along to battle with the other recent arrivals to the Chemical Commie motor pool.