From LeeH: Another Soviet LMG Squad (60 Pts)

This week, I finished my fourth Light Machine Gun squad for my 1939 Winter War Soviets, which means I’m finally within sight of the end of this Bolt Action painting run. Four squads lined up together give the force a real sense of cohesion. On the table, they look like what they’re meant to represent: mass infantry built around automatic fire.

Soviet infantry tactics of the period leaned heavily on firepower at the squad level. The light machine gun was the anchor, with riflemen supporting it rather than the other way around. In theory, this created a base of suppressive fire that allowed advances by weight and momentum. The Red Army’s pre-war doctrine emphasised aggression, coordination, and overwhelming force. In open terrain, backed by artillery, that approach could be brutally effective. On a Bolt Action table, four LMG squads make that doctrine tangible—steady, grinding pressure rather than elegant manoeuvre.

The reality in 1939, however, was far messier. The army that invaded Finland had been badly damaged by Stalin’s purges of the officer corps in the late 1930s. Experienced commanders were removed, imprisoned, or executed, and their replacements were often younger, less seasoned, and understandably cautious. Initiative became dangerous. Junior officers learned that independent action could end careers (or lives) if outcomes were unfavourable. The result was rigidity. Orders were followed, sometimes blindly, even when local conditions demanded flexibility. Against Finnish forces who excelled at small-unit tactics, mobility, and exploiting terrain, that lack of adaptability proved costly.

With this fourth squad complete, the core infantry element of the army is ready. I’m still waiting on an artillery crew and gun to round things out, and I have a handful of spare figures that may end up as smaller specialist teams if I can find a home for them. For now, though, these LMG squads capture both the theory and the tragedy of the 1939 Red Army: a force designed for massed firepower and relentless advance, but hampered by structural weakness and fear at the command level. 

12x28mm Foot = 60 Points

From DaveD.  Nice winter additions Lee , are you starting to get snow blindness yet ? The whole force will be looking like a proper mass when we see it . 60 it is .

From LeeH: Soviet Tank Hunters and T26/M1931 (100pts)

I narrowly missed last week’s submission deadline by a matter of hours, so this week turns into a double offering: more Soviet infantry and a tank. 

First up is another twelve-man Light Machine Gun Squad, the nearly finished unit that never quite made it onto the blog last time. All that stood between them and glory was drying basing and a final layer of snow, but time ran out. One of my quietly declared New Year’s resolutions was to stop saying yes to every new project that wanders past. That resolution has already collapsed in a heap, leaving me busier than ever. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it does add another tick to the ever-growing “suspected ADHD” column.

Next on the bench is another tank for my Soviet forces. This time it’s a T-26 Model 1931, the distinctive twin-turret variant armed with machine guns. Unlike my previous T-26 from Rubicon, this one is a 3D print from Danger Close Studio. Aside from some minor clean-up around the tracks where the supports had been, it’s an excellent print and blends in seamlessly with my other vehicles. Historically, the T-26 Model 1931 was heavily influenced by the British Vickers 6-Ton and was intended as an infantry support tank. Its twin turrets, usually mounting DT machine guns, offered impressive firepower on paper, but in practice proved awkward to command. That complexity eventually saw the design abandoned in favour of more practical single-turret models.

Finally, there’s a Tank Hunter team. This unit consists of two men armed with the 7.62mm PPD 1934/38 submachine gun, a design based on the Bergmann MP18/1 and fed by either drum or box magazines. They’re supported by two riflemen, with the NCO hefting a Molotov cocktail. The Molotov was a small conversion, using a plastic piece from the Warlord Games Soviet infantry sprue that recently appeared as a giveaway on the cover of Wargames Illustrated, which couldn’t have been better timed. On the tabletop in Bolt Action, Tank Hunters are nasty little specialists, with rules that allow them to double their attacks in close combat against vehicles, making them a serious threat despite their size.

In short: a delayed update turned into a productive one, with a finished LMG squad, a characterful early-war Soviet tank, and a converted Tank Hunter team all joining the ranks. Progress may be chaotic, but it’s definitely moving forward.

Scoring:
15x28mm Foot = 75pts
2x28mm Prone Foot = 5pts
1x28mm Vehicle = 20pts
Total = 100pts

From DaveD . The winter coolness continues . Your forces are building up nicely . The twin turret tank is interesting , but of course entirely understandable it didn’t meet the requirements in the end . I have one in the Back of Beyond stash too. Hopefully Ray has his can openers handy . Grand stuff Lee . 100 it is 

From LeeH: Soviet Sniper Team (7.5pts)

This week has been a bit of a write-off physically. Another bout of cellulitis in my leg has meant I’ve spent far too much time flat on my back with my foot pointed skywards like some sort of injured flamingo. It turns out this is not the ideal posture for painting miniatures. Who knew. Still, I wasn’t about to let Sunday roll by without at least something to show for it. Depending on the order these posts appear, you may already have seen (or are about to see) a small scratch-built terrain piece that came together in short bursts over the week. That aside, these are the only figures that managed to stagger off the paint desk: a Soviet sniper team.

The figures themselves are from Warlord Games’ Bolt Action range, which puts them more towards the later war. The rifles look a little late, and both figures are wearing winter camouflage smocks. Historically speaking, that’s… questionable for 1939. As far as I can tell, Soviet snipers in the Winter War aren’t exactly well catered for in 28mm, so a bit of creative squinting is required. In my headcanon, these two relieved some unlucky Finns of their camo and pressed on regardless. Historical accuracy sometimes has to make way for practicality and available miniatures.

Painting-wise, I kept things simple. The figures were base-coated white and then given a wash of Citadel Contrast Apothecary White, which does a lovely job of settling into the recesses and creating soft grey shadows. Once that had fully dried, I went back in with pure white to re-establish the highlights. It’s a quick method, but one I really like for winter troops: crisp, cold, and suitably bleak.

Two figures (one of them prone) aren’t exactly going to set any productivity records. But after a week of enforced inactivity and medical nonsense, getting anything finished feels like a small victory. 

1x28mm Foot + 1x28mm Prone = 7.5 Points

From DaveD . Sorry to hear you have under the weather . I blame Ray . Despite that you have got some stuff done . While it might be small it’s perfectly formed . 8 pts it is .

From LeeH: A pair of Soviet GAZ-AAA Trucks (50 Points)

I have just finished building and painting these two trucks from Rubicon Models, a matched pair of GAZ-AAA 2-tonners, and like the armoured vehicles I showed last week, they are daubed in a hurried whitewash over their standard Soviet green. That slapdash winter camouflage was not about style; it was about survival. When the Red Army crossed into Finland in November 1939, it found itself fighting in a world of blinding snow, black forests and temperatures that could sink past –30°C. Against that backdrop, a green truck might as well have been waving a little flag that read “please shoot me.” The Finns, masters of camouflage and patient marksmanship, took brutal advantage of anything that stood out, so Soviet units did whatever they could with limewash, chalk or even mud to blur their outlines against the frozen landscape.

The GAZ-AAA itself was a workhorse of a very Soviet kind. Based on a Ford design built under licence and then steadily adapted by Soviet engineers, it was a six-wheeled, twin-rear-axle truck intended to haul around two tons of men, ammunition, fuel or food across the vast distances of the USSR. In peacetime, it was everywhere, delivering everything from grain to bricks, and in wartime, it became the backbone of Red Army logistics. During the Winter War, it was often pressed into service far beyond what its designers had imagined, rumbling along narrow forest roads that had been hacked through the snow or driving over frozen lakes that groaned ominously beneath their weight. They were not glamorous machines, but wars are not won by glamour; they are won by whoever can keep rifles fed and soldiers warm.

Those conditions, though, were merciless. On the plus side, the GAZ-AAA was mechanically simple and reasonably tough, which mattered when you were hundreds of kilometres from a proper workshop and your hands were too numb to feel a spanner. The extra rear axle gave it better traction than a simple two-wheel-drive truck, letting it claw its way through packed snow and icy ruts where lesser vehicles would just spin. On the other hand, it was still fundamentally a road truck, not a purpose-built winter vehicle. Deep, powdery snow could swallow it whole, its engines hated the cold, and the Soviet fuel and lubricants of the period were prone to thickening into something closer to porridge than petrol or oil. There are plenty of stories, many apocryphal but all evocative, of crews having to light fires under the engine block just to get the thing to start.

A lumbering convoy of GAZ-AAAs will be a tempting target for Ray’s Finns. Hit the first and last truck, and suddenly you have a frozen traffic jam full of trapped men. I may need more tanks. Maybe the T26 Model 1931 with twin MMG Turrets? Guess I’ll be perusing the Rubicon website again pretty soon.

Incidentally, these models, like many of the Rubicon kits, can be built in different variants. The box contains the parts needed to make the GAZ-AA 1.5Ton single axle truck, and the canvas canopy is optional. There are also components in the kit to convert the model into an Anti-Aircraft truck (with the gun sold separately). All the models come with a driver, and I was surprised to find the figures were almost complete (only the feet are missing) despite the fact that the driver's legs end up essentially invisible, hidden inside the cabin. And that, for me, sums up these models from Rubicon, attention to detail, even the bits that probably can’t be seen once assembled. 

Scoring:
2x28mm Vehicles = 40 points
2x28mm Drivers - 10 points

From DaveD. Great to see some softskin additions to collection Lee, I am sure Ray already has his eyes on these for a suitable ambush opportunity , An AA truck version will give you some extra fire power - can you did it with just the spares to drop onto these I wonder ? 50 pts it is 

From LeeH: Winter War Soviet BA10 Armoured Car & T26 tank (44 pts)

This week, I present a couple of armoured vehicles for my Winter War Soviets, both finished with a rough, field-applied whitewash over the standard Soviet green. This was very much a leap of faith for me. After assembly, I got the models fully painted, decaled, and weathered to the point where they looked “done”… and then deliberately smeared white paint all over them like a vandal.

There are plenty of established whitewash techniques out there, but I ended up bodging together my own. I mixed white acrylic paint, distilled water, and airbrush flow improver in roughly equal parts. The flow improver is the unsung hero here: it reduces surface tension and stops the paint from pooling or beading. What you get is a milky glaze that needs two or three coats, depending on how heavy you want the finish. I hand-brushed it panel by panel, deliberately avoiding raised edges and high-wear areas like hatches and crew access points. The aim was that hurried, uneven, already-wearing-off look you see in historical photos. 

The BA-10 armoured car was developed in 1938 and produced until 1941, making it the most numerous Soviet heavy armoured car of the pre-war period, with over 3,300 built. This is the earlier BA-10 variant, descended from the BA-3 and BA-6, using the GAZ-AAA chassis and sporting improved armour up to 15mm on the front and turret. It was meant to be replaced by the BA-11 in 1941, which would have had a diesel engine and a more advanced armour layout, but the war rather rudely intervened. The BA-10 soldiered on in Red Army service until 1945, and a number were captured and pressed into Finnish service during the Winter War (at least 24 that are known of).

The T-26light infantry tank needs little introduction. Developed from the British Vickers 6-Ton, it became one of the most prolific tank designs of the interwar years. More than 11,000 were built across an eye-watering 50-plus variants, including flamethrowers, engineering vehicles, self-propelled guns, artillery tractors, and armoured carriers. Early versions had twin turrets with machine guns in each, but this is the 1939 single-turret model with the 45mm main gun, a coaxial machine gun, and an additional rear turret MG. By 1939, its armour was already starting to look thin against modern anti-tank weapons, but sheer numbers kept it relevant and deadly through the Winter War. Once again, captured vehicles were hastily repainted and used by the Finns to defend their homeland right through to the end of WWII. 

Both models are from Rubicon, and they were a pleasure to build. The BA-10 can be assembled with or without the over-tire tracks, while the T-26 kit gives you enough parts to build one of several variants on the same chassis. The instructions for each kit are very clear, but as with any plastic kit, patience is the key to success. I enjoyed making these so much that I have now bought a couple of GAZ-AA trucks from Rubicon to carry my infantry in. Gotta give Ray’s Finns something to shoot at during his Motti attacks after all.

Scoring: 2x28mm Vehicles @ 20pts each = 40 points

From DaveD . Ooh nice lead in for the first challenger post of the day . Lee grabs the winter theme and runs with it . Speed and firepower just what you need to chase of the odd pesky Finn with a can opener. Great work on these two Lee . I share the angst of finishing a paint job , then adding another over the top. So wrong yet so very right for these two . I am making this an extra 4pts for the extra work and cracking outcome. 44 pts it is .

From LeeH - Soviet Infantry Platoon HQ & 2 Squads (140 Points)

This year’s project for the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge marches straight into the deep snow of Northern Europe and the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland. The action took place, as the name suggests, in the winter of 1939–40. Once again, I’m painting the Russians, while Ray takes on the Finns. All of the figures for these first units are from Parkfield Miniatures, although later units may include specialist reinforcements drafted in from other ranges. One of the real joys of this period is that it gives us a second use for all the 28mm winter terrain we’ve already built for last year's project, Napoleons Retreat from Moscow. 

Historically, the Winter War began in the uneasy aftermath of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union calmly agreed on who would menace whom. Stalin, peering nervously at maps, decided that Finland’s proximity to Leningrad was intolerable. The Finns were newly independent and understandably unimpressed by Soviet demands for territorial concessions. Diplomacy collapsed, and in November 1939, the Red Army rolled across the border in what Moscow insisted was a defensive measure, and everyone else recognised as an invasion. 

What followed took place in some of the most brutal winter conditions ever endured by modern armies. Temperatures dropped to –30°C and below, turning weapons brittle, engines temperamental, and exposed skin into an invitation to frostbite. Soviet planners expected a swift victory, assuming that mass, armour, and artillery would quickly overwhelm a small, lightly equipped opponent. What they hadn’t factored in was Finland’s near-mythical familiarity with its own landscape. Forests, frozen lakes, and endless snow weren’t obstacles; they were tools. Finnish units moved on skis, vanished into tree lines, and struck where Soviet formations were weakest, turning the environment itself into a weapon.

The war’s narrative divides neatly into two acts: the Soviet disaster and the Soviet recovery. Early operations saw Red Army columns funnelled along narrow forest roads, where Finnish troops cut supply lines and isolated units using “motti” tactics, breaking larger formations into smaller, doomed pockets. The results were humiliating and costly. By early 1940, though, the Soviets adapted. Leadership improved, artillery was concentrated, and sheer industrial weight was brought to bear against the Mannerheim Line. Finland fought with extraordinary determination, but numbers and firepower eventually told. The Moscow Peace Treaty ended the war in March 1940, forcing Finland to give up territory while retaining its independence, a bitter compromise, but one that stunned the world.

The contrast between the two armies is part of what makes the Winter War so compelling, both historically and on the tabletop. The Soviet Union had vast resources but suffered from rigid doctrine, poor preparation, and an officer corps hollowed out by purges. Finnish forces were outnumbered, under-equipped, and often improvising (this is, after all, the conflict that popularised the Molotov cocktail), but they had experience, initiative, and morale in abundance. They were defending their homes, their freedom, and a way of life. 

As you would expect, my soviet forces consist of a lot of infantry. I have started with a Platoon HQ unit and two light machine gun squads. I have several more primed and waiting in the wings, along with some support weapons and armour. 

27x28mm Foot = 135 points
2x28mm prone = 5 Points
Total = 140 Points

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Ah, yes, the 2.0 of the Lee-Ray (like 'Leeroy') Challenge! Fantastic!

The Russo-Finnish war is so evocative (and in many ways hauntingly relevant to current events). Of course, it makes perfect sense to tap into not only the terrain from your Great Retreat project, but also all the skills you honed doing winter-themed figures. Wonderful work, Lee! These Russians look suitably miserable and frostbitten, waiting for dreaded Finns to strike from blizzards and snow-laden tree lines, only to infuriatingly disappear. I look forward to seeing how this partnered project develops over the coming winter months.  

- Curt

From DallasE: Keep on Truckin' (Fraud)(235 points)

So this week's submission is trucks. Lots of trucks. These were in a bag behind my stairs for a year or two but the current winter Russians project added some impetus to get them painted.

I undercoated them black, then sprayed them with a great paint - Krylon camouflage green. It's a light olive-y green but comes down nicely when washed with Agrax Earthshade. I love this colour for Russian vehicles, especially Cold War and modern stuff. But I thought it would be a suitable colour for "generic" WW2 truckin'. I washed the models with Agrax Earthshade AND Nuln Oil before sponging on the Corax White winter camo.

The trucks are perfect transport for the Soviet infantry, especially these ones based on 20mm squares. Six of 'em fit perfectly in the bed of the trucks.

While I was painting the trucks I snuck in another Maxim gun and crew for the winter Soviets.

Nice metal models, from Warlord Games of course.

While I was painting the winter trucks I thought I would also do the rest of the ones I had left to do. The great thing about these trucks is that they're so generic looking they could really pass for use in most WW2 forces, as long as you squint a bit. So I painted these up in camo green washed with AE and NO so they can be used in a Soviet WW2 force, as well as for Americans or Brits in a pinch. I painted a bunch a couple years ago in a desert tan for NW Africa usage on either side.

This is where we get to the Circle theme: Fraud. The models look pretty good in the pictures right? Like they were built from a kit? Or maybe cast in resin? But flip 'em over and you see the real deal. These are basically dollar-store toys, flimsy plastic junk. But when you paint them I think they look OK. And they're trucks, after all... they are never going to be the focus of anyone's wargames table. So I figure saving a bit on these makes sense.

They do look decent though I think!

Here's one of them with the Bad Squiddo Soviet traffic controllers.

Points:

10x 28mm vehicles        200

3x 28mm infantry            15

Fraud Circle bonus          20

Total                               235 points
 

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Fabulous lorry borne troopers Dallas! Your winter effects are fabulous - frosty but not overburdened by ice and snow. Dollar store or no, its very effective indeed! They might be soft skinned vehicles but anyone is going to be challenged to shoot 10 of them off the table before they can unload. Great job!

- Paul